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highvern · 1 year ago

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Aphrodite

Pairing: Kim Mingyu x fem!reader

Genre: smut, friends to lovers, established relationship, fluff at the beginning

Warnings: bathroom sex, kissing, groping, fingering, dirty talk, dom/sub dynamics but they’re both actually switches (Mingyu is a service top), cumshot, Mingyu is still obsessed with titties, hair pulling, choking (hand around throat but no breath play), doggy style, unprotected sex (not endorsed by author), praise kink and strength kink go burrrrrr, there's a little bit of fluff/angst at the beginning (care/comfort) because she had a hard day at work, porn with feelings

Length: ~3k

Note: Drunk Goggles couple's bathroom scene mentioned in Discovery! the first third is so cute i actually had to close my laptop and step away while editing it so please enjoy my brain rot lol. its implied reader is on birth control and Mingyu knows it but still wrap it before you tap it guys. This was drafted as "Champagne Confetti" but i couldn't post it with that title with a straight face

ALSO stream Mamamoo Wheein's new album In the Mood! Aphrodite was a huge inspiration for the sweeter parts of this fic

read more here

The knob of your bathroom cabinet is digging into Mingyu’s shoulder uncomfortably and his ass freezing on the hard tile, but neither register in his mind much. His sole focus is on listening to you vent about how shitty work was as you wash up behind the flimsy curtain only a few feet away.

“Oh and then she had the audacity to say I should have been more prepared for the meeting! As if she didn’t send me the info an hour before!” You babble, head popping out to look at him.

Mingyu tries and fails to stifle the laughter bubbling at the sight of your shampoo Mohawk.

“What a bitch!”

“Right?!” You move back into the spray and out of sight.

“She’s just mad because you’re better at her job than she is.”

“I wouldn’t be if she actually did her job.” You sigh.

“I’m sorry baby.”

“‘s not your fault Gyu.”

“Do you want me to beat her up?”

“Yeah, because sending my gigantic ass boy toy after her is gonna get her off my back.” You call, closing your eyes as foam rinses from your hair down your skin.

“The correct term is boyfriend.”

“The correct term is baby daddy.”

“You’re fucking nasty.”

“You love me.”

God, I do.

But it’s too early to say those words with the level of earnestness he feels so Mingyu bites his tongue.

Steam and lavender soap tickle his senses as you wash away the evidence of your previous distress. Your manager is number one on Mingyu’s incredibly short shit list.

Mingyu had barely waltzed through the door of your apartment after work, excited to spend the evening cuddled on the couch with a movie like you do every Thursday. He nearly shit himself when he found you sitting at the kitchen counter, tears staining your face and eyes rimmed red. You dove into his chest and cried for an over hour, unable to speak as wretched sobs escaped your throat. He’s never felt so helpless as he sat there, stroking your back as he held you, whispering gentle affirmations into your hair. It was his idea for you to hop in the shower once you calmed down enough to assure him you weren’t injured and “no, no one died.”

The entire time, Mingyu sat close by listening intently, chiming in occasionally with agreements. He hadn’t follow you into the stall, void of the desire to worsen your mood. Shared showers were not a favorite in this household. Either it ended after two minutes to move to the bed or one of you hopped out, annoyed that the other was hogging the hot water and leaving them in the cold. Mingyu wanted you to relax but the only way he could relax was to make sure you’re actually okay. Which is why he is planted on the ground near the door like a guard dog, keeping an eye on you in case the tears returned; numb butt and sore shoulder be damned.

The squeak of the faucet signals the end of your bathing, echoed by the ruffle of the curtain as you push it aside to exit the tub. He keeps his eyes trained on your face, a smile spreading at the glow radiating from the apples of your cheeks void of the earlier splotchy dullness. You already look a million times better than when he entered your home.

Mingyu is trying very hard to be a supportive boyfriend while you continue to rant; but it’s challenging when the actual woman of his dreams is standing only feet away, completely nude and soaking wet, skin flushed from scrubbing and glistening in the warm glow of the light above the mirror. It takes all his might to ignore the swell of your breast and gentle the sway of your hips, or the curve of your thighs as you stretch for your towel on the rack above the toilet. The movement sends droplets falling in staccato from your hair plastered against your head onto your shoulder before trailing down your front, tracing dizzying patterns across your skin. His very own Aphrodite, exiting the sea to fill his heart.

“I hope she gets fired soon. I know I didn’t look like an idiot in that meeting, it was all her.”

“No one thinks you’re an idiot.” He looks down at his hands playing with the cuff of his sweatshirt to distract himself from how you start twisting to towel off, body bending and stretching suggestively as you concentrate.

“She definitely does but who cares.”

“Feeling better?”

“Yeah, actually.” You smile, towel wrapped around you snugly as you step away from the tub and towards him. “But I could still really use a hug.”

“I can do that.”

Mingyu jumps up from his place on the floor, beaming at the soft look on your face as he tangles you in his arms. He plants peck after peck across the crown of your wet hair, nose filling with the scent of your shampoo as he squeezes you against him tightly. The remaining moisture on your body is wicked away by the soft fabric of his sweater, covering him in wet spots along his front and down his arms.

“You’re the best.” You sign into his chest as he leaves a kiss on your hairline.

To distract himself from what he really wants to say, Mingyu blows a wet raspberry against your forehead.

“Nope! Never mind!” You squeal, trying in vain to break out of his strong grip. “Get away from me!”

“But baby you just said I was the best!” He counters, arms tighten to prevent you from wiggling lose.

“No, you’re gross and I hate you!”

“GASP.”

You can only roll your eyes at your boyfriend's dramatics.

“You hate me? I wipe your tears, clean up your snot, order us take out, and you hate me?” Voice rising in pitch, he gapes at you.

“You ordered take out?”

“Focus on me! I’m hurt. Devastated!”

“Oh no, what will I do?” You deadpan, but the twitch of your mouth betrays your amusement.

It’s a dangerous game given you’re still locked in his arms and his penchant for being over the top.

“I’m deeply deeply wounded missy. So there’s only one way I’ll forgive you.”

“And what’s that?”

“Kiss?” He says with puppy dog eyes and puckered lips that makes him look like a fish.

“Oh my god!” You cackle at his ridiculousness.

“Oh, there she goes again! Do you not care about me at all?”

His question is punctuated by him collapsing against you and fake crying. Laughter bubbles in your chest like champagne. Mingyu makes you feel better without even trying.

“Alright, come here you big baby. Let me give you a kiss.”

Matching smiles meet in a sweet kiss. In your relationship, one kiss frequently becomes ten or twenty so there's no shock when you keep planting pecks against his lips before moving to tickle them across his cheek, brow, and tip of his nose. Mingyu is all smiles and giggles under your lips as you move back to his mouth.

The short kisses become heated swiftly. You wipe the smile off his face easily enough, thanking the universe it takes almost nothing to get Mingyu started (not that you’re any better). You’re impressed he didn’t jump you when you stepped out of the shower in all your naked glory. Honestly, you’re a little disappointed he didn’t. But now with your towel unraveling from your tussle, pressed against his solid frame as you nip his lips, you know it’s a matter of seconds before Mingyu crowds against you and makes you feel a lot better.

Like clockwork, a simple hum in the back of your throat paired with your nails trailing down his chest sets Mingyu off. He turns with you still in his hold, lifting you up and depositing you on the cool marble of the countertop, pushing your legs apart to make room for himself. Clumsy hands push your towel away, giving him access to play with your chest. When the nail of his thumb scratches your nipple, you arch against him with a sigh. The shift breaks your lips apart and Mingyu wasted no time diving for your throat.

Apparently tonight is one of the few nights Mingyu wants to be a little more demanding with you. The hand not plucking your chest moves the tangle itself amongst the wet hair at the crown of your skull, giving a firm tug that has your spine arching, stretching your neck with a whine to give more space to bite along your throat. Teeth scratch against the cords of muscle, but his tongue soothes the abused skin immediately after; even when he’s rough, he treats you like a princess. You feel yourself clenching around nothing at the maddening combination of sensations.

“Please, Gyu”

“Please, what?” He asks, not budging an inch from where he latches to your collarbone.

“Touch me.” You whimper.

His mouth replaces the hand pinching your chest, sucking your abused nipple into his blistering mouth. The hand that was on your chest, skates down between your thighs, pushing your legs further apart, letting your foot find purchase on the handle of the cabinet next to you to spread you wide.

He starts slowly, middle finger parting your downy lips to trace from your entrance to your mound. The calloused pad of his finger nothing more than a gossamer touch against your heat, maddening as it teases you. Curling your hips upwards, you give him more space to circle your entrance before he dips his middle and ring finger inside, thumb stretching to caress your swollen clit.

“So wet already.”

“If you had a boyfriend that treats you how you treat me, then you’d understand why.” You pant into his hair.

“Think I understand plenty.” He replies, moving your hand to caress his dick where it sits tented in his shorts.

The bathroom is filled with shameless whines and puffs of breath as you work each other up. You’ve successfully gotten a hand into his underwear, fisting the head of his cock in a tight rhythm just how he likes. The other busies itself scratching down his back as he preps you for what's to come by twisting two fingers inside you, heel of his hand grinding against your clit with every thrust.

“Need you inside.” You whisper into his mouth.

“Yeah? Want me to fuck you?”

“Mhmm,” your tone is verging on pathetic but his reaction washes away any embarrassment.

“Then be a good girl and turn around.”

Mingyu steps back, giving you space to quickly jump off the counter to turn your back to him. He busies himself with removing his sweater while you settle on your elbows, ass pushed out in front of him teasingly. It gives him pause, easily distracted by the arch of your spine and the subtle jiggle of flesh as you rock from one foot to another. You watch in the mirror as he blinks lazily, using one hand to push down his pants while the other cups a cheek, squeezing it in his palm. When his shorts are finally pooled around his ankles, he steps closer to let his length rest on your ass.

You can feel his leaking tip brush your tailbone, leaving a faint trace of dampness across your skin as you roll on to the balls of your feet to grind back on him. The rigid velvet of his shaft has arousal dripping down your thighs crudely.

You watch his face with rapt attention in the mirror. He’s hypnotized by how his cock looks pressed snug against your rear, resting hot and heavy in the valley of your cheeks. His throat bobs with a harsh swallow; hands wrapping around your sides, lazily tracing the curve between the bottom of your ribs to your hip bones. Mingyu’s hips move of their own volition, rutting across your ass as his cock continues to drool on your skin.

“Fuck,” he whispers.

“Come on baby, I had a hard day. Need you to make me feel better.”

Mingyu's eyes find yours in the mirror. You know the pout on your lips will get you everything you want. Mingyu knows it too.

“Condom,” he prompts.

There’s a stash in the drawer to your left but Mingyu is fully aware he lacks the will power to reach over and grab one when his hands are filled with something so much more enticing right now.

As you shake your head with a mischievous quirk of lips, he’s pretty sure you’re playing a cruel joke on hum.

“Shit,” He curses. “Are you serious?”

“Fuck me, Gyu.”

Palming his cock, Mingyu recites a silent prayer that he doesn’t blow his load immediately. This is the first time he gets to fuck you raw and goddamit if it’s short lived. Tracing his tip through the mess between your legs, he collects your arousal to lube him up. He can feel how soaking you are at the idea of him fucking you without the barrier of latex, inner thighs smeared with your essence. Hopefully you’ll come as quickly as he probably will.

“You’re so dirty, letting me stuff you with my cock like this. Aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” you gasp when he nudges your clit. “Your dirty girl.”

“That’s right, my dirty girl.” He growls as he pushes inside you.

The first inch has you both closing your eyes, vision filled with stars. As nice as he feels bare inside you, it’s the mental is getting you off more than the physical. Every time Mingyu stretches you out on his cock is a treat, but the knowledge that the flared head of his cock pressing deep inside is leaving traces of his seed along your walls has you breathless. You’ve never let anyone else fuck you like this and a part shielded in your chest hopes he’s that last to.

Mingyu is more or less losing his shit behind you. The scorching wet clamp of your silky inner muscles that he’s only felt on his tongue or fingers is better than he could ever imagine. Your pussy gushing to coat his cock as he splits you open has him on the verge of tears. When he’s settled in, your ass pressed firmly to his pelvis, you wiggle against him.

Mingyu responds by pressing forward, pinning your hips to the counter harshly to prevent you from moving again. You’re clenching around him so hard, it takes all of his self control not to cum.

“Fuck, you feel so good.” You mewl.

You’re really not helping.

“Calm down.” He grits out, both to himself and you.

“Need it.”

“Oh you need it?” He chides, delivering a bruising thrust.

You reward him with a sharp whine.

“Calm down baby, I'll give it to you. Always do, don't I?”

One hand circles the base of your throat, not squeezing; just resting the curve against his palm as his thumb trails along the side of your neck. It stops your breath anyway. But then Mingyu leans down to press his chest with your back, face coming into view right over your shoulder to whisper in your ear while looking you in the eye through the mirror.

“But you gotta be a good girl and spread it for me.”

You heave at his words, afraid you might pass out. Hands scramble to grab your own ass cheeks, pulling the flesh apart so he has a clear view of your pussy sucking him in as he starts curling his hips inside you.

The way he’s fucking you is vulgar. Hand wrapped around your throat as the other moves back into your hair, your own brushing the tops of his thighs as he cants against your ass, balls slapping against your pussy with each thrust. Mingyu leans back to watch himself disappear into your cunt, pulling you up into an arch. The feel without a condom is melting his brain but the visual absence of latex is doing incredible damage to his psyche too.

You both are a mess of sweet whines and rough groans, bathroom echoing with the clapping of skin and wet squelch of your full pussy. Breaking his focus on the way your entrance stretches to accommodate his thick cock splitting you open, Mingyu looks in the mirror to watch the way your tits bounce in time with his hips; your mouth open in a silent scream, eyes misty with delirium as you watch him watching you.

“Feel so fucking good like this, shit.” He pants. “Hear how wet you are? Fucking love it don’t you?”

Your head falls forward pathetically, only stopped by the palm still resting around your throat. When Mingyu gives a tentative squeeze, you whimper a quiet agreement. He watches as you force a hand between your thighs, fingers rubbing your clit in tight circles to push you closer to the edge.

“Gonna come,” you whine.

“Yeah?” Mingyu asks, excitement clear as day. He tilts his hips to fuck deeper, stretching you just a little bit wider on his cock to send you home.

“Fuck!” You sob, tensing as your orgasm washes over you.

Every muscle in your body ignites, squeezing impossibly tighter as electricity snaps through your nerves, licking your veins and exploding your field of vision in a blinding white. Like a taunt bow string being released, you curl in on your chest as you clench around your boyfriend’s cock, gushing down shaky thighs. Your free hand grips the edge of the sink, holding on for dear life as you twitch in his hold.

“Where do you want it?” Mingyu cries, two seconds behind you and using his last functioning brain cell to not piss you off by assuming he can finish inside despite wanting nothing more. “Gotta tell me where you want, Y/N.”

“On me, wanna feel you on me!” You cry, still playing with your clit as you pry open teary eyes to watch Mingyu from the mirror.

A bright red blush spreads across his chest and up his neck, glistening with beads of sweat and condensation from the steam clogging the air. His bottom lip swollen from where it's locked between clenched teeth, neck straining and biceps bulging from his harsh grip on your body. He has enough sense of reality to slip the hand around your throat into your hair, gathering the strands in a makeshift ponytail to keep it out of the way of the mess he’s about to make.

He pulls out with seconds to spare against a tsunami of pleasure that begins to surge through his body, beginning in his balls and crashing outward to swamp his nerves. It ripples across his skull, raising goosebumps in its wake as it ebbs through his blood stream. Mingyu’s abdomen flexes as he fists his cock still slick with your combined arousal over your ass; thick streaks of his seed rushing forward. You feel a hefty rope land between your shoulder blades, the sticky heat intoxicating as it trickles down your back. A few drops sputter on the dip of your spine and your hand still spreading you wide, decorating you in his own diamonds.

Mingyu can’t help the way he stares at your hole, obsessed with how you clench around nothing like you’re missing something. He wishes he was watching you squeeze around his dick, his cum dripping out of you with each pulse of muscle. Maybe someday he’ll get to.

As your orgasms subside, weariness circles on the edge of your senses. Two sets of eyes flutter shut, chests heaving and hearts beating in time. Unwinding his hand from your hair, Mingyu lets it gently rest next to your hip on the counter, preventing him from collapsing against you and into the sticky residue he’s left. He can’t feel his legs, head empty of coherent thought. Unconsciously, his thumb traces the dimple at the base of your spine, the gentle caress grounding him to his body.

The quiet of the bathroom is only disturbed by the hum of the overhead fan. You both are spent, muscles weak and nerves fried. Occasionally a deep breath interrupts but it's peaceful as you bask in each other's presence.

“Oh my god,” you pant, breaking his trance.

“Hmm?”

“How did you get cum on the mirror?”

#svthub #svt x reader #kim mingyu x reader #mingyu smut #kim mingyu #svt smut #seventeen smut #kim mingyu smut #dghe couple #🫡 highvern #not seeing heaven for this one I fear

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thehighladywrites · 11 months ago

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The Airhead Chronicles

…and the surprise

pairing: cassian x bimbo reader, inner circle x reader, nesta

summary: Not being able to avoid his family anymore, cassian brings you to meet them, despite the new bond. You all get along great and someone particular catches your eye👀 does the night end as amazingly as it began, though?

warnings: tragic backstory, reader’s mysterious aura is finally explained, i’m so sorry but i’ll have to villainize Nesta in this but I love her and will make a fluff fic with her soon

amara’s note: i’m sorry this took a while, life was kinda hectic but it’s all good now. This is quite a short bc i’m trying to build up some angst…

part one part two part three

“Wha- Rhysie? What are you doing here?” Confusion washed over you as Rhys appeared, equally bewildered.

“This is mine and Feyre’s home, we live here, y/n. What brings you here?”

Your puzzled expression deepened. This wasn't adding up. You were supposed to meet Cassian's friends. Maybe you'd gotten the wrong house.

“I’m visiting my mate's friends. Look, I even baked a cake! Doesn’t it look so tasty?” You held up the cake as you flashed him your usual smile as he nodded absentmindedly.

“You two know each other?” Cassian's raised eyebrows reflected his confusion.

“Cassie, this is Rhys. He’s the friend I’ve been telling you about. You know, the one that helped me move and who I work for.” You introduced Cassian to Rhysand, unaware they'd been friends for half a millennium.

“Y/n, why don't you come inside? Feyre and Nyx are here too. I know they’d be thrilled to meet you,” Rhysand suggested, maintaining eye contact with Cassian, whose expression remained unreadable.

“Oh, I wish we could stay, but we have to like go. Gonna meet my handsome man’s friends, and just between us, they’re like super important people, so I need to prepare myself. But you might now them since you’re high lord.” You leaned in, whispering lowly.

Cassian squeezed your hands reassuringly. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Go ahead and say hi, I’ll just talk to Rhys for a second.”

With a smile, you kissed his cheek and skipped inside to greet with your dear friend Feyre and favorite little guy, Nyx.

Cassians pov:

“You want to tell me how the hell you know her?” Cassian struggled to process the revelation. The idea of you and Rhys already knowing each other left him in disbelief. He couldn't fathom how he was being vexed by your super amazing friend, only to find out he was Cassian's friend too.

“Listen, I didn’t know you were mated or anything. I’ve known her since we were faelings.” Rhysand raised his hands, signaling that he harbored no ill intentions towards you and hadn't done anything wrong.

Cassian backed away, hands on his hips, strolling to the drink cabinet. He grabbed two cups, plopping down on the sofa and ruffling his wings in a mix of frustration and contemplation.

“Rhysie, I’m not going to eat you up, unless you want me to. Come sit down and just talk to me.” Cassian huffed, a hint of amusement in his expression as he noticed Rhysand practically glued behind his desk. With a roll of his eyes, Rhys rounded the table and settled down next to his friend.

They sat in silence, downing their third glass of Rhysand's expensive scotch. A nod from Rhys indicated he was ready to explain everything, and he met Cassian's gaze as he began.

“Alright, so when me and my sister were younger, my father made us switch from our private education in Velaris to Hewn City. The bastard claimed he wanted us to toughen up a bit. It was pure evil if you ask me.” A disgusted expression crossed Rhys's face as he recalled the horrors the new educators put him and his sister through in an attempt to toughen them up. The treatment was truly horrible for all the children there.

“There, I met Y/n and her sisters. They were downright horrendous towards her, and so were her parents because she wasn’t learning as quickly as us. She was also highly sought after due to her beauty and kindness, something her sisters envied. Her father is the Master of Coin, so they're loaded, and they had us do classes together. All the masters' children had classes together, separate from the other children of the city, to showcase how higher educated we were, in my father’s words.”

Rhys sighed, taking a sip of his drink before continuing, “Me and Selene befriended her, and you should’ve seen how jealous her sisters were. As heir, I had a lot of ladies interested in my title, and her sisters were among them. So they spread lies, telling everyone how I was bedding her as mere teenagers when, in reality, I was teaching her the work our educator couldn’t be bothered to teach her. After the rumors spread, her parents pulled her out of school to stay at home and learn her place in the court—how to talk to suitors, how to dress and act in front others with higher titles. She was raised like some sort of prized horse, ready to be sold. It was disgusting, the number of times her parents tried to marry her off for the sake of a title. Every time they tried, I intervened.” He smirked at the memory of your parents angry faces as the high lords son interrupted yet another proposal.

Cassian was shocked, slowly taking in the information as he nuged Rhys to continue.

“So, what happened when you became high lord? Did she stay in the city or did she move?”

“After I became High Lord, I finally banned forced marriages and made it punishable. Her parents suddenly found no need for her, so they told her that she either found someone appropriate herself and convinced me it was love, or they would’ve gotten rid of her.”

Cassian's jaw tightened, his fist instinctively knuckling up. He was seriously one second away from flying there and taking matters into his own hands.

“So I told her parents that she was marrying a well-off lord in the Day Court and that she’d be well taken care of, not that they really cared.”

“And, before you jump to conclusions, yes, I did ask her if I should take care of them for her, but she's not keen on the idea. She's way more merciful than I am. Y/n actually asked me to keep my father as the Master of Coin and, believe it or not, she told me not to kill them. According to her, it's better to let them live and witness her thriving one day. Quite the plot twist, no?” Rhysand smiled at your words, thankful that he had a friend to help him survive back in the city.

His smile faded as he remembered the 49 years he spent away from his family friends and city.

“I got her a house in Aetherian Crest, and she has lived there ever since, even during Amarantha’s reign. The only ones who know she exists are Feyre and, well, Nyx too, but he isn’t old enough to understand that.”

A shared laugh echoed through the room at the mention of Nyx, the thought of the little one adding a touch of warmth to the heavy conversation.

Cassian, still perplexed, glanced between Rhysand and the glass in his hand. He couldn't quite grasp what you worked on and the role you played in his life.

“She says to work for you. What exactly does she do, and why did you have her swear to secrecy with that bargain tattoo?” Cassian's irritation grew as he contemplated the idea of you engaging in something so dangerous that it required an irreversible oath.

Rhysand took a deep breath, sensing Cassian's increasing irritation.

“Y/n handles delicate matters, specializing in extracting information from people. Her bubbly personality and openness make it easy for others to confide in her. Y/n oversees a team, playing a crucial role in our court. She chooses to stay hidden because she doesn’t want the weight of our responsibilities. The intel she gathers is extremely essential; I pass it on to Azriel, who acts based on her information. You know those thrilling missions you love so much? Many are based on her information. She is absolutely irreplaceable and knows everything about every court. I made her swear the same oath that you all have sworn for the protection of Velaris.”

Cassian was stunned, yet it all made perfect sense. It dawned on him that he had shared his childhood and spilled secrets to you in just a few weeks. It had taken him centuries to truly open up to the inner circle, and here you were, extracting information within a matter of days. You were so smooth; he hadn't even noticed it happening. Your ability to weave into his life seamlessly left him both amazed and, oddly, more enamored with you.

It would be insulting to express surprise. Cassian had a hunch that you were doing something extraordinary; he just didn't know the specifics. Now that he had the full picture, he felt an overwhelming sense of pride and admiration, realizing that you were even more remarkable than he had initially thought, if that was even possible.

“What? You thought we only had boring study sessions together? Me and Selene taught her how to spy, just the basics of listening for information; the rest is all her.” Rhysand snorted, raising an amused brow at Cassian while taking a sip of his drink.

Cassian sat back, absorbing the revelation. A mix of awe and admiration colored his expression.

“Damn,” he breathed, his eyes fixed on Rhysand. “I didn't know all this about her. Rhys, I'm proud of her. More than I thought possible. Fuck, I’m falling even harder for her, if that's even possible.”

Rhysand chuckled at Cassian's reaction and clapped him on the shoulder. “Congratulations on the bond, brother. You'll find you fall for her in ways you never imagined. It's normal when you're bonded, trust me. The other day, Feyre showed me a new move she had practiced and I fell even harder.”

With a shared laugh, Rhysand and Cassian returned to the gathering, joining you and the others for dinner. The weight of revelations lingered but was set aside for the warmth of camaraderie, good company, and a meal shared among friends.

—

As he explained that the friends you had come to see were Rhysand and the rest of the Inner Circle, a blush crept onto your cheeks. The realization hit you – you had interacted with them so casually, forgetting for a moment that they were the most significant figures in the Night Court. But they were so nice to you, so did it really matter that you talked about ideal sex positions with the girls?

Seated at the dinner table, everyone enjoyed the meal together. You found yourself leaning into Cassian, the atmosphere around the table filled with laughter, shared stories, and the comforting feeling of being among friends.

Azriel had been sneaking glances at you, not really making much conversation, but occasionally cracked a dry joke or expressed his opinion on topics when asked. He found you interesting, not anything scandalous, he just knew there was more to you, his spymaster instincts picking up a mysterious vibe from you.

Amren just looked at you from head to to, nodding with a tiny movement, one you almost missed, and kept to herself the entire dinner, disappearing the second the food was gone.

Elain had been the most welcoming and openly discussed similar interests with you. She seemed to bond with you the most, appreciating your shared interests. You found her adorable and had complimented everything from her dress and hair to the flowers she planted on the table.

Later, in the sitting room, you and Cassian settled on the sofa, and Elain sat across the room. Eager to chat with her, you sauntered over, sitting extremely close.

Leaning in, you began, “Elain, I find you really, really cute. You remind me of a deer; I love them, they’re so adorable. And i heard tou killed the king of hybern. You’re soo brave!! ” Your words hung in the air, creating a bit of a nervous atmosphere, but Elain let out a small giggle at the proximity and the compliment.

“Ohh, thanks. You’re very pretty too. I like the bows in your hair. And it was nothing really, just protected my sisters.”

Your eyes widened at her cute stutter and the way she squirmed. Gods, she was sooo cute you thought you were gonna die!! You so desperately wanted to be friends with her.

You smiled at her one last time, leaving her with a pounding heart and a nervous smile. You skipped happily back to Cassian who looked mighty amused, ready to enjoy the rest of the evening with his mate.

—

Later during the evening, your arms wrapped around his massive bicep. Leaning your head on it, the warmth of the meal making you sleepy, you scooted closer to Cassian, placing both of your legs on one of his thighs as you rested on his arm.

In that moment, safety, warmth, and reassurance radiates from your mate.

“Cassie, I wanna sleep. M'soooo tired,” you mumbled against his warm skin. His rich laughter rumbled through his body, making you smile like a fool.

Holy fuck, you were so in love with him.

“It’s okay, baby. Do you want me to fly us back to your home or do you want to sleep in my old room?”

You perked up at the thought of seeing his old bedroom, filled with everything that defined him.

“Yes, please! Your old bedroom sounds super cool. Can't wait to see it. And, you know, maybe I could blow you or something?” you said, mundane, as if you were discussing the weather or the latest book you read

Honestly, like, who even cares if anyone hears you talking? It's totally okay to wanna please your mate, right? Ugh, people and their silly fucking rules, it was driving you crazy. If you wanna announce to the world that Cassian fucks you like there’s no tomorrow, then you totally should, no questions asked!

Giggles and laughs filled the room at your crude comment, everyone a bit tipsy after several bottles of wine were shared between you.

—

Cassian's strong and sturdy body carried you on his back as he gave you a piggyback ride through the house, providing a private tour before reaching his designated room in Rhysand's massive estate.

With your boobs pressed softly against his back, you tightened your arms around him, excitedly expressing your dirty wishes for what you wanted to do together.

His arousal was evident as his pants tightened around his cock.

His heart craved to cherish you eternally, eager to bring you joy in every way possible. In this short time, Cassian found himself wholeheartedly falling for you. Filled with a urgency, he yearned to share just how much you meant to him and the extraordinary lengths he'd go, wrapped in those three words and eight letters.

But life wasn’t a fairytale, especially his.

His body froze in shock as he swung open the door, completely taken aback by the unexpected sight of his old lover standing in the middle of his room. Her hands fidgeted nervously before a palpable wave of hatred emanated from her eyes as she shifted her gaze towards you, intensifying the unexpected and shocking nature of her visit.

You, still on top if Cassian, missed the tension in the air as he locked eyes with his old lover. The atmosphere crackled with unresolved emotions.

Cassian, with you still on his back, shifted uncomfortably, trying to gauge the situation.

He took a deep breath, attempting to regain control of the unexpected encounter. “Nesta,” he said her name with a forced calmness that couldn't hide the turmoil beneath the surface. “What are you doing here?”

Nesta's lips curled into a bitter smile, and her gaze never wavered. “I heard you found someone new. Thought I'd see what kind of female you thought could replace me.”

Your heart raced, realizing the depth of the history between them. The room felt charged with a mixture of tension and heartache.

“Cassie, who is she?”

You hopped down, stepping back, a rush of emotions hitting you as you witnessed a scene too familiar. Many before had desired to take you to bed but had never chosen commitment, leaving you with a lingering sense of being used and discarded.

In that moment, you couldn't help but feel the weight of past disappointments. Praying to every god, you desperately hoped this wasn't another painful chapter repeating itself.

Cassian wouldn’t do that to you. He wouldn’t fuck you and toss you aside for a past flame, right?

You were utterly convinced that he couldn’t change that quickly.

So why did doubt and fear take root in you?

And why did his hand tense and curl in when you tried to touch it?

🏷️ taglist: @just-a-social-casualty-1 @wallacewillow0773638 @dominika20hella10black @pinksmellslikelove @hellsenthero @val-writesstuff @paasrin

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velchronica · 11 months ago

Text

pov. ♬~*.°₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ itoshi rin

i wanna love me the way that you love me

for all of my pretty and all of my ugly too

i’d love to see me from your point of view

or, itoshi rin loves you, infinitely, even when you’re struggling to find reasons why he should

content: insecurity (physical & emotional), hurt/comfort, pro footballer!rin, gn!reader, non-celeb!reader, established relationship, sfw

wc: 1.4k

rin always holds you close and let you cry into the crook of his neck when you need him the most, rubbing soothing circles onto your back, comforting and warm. he doesn’t complain about the tear stains on his shirt—instead, he stays there with you in his arms for hours on end. it’s as if there isn’t anything in the world that could move him until you’ve had enough of him.

rin is always understanding. he’s had his own depressive episodes—(often sae-related) symptoms of his unresolved abandonment issues, the fear of not being good enough. yet in those difficult moments, the one who’d worked through all of it with him had been you. so it’s only natural rin plays his part to repay you, to show gratitude for the fact you’re in his life.

life can be cruel, and the world can be cold. people can be both, even if they don’t mean to be. but rin is neither when it comes to you.

some days are better than others, and others may be worse than most. but no matter what’s led to your subsequent breakdown, rin doesn’t question it, he simply lets you cry it out. and if you’re willing to let go of him for a short moment, he’ll be back in no time after making some hot cocoa and getting your favourite sweet snacks, and he’ll carry you—clinging onto him like a baby koala—to your shared bedroom.

once you’re both comfortably sprawled across the bed with a variety of scrumptious delicacies on your bedside cabinet, you muster up the courage to speak up. rin is attentive: his eyes never leave you once while you rant, but his gaze never grows bored, nor does it show signs of it being childish indulgence or empty support. no, rin will sympathise, and never does less than his best to help you through it.

insecurity is not linear, nor is grief or worry. most of the time, there’s no trigger, nor is it a culmination of many miseries. it isn’t straightforward at all, not something that can be ‘fixed’. you’re not ‘broken’ for feeling that way. you’re human, that’s all there is to it.

to be honest, when you tell rin that you sometimes feel unworthy to be by his side, he doesn’t understand. “you’re the itoshi rin, and i’m, well, this,” you say, scoffing a little at the end.

he doesn’t get how you can undermine yourself like that, how you don’t see all the things—whether they’re as easy to spot as the sky above or a miniscule thing even you’re unaware of yourself—that make you so beautiful. to rin, you’re divine. heaven on earth is your feather-light touch, your smile when you look at him, your laughter whenever rin makes a sour face as if he’s just bitten into a lemon because someone’s annoyed him. heaven is every moment he spends with you.

somehow—god knows how—you don’t see that.

sometimes loving rin is all you know, but other times you know he’s so gorgeous that he catches the eye and captures the hearts of all who pass him by. in your eyes, you’re by no means special, but he is. rin’s beautiful in the way his brows furrow when he wakes up in the morning, thick, dark lashes fluttering like butterfly wings as they begrudgingly blink up. the world knows rin’s beautiful, too, because you see it under every post he makes on social media. you know the world loves rin (maybe just not as much as you do) when they scream his name as he walks onto the pitch. he’s like an idol, the way they treat him, with the name banners and the feral fans.

you don’t blame them. who can resist itoshi rin?

you don’t understand how rin can love you, when your ‘imperfections’ are all you can see when you look in the mirror. when you compare your body to that of the celebs that rin’s fans ship him with, or nonsense gossip magazines photoshop him with, because you can imagine rin with someone else—someone more beautiful, more talented. surely there’s a million other alternatives. surely someone as beautiful and special as rin deserves someone equally beautiful and special, someone who can match him, someone deserving.

“sometimes i think you deserve better than me. you’re too good for someone like me.”

when the truth you’d buried comes tumbling out your mouth one night, rin simply cannot comprehend how you could possibly think that. if anything, you’re the one who deserves better than him, right? you simply just settled for him, when you could’ve done much better.

“how could i ever want anyone who isn’t you?” rin says, gritting his teeth. “how can you say you’re undeserving?”

and he pulls you into the most devastating kiss, his hands roaming your beautiful body, every edge and every curve, warm and strong. your hands claw at his shoulders, grasping, and you’re breathless as rin’s lips leave yours momentarily, before they’re slamming back into yours once more.

“you’re beautiful,” rin confesses against your lips, before drawing back. something warm falls on your cheek. when your eyes refocus, rin’s crying. “i love everything about you. all that you are. i can’t explain it. i don’t need to pinpoint your best feature when everything about you is the best. you don’t need to be perfect. i don’t believe in that shit anymore. i just want you to be yourself. i want you to be proud of who you are, and i want you to be happy when you’re with me.”

you reach up to wipe rin’s tears away, feeling your own eyes sting with the telltale warning of your tears’ return. however, rin simply takes your hand in his own, and holds it against his cheek.

“i could spend the rest of my life telling you all the things i love about you, because i’d have to talk about everything about you,” rin says, and your breath hitches in your throat. your boyfriend is a man of few words, he’s always been a patient listener when it comes to you. confessing that he’s willing to talk about everything he loves about you for the rest of his life isn’t a small feat.

the day you broke down rin’s walls and entered his monochrome world, he began to believe in love again. and now he’s learned to simply love again, he’s not going to stop loving you.

and now you’re tearing up again. “i wish i could love myself as much as you love me,” you whisper. “there’s so much i hate about myself.” the words don’t roll off your tongue easily—they’re hesitant, reluctant, like a secret.

“then let me love you,” rin says. “i’ll love all the things you love about yourself and the things you hate about yourself. i’ll love you so much that you’ll learn to love the things you hate about yourself. i’ll remind you of how much i love everything you are, every day, whenever you need me, always.” his turquoise eyes are ablaze, and they look like blue-green flames, scorching with passion and love. “if you don’t want to face your fears alone, i’ll be with you. if you want time to yourself, i’ll wait for you. i’ll keep loving you, even when you’ve forgotten how to love yourself.”

when he pulls you close again, you rest your head against his torso, and you can hear the racing rhythm of his beating heart. in his arms, you feel warm, complete.

“i love you, rin. thank you. i think i really needed that today.”

rin exhales shakily, and you feel the vibration of his chest. “i love you. so damn much.” his hold of you tightens slightly, gentle but protective. “i love you because of who you are. if you decide to change for yourself, i’ll still love you. if you can’t love yourself, i love you for all the self-love you’re missing. and i’ll never stop loving you. don’t you dare forget that.”

#itoshi rin x reader #itoshi rin #blue lock #bluelock #bllk #bllk x reader #rin x reader #rin itoshi #rin itoshi x reader #bllk imagines #bllk fic #♬~*.°₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ vivi #♫ songfic

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nightshadow1607 · 2 years ago

Text

Immortal Izuku: What’s up guys? I’m back.

Shinsou: What the- you can’t be here. You’re dead. I literally saw you die.

Immortal Izuku: Death is a social construct.

Aizawa: I slept for almost 12 hours but I might still be tired so let’s go for 12 more just in case.

Hizashi: Shou, that's a coma.

Aizawa: Sounds festive.

Vigilante Shinsou: Are you sure this is the right direction?

Informant Kaminari: Certainly, I'm as sure as I am honest!

Vigilante Izuku: In that case, we're definitely lost.

Vigilante Izuku: I was arrested for being too cool.

Shinsou: The charges were dropped due to a lack of supporting evidence.

Feral Izuku: Just because I'm too short to reach the lowest self in the cabinet doesn't mean you shouldn't watch out for your kneecaps.

Shinsou: With great power comes great need to take a nap. Wake me up later.

Aizawa: I’ve come to a point in my life where I need a stronger word than fuck

Izuku, holding a python: I impulsively bought a snake, what do I name him

Hizashi, in the verge of a heart attack: You did WHAT–

Shinsou: William Snakepeare

Izuku: Jail is no fun. I’ll tell you that much.

Aizawa: Oh, you’ve been?

Izuku: Once. In Monopoly.

Shinsou: I think I'm having a mid-life crisis.

Aizawa: You're like 15 years old

Shinsou: I MIGHT DIE AT 30!

*Izuku and Shinsou are doing something absurdly dangerous*

Vigilante Izuku: I think Houdini did something like this once! Why, if I recall correctly, he was out of the hospital in no time!

Vigilante Shinsou, deadpan: Well that's encouraging.

Izuku: Bad things keep happening to me, like I have bad luck or something.

Bakugou: Deku, you don't have bad luck. The reason bad things happen to you is because you're a dumbass.

Kirishima: If I accidentally sat on a voodoo doll of myself, would I be trapped forever in that position, doomed to starve to death?

Tokoyami: How am I supposed to know?

Kaminari: You say, as if we don’t use you as a source of knowledge of the occult.

Tokoyami: *sighs*

Tokoyami: You wouldn't be trapped.

Spinner: What do you think Dabi will do for a distraction?

Mr. Compress: They’ll probably, like, make a noise or throw a rock. That’s what I would do.

*Building explodes and several car alarms go off*

Mr. Compress: ... or they could do that.

Izuku: I've already sent good vibes your way… they’re coming. There’s nothing you can do to stop them.

Shinsou: This is the most threatening way I’ve ever been cheered up.

Quirkless Izuku: I’m going to defeat you with the power of friendship! ... And this knife I found.

Uraraka: What do you call a fish with no eye?

Iida, not looking up: Astyanax mexicanus

Uaraka:

Uraraka: fsh

*Shinsou and Izuku sitting in jail together*

Vigilante Izuku: So who should we call?

Vigilante Shinsou: I’d call Aizawa, but I feel safer in jail

incorrect quotes because why not? (part 5)

#vigilante izuku #shinsou hitoshi #aizawa shouta #yamada hizashi #kaminari denki #bakugou katsuki #kirishima eijirou #tokoyami fumikage #spinner mha #mr compress #uraraka ochako #iida tenya #incorrect qoute bnha #dadzawa

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ruby-sturn · 1 month ago

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Skinny

Warnings: swearing, ⭐️ving, self harm (prolly missed some so sorry if I did)

Summary: SLS find out she’s been starving herself

Reader’s age: 15

When your brothers started YouTube you were only 11, so of course they weren’t giving you hate. But recently you’ve been getting a lot of hate. The Comments were getting at you. Really badly…

Comments:

“Fattie”

“We can tell which one got the bad genes in their family 😭🙏”

“She’s so pretty (if she ate less)”

You decided to just go to bed and sleep it off. You thought to yourself, maybe they’re right? Maybe you are fat?

The next day your brothers ask you to be in a video. Of course you said yes because you loved making videos, but you didn’t like the out come.

“Hey guys, today we’re vlogging with our sister sls! Nick says. You wave at the camera already knowing you’re going to get gate comments very soon. Since it was hot out of course you were wearing a tank top and shorts. But you regretted that decision.. because once the video was out there it was. The hate.

“Jump”

“🤢”

“I feel bad why y’all hating”

Reply:

“Why aren’t you hating?!”

“Lmao”

“Real”

“Realest shit every 💀”

In that moment you decided to stop eating, cutting yourself, honorary anything to be “skinner” and “prettier” as they all said. You went in the cabinet in your bathroom looking for blades. You’ve never done this before. You thought to yourself “fuck it.”

The triplets pov:

Chris: “Sls has been acting different lately, not as happy, tired, and just looks sad.”

Nick: “I know. Last week when we were filming the video she seemed uncomfortable.”

Matt: “last night I was going to check up on her and she was crying and looking at her phone.”

Nick: “Do you think it’s the hate?”

Chris and Matt: “Maybe…”

It wasn’t just you seeing the comments, it was also your brothers.

The next morning Nick made an incredible breakfast. Pancakes, eggs and bacon. Your favourite. You really wanted to eat it , but you knew you couldn’t.

Nick: “I made your FAVOURITEEEE!!”

Sls: “I’m ok, I have a stomach ache.”

Nick: “ Ok hopefully it leaves during the day.”

You used other excuses too. Like I’m not hungry, I already ate. It was easier during lunch and breakfast but not dinner.

You’ve been doing this for months. Not eating, sleeping, cutting yourself etc. You realize you’re starting to see your bones. “It’s working” you think to yourself. But, today was different. They got your favourite food. McDonald’s.

Nick laid out your food for you. You of course wanted to eat it but you couldn’t.

Matt: “How’s school been?”

Sls: “It’s been good. Just keeping to myself not to cause problems.”

Keeping to yourself was true, school being ok was a lie. Everyone there was also body shamming you.

Even tho it’s been hard to eat, you decided to eat little bit of it. But when your brothers weren’t paying attention, you threw out your food and ran up to your bathroom.

You started gagging yourself to regurgitate your food.

Chris’s POV:

I was taking out the garbage and I realized there was a bunch of perfectly fine food. I checked and it’s was sls’s food. I called Nick and Matt over. “NICK, MATT!” I yelled out their names concerned. They rushed over and I showed them. They were so devastated. Since we all assumed to worse. She’s starving herself.

SLS’s POV:

Just as I’m about to finish, I hear the door open I look up and I see Matt, Nick and Chris. All looking at me in disappointment. Of course I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I didn’t think they would find out.

Triplets POV:

We open the door of sls’s bathroom since we heard gagging, and we saw her on the floor, shaking, cold, gagging herself, crying and cold sweating. We were more scared for her health than disappointment. But of course we’re disappointed. How could she do that? She’s so pretty, and prefect.

Nick drops to the floor hugging sls. She explains to them about the hate she’s been getting and how the comments were ruining her, and about the things she’s been doing to herself.Nick: “Don’t listen to them. You’re perfect just the way you are. You don’t need to change to fit “beauty standards.”(🙄) Chris: yes don’t listen to them. I promise we’re going to help you, and get you eating again and get rid of your addiction of cutting yourself. “Ok.” You say as they help you get to bed to rest off what just happened.

First time writing it definitely sucks I had to rush. Also please don’t ever starve your self and do any self harm in general. You might think it’s helping, but it’S really not. Trust me please.

#chris sturniolo #sturniolo fanfic #sturniolo triplets #christopher sturniolo #matt sturniolo #nick sturniolo #Spotify

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jishyucks · 10 months ago

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Staycation — lfl

‣ pairing: felix lee x reader

‣ genre: fluff, implied f2l, hurt/comfort

‣ wc: 2.6k

‣ summary: Spending Christmas sick and in bed wasn’t Felix’s ideal way of spending the holiday. Being the best friend that you are, you decide to take care of him. Who would have thought that Felix was clingy when he had the flu?

‣ warnings: uhh, a jab at men when they’re sick (i’m speaking from experience), this is mostly platonic but the end is implied f2l (or else this would've been long as shit)

‣ an: OKAY this was cute too, something short but sweet and simple,, I haven't written for Felix in so long so I hope this was good enough,, PLEASE ENJOY! x

Series Masterlist

“I’m sorry again.”

A huff leaves your lips when you turn to Felix’s figure buried under layers of blankets. “Lix, for the millionth time, I promise you, it’s fine. I chose to stay and take care of you.”

“You didn’t choose. The others chose you because you already got sick before,” Felix argues, “And I know how excited you were for the party, so don’t lie that it’s okay.” He squirms, looking adorably identical to a swaddled baby.

“If I didn’t wanna be here, then I wouldn’t be here, okay?” You say, picking up the water bottle sitting at his bedside table and bringing it up to his lips to drink, “I was excited, but I don’t think it would’ve been fun knowing you weren’t there to enjoy it, either.”

Felix takes a sip out of the bottle and hums at how delicious the water tastes when his throat is as dry. He thanks you and sighs, “Yeah but you’ve been talking about it for the past month and I had to ruin it with my stupid immune system.”

“Well, would you rather it be me or Jisung here to take care of you?” You raise a brow. His silence was enough to answer you and you giggled, “See?” Although Jisung was a great friend to Felix, he and you both knew that Jisung would only do the bare minimum at times like these.

“Are you okay with me leaving for a bit to make you soup?” you ask, “You can just call out to me and I’ll come quick.”

Felix lets out a sound of acknowledgement and you leave him be, leaving his rather stuffy room and out into the main area of his apartment.

You move into the kitchen, your slippers dragging against the cool tile, eyes set on the bags of groceries you had bought to cook. There’s a twinge of guilt in your chest because you’re starting to think that you were the one who had given Felix this nasty cold, but it genuinely wasn’t the reason why you chose to stay and take care of him.

Playing one of your playlists, you get to cooking, squatting down to grab a decently sized pot in one of the cabinets. You eye the amount of water you fill it with before carefully bringing it to the stove to boil. Then you pull out a chopping board to begin slicing vegetables.

All of this was like second nature to you. It was something you’d prepare on lazy days or days when you needed comfort, and you figured that this was the perfect time to make it.

It was halfway through that you heard Felix’s door creak open and the floorboards underneath your feet shift. “Lix, get back to bed.” You speak to him over your shoulder, too busy stirring the pot to prevent the ingredients from settling to the bottom and overcooking. “Smells good.” Felix’s voice comes out hoarse. He waddles over to you, his blankets trailing behind him like the train of a wedding dress.

It almost catches you off guard when Felix chooses to place himself at your side, your arms making an indent into his bunch of blankets. You freeze for a moment before you push yourself to look over at him. Fuck he was close. Like ‘you could probably count his freckles’ close. And Felix didn’t seem to care, thoughtlessly blinking at the bobbing vegetables.

“Dizzy…” Felix’s arm emerges from underneath his blankets and his hand goes to grab his head. The lids of his eyes close and he groans, brows knitting in discomfort.

“That’s why you should get back into bed, stupid,” you nudge at his side and put down your spoon, “C’mon.”

He shakes his head, “I don’t want to go back to bed.” Felix sounds like a stubborn child, but you figure this was how all men were when they were sick. It was the same with your brother and your dad… and you can recall that Jisung was stubborn when he was sick a few months back, too.

“If you’re dizzy, you need to lay down, Lix.”

His head turns and settles on the couch in the nearby living room, “Can I lay down in the living room, then?”

“Fine.” You guide him to the couch, making sure that the guy doesn’t fall over and hit his head, “When was the last time you took meds?”

Felix shrugs, “Like… when Sungie left?”

You look over at the clock and estimate the number of hours until his next dose, “Okay, remind me to give you some at eight.”

“Yes, mom.”

“Do you want me to take care of you, or not?” You jokingly threaten, sending him a glare, though his eyes were closed.

“Was… joking.” Felix burrows deeper into the couch, “Was joking…” And he’s asleep.

You shake your head, a laugh leaving your system in the form of a huff of air before you go back to your soup, dropping in the last few ingredients before letting it sit.

From where you were in the kitchen, Felix moaned and grumbled out incoherent words, stopping after what seemed to be a sentence. You figured that he was sleep talking—you remember reading somewhere that it was a result of stress in the body—and it was utterly adorable.

Thinking back over all the years you’ve been friends with Felix, there was not one day when he was this sick. He's had a couple of colds that’s lasted no more than two days, a flu here and there, but never had he fallen so sick that he’s sleep talking.

When you finish cooking the soup, you turn the stove off and go to one of the cabinets to take two bowls out. You prepare a serving for you and Felix, using a serving spoon to pour the contents of the soup. Hunger’s gaining on you, too. You’ve been so busy making the food that you haven’t even thought of eating.

“Lix.” You look down at him from behind the couch. The boy’s still mumbling things underneath his breath and you can see the way his eyes move underneath his lids. Bringing your pointer finger up to his cheek, you poke it, “Lix, the soup’s ready.”

Felix stirs and his eyes flutter, open, “Hm?”

“The soup’s ready.”

In the blink of an eye, the pot’s empty and all the soup is downed and eaten by you and Felix, who looks far better than he did not even half an hour ago.

He’s wide awake, hair still a mess and blankets sitting around his waist at the table. A delicate smile sits on his lips, satisfied by the meal you’ve just given him and he thanks you, “I’ll do the dishes.” “Nuh-uh, you’re going to continue resting.” Before he objects, you reach over and grab his bowl and his utensils, gathering them with your own. You’re quick to get up and get to the sink, ignoring the hurried calls Felix sends your way.

He follows you soon after, though he stumbles in the slightest, sticking to your side like a magnet. “Y/N, let me do it. Please~”

“Lix, it’s two bowls and two spoons.”

“I don’t care, you cooked the food,” Felix frowns. He makes no effort to push you aside but he hovers over your shoulder, watching as you wait for the water to warm up.

“I don’t care, you’re sick,” you retort.

You feel Felix’s hands gently grab your elbows, this time making his attempts to pull you aside so that he could start with the chore, “Y/N~”

You tsk and shoot him a glare, “Felix, I’m serious.”

Felix drops his arms and huffs as if he were a child being told no. “I feel bad.”

“You’re sick,” you repeat, “It’s okay, Lix. Now go sit on the couch before you fall over.”

Another sigh of defeat shoots out of Felix’s lips and he hesitates to leave, sticking to your side for a few more moments before he turns to return to the couch.

“Do you want to do something for the rest of the night?” You hope he hears you over the running water, “We can watch a movie if you want.”

If Felix replied, you don’t hear him, water running on full blast as you rinse the suds of soap off of the dishes. You place them into the dishwasher and then go to wash your hands, quickly joining Felix in the living room.

“Do you know what we haven’t done in so long?” Felix is sitting upright on the couch, upper body sinking on the backrest of the furniture. His hair sticks out in tufts from underneath his head as he looks at you.

“What?”

“Built a fort.”

You snort at the idea of building a fort in the middle of his and Jisung’s living room, feeling a bit of nostalgia when you think back to your days as kids and pre-teens. Building furniture forts was something you and Felix had always done on sleepovers, always promising your parents that the place would be back into its rightful state before one of you had to go back home.

“You really want to build a fort right now?” You raise a brow at the sickly boy. The idea was cute, something that would easily kill the time from now ‘til Jisung returns from the party. And despite your question, you weren’t opposed to building a fort.

“Please?” For some reason, Felix believes that you’re going to say no, “I feel okay right now! I feel better! Your soup made me feel better!” He musters up the best pout he can show you and sits up. The sudden change in position reminds Felix that he still has symptoms of dizziness, slightly tipping over before he goes to grab your hand.

And being the weakest motherfucker for Felix, you cave in, “On one condition.”

He nods for you to continue.

“If I sense that you’re really not feeling well and you start getting all dizzy on me, we’re stopping.”

“Deal.”

You and Felix spin a wheel to see which holiday movie you should play in the background as you build the cozy fortress—it lands on Love Actually—and begin taking apart the couches. Cushions and blankets from the living room and Felix’s room create a mountain off to the side, and you both manage to push the frames of the sofas to be used as the fort’s foundation.

The building takes longer than you both had wanted, occasionally stopping because the movie was growing more and more interesting as time passed. But during the filler scenes, you begin arranging the blankets, pillows, and seats to create walls and roofs for the fort.

The actual shape of the fort wasn’t the most creative, but you and Felix had decided to prioritize comfort over aesthetics. Most of the pillows and the blankets created the bedding for you both to lay in, the largest blanket, a thin secondary blanket coming from his room, was what you had chosen for the roof.

Upon finishing, you couldn’t help but notice the way Felix grins from ear to ear and the sight of it causes your heart to warm up unusually—one that was both familiar yet new. You ignore it.

“Finally,” Felix huffs, “Finally I can lay down.”

The movie’s just about finished when you’re both able to settle inside the fort (yes, it took two whole hours to build a fort). That feeling of nostalgia from earlier rushes back and your gaze leaves the screen and onto the blank, soft blue fabric of the fort’s ceiling.

“What movie should we play next?” Felix questions from beside you. He’s seated slightly higher than you were—you were laying flat on your back—and you feel his forearm leave your side to grab the remote.

“Doesn’t really matter to me,” you say quietly. You’re not quite sure what’s taken over you but you catch yourself continuing to stare blankly at Felix’s thin blanket.

Felix takes a while to reply, probably scrolling through the selection of movies but you don’t make an effort to look. You feel like falling asleep.

“The Polar Express, it is.” You feel your best friend shift back to your side, tugging at his blanket to pull it up to his chin.

“Are you okay?” Then Felix’s face appears in your line of sight. He’s looking down at you, lips forming a small u-shaped smile as he patiently awaits your answer. And from his perspective, your eyes cross to look back at him, eyes half-lidded.

“Yeah, ‘m just tired.” You ignore the way your heart’s annoyingly beating against your rib cage.

Felix understands your answer. You’ve been taking care of him for the entirety of the evening, and then you both built an entire fort with not-so-light materials.

Felix plops back down next to you, this time his arm falling right on top of yours—and none of you try to move away. You figured that it was because it felt… nice—the apartment was cold, the room patiently waiting for the furnace’s next round of heat—so the heat radiating off of Felix’s arm was more than enough for you to feel comfortable.

“Me too.”

You wouldn’t call Polar Express boring, but it was calming enough for you to fall asleep. It’s funny because you were well aware that you were falling asleep, you just couldn’t bring yourself to shake yourself out of it.

“You’re sleeping~” Felix calls out. He doesn’t think he’d actually wake you up, but when your eyes flicker open to look at him, he’s already looking back at you with an apologetic smile.

“I’m just resting my eyes,” you lie, “I’m tired.”

“You can sleep if you want,” Felix says this extra quiet, just under his breath.

The heaviness of your eyelids was taking over, smile drooping, “Wake me up if you need anything.”

Felix gives you a hum in response, and you find yourself succumbing to sleep.

⋆⁺₊❅⋆ ⁺₊❆⋆

“Jisung, you need to get off of me, I know you’re not drunk.”

Changbin’s voice echoes in the quiet hallway of the apartment building, Chan doing nothing to help the younger boy out. Instead, he’s walking ahead to unlock the door of Jisung and Felix’s shared apartment, opening the door wide enough for both guys to slip through.

“I’m not, but I’m tired~” Jisung whines. He’s practically pulling down Changbin with all his weight, tripping and stumbling over his own feet. Chan just laughs, entering the room first to hold it open for the two.

“What’s that?” Changbin’s the first to notice the fort that you and Felix had built earlier in the night. The TV was now off from inactivity and the place was quiet.

Chan shrugs and Jisung groans at the sight of the mess (he doesn’t know yet that you’ll clean it up the next morning), not able to get a word out because Changbin tows him away from the living room and straight to his bedroom.

“Y/N?” Chan calls out, “Lix?”

He makes his way to the opening of the fort, his steps light and careful because he’s starting to get suspicious that you both were asleep, maybe hiding.

Chan squats down, groaning when he feels his aging knees crack. Then, he brings himself to peek in.

Under the dim light spilling into the fort, Chan sees the both of you fast asleep. You’re facing away from Felix, a small throw pillow being suffocated in your arms. And Felix, both of his arms are thrown around you and falling limp around your frame.

As much as Chan wanted to tease the both of you, he couldn’t help but notice how peaceful the two looked—probably exhausted.

“Are they in there?”

Chan looks up and over the roof of the fort to see that Changbin has finally gotten rid of Jisung and he is ready to head home. He has a knowing smile, almost appearing like a smirk.

Chan nods and mirrors Changbin’s expressions and stands up.

“Give me your phone, I need to take a picture of this.”

tags: @tytrackfebreze @hoonieji @niinjo @dinonuguaegi @ariadores @reignessance

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resident-gay-bitch · 1 year ago

Text

sirius being dramatic when finding out about jegulus + very side wolfstar and rosekiller

Sirius strode into the apartment without warning, tossed his keys onto the table with a loud clunk, and took a dramatic bow with a wolffish grin.

“So, what do you think?”

“Of what?” Regulus asked, deadpanning him, “Your dramatic entrance? You’re not a vampire, Sirius- also I told you that key was for emergencies only.”

“This is an emergency.” Sirius glared at him, straightening up, “I need compliments.”

“Oh, how out of character for you.” Regulus said sarcastically, stirring his tea with his spoon at the table.

Sirius flipped him off.

“Please, tell me your thoughts.” Sirius grinned, showing off his new look and flourishing his hair, “Honest opinions only, unless they’re mean. If they’re mean, just tell me I’m pretty instead.”

“You’re pretty.” Dorcas smirked, and Sirius flipped her off.

Sirius had gone on an impulsive whim this morning after a quiet breakfast with Remus had revealed he quite likes the edgy punk look. And whilst Sirius is well aware how much Remus adores his long hair and pretty rebel boy demeanour, mixining it up for a few months could only mean a bit of fun.

Besides, if the way Remus’ brain seemed to short circuit that time Sirius came home with a septum and a nose piercing meant anything, Sirius is sure the other man would absolutely melt now.

He’d gotten himself an eyebrow and lip piercing today, as well as an extra three in his ear. It was a painful feat, and Sirius will not admit that he cried and had to be given a lollipop like a child, but he did it.

He also cut his hair short, just below the base of his skull, short wavy locks that no longer frame his face like they once did. And underneath, he’s died it electric blue.

He chopped one of his old metal band tees through the middle for a rough crop, and put Remus’ too big black ripped jeans on, letting them sit low on the waist with a studded belt to keep from pantsing himself. He’s never really been one for having his briefs stuck up out of his pants, but he happens to be wearing dark blue ones today, and they match.

“I think you look lovely, Sirius.” Pandora smiled over her tea, sitting at the table by Regulus. Out of Regulus’ entire group of friends, Sirius likes her the best. She’s always the nicest to him. “Very punk rock.”

“Thank you, Pandora.” Sirius smiled.

“I think you look stupid.” Regulus said, because of course he did.

“Thank you, Reggie.” Sirius smiled.

“I think you look like me.” Barty said, leaning up against the kitchen counter, one foot on the cabinets behind him for stability.

Sirius furrowed his brow and looked Barty over. And… fuck, yeah, he did. Barty was also wearing a messily cropped shirt, briefs that stuck out of the hem of his low baggy sweats, but he usually wears jeans like these when he’s out and about. And his hair is almost identical to Sirius’, however there’s green in it rather than blue. And the piercings, he’s got loads of them, skin smothered with tattoos too.

“You stealing my look, Black?” Barty grinned.

“Yeah, Im very attracted to him right now.” Evan, who had his head resting on Barty’s shoulder, smiled, “You should go blue, Barty. Its hot.”

“Hey.” Barty nudged him in the side and Sirius blushed.

“Well, thank you Evan, however, I am happily committed.” Sirius smiled, taking another little bow, “I suppose I take that as a compliment too, Crouch?”

“Obviously.” Crouch snickered, “I feel honoured that the Sirius Black is trying to look more like little old me-“

“That was an accident.” Sirius pressed, pointing at him, “I just wanted to look cool for Remus.”

“So you think I look cool?” Barty laughed delightfully.

“That’ll work.” Dorcas grinned, “Remember when Remus and Barry shagged-“

“I don’t need a reminder of that!” Sirius shouted as the same time that Barty said, “Cas, I told you to stop bringing that up around Evan.”

“Oh, so she can bring it up when I’m not around, huh?” Evan asked with a snake like grin, “Do you like to reminisce when I’m not there, Barty? Are you unfaithful?”

“Never, dove.” Barty kissed Evans forehead and sent an evil glare Dorcas’ way, “Dorcas just likes to stir the pot.”

Dorcas and Pandora giggled to themselves.

“Okay, enough about you lot, more about me.” Sirius interrupted, “On a scale of one to ten, how much do you think Remus will want to shag me when I get home? Ten being a lot-“

Sirius’ speech was interrupted by someone else letting themselves in through the front door and striding into the house.

“Love, I broke my glasses again, can you please fix them?” Sirius recognised that voice instantly, it was his best friends voice afterall. James walked right past Sirius in the entry way and leant in and smacked a kiss right on Regulus’ lips, “Missed you.” James muttered again, “I know it’s only been three hours, but I always miss you.”

Sirius is feeling a lot of confusion right now.

Regulus sends him a panicked glance over James’ shoulder, and then awkwardly looks up at James with pink cheeks. Sirius takes in the sudden tension in the room, at the way Pandora is sending Sirius a pleading look, at the way Dorcas is biting her lip in anticipation and looking between everyone, at the way Barty is clearly trying his best not to burst out with laughter, and the way that Evan is jabbing an elbow into his side and looking remorseful.

Suddenly Sirius is no longer confused. He feels more betrayed than anything.

James is fucking shagging his baby brother, isn’t he?

“Oh, Barty, by the way-“ James starts but he interrupts himself midway through, “I swear you were just-“ James turns and points in Sirius’ direction, and then spins back to Barty, “Why are there two of you?”

Barty bursts out laughing, “There’s only one of me, Potter.”

James swings back and forth, looking between them for a moment. And Sirius remembers how genuinely blind James is without his glasses. He usually can’t tell Remus and Peter apart when without them, their hair too similar in colour. So Sirius decides to help him out.

“James.” Sirius prompts when James’ back is to him, and he watches the way the other man immediately stiffens, “Are you snagging my brother?”

Regulus stands and slides James’ glasses onto his face before solemnly petting him on the cheek and sighing, “You’ve been wanting to tell him somehow.”

James slowly turns around, “Oh, Sirius, hi! Didn’t see you there, wow, new look. Very punk, Remus is sure to love it- hey, why don’t we go show Remus now? Yeah, let’s go right there and not talk about anything else-“

“James.” Sirius prompts again, glaring at him, “Are you, or are you not, shagging my brother.”

“Uhm, well… shagging’s quite a vile word, don’t you think? I prefer… love making-“

Behind him, Regulus groaned and began to bang his head on the cupboard whilst all of his friends lit up with laughter.

“Love making?” Sirius gasped, “James, that’s disgusting.”

“Well, it’s not really, it’s quite lovely.”

Sirius pretends to gag, “How long?”

“Erm… bit of an odd question considering it’s your brother.” James shrugged, “But, usually at least an hour-“

“No!” Sirius gasped, slapping his hands down over his ears, which hurt due to the new piercings. “I meant you two! How long have you been shagging?”

“Oh.” James turned bright red, “Yeah, I suppose that’s more logical. Uhm, maybe… like… mhgh…”

“I’m sorry?” Sirius asked, “Mind not mumbling?”

James pulled a wry face and shook his head. Sirius cocked an eyebrow, which also hurt.

Regulus groaned and leant over James, shoulder, “Six and a half month-“

“What!” Sirius shrieked, “You’ve been fucking m’y brother for six and a half months and haven’t told me?!”

“I don’t need to tell you all my personal business, Sirius.” Regulus said.

“Yeah, but, James does.” Sirius points at him.

“It’s true, I do.” James agreed, “Which is why I’m so sorry, Pads. I didn’t want to keep it from you, it’s just, we thought we should at first because I know you scared away the last two guys Reggie was involved with. And then… and then I just felt bad for lying and so I kept lying and… and now we’re here.”

Sirius shook his head at James, “I’m so disappointed in you.” He squinted his eyes, “Just fooling around with my brother like that-“

“We’re not fooling around, Sirius.” James defended, “We never were.”

“I don’t understand.” Sirius shook his head, “Are you shagging or not?”

James snickered, “Look, I didn’t even know I had a crush on Reggie till he kissed me one day, and then I immediately realised I liked him and… and well, we started going out. The shagging didn’t start till after then.”

Sirius took a little step back, looking them both over.

“It’s genuine, Sirius.” James smiled, putting his arm around Regulus’ shoulders, “I just didn’t- I was too scared… I was worried you wouldn’t approve of me for him.” James shrugged, “But we’re not just shagging… I love him.”

Sirius was taken aback, stuck silent for a moment. James loved him? Regulus was gazing up at James with flushed cheeks and a a smile he’d never seen his brother wear before, and it seemed like Regulus loved him back.

Sirius burst out crying.

James immediately rushed to his aid, making them both sit at the table, two chairs pulled out to face eachother. Regulus groaned and went to put on a new pot of tea.

James took Sirius’ hands, shushing him and looking terribly guilty, “I- I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Sirius. Is there something I can do to make it up to you? Is… Is there something I can do to make me worthy of him? I can’t lose- I can’t lose either of you, I’m so sorry, Sirius.”

Sirius sobbed so hard he couldn’t even speak. He shook his head to try and communicate with James, but the message did not go across clearly.

James had started to cry too, “I’m sorry, Sirius. I’m so sorry, I should have- I know I shouldn’t have lied, especially not for so long. But I was so worried- worried about this. I can’t-“ James sobbed so hard he started hyperventilating, “I don’t want to loose- loose-“

“Okay.” Pandora muttered, getting in between them, “Look at me, let’s take some deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth. With me now, come on, in through the nose… out through the mouth.”

Sirius and James sat there for a moment, following pandoras instructions. James’ glasses were cracked and foggy, and Sirius was dreading having to reapply his eyeliner for a second time today.

Regulus set some teacups down on the table and poured them each some midnight blue coloured tea, “Dora’s recipe. Supposed to calm you.”

“I’m sorry.” James muttered after taking a big sip of tea, “I don’t know what to do, Pads. I can’t lose you both.”

Sirius took a few sips himself, taking a moment to compose himself, “You’re not going too.” He smiled, his eyes begging to water again, “I’m sorry I freaked you out.”

“What?” James asked, taken aback, his voice sounded hoarse.

Sirius set his cup down with shaky hands and burst into more tears, but he smiled through them, and they weren’t nearly as heavy as before, “You love him?!”

James sent a nervous glance over at Regulus and tentatively nodded, “As much as I love you- but, differently, of course.”

That only made Sirius cry harder. He tried to talk again, but all that came out was incoherent nonsense.

“Sirius, stop wailing and just talk for Godricks sake.” Regulus scoffed, “Or you can fucking get out of my house.”

Sirius took a deep breath and sniffled, “I’m sorry… I just… you love him! Reggie deserves to be loved.”

“Oh.” James muttered, poking his glasses up his nose. Across the table, Regulus went silent. James smiled and nodded, “Yeah, of course he does.”

“And you deserve to be loved.” Sirius mumbles.

James snickers, “Well, I hope I do.”

“And… and you have such a big heart, and love people so… so… in the best way.”

James smiled and nodded.

“And Reggie-“ Sirius sobbed more, “He struggles- but he really loves who he loves with his whole heart.”

Regulus embarrassedly buried his head in his hands and Barty gave him a playful shove.

“Out of everyone in the world, I approve of you both the most for eachother.” Sirius sobbed, “And it just makes me so happy that you love eachother!”

There was a moment of silence before James started laughing in that way he does when he really adores something. He reached out and grabbed Sirius’ hands, squeezing them tight.

“It makes me so fucking happy that you approve.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Sirius sniffled, “You’re my best friend, and he’s my brother. You’re my two favorite people, it only makes sense that you love eachother.”

“Do you mean that?” Regulus asked across the table.

“Of course.” Sirius nodded, reaching over to pet Reggie’s elbow, “And when you get married James will be my brother in law-“

“I bloody know!” James grinned, slapping his knee, “How good will that be?”

Sirius grabbed onto him excitedly.

After a moment, James smiled and wiped at the black smudge from Sirius’ tears, “This new look got anything to do with Remus’ thing for punks?”

Sirius smiled sheepishly, “Do you think he’ll like it?”

“He liked it enough when you got those nose piercings, he’ll probably pass out seing you like this.”

Sirius chuckled.

“Come on, let’s clean you up and get you back home to him.”

Sirius smiled and nodded, “Thanks, Prongs.”

When Sirius got home, Remus did in fact malfunction. He couldn’t talk proper words for two whole minuets before he pointed to their room and muttered, “Bed, now.” And Sirius could never say no to his Moony.

★ ★ ★

Wow I wrote this at a regular hour in the day, hats off to me. This was inspired by @gaybubblehead and my texts about how they hc sirius goes through a phase where he looks just like Barty in terms of style and stuff and I honestly agree he would do that. I mean they came up with the entire idea of this basically and told me I should write it, and for once I actually delivered. lol

So this one’s for you my dude <3

It was silly, I started this with barely any direction and just let the story write its self. I should be writing my Christmas fic butttttt no.

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honeybeezgobzzzzz · 1 year ago

Text

☠️ Clipped Wings: Chapter Four

Clipped Wings: After living a life in seclusion due to an over protective father, you sneak away to experience life as it really is. Slowly building up the woman you always wanted to be, your quiet life is interrupted when you meet a rather elastic boy and his crew. This is just the beginning of trouble and your carefully crafted life starts to crumble around you. The past never really stays in the past, and now it has come knocking. In more ways than one.

Warnings: Blood.

To Note: Dracule Mihawk x Reader, NAMED!FemReader, Some physical features have been given (hair & eye color).

Word Count: ~2.8k

Previous | Masterlist | Next

9 Months Since Rescue

“If you sit still it won’t hurt as much,” You chided the teen who had come to you to have a laceration stitched up. The story he had told you was that he was helping his friend with repairs to a market stall in town… but the gaggle of friends he’d brought with him told you otherwise. There were two girls in the group who appeared to be worried out of their minds yet gushing about how strong the teen was. The kid had probably tried showing off and hurt himself in the process. You’d seen a fair amount of it in your travels as a nurse and seamstress, and half of your clients end up being youth.

Of course you were still starting out in your job, you hadn’t even been on your own for a year… but the satisfaction of freedom was serendipitous. You had learned so much in your short time of travels that while you were still naive to most of the world, your thirst for the seas was never satisfied or hindered. Finishing your stitches on the teen, you wrapped it up in a few layers of gauze.

“You’re done, don’t touch or mess with it for a day,” You informed the teen who held his injured arm against his chest. “And if you want to impress a girl, don’t do stupid shit that’ll get you injured.” His face flushed and he was about to mouth off to you when you stopped him. “Girl’s that age like flowers and thoughtful gifts, don’t be a dumbass and land yourself back in my services, okay?”

He held his tongue with a grumble and dropped payment onto the table next you with a grunt before vacating his seat. Smiling as he returned to his friends, you watched the teen disappear from the doctors office.

“Ah youth, the’ve been getting more reckless as the generations go by,” The doctor you’d spent the last three months working for, complained. You pocketed the money the teen had left and chuckled.

“Doctor, they’re kids, let them enjoy themselves while they can.” You told the old coot, packing up your stitching supplies for the final time. You had signed on for a temporary stay with the doctor on Pufferfish Island while you explored the culture of this town, and with that time up, you were leaving port the next morning.

“Damn kids’ll never learn about life if they just keep gooffin off!” He continued to complain as you double checked that you had collected everything that you owned.

“Life isn’t all about working you know,” You told the doctor. “Does it not get boring only thinking about money?”

“What else am I supposed to do then? Hmm?” Looking at the doctors back, you pursed your lips and shook your head. Berries. Far too many people focused only on Berries rather than living life. It was a pity, really, because ever since you had left Esmereld Cove you had nothing but joy in traveling and exploration. You dropped your eyes to the floor and rubbed your cheek.

“Live your life the way you want to then,” You murmured before shouldering your bag. “I’m off for a final time, don’t forget to lock up the medicine cabinet. The last time you forgot the neighbors got into it.” More grumbles from the doctor and you shrugged. Oh well, you’d warned him and no longer worked with him so it was no longer your concern.

Walking down the path that led to the inner port harbor, you hummed to yourself and made the decision to have one least meal at the tavern before you headed out for your next island. You passed several houses of villagers that you had tended to and even waved hello to a few children running around. You’d miss their jubilant faces and wide smiles, but you were sure to see more on the next island.

Cresting a hill to the cobbled path leading to the busier port harbor, you stopped short when your gaze caught sight of a new ship docked. You stopped short and let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Ah, the tavern is going to be busy, isn’t it…” You complained to yourself. “Oh well, even pirates have to eat.” You continued towards the port harbor, running your hand over the hair you had pulled back. It’d grown out from short and choppy, but was only just long enough to be tamed by string. It was still very short but at least you blended in now.

Getting closer to the tavern, you could hear the villagers grumbling about pirates. They weren’t fond of them, but had no quarrels as long as they respected the island. Turning down a curvy lane, you walked swiftly with dinner on the mind. You’d skipped lunch after a bunch of school kids had gotten into a scuffle over lunch games. Unfortunately, tear filled eyes doomed your lunch and you had spent it patching up busted elbows and knees. You were a bit of a sucker at times.

You made it to the entrance of the tavern, and weaved through several men loitering around with drinks in their hand. They were the regulars, so they didn’t bother you as you passed, but one did step forwards.

“Head’s up doc,” You looked to the man that spoke. “Pirates are in, they’ve been kicking up a fuss.”

“I’m just in for a last meal,” You said, pausing in step and eyeing the tavern. “I’ll mind myself, just make sure you all don’t get yourselves into conditions I have to treat, I have a boat to catch in the morning.” Hat’s dipped and you entered the tavern with a hand raised over your shoulder. The tavern was crowded with villagers and pirates alike, but you spotted a place you could sit for dinner and began heading there.

While you weaved and were jostled around by bodies, a drunkard lurched into you sending you almost flying. A small gasp departed your lips as you fell to the side. But rather than spectacularly meet the floor of the tavern, an arm caught your back and swung you back to your feet. You tottered in place, settled by the arm and blinked at the rather bare chest of the person who had saved you from sprawling flat on your face.

“That would have been embarrassing,” You murmured to yourself before looking up. Your eyes were met with yellow ringed eyes. You couldn’t help but blurt out your first thought. “You have beautiful eyes.” Both you and the man blinked at each other. “Apologies for stumbling into you,” With that you detached yourself and slipped back into the mess of the tavern crowd, food on your mind.

You found a place to sit at the bar top near the windows showing the port harbor and sat down. While you waited for the server to come over, your mind lingered on the eyes of the man that had caught you from falling to the floor. He really did have beautiful eyes. They were also unusual, much like your own. While you were thinking of yellow eyes, a server came over to you.

You ordered the tavern special, as it would be the last time you ate it, and leaned back in your seat to relax and think. You had a ship to catch in the morning, but at the same time, you really wanted to enjoy your last night on the island. There were still a few bars you were interested in checking out based on local recommendations. You’d been too busy with work to try them out at the time but now? Now you were free. But you also didn’t want to have one hell of a hangover to deal with while shipping out. Alcohol and open sea did not mix well.

But the wine…

“Here ya go, doc,” The server announced placing your meal in front of you. “Enjoy.”

“Not actually a doctor,” You called after them, making them chuckle at your words. With a smile on your lips, you picked up your fork and began eating. You enjoyed your meal, watched as ships pulled into the port harbor for the night, and all around ignored the pirates yapping on about their accomplishment. When your empty plate was cleared and you paid for your dinner, you took up discussing wine choices with one of the servers.

You really hadn’t ever developed a taste for alcohol other than wine. That was one win Mel could have. You didn’t mind because that was something you did have experience in. It was nice that you could discuss a topic that you weren’t entirely clueless about. Not to say that you lacked education, it was just there was a big difference between book smart and sea smart, and you were endeavoring to become sea smart.

The server of course had to get back to work so you took to watching the last bits of the sun fading from the sea line. Or at least, you were watching the sunset when a stool scraping on the tavern floor alerted you to someone taking a seat next to you. Even from just the corner of your eye you could tell, it was one of the pirates.

“What is a pretty little thing like you doing all alone in a tavern like this?” You blinked and turned your head to look at the pirate.

“Getting… dinner…?” You replied in question tilting your head to the side while arching an eyebrow. “As for my solitude, it is by choice. I don’t dine with others.”

“That’s a pity,” He replied, reaching over and touching the hair ornament you had tucked into your small ponytail. You wanted to snap at him to not touch you, but your manners won out and you remained silent on the topic.

“A pity? For who exactly?” You said shortly, your eyelashes fluttering while you raised your chin in observation. “Certainly not me as I am enjoying the view. For you then? How so, there are plenty of woman in this tavern and around the village for company.”

“I don’t want their company,” The pirate continued, his touch abandoning your hair and reaching for your face. You leaned out of reach with an unamused look on your face. “I want yours, you have such pretty eyes.”

“Well I do not, please seek what you desire elsewhere.” Your calm response betrayed none of your true thoughts. “But if you require a more formal answer; no.”

“Do you know who I am?” He asked in a hard voice, narrowing his gaze at you. You blinked and answered bluntly.

“No?”

“I am Andrew of the Marked Branch pirates!” A few patrons around you winced at his thundering words.

“That doesn’t change the fact that I have absolutely no idea who you are.” He slammed his hand on the bar top next to you, eyes bulging and simmering in rage. He opened his mouth and threats poured from his lips, but you, once again, had no idea what he was talking about and just blinked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“You don’t seem to understand the situation your in, little girl,” He hissed at you. Your face was passive as you grabbed your hair ornament and slammed it directly into the hand he had pressed against the bar top. A high pitched scream erupted from his mouth and the entire tavern fell silent.

“It appears that you seem to have trouble understand the word no,” You calmly stated, surprised at how deep the hidden blade in the hair ornament had gone. You weren’t the strongest of woman and yet it had suck into the wood of the bar top. “I said no, leave it at that. Yes?”

Eyes that had once been bulging and simmering with rage… were now filled with fear and pain. The pirate whimpered, caught between wanting to yank his hand away and leaving it be. Your knife really was lodged good and deep.

“I am not a woman who likes repeating herself. Have I made myself clear?”

“Okay okay! Just take it out! Take it out!” He howled at you. Pleased that he had acknowledged your wishes, you went to take the knife out, only to find it difficult. You tugged on it a little harder and the pirate howled. Sighing, you used both hands to sharply yank on the hilt of the knife, it took several sharp tugs before you actually managed to get it out. Once the blade was clear of wood and flesh, the pirate staggered back and ran off, tail tucked firmly between his legs.

Chatter slowly returned to the tavern and you used a nearby napkin to wipe the blood from your hair ornament. You weren’t going to let that pirate ruin your evening, but you had to admit that your mood was soured by that interaction. Just as you were cleaning the last bits of blood from your blade, a voice called out from behind you.

“Well that was unexpected but it certainly made my night more interesting.” You were once again blinking, but this time it was at the man with the beautiful yellow eyes. He was looking at you with amusement dancing within his eyes and the curve at the corner of his mouth echoed what his eyes told.

“I do not appreciate pushy men who do not listen,” You stated simply, wiping your knife one last time before returning it to your hair. “I came here to enjoy a meal, not be harassed.”

“Clearly, yet you look like you’ll be blown over by a mere gust of wind.” Your eyes flashed with fire at his words and you nearly growled.

“I will not,” You answered hotly, your words only seemed to amuse the man further and he waved down a server with but a finger wave.

“You are a fiery little one, aren’t you.” He said as he leaned against the bar top. You glared at him for making such obvious fun of you and huffed indignantly as he spoke to the server that came over. Two wine glasses were pulled out and placed between you, then a bottle of wine.

“Two glasses?” You broached, eyebrow arched.

“You went to the trouble of taking out the trash,” He explained, pushing one of the glasses towards you. “You also seemed to be a woman of refinement?”

A glass of wine was a glass of wine. You grabbed the stem and brought the wine to your nose to sniff. You were instantly surprised. Most patrons bought out the classics and regular wines on the menu, this was one of the more refined brands. A brand that you partook in while living on Esmereld Cove. You had only the best there.

“And you the same,” You echoed before taking a sip of the wine and sighing in satisfaction.

“Now then, what is a lovely lady with such tastes, doing on an island like this.” You set your glass down and ran a finger around the rim.

“I’m a traveler,” You started, turning your eyes to the ocean in front of you. “I travel for work as a nurse and seamstress so I can experience the world. I grew up exceedingly sheltered so now I am trying to visit as many islands as I can to learn about what it means to live.”

“To live,” He repeated. That was such a… simple desire and yet you were being entirely truthful. You nodded thoughtfully before your brow scrunched.

“Speaking of which I never caught your name,” You mused, cocking your head to the side.

“Mihawk,” Mihawk answered you, waiting for a reaction for surely you had heard of him. You studied him for a moment, your face remaining unchanged.

“Mihawk,” You repeated thoughtfully. You hadn’t heard that name before, but then again you were still fairly new in your explorations. “Hmm, it’s nice to meet you Mihawk, I am Vee.”

Oh now you were starting to get really interesting.

Mihawk chuckled and took a sip of his wine, amused that you didn’t even know who he was. It was rather refreshing.

“Vee,” He echoed, observing you closer. You had black hair simply pulled back, a frame that was too skinny in his opinion, and violet eyes he’d only seen a few other times. Violet eyes that he’d never seen in the East Blue before. He had little interest in woman at his current age, but the way you stared at him before complimenting his eyes and then moving on had been the most peculiar thing to happen in twenty years.

“Yes,” You said, picking up your wine glass once more. “Now, you don’t exactly seem like the type interested in life stories so I won’t bore you with it.”

“But we were just getting to the interesting part,” Mihawk drew out, getting comfortable where he leaned and interested in broaching for more. You lightheartedly chuckled and raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t want to hear my life story,” Mihawk’s lips twitched.

“Oh but I do,” Staring up into Mihawk’s yellow eyes, you contemplated his words for a few moments before shrugging. What’s the worst that could happen?

Date Published: 10/10/23

Last Edit: 10/10/23

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#one piece #one piece mihawk #dracule mihawk #mihawk #dracule mihawk x reader #mihawk x reader #hawkeye mihawk #opla

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littlespacereader · 1 year ago

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Chapter 4 - A Sleepless Night is out on my AO3 story The Little Princess in Hawkins! 💕🎀

Sfw warnings in this chapter- curing, bed wetting, pull-ups and hurt/comfort

Here’s a short chapter snippet (completely sfw):

Caregiver! Billy & Fem Little! Reader

The two of us went into the kitchen where all the bags from our grocery trip laid on the counter tops.

“Wow, how nice of you to leave all of this to me.” I joked rolling my eyes. I put my stuffed animal lion Will on the counter next to me as I grabbed a bag and started to unpack it.

Billy shook his head and started helping as well. As we started to put things away I came across the cookie container! I quickly grabbed some and shoved two cookies into my mouth.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Who said you could eat those?” Billy said as he grabbed the container away.

I pointed to Will, my mouth too full of cookies to say much of anything. Billy smiled. Leaning on the counter top, he decided to play along with it.

“Will! Are you kidding me? You’ve only been here for 5 minutes and you’re already a bad influence on Y/N!” He shook his head playfully. Will, the stuffed lion just stared back at him.

I finished eating my two cookies and went to eat another but Billy pulled the container farther away. “No more cookies till we eat something. I think we’ll make that another rule on the list: If you want a cookie you gotta ask me first. I don’t want you eating too much sugar.”

I sighed, “Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?”

“Because if they’re one thing everyone knows, it’s that sugar and kids don’t mix well. I don’t want you running around the house on a sugar rush.”

“But I’m not a kid! I can eat a cookie if I want to. Plus I don’t want a ton, I just want another one. Will said it was okay,” I began reaching again.

“Will is not in charge here, I am. We’ll eat dinner and then you can have one more.” Billy opened the tallest cabinet and put them away.

I whined a bit but listened to his stupid rule. I grabbed a bag and began unpacking some more. After that it there wasn’t much to put away. The household chore of putting everything away seems sort of relaxing with Billy. As a team we put everything in the right spot and it felt sort of comforting seeing him do something so…regular.

“Okay,” Billy said as he eyed the kitchen. “We need to either cook something or make something for dinner because it’s getting late and I’m starving.”

“Getting late?” I looked over at the clock that had 6:30 displayed on it. “What are you 80?”

Billy smirked, “What’s your bed time again?”

I crossed my arms, “Not late enough.”

He crossed his arms mimicking me, “Y/N, what time is it?”

I sighed uncrossing my arms, “It’s 9…stupidly.”

“Yes it’s 9. So we need to get something to eat before before heading to bed.”

For once he had a good idea.

“Can you cook?” I asked him.

“I can make…certain dishes…like breakfast foods.” Billy shrugged. “How about you?”

“I only know like three dishes and we don’t have the time to cook them.”

“It’s a good start. At least we know we won’t starve,” Billy smiled causing me to smile as well. “But I think after the day we’ve had we deserve some pizza.”

I immediately lit up. “YES!”

And there we sat on the couch, slice of pizza in our hands, watching tv. Billy’s arm that wasn’t holding a slice of pizza was wrapped around my shoulders. It’s comforting to have that safety and security.

~~~

And that’s all for now! Click the link at the top to read more! I really hope you enjoy this chapter! Next chapter will have Little! Eddie and Little! Reader causing chaos for Steve and Billy!😁😆

#age regression #ao3 fanfic #stranger things #billy stranger things #reader insert #little!reader #age regressor #age regression fic #agere #billy hargrove #caregiver!billy hargrove #ao3 update #stranger things fic

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king-crawler · 1 year ago

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TO ADD ON TO YOUR WBTI RANT. It absolutely obliterated our chances at a third movie, a show, pretty much any extra WIR content FOREVER. On top of just being a generally awful film, it destroyed future worldbuilding by established a weird, bastardized canon that disney couldn't/wouldn't retcon or otherwise "take back" to return to and build on the first film's lore/setting. Ever since it dropped, disney has straight up abandoned the IP. It makes me so mad 😡

Yeah you’re completely right :( there’s no recovering from it and they’re likely totally done with Wreck-it Ralph. Unless they make shorts or something..☹️

The only thing Theoretically possible is if they made a series of “villain origin stories” shorts for a bunch of IPs and they eventually got to Wreck-it Ralph :]c

In that there’s still some potential to expand upon the arcade. I want to know how Turbo took over Sugar Rush, and did people like him before Roadblasters or was he a jerk? I’m also really curious about his interactions with Felix and Ralph because they were basically Cabinet Neighbors

But at the rate Disney is going. My hopes are Not very high. Also Turbo is Not very marketable LOL one time he was redesigned to look less scary in a WIR kids book forever ago. And there he looks like some weird AI-generated Minecraft chicken (I have a feeling they Don’t Like Him.)

#ask #🐛VIRUS OFFERINGS #turbo #wreck it ralph #txt

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ikkosu · 6 months ago

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Okay so imma unload all these questions ever since I saw the second comic of the Yuri: How did Kan got her eye patch? Is it permanent or will it just be a scar?

Who employed the detective to go after the murderer? One of the family victims? Or other?

Is there a reason particular for the killings? Is it related to Kan's personality or more like her job? Has she ever killed before she got employed at the group?

When is she gonna break?

Does Kan has a particular reason to work in the company? Or just financially?

Are there any side characters that might evolve further the relationship or dynamics between the two?

these are all good questions omg 😭😭 I don’t really want to spoil a lot of the lore. I was hoping to gradually ease it out in mini comics but I’ll answer it the best I can!

How did Kan got her eye patch? Is it permanent or will it just be a scar?

^^ I think you’re referencing that one panel where’s she’s looking down. It’s actually an artistic element I wanted to bring out the other shade of her eye, and her distraught expression and also a foreshadowing for something later on 😭 sorry for not making this clear

Who employed the detective to go after the murderer? One of the family victims? Or other?

Mesa is an independent detective. She’s sluggish, socially inept and very disorganized. So when she’s sorting out her cabinet files she comes across a cold case dated years back, unsolved by the local police officials. Skimming through the contents, it’s about a secretary who was murdered while on her shift at the UCN. Complicated stuff. She’s set on her sights to continue it.

Is there a reason particular for the killings? Is it related to Kan's personality or more like her job? Has she ever killed before she got employed at the group? Does Kan has a particular reason to work in the company? Or just financially?

Kan kills for revenge. I would say she’s charming, too. But charming in a way it’s traditional. In Khmer culture, being soft spoken + a calm demeanor is widely admired in young women. So while Kan doesn’t speak much and strolls along the halls like a ghost, everyone, especially the older folks likes her. I’d doubt she enjoys having a casual chat with people, though. Her first kill? A certain secretary.

When is she gonna break?

She’s kind of out of it already? But it gets worse towards the end.

Are there any side characters that might evolve further the relationship or dynamics between the two?

To be honest, I never really paired up Mesa and Kan explicitly in the story. I just like the dynamic (doomed yuri) so I kind of shipped them in a way? Mesa’s love interest is a bubbly journalist, Ayalis, who’s rooked in on this whole affair. She somehow gave her the papers Mesa has never gotten her greedy hands on, so that’s all it took for her to botch a spot as the sidekick. But the main focus is Mesa’s and Kan’s relationship.

While, Kan. I’m not really pairing this up with her — but I like the contrast of her personality (calm, cunning) to the daughter’s CEO Evine. (explosive and brash). They’re both close because the CEO basically tells Kan to watch her like a gaurd dog, given they’re not only involve gangs but also mafia dealings. Quick doodles of their height

Kan is quite short but she is the strongest out of the three. And here’s a quick doodle of Aya (left) and Evine (right)

At some point Ayalis would have some complications when she stumbles upon Kan’s line of sight. Something she shouldn’t have done. And Evine? She’s, uh, doomed from the start.

#First death #My oc #kan sou #Mesa tor #Ayalis #Evine #I’m so happy you asked!!#Been wanting to load this out for a while ehehehehe #smooches you #mootsies

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hannahssimblr · 1 year ago

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Chapter Seven (Part 3)

The sun has already begun its descent behind the horizon when we all sit down to eat at three o’clock. These later December days are so short that sometimes I wonder why the sun bothers to show up at all, and why not just give up its teasing and go away altogether until it’s ready to stay and commit to a decent amount of daylight.

The candles in the centre of the table flicker and dance in the fading light and the lights on the christmas tree twinkle, and the sight is so cosy and festive that I suppose I don’t really mind all that much about the dusk. Uncle Sean sails out of the kitchen carrying the huge roasted turkey fit for ten, and everyone applauds with delight as he smiles as though he’s the one who slaved over it all morning. He places it right in the middle of the table surrounded by the roasted carrot batons and the crispy roast potatoes, parsnips, mash, brussels sprouts, homemade yorkshire puddings, ham studded with cloves, gallons of gravy and bread sauce, so much food that one might think it’ll last for days, but it will be gone in an hour.

Granny makes us say a prayer in thanks for the food, and the minute we’ve finished Conor and Decky start lunging for it, taking heaping spoonfuls of mashed potatoes, great big hacks of meat and drowning it all in gravy while Aunty Catriona stares at them like they’re wild animals at the zoo.

“Leave some for the rest of us, please.” she says to them and Uncle Sean laughs. “Sure they’re growing boys, Cat, leave them at it.”

“They’re gone past growing, sure they’re twenty six and twenty three.”

“G’way, Catriona.” Says Conor with a mouthful of honey roasted ham. “There’s plenty for us all.”

Sean turns to Fabiana next to him as the food makes the rounds of the table. “Bread sauce, love?” He says, holding up the jug, and she pulls a disgusted face and shakes her head, and as he passes it over her to granny, Fabiana looks over at me with a little, secretive smile. I grin back, pleased that she’s chosen me as an ally among the chaos of this family dinner.

Somebody opens a bottle of red wine and she reaches for it and then bends over the table and starts pouring it into my crystal glass, the ones that only come out of the cabinet on Christmas day. I feel my mam’s eyes on me as I have a drink from it.

It’s a while before anyone tries to speak, our mouths all full of food as we ravage what’s on the table. I’m so hungry now that I can’t think of anything else, the food tasting a thousand times more delicious because of how long I’ve waited for it.

“So Michael, how’s the new job going?” Catriona says to my dad eventually, once her plate is about three quarters of the way finished. “I know you were let go from your previous one recently.”

“Going grand.” He says, patting the corners of his mouth with a cloth napkin, his movement a little bit slow and sloppy. “I work nights now in the factory, worse conditions, I suppose, but better money. No big change from the last place to be honest… we make catheters now.”

“Ah, I suppose you’ll take what you can get. That’s how the economy is these days.”

A pause. “And how’s the love life, Cat?”

“Well actually I amn’t seeing anyone at the moment.”

“Oh right. What happened to yer man?”

“Who?” Says Sean, and my dad waves his fork around at aunty Catriona, searching for the right name.

“The fella from accounting at her work.” He settles on eventually, and she rolls her eyes and goes back to her food.

“Not seeing anyone.” She repeats. I take a large glug of the red wine.

“That’s a pity, sure we were all hoping for some news about more grandkids.” My mam elbows him in the arm, and he looks at her in surprise. “What?”

“Dad and Fabiana are already having another baby, did you not know that?” Says Decky. “She’s seven months pregnant, like.”

“Ah yeah but sure like…” He trails off, and I feel hot with embarrassment of him already, as clearly he’s already had a few drinks too many. His eyes are watery and heavy. I drain the end of my wine glass and Fabiana immediately fills it again.

“Anyone tried the brussels sprouts?” Says granny. “They’re especially delicious this year.”

“No, brussels sprouts are sick.” Says Conor.

“They’re very healthy for you.” Attempts Fabiana and he immediately rolls his eyes at her.

“Yeah, alright. Can we talk about something else?” I stiffen and look from Conor to Decky, Fabiola to Sean. Clearly something is not right in their family this Christmas, and I wonder how the boys really feel about their father dating a woman young enough to be their sister. I watch her face fall and the way that she goes back to picking at her food with a bent head.

“Tell your granny about school.” Sean says to his youngest son then, and Conor regards him with total incredulity.

“I’m graduated, dad.”

“Are you? Weren’t we at that yoke in your university only last month?”

“Yeah. My graduation ceremony.”

“Oh right, yeah.”

“I’m working with the county council now.”

“Forgot about that.”

The only sounds at the table are the scraping of silverware against the plates. I take another long drink from my glass and instantly Fabiana is wielding the bottle again. I have a feeling she’s going to have me drink the whole thing, wishing it could be her instead.

“Fabiana.” I say softly. “You’ve got to slow down. I have a hard time saying no to people.”

“Just a bit.” She says, and then to my horror, all eyes are on me as my mam starts a fresh tirade.

“Since when do you drink?” She says accusingly into the silence.

“Um. I don’t know.” I say feebly, feeling like a child caught rotten doing something against the rules.

“She’s drank for years.” Decky pipes up unhelpfully. “Remember I saw you drinking cans of cider outside Kennedy’s pub in town after you and your friends weren’t allowed in. What age were you then? Must have been fifteen.” He’s laughing because he thinks he’s told a funny anecdote, but he has no idea how tone deaf it is. I stare at him in disbelief. What is going on at this dinner table? How did he think that was an okay thing to say? My mother’s eyes narrow at me.

“I’m eighteen.” I squeak. “I can drink if I want to.”

“Is this what you’re doing up there in Dublin?” She demands. “Up in those pubs drinking away all of your money?”

“No, mam. I’m not like that.”

“I’m disappointed.” She says, and then looks from me to my father with a resigned look on her face, and I know what she’s thinking. That I’m going to end up just like him, stuck to the bar in some pub all weekend until I get carried out by the bouncers and tossed into a taxi only to crash into the house at two in the morning and fall asleep on the couch until noon. Going from work to the drink and then back again in this endless, drunken spiral.

“There’s something about women who drink.” She announces to the table. “I think there’s nothing worse, nothing less attractive than that. You know, when you see a man, messy drunk, stumbling on the streets, it’s bad enough, but when it’s a woman it’s a hundred times worse.”

“That’s sexist.” I say to her.

“It isn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because it isn’t the same, and I don’t appreciate this new bolshy attitude you have. Where are you picking up all these notions?”

“You can’t just say ‘it isn’t’ and then not have any reason why. That’s the definition of a double standard.”

“Well it’s my opinion. What do you lads think when you see drunk women out on the street on a Saturday night?” She closes in on my cousins who look at each other and shrug, mumbling incoherencies.

“You wouldn’t go out with someone who did that, would you?”

“Uh I dunno.” Decky says. “Depends.”

I feel a horrible lump in my throat and my chest hurts. I hurt. I take a steadying breath before I speak in case I cry. “Are you saying that’s the reason you think that I…” I trail off, too humiliated to finish my sentence.

She looks into my face then, wavering slightly but not backing down. “Boys don’t like girls who drink.”

I look at my father, drunk at three in the afternoon, lazily eating his dinner without bothering to close his mouth all the way. “So they like girls who enable their drinking instead, right?” I say and when her face falls I realise it’s too late to take the words back. They’re out there, filling the room with this dreadful, grim weight, but I continue anyway, throwing my hand up in the direction of my dad. “Is this what you want for me?” I ask her. There isn’t a sound from anyone at the table, not even a clink of glass against the delft, and my mother just opens her mouth and closes it again. I get up from the table in a hurry, the chair scraping against the floor. I throw my napkin onto my plate and rush out of the room and up the stairs towards the bedroom that granny has made up for me.

“Does anyone want the Christmas pudding?” I hear her murmur to the table, before I shut the door behind me.

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#sims #sims 4 #ts4 #simlit #sims 4 story #sims story #writing #fiction #romance #sims 4 storytelling #sims4 storytelling #sims storytelling #lucky girl part 2

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farmerlarrry · 1 year ago

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Orange Slices (Joel Miller x f!reader)

masterlist | chapter twelve | chapter eleven | read on ao3 | playlist

story summary: A story about finding companionship and love in the midst of chaos.

a/n: I read a few books and remembered how to write again :) Sorry for being gone for so long. I will be doing a huge revise of the whole story, just because I had planned on doing that all along… and of course I kept putting it off and before I knew it I was almost 15 chapters in, so between the time of posting this updated and chapter 14 and writing chapter 15, just keep in mind that I did not go MIA again, I am working on updates. I'm going to try to get chapter 14 up tomorrow!

**I wrote this at work so if there’s typos, I’m sorry. I tried my best to catch as many I could and I get so eager to post**

word count: 9005

if you want to be notified when I post new chapters, follow @farmerlarrrylibrary and put on notifications! If you'd rather be tagged, just let me know.

Chapter Thirteen

Fuck, fu–ck, you incoherently hear. The distant sound of someone’s voice draws you out of your state of sleep. Your eyes gently flutter open, eyelashes brushing up against your under eyes as you take a deep breath in and tensing your body up as a way to somewhat stretch your limbs due to the limited space offered by the couch. Must’ve been a part of a dream, you think as the silence makes your ears ring, your eyes darting around at different spots on the ceiling.

A fleeting feeling of intense nausea comes over you, as it does most mornings after you drink. You let a small moan escape past your lips as you run your hand over your stomach; you hate the feeling that you’re about to vomit more than anything. Rolling over onto your side, you nuzzle your face against the back cushion and pull the thick woven blanket further up your body to bask in the remaining warmth. The cold weather arrived early this year, leaving you shivering throughout the nights.

The longer you stay cuddled into the cushions of the couch, the comfier and more relaxed you become, your limbs now feeling like puddles of liquid. I’ll get up in a few minutes, you think to yourself, allowing your eyes to become heavy, not fighting your tiredness any longer. The swirling colors that the dim lighting of the room curated behind your eyelids begin to hypnotize you back to sleep.

That is until a loud thud comes from somewhere inside your house, causing you to shoot up from your lying position, still clutching on tightly to the blanket. Panic washes over you and your heart is beating faster than it has in a long time. You have your eyes locked on the staircase, straining your hearing for any indication where the noise may have come from.

God damnit, the quiet but gruff voice of a man causes you to quickly turn around toward the kitchen, more muttering follows, but you can’t quite make out what they’re saying. Just as you begin to take a small step forward, Joel pops up from behind the counter, tossing the paper bag filled with coffee grounds on the surface. He is very visibly frustrated, letting out a soft sigh. You find yourself to be somewhat confused, shifting your eyes just past him; the cabinet door is slightly ajar and two mugs sit side by side on the counter.

As his head comes past the edge of the counter, the two of you immediately lock eyes, widening at your presence as if he were surprised. You’re in my house, you think. You toss the blanket onto the couch, only breaking eye contact for a few short moments. Joel’s mouth opens slightly, however nothing comes out.

“You scared me,” You say quietly, yet relieved. Your heart still feels as if it were beating outside of your chest.

“Shit, sorry,” His words came out as mumbled, resting his palms flat against the edge of the countertop and leaning his weight into his hands. He looks down for a moment, letting out a breath of air as you come around the back of the couch, situating yourself across from him. “I was tryin’ not to wake you.”

Joel appears to be slightly embarrassed by the current situation, his cheeks very subtly stained pink and he’s rubbing his thumb over the laminate countertop. As the two of you continue to stand there, you can’t help but feel confused; confused as to why he’s in your house, not that you’re upset by the fact– just confused. Although, who knows what you potentially said to him, after James left, the last thing you remember is finishing off the bottle of alcohol while Joel quietly sat at the table across from you, babying the small glass he ended up pouring himself. You cringe at the thought.

“When did you become so… domesticated,” You say dryly, meaning it as a joke, jutting your chin towards the mugs, going up on your tiptoes to see the coffee ground that laid messily in a pile in the ground. It was hard imagining Joel as anyone other than who he’s shown you; a man who will kill to survive– do anything to survive– not someone who brews coffee in the morning for himself and his… whatever.

Joel follows your gesture, bringing his hand up to his chin, rubbing it gently with his thumb and forefinger. You cock your head waiting for his response. Although you intended it as a joke, you were still curious. This wasn’t typical Joel, not the one you knew, or at least not the one you thought you knew.

“Was tryin’ to make some coffee before we head out, but I hit my head on the cabinet door and dropped the grounds,” He followed up, gesturing first to the cabinet and then to the loose coffee grounds that were still scattered on the ground. Joel drew some air before continuing. “I changed your kitchen light by the way, the one that kept flickerin’, nearly gave me a damn headache last night.”

“Last night?” You furrow your brows, the mention of it brings you a sense of impending doom, your stomach twisting up in knots. Closing your eyes, you let out a huff of air. “Right, last night.”

Your voice sounds muffled.

With your eyes closed, all you can see is tJames’ face and the way it changed from his sweet smile to a look of utter dismay. You feel guilty for lying to him and you thought that by drinking you could drown out that guilt, but now it’s the next day, you feel even guiltier and you feel like shit. This time, you’ve dug yourself into a hole you weren’t quite sure how you were going to get yourself out of. What do you even tell James? Sorry, the sudden return of a man who, for some reason, I cannot get off my mind and makes my heart flutter like it never has before, caught me off guard so for the time being I’m just going to tell you to fuck off. Please just give me some time and space while I figure things out. No, absolutely not. If it had been anyone else besides James, maybe.

“Take these,” Joel breaks you out of your thoughts. He’s sliding two pills across the counter and then fills a glass up with water from the sink. “Maybe a shower will help too, you were pretty messed up when I left last night.”

You let out a small hum, picking up the pills from the counter and throwing your head back, swallowing them at once. Joel continues to watch you carefully, running his eyes all over you. You raise your eyebrows at him, which seems to snap him out of some sort of daze. He clears his throat, turning to the now boiling percolator.

“I got our assignment today,” Joel says. The realization he is returning to patrol makes you happy, something you had been secretly hoping would be the case.

“The hunting sheds,” the two of you say in unison. Joel gives you a single nod, pursing his lips. You simply stare back at him.

The hunting shed was one of your least favorite assignments. It’s fairly easy other than the fact you’re out all day, climbing up and down steep hills. It’s more so tiring than hard, but it’s something that obviously must be done to keep the security of Jackson up to par.

“Yeah, hope you’re ready for a full day of fun,” His tone is sarcastic. You can tell he is definitely not looking forward to it either.

You give him a very obvious fake smile, letting your palms drag along the counter as you turn to head for the stairs, desperately hoping this shower will be your saving grace from how horrible you feel.

–

You take the steps downward slowly as you dry your hair with the already damp towel, only stopping for a brief moment on the bottom step when you see Joel sitting at the table. He has one of his ankles propped up on the other leg’s knee, a mug in one hand and the other is holding up one of the old newspapers you always leave on the table. He seems to be engulfed in whatever he’s reading, his eyebrows furrowing as his eyes dart across the page, reading it line by line. The massive stack of newspapers that were once neatly stacked on one end of the table are now messily strewn about.

Quietly, you come up from behind him, glancing down at the paper and running your eyes along the bolded article titles. This one you know particularly well after the many rereads you’ve done. September 13, 2003; Community Development Plan Completed, building is to start November of this year!; Jackson Men To Complete 2,350 Mile Kayak Trip, 2,050 Miles down with 300 Miles to go! A part of you wondered if they ever did complete their trip, and did they come back into town to the infected, or how exactly that all went down.

As you pass Joel, your elbow grazes his bicep, causing him to jump, likely startled by your sudden presence; neither of you say anything. The chair he’s sitting quietly squeaks as he shifts his weight, while you make a beeline directly for the stove. As you reach for the mug Joel set out for you, he clears his throat, causing you to glance at him over your shoulder.

You let out a small hm, prompting him to spill whatever is currently on his mind before turning back around.

“You read these often?” he says, the paper crinkling as he folds it back up.

“Most mornings… gives me something to do,” you respond dryly as you slowly fill your mug, stream rolling off the top and the moist warmth hitting the bottom side of your chin.

“Seems like a lifetime ago.” He says in a small voice. The statement is so simple, yet seems loaded.

“No kidding.” You say softly, you’re not even sure if he heard you.

You turn around to face him with your mug in hand, giving him a tired look while you run your fingers across the tattered edge of the countertop with your free hand. There is no denying that you feel like shit. The shower didn’t help and you are almost positive the coffee isn’t going to do anything either. Your exhaustion must be obvious because Joel is looking at you sympathetically, carefully watching you as you stand leaning against the edge of the countertop. Taking a sip of your coffee, you look at him through the rim of your mug, the two of you meet each other's eyes. Joel quickly looks away, sitting up straighter in his chair and setting the newspaper down on the table. He lets out a deep sigh, using the wooden surface to push himself upright.

“I’m gonna go get the horses ready to go,” He says while walking over to the sink and setting his empty upside down, then pulling a thermos out from the side of his bag. “Meet me at the stables in 15 or so… will that be enough time for you?”

You nod your head, pulling your lip in between your teeth as he turns and walks toward you.

Placing his hand just above one of your hips, you take a few steps to the side, to which he steps where you were once standing. The feeling on his fingertips against your side makes your stomach jump and you have to fight against your instinct to shiver. He fills his thermos with coffee, you staring at him, watching his face. He glances at you, you can see his throat bob as he prevents the percolator from dripping down the side of his container. The air is still. Your eyes dart down to his bottom lip which he is toying at with his teeth. Your heart begins to thump loudly in your ears, he’s making it hard not to imagine what it’d be like to be the one toying with it for him.

“I’ll see you in a few,” he says awkwardly, and you give him a shy nod.

The moment Joel leaves, you can feel your body relax, letting out a small huff of air. You mindlessly gather different supplies, making sure you have a lunch packed. As you’re doing so, you let your mind wander, how you were going to handle things with James, now that Joel is back. It feels wrong to continue things with James, especially when he’s not who you want– he was never who you wanted.

Whether Joel feels the same way, doesn’t factor into your decision.

–

The air is quite a bit chillier than you expected. This year the cold weather has come early, something that sort of threw the community for a loop. The town square is always already filled with people by 6am due to the increased workload in the gardens, making sure everything can be harvested before the cold gets to it. Today was no different, you could hear the bustling of the townspeople the moment you took a step out from your house. The murmurs make your ears buzz.

You’re messing with the floppy straps of your backpack that always find a way to twist, not quite paying attention as you come out of the side pathway that separates your part of the community and the townsquare. When you finally look up, you immediately notice James and Joel and they are very obviously arguing. People start to slow down as they pass by them, confused as to what could possibly be going on between the two men. You are wondering the same. Did James say something to Joel? Would Joel really be that upset about something like that? You think, slowing your pace. You can feel your eyebrows draw together, your teeth clenching down hard.

As people pass by, leaving an opening for you to look through, you then notice Nessa standing a few feet behind James as well as Tommy engaged in what seems to be a pretty intense conversation based on his active nodding and hardened facial expression with Maria. You feel your heart sink into your stomach. Continuing your slow pace, you observe the loosely formed group.

Nessa and you catch eyes, a fire is burning behind her eyes, before walking over to Tommy, tapping his shoulder, and gesturing in your direction. In unison, the four all stop their conversations, turning to look at you. They each hold a different facial expression. Joel appears to be heavily annoyed but his look softens when the two of you make eye contact, James looks nervous and mildly perturbed, Tommy’s usually cheery expression has been exchanged for an outright stressed one, and Maria looks concerned yet confident as always. The range of emotions make your stomach churn.

As soon as you and Tommy make eye contact, he lurches forward, quickly approaching you with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his worn jeans. You stop in your tracks, hoping he can give you the run down of exactly what the fuck is going on.

“You’ve been doin’ your patrol alone?” He doesn’t waste time asking, his voice is hushed not wanting the other around to hear. He places his hands on your shoulder and blocks you out of the view of the others. His usual kind, soft eyes are now intense and dark.

Fuck, you think to yourself, parting your lips ever so slightly, not quite sure what to say. You kept Tommy in the dark about this, not wanting him to worry and honestly, it was better if he didn’t know. You explicitly lied when he would ask you about patrol or when you’d tell him peculiar stories about the events that happened out on patro, usually pulling someone’s name out of thin air whoever was your partner for that day.

“James came to Maria this mornin’ with some concerns about you,” Tommy adds, anticipating your response, desperately hoping that James’ accusations aren’t the truth, or at least not the whole truth. His expression is pleading, darting from one part of your face to another.

As soon as James’ name rolls past Tommy’s lips, you dart your eyes over to him, who quickly tips his head down toward the ground, completely avoiding you. You can feel your face feel with heat which only makes the throbbing in your head to worsen, and chaos begins to brew in your chest. Fucking James.

“Tommy,” you say, sounding outright guilty and round your posture. Sweat begins to pool in your palms, soaking into the strap of your bag that you were still tightly holding onto. He lets out a disappointed sigh, shifting his eyes past you.

“Jesus Christ,” He says breathily, slightly shaking his head. He begins to knead his fingertips into your shoulder blade, taking a moment longer to think. You stare at him blankly. “Okay… we’ll figure this out, just tell Maria the truth, I’ll see what I can do after that… but she is not going to like hearing this.”

“Yeah,” you say quietly in defeat, looking down at your feet before looking back up at Tommy. “I’m sorry Tommy.”

When he finally looks back at you, he gives you a pitiful smile, one that quickly fades. Sliding his hand back between your shoulder blades, he guides you over to the rest of the ground. Nessa is still giving you a deathly stare, which annoys you because a few days ago the two of you were fine, you were laughing together over some old memory from your time as school girls. What changed so suddenly?

You can see her mouth move, saying something just quiet enough to where you couldn't hear her with you still being a few yards away. Joel’s face twists up, twisting his upper body toward her. Don’t fucking say that, his voice is unmistakable, and so is the harsh intent behind his words. She’s very clearly biting her tongue, fighting the urge to shoot something back at him, but before she can make the decision to respond, Joel turns away from her, chewing on his bottom lip. You can see the anger boiling inside her as she sticks her tongue in her cheek, shaking her head.

As you come up to the group, she scoffs, storming off into the opposite direction.

“What’s going on,” you ask. Your body is facing Maria, but you keep your eyes fixated on James who still won’t look at you.

“James’ had some… concerns regarding your patrols, would you be able to talk in my office? Me, you, Tommy?” Maria responds cooly, her tone seems hesitant yet confident. You’re sure this must be an awkward thing to do, the whole he said, she said situation. You force yourself to swallow against the lump of anger in your throat.

“Of course,” The annoyance you feel hangs heavy onto your words as they come out of your mouth.

You glance between James over to Joel and you begin to follow Tommy and Maria. His eyes are intense and you notice the quick rise and fall of his chest.

“I’m coming too,” Joel’s voice is loud as he tightens his grip around the bottom of his pack straps, taking a step forward towards you. A few community members who remained to watch, exchanged looks between each other.

Maria lets out a heavy sigh before turning around.

“If he’s going, then I am too,” James quickly adds. You know he doesn’t actually want to be there, but if Joel is going then he must too. You roll your eyes.

“Neither of you will be joining us,” She says firmly. “James, you already told us your concerns, I will speak to her, get her side of things and then I will handle it from there. And Joel… you haven’t been here, so I’m not quite sure why you are concerning yourself with things that you would have no idea about.”

You slowly shift your attention from Maria over to Joel, who is clenching his jaw. He’s looking at Tommy who refuses to look back, kicking at the dirt and rocks with his hands back in his pockets. When Joel realizes he won’t be getting a response, he quickly turns on his heel, giving you an emotionless look, and heading towards the entrance of the community. James is quick to follow, tailing closely behind Joel.

“C’mon,” Tommy juts his chin in the direction of the main building, reaching his arm out towards you.

–

It’s been a while since you’ve last been here. Everything remains the same, even the old dried flowers that still sit on the table between the two chairs in the center of the room. The morning glow illuminates the room with a warm glow, however the air is chilly. You have your palms resting on the rounded ends of the arms of the chair, slowly rubbing the back and forth. Maria and Tommy are standing in front of you; Maria is upright, her hands clasped together in front of her while Tommy is leaning against the edge of the desk with his arms crossed and shoulder slightly slouched. Even though you know both of them quite well at this point, it doesn’t stop you from feeling inferior, especially in the given situation.

“So, what’d he say,” You impatiently ask, your tone portraying your emotions very clearly. You already knew, but you wanted to know exactly what he told Maria.

Maria glances over to Tommy who returns with an awkward smile, unfolding his arms and pointing at himself. She gives him a single nod before he pushes himself upright, clearing his throat.

“Well, he came to Maria this morning, while we were talkin’,” He starts, “said he’s concerned– you haven’t been following the protocol or proper guard etiquette…”

He trails off, looking at Maria through his peripheral view who is waiting for him to continue. Her eyes are focused solely on him as if she were urging him to go on, silently supporting him through this tough conversation.

“He said something about you goin’ out, doing patrol by yourself,” Tommy finally finishes, a wheeze of air escaping past his lips before continuing, “‘n that he was concerned for your safety.”

You let out an amused scoff, shifting your weight in the chair. Concerned with my safety, his excuse was laughable. You knew exactly why he was doing this and it wasn’t his concern.

“I didn’t call in yesterday, I’ll admit to that, because I get it… it’s my responsibility to do that, and it slipped my mind,” you say, your throat burning as you speak. “But he’s known what I've been doing for months.”

Maria purses her lips and nods, walking over to the chair next to you and taking a seat. You turn your body towards her, waiting for her to say something.

“And that’s concerning for me, knowing that I've put him in charge and he’s allowing that,” she simply says. It was hard to read her calm demeanor, something that made you feel anxious.

You look at Tommy through your peripheral vision, he appears to be somewhat confused, staring at Maria.

“He also said you’ve been staying out late, sometimes the entire day,” she continues.

You can feel your nose twitch at the mention of you staying out past your patrol, you force yourself to slightly smile, although you know nothing will cover up your initial reaction. Your breathing becomes shallow. You’re completely done for. There’s nothing Tommy can do that will save you from being taken off patrol. You knew the chances, but you never thought James would be the reason you were caught. Your brain is racing with thoughts, trying to come up with something in response that may cover your ass.

Maria cocks her head and raises her eyebrows slightly, encouraging you to say something. Your mouth has gone dry. Time’s up, you think, letting out a small shaky breath.

“There’s an outlook I go to somedays– well, actually, most days,” Your voice is small. “I go there after I’m done with patrol, after I call in, and I just… think, I don’t know, I just do whatever.”

A feeling of embarrassment comes over you as you admit to your whereabouts. Telling them about the outlook feels shameful, and not for the reason that you aren’t supposed to be doing stuff like that. Them now being aware of a place that you connected with Joel through in absence made you feel sick, even if they don’t know that’s the reason why you went.

Tommy and Maria exchange looks again, this time her eyes softening.

“I know I’m not supposed to be doing that, I know it’s dangerous going out by myself, I just…” You say with your head hanging low. “When I’m out there, it’s the only time I feel like myself.”

Mmm, Maria quietly hums.

“About what happened at the dam–” She starts to say.

“Maria…” You abruptly cut her off, something you normally wouldn’t do, but you couldn’t listen any longer.“I don’t know what James told you, but I do my job. I do it exactly how I was taught and doing it by myself does not change that. I promise you I did not see anything out of the ordinary yesterday, otherwise I would have reported it the moment I saw it.”

You stare intensely into Maria’s eyes as you speak. It was the truth. You were good at what you did, whether you were alone or with someone else. Always being ready to go, ready to defend, ready to fight, to give your life if need be– it was all you knew in this new world, and you were good at it. You hadn’t made it this far on pure luck, anyone with a brain would know that. A one time mistake does not make that statement untrue and James all of a sudden coming forward with his concerns also does not make that untrue.

You can feel the anger creep its way up your throat as you think of James’ pettiness, how all of this was because Joel was at your house last night. Sure, you can agree that lying to James about having plans was wrong, but it didn’t make it right that he did this in response. How childish, you think.

The sound of Tommy clearing his throat pulls you out of your deep state of thought. Both you and Maria shift your attention to him.

“Maria, if you don’t mind, I was just thinkin’... with Joel being back,” Tommy says with a slight hesitation. He knew he shouldn’t be making any sort of suggestions without discussing with her first, but then again he promised he’d do everything he could to keep you out of trouble. This is him risking that to keep his promise to you. “There’s really no reason to punish her, ‘specially if James was the one allowing this, she took it as permission– him knowing, ya know… at least that’s what I assume. Her and Joel can just continue patrol together, then we take the rest up with James.”

You can feel yourself exhale in relief at his suggestion, a part of you slightly surprised by him throwing James under the bus. Regardless of Maria’s decision, you were grateful for Tommy having your back, proof that the two of you really are as close as you thought. The two of you carefully watch Maria as she contemplates his suggestion, her eyes glaze over as she thinks.

She gives a slight nod to Tommy, who glances over to you, giving you a short lived smile before you turn your attention back to Maria.

“You and Joel, never just you and never just Joel, is that clear?” She says, giving you a serious look. “Make sure you call in after every patrol, I do not want to hear any of this it slipped my mind nonsense again.”

“Yes ma’am,” You respond affirmingly, sitting up straighter in the chair. “I promise.”

“And you’ll be sure to pass that onto Joel?” Maria directs to Tommy as she rises from her sitting position.

“Yes, of course,” He says.

–

Tommy stayed back to have a few more words with Maria, telling you that he would be just behind you to talk to Joel. Don’t let him leave without talking to me first, he requested. You’re moving your legs as fast and they will allow you to move them, knowing your already long day has become even longer due to heading out so late now. On top of that, the animosity you now felt did not help with your headache and queasy stomach.

With the stables now in view, you see James standing out front by the wooden gate with Nora and a couple of the other guards. He’s using one of his arms to prop himself up as he leans against one of the wooden posts. Since you saw him earlier this morning, he’s had a complete mood shift; he’s laughing, his cheeks rosy with glee, his eyes soften as he jokes around with the others, lighting hitting the back on his hand against one of the men standing to his side. Seeing him like this, thinking he succeeded in his plan to get you in trouble, makes your heart skip a beat, a feeling of rage quickly taking over your rational thought. You begin to charge toward him, taking bigger and longer strides.

The moment he sees you, the blood drains from his face as if he has just seen a ghost. His jaw tenses up. Perfect, you think. The closer you got to him, the more you struggled to keep the newfound deep hatred for him from exploding out of you..

“What?” You yell out to him, charging straight for him with blurred tunnel vision. “You surprised to see me?”

Typically, you are not the confrontational type, but James crossed the line by going to Maria; putting the one thing you had that kept you sane on the line. Your anger hit a boiling point seeing him act as if nothing had happened and you didn’t care who heard what or who would be caught in the crossfire of it all.

“Get ready to head out, I’ll be right behind you guys,” He quickly says. Nora and the others give you a conflicting look almost as if they were confused by your brashness towards James.

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” You say to them, shifting your attention onto James when you are finished. There’s a bite in your tone that has made everyone in hearing distance stop in their tracks. “I didn’t get taken off of patrol duty like he wanted.”

James’ face drops at your announcement, his face twisting up. He’s shocked– shocked that his plan did not work. Seeing him like this was priceless, though the only thing you wanted to do was shove that confused and wide eyed face of his into the horse manure that was scattered around the stable grounds.

“You didn’t?” He says quietly, staring at you with furrowed brows. You couldn’t miss the surprise in his tone.

Your anger cools for a second and you take a step in closer, crossing your arms and looking up at him through your browline darkly.

“What the fuck was that about?” your words come out shakily as you try to act calm and collected. Your breath feels like it's coming out in flames. This was just meant for him to hear, you hushened your tone so no one, not even the shadows of his companions, could hear.

“I was concerned,” His tone is monotonous, not breaking eye contact with you. His chest was heaving at this point as he struggled to control it.

“Bullshit, James,” You practically hiss through your teeth. “You’re telling me this has nothing to do with Joel last night?”

His eye twitches at the mention of him showing up at your house. You can see his throat bob as he struggles to remain apparently unaffected.

“You lied to me,” he says slowly. “Lied about you and Nessa, lied about you and–”

“What’s goin’ on?” Joel calls out, coming out of the stable with Callus in hand. He gives you a look of concern before handing off the horses’ lead to one of the stable workers. James scoffs, gesturing towards Joel with one of his hands, giving you a sarcastic smile. His eyebrows are raised halfway up his forehead to tell you that he didn’t even need to say exactly who he was referring to.

Just as you open your mouth to speak, you feel someone rest their hands on your shoulders, lightly squeezing them, almost an nonverbal way of telling you to stand down. It’s Tommy, and he’s shaking his head, urging everyone to drop this. You chew on the inner flesh of your bottom lip, contemplating your choices. Narrowing your eyes, you take one step forward, Tommy’s hands now slipping away from you.

“Fuck you,” You whisper to James as you brush up past him, your shoulder firmly knocking into his. One of the stable workers opens the gate for you, giving you a firm nod as you pass by.

“Yeah? Fuck me?” he responds, now raising his voice in a way you’ve never heard from him before. “After everything I’ve done for you, for being there for you– now he’s back you’re just going to pretend we–”

Just as you begin to turn on your heel, Tommy cuts in and takes complete control over the situation.

“Hey,” Tommy shouts in a stern tone, cutting James off before he can finish. “Drop it, now. Maria would like to speak to you, tell your friends to go to the North tower, see if they need any help there today.”

James looks dumbfounded by Tommy, almost offended by him obviously choosing sides. He remains standing at the post for a moment longer, staring at the ground with his hands kneading at his hips, before turning to face his friends. You could hear the unmistakable sound of his voice, unable to make out what he was saying to them with the distance you created.

You watch as Nora starts walking back towards the main part of the community while the rest aren’t shy to hide their dirty looks from you. Initially, you didn’t care that much, not entirely bothered by their hateful stares, but it still somewhat hurt deep down inside of you. As angry as you were at James, it hurt you that this was how he thought to get back at you; how intental the damage that would have been caused if it hadn’t been for Tommy. Not being able to take the group’s lingering looks any longer, you drop your head to stare at the ground anticipating their departure.

“By the way, Charles has been wondering where you’ve been– Dot and Henry too,” James calls out from the other side of the gate. Now he’s the one who doesn’t care about who overhears. “Never quite sure what to tell them.”

“James,” Joel growls.

James head shoots in his direction, his reaction directly influencing Joel to take large strides over to the where James stood, the only thing separating the two is the rotting wooden fencing, something that could easily be bypassed. Tommy immediately comes between the two serving as another barrier, placing his hand on James’ chest. James swipes at Tommy’s arm.

“I’m leaving, damn,” He says quietly, giving a deathly glare as Joel and then you.

Callus nudges at one of your shoulders from behind causing you to turn, James’ look burned into your mind. You’re doing everything you can to stop your lip from quivering, running your hand down the smooth snout of the horse which has come to comfort you. Joel returns from the fence, quickly fixing your twisted strap on your backpack. You can feel him staring at you from your side, but you keep your eyes forward, avoiding his gaze– afraid of what might come out of you if you were to look at him. Last thing I need is for everyone, especially him to see me cry, you soothe yourself, desperately holding onto what's left of your ego.

Tommy has now joined the two of you by the entrance of the main stable building, forcing you to face the two men now. Joel takes a step closer to you, your arms brushing up against each other.

“You know this already,” He says to you before fixing his eyes on Joel. “You two stay together, no one does patrol alone… I mean that, Joel.”

Tommy glares at him until Joel acknowledges what he says. Joel gives a simple, single nod which causes Tommy to finally release a long breath of air, his chest very visibly falling.

“Okay,” He says in relief, returning back to his normal self. “We’re still doing dinner tonight right?”

Mhm, Joel hums along with a nod, his hands are stuffed deep in his pockets.

“I’ll meet you there, ‘round 7,” Tommy replies. “Be safe.”

He gives your arm a reassuring squeeze before exiting through the stable’s fence gate and returning to the main part of town. Joel and you are left standing there for a moment. You aren’t quite sure what to say and by Joel’s expression he isn’t quite sure either.

“Everything okay?” Joel is the first to speak, his tone somewhat dry.

Is everything okay? You mock him in your own thoughts. You want to roll your eyes, instead opting for a blake stare. You pass him, heading into the stables to start helping the others where were in the process of readying Lucky.

–

Without exchanging any deciding words, you took the lead for today’s assignment. As per usual, leaving the horses at the old worn down barn that was treated as a halfway point between the community and the treeline that led to the dense forested area. The anger from the events of this morning clung onto you fiercely and no matter how much you tried to push it away, it clung on tighter.

Joel was caught in the crossfire of these events. You weren’t mad at him, but that didn’t stop you from taking it out on him no matter how badly you didn’t want to. Between leaving the front gates to now, Joel tried to talk to you, tried making conversation. You're going to be warm enough with just that, he asked, gesturing to your hoodie tied around your waist. All you could get yourself to do in response was shrug your shoulders, not caring enough to even give him a second look.

“I came over last night to talk to you about somethin’” Joel says, the words coming out weak through his tired breathing. Initially his words piqued an interest with you, but that faded just as quick as it came. “But-uh, didn’t seem like the right time once I was there.”

“And right now is?” You responded just as breathily. The never ending steep hill seems to have taken a toll on you– both of you.

“I’d rather get it over with, good time as any, I suppose,” he says, pausing as if he were waiting for you to give him the go ahead to continue. You felt like you had already given him your answer, letting him decide whether he wanted to go on or not. He cleared his throat before speaking again. “About what happened the day I left…”

“Jesus Christ,” you mutter under your breath, quickening your pace, trying to let Joel fall behind to avoid talking about that. Perhaps on any other day, as uncomfortable as it would have been, you’d be willing to talk about it, but not today… not in the state of mind you're currently in. “There’s nothing to talk about, Joel, I misread your intentions and… and it's been a year. We have a job to do, so let’s just get it done.”

“That’s not–” He takes a deep breath, letting it out forcibly as if he were annoyed. “I tried stopping by your place before I left.”

“Stop,” you say with a bit more bite than you intended.

“I don’t want you to think–” Joel pressed on, truly determined to say whatever he wanted to say.

“Stop it,” you spit. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does now that I’m back,” he raises his voice to talk over you. “I want to make sure–”

“Make sure we’re good?” you interrupt him. “We are, so drop it.”

The two of you come to a stand still. Joel’s chest is quickly rising and falling, his cheeks stained pink by the energy required to climb up the steep hill. A breeze picks up, sweeping Joel’s longish hair over his eyes; he pushes the strands out of way, still holding eye contact with you.

Taking a deep breath as a way to cleanse your mind, an attempt to shake off this anger you feel, you begin to head up the hill again. This time slowing your pace to allow Joel to keep up without exerting himself too much. You both still had a long day ahead of you whether you wanted to be there or not.

As silence ensued, Joel finally accepted that no matter how hard he tried, you did not want to talk to him that night. Although you didn’t want to talk about it, it didn’t stop random thoughts from popping up in your mind. You couldn’t build up the courage to make one particular thought known, to ask him the burning question that haunted you since he left.

Joel managed to make his way to your side, his presence startling you from your deep state of thought. He didn’t say anything, just tightening his grip on his shoulder straps and giving you a quick glance. His jaw clamped shut.

“Were you planning on leaving before…” You stop prematurely as the words rushed out of your mouth, the burning in your chest disappearing the moment you let the words enter reality. A shaky exhale escaped past your lips. Why does it matter, you questioned your own words, if he says no, then what? What does it change?

A nasty feeling overcomes you when he doesn't react, not even looking up from his focused stare at the ground. Nothing? You think, your throat begins to close in on itself.

“Let’s just get this done, I’m tired and my head hurts,” you say, your heart feeling like it shattered into a million pieces.

–

After your little spat with Joel neither of you speak for a long while. A few task related words had been exchanged, but nothing beyond that. As the day ran longer and your mind returned to a neutral state, you felt bad for how you treated Joel. You felt bad for taking out your problem with James on him.

“Sorry I was mean earlier,” you say quietly, picking at the sandwich you brought for lunch today. “Just the whole thing with James, you know?”

“You’re okay, darlin’” Joel says, the words coming out of his mouth smoothly, sending a blanket of warmth over your entire body. “James does that to people, I would know.”

You force yourself to smile, although the guilt of how you treated him earlier when you were still seething with anger continued to eat at you.

“Take this,” Joel added, causing you to look up from your food which you had balanced on one of your knees. He pulled out a neatly folded flannel from his backpack. It turns out that the hoodie you brought was in fact not warm enough, and between your shivering body and your chattering teeth, it must’ve been obvious. “You’re makin’ me cold just watchin’ you.”

You mutter a small thanks to him as you meet him in the middle, taking it from him without any rebuttal or hesitation. As you slip your arms through the baggy sleeve, Joel’s smell engulfs you. Your heart flutters, quickening its pace, and your stomach twists into a knot. A smell that you couldn’t quite describe beyond comforting and one that warmed to the core, more warmth than any jacket could offer you.

“You said you had some stuff to wrap up in Boston” you ask, trying to continue the conversation from earlier and receive some sort of answer from him. Your mouth became dry as you chewed slowly on a small piece of stale bread. “What’d you have to do?”

“A friend, her name’s Tess,” he begins, his words coming out slowly. You remember Joel mentioning Tess once before, a long time ago. “I’ve known her for a while– met her on the road with Tommy after the outbreak happened.”

“I remember you mentioning her,” you say, carefully watching his expression for any changes.

“Yeah, she’s-uh badass… real badass,” he responds, his eyes lighting up. Not good, you tell yourself as a feeling of jealousy washes over you. “I wasn’t planning on being gone so long, but she needed help finishing up some deals, tried convincin’ her to come out with me, but she wanted to stay, so…”

You could see a hint of smile as he spoke about her and then a bit of sorrow at the end.

“You love Tess?” You remember asking him before if they were together, a part of you wondered if that had changed between then and now.

The question catches him off guard.

“No,” He immediately shoots back, his face twisting into a complex expression you couldn’t quite read. “No, no… it’s not like that. We’ve been through a lot together though, and– and I guess sometimes that has blurs the lines a bit.”

You didn’t know how to respond to that so you let the conversation come to an end. The faint song of birds soon fills the air giving you something to listen to as you think over his words over and over again. He doesn’t love her but he feels something for her, you think, the jealousy stabbing into your stomach repeatedly.

“I don’t mean this in a…” He starts, stopping a moment to think, “are you sure Nessa’s your friend?”

The mention of Nessa amidst all of the mess Joel witnessed this morning provokes a laugh from you. You have to bite your lip in order for you to stop and answer his inquiry.

“After this morning, I have no idea,” You tell him nothing but the truth. “We were friends a few days ago. What’d she say?”

Joel shook his head, his eyes lowering to his hand which had been fumbling with the edge of a paper bag that held the jerky he brought along.

“C’mon,” you egg him on. By his reaction, you knew it had to have been nasty and knowing Nessa, you weren’t surprised. You knew how she could get, the things she came up in her mind to say about people who crossed her the wrong way. Though, you never thought you’d be in her line of fire.

“It doesn’t matter,” he shook his head again.

“Why are you protecting me?” His resistance causes you to become annoyed. “First with James, now this.”

“James?” He says almost as if he had no idea what you’d been talking about.

“At the stables,” You try to cool your tone, now trying to come off nonchalant. “When he tried to provoke me about Charles and his kids, and even before….”

Joel scoffs, a sense of embarrassment hidden behind it.

“I’m not protectin’ you, I– I–” he stammers and throws the half filled paper bag onto the base of his bad. “It doesn’t matter what she said because it wasn’t true.”

You force down the rest of the food you brought along, not necessarily because you wanted to but more so because it gave you something to do while Joel sulked. The usual Joel that you knew too well returned, and he became standoffish. You didn’t pay much mind to it because something told you that his little mood swing wouldn’t last, so all you could do was wait it out. He put up with my mood earlier, I guess it's only fair if I do the same, you told yourself, stealing glances of the slouching man sitting adjacent from you.

Joel suddenly his throat, catching your attention.

“What do you do when you aren’t on patrol?” His words came out dry, but seemed genuinely curious.

You let out a puff of air. A whole lot of nothing, you thought and what you wanted to tell him. Nothing important or worth talking about.

“I drink with some friend,” you state simply, letting your voice falter on the last word. Joel picked up on your intonation of friends, narrowing his eyes.

“Friends?” He nearly mocked you perfectly. “Who?”

You have to bite your tongue from letting out a small giggle. He should get a kick out of this, you think.

“Don’t laugh,” you say, looking at him through your browline, a small smile appearing on your face. “I spent quite a bit of my evening with Heather and Aimee, Drew too… and Nessa of course, that whole group.”

You very specifically left James out of that out of spite, but you were sure Joel would include him as he was a part of that group. Joel, of course, laughed, nearly choking on his water that he just took in from his canteen.

“I told you not to laugh,” You broke out into a smile as Joel wiped his mouth clean from water and saliva. “Besides, there’s not that many people to choose from.”

“There’s enough people to not choose them,” he quickly rebuttal in a joking tone. You just shrug, mainly because he wasn’t wrong. “I’m assumin’ James is apart of that mix too.”

“Yeah, James is there too,” Your face drops. At least he was, you added just to yourself, Or at least I was, you corrected yourself knowing that the gang would choose him over you in any instance, including Nessa.

“What happened between you two?” He asked genuinely, cocking his head to the side as he studied you. “Is he your–”

“Friend I suppose,” You cut him off desperately wanting him to disassociate you and James as being that. “Just a friend.” You weren’t sure if you clarified for him or more for yourself. “Just some petty drama, hopefully it’s over now.”

That seemed to satisfy Joel’s curiosity because he didn’t press any further or ask more questions regarding your friends.

As you pack up your things, now in a much merrier and less hangry mood than before lunch, you catch Joel watching you. Not watching you in a way that he had in the past. It was almost as if he were stuck on you, unable to peel his eyes off of you even if he wanted to. The shift in the air made butterflies form in your stomach at his consistent attention, you tried to ignore it until you couldn't. The two of you lock eyes as you meet him at the base of a rocky ledge.

“What?” you softly ask as you unbunch your many layers of clothes under the straps of your bag.

“Hm,” he half-consciously responds as if he didn’t entirely grasp onto what you just said.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” you expand your question further, causing him to blink quickly a few times as if it were bringing him back to the present moment.

“Like what?” he frantically darts his eyes along the ground, furrowing his brows.

“Like–” you begin to say, but the words are stuck in your throat, unwilling to be heard. With your heart fluttering, you continue. “Nevermind.”

But regardless, you saw it in his eyes.

You saw it.

–

By the time the two of you make it back, the sun has nearly fully set for the day. Your legs hurt, you’re tired, and you’re hungry. The staff who had been there when you left had now all gone home leaving you and Joel to put all the equipment and horses away for the night.

“You hungry?” Joel asks, grunting as he picks up one of the saddles to be put away.

“Very” you drag out the word, letting the exhaustion fill the word entirely.

“Why don’t you join Tommy ‘n I for dinner,” His voice is quiet, slightly nervous sounding. “Goin’ to Jackson BBQ, best BBQ in town.”

“It’s the only…” You begin to say, your exhaustion not allowing yourself to pick up on his joke, only stopping once you realize.

He gives you a slight smile which causes you to stop for a moment and take in his offer.

“I– I don’t want to intrude,” You say quietly, though you want to say yes a million times over. “I know how much he’s missed you, so…”

“He admitted that?” Joel asks with a smirk, wiping his hands off on his already dirty jeans and taking a step in front of you.

“Not in those words, but…” You smile, lowering your head to hide your face. Joel lets out a hearty laugh.

“Well, I want you to come,” He follows up with a laugh still lingering in his voice. His emphasis on want made you flinch, not in a bad way, but his directness catches you off guard. When you finally look up from the ground to look at him, he’s eyeing you nearly identical to when you had packed up after lunch. Your breathing hitches. “He won’t mind.”

Joel adds the last part after a few moments of silence between the two you, the soft neighs of the horses and rustle of the wind fill in the spaces.

You draw in a deep, slow breath; the cool air burning your lungs.

“Okay,” You finally agreed.

read chapter fourteen here!

painting divider | credit: @cottage-writings

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