#cevans masterlist

[mellowsaturns]

CHRIS EVANS CHARACTER MASTERLIST

read warnings as i am not responsible for your media consumption. do not copy, translate or repost any of my work.

⤷. ⟡ ˙ STEVE ROGERS⠀⭒⠀⠀˘˘⠀

make a wish

it's steve's birthday so you give him a present or two… maybe three ➳ angst / fluff / smut

my house of stone, your ivy grows

you were already promised to another but that doesn’t stop steve from putting roots in your dreamland ➳ angst

no place like home

a sweet moment with steve when you come home tired and sleepy ➳ fluff

ᰍ .⋆ LLOYD HANSEN ⊹˚.⋆

you call it love but all i’m left with is this pain

after running away from lloyd, he finds you and reminds you that where you belong was with him, always ➳ dark / angst

໋֢ ETC 𖥻 ⋆

steve and reader goes to the movies  ➳ smut

[boxofbonesfic]

Brave Masterlist

Title: Brave

Pairing: Orc!Steve Rogers x Human Reader

Summary: In the aftermath of an orc raid on your village, you are given a choice: adapt, or die.

Warnings: 18+ Only, Genre typical violence, Warlord Nomad AU, Dark Fantasy AU, Enemies to lovers, Eventual Smut, More tags to be added

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eleven

twelve

thirteen

fourteen

fifteen

[harryistheonlyoneforme]

Masterlist

* denotes smut

all works are 18+

Harry Styles

Chris Evans

[jamneuromain]

Multi Cevans Characters Masterlist

Fluff: 💕 Angst: 🥀 Smut: 🔥 Dark: 🌑

Series Finished: ✓

Together Or Not At All

Pairing: Steve Rogers/Johnny Storm/Jake Jensen/Nick Gant x Reader Summary: Life as a roommate can be tricky, especially when you are living with Steve Rogers, Johnny Storm, Jake Jensen and Nick Grant. You opted to be a therapist, but things didn’t turn out exactly as planned… A/N: A collaboration with @rogerswifesblog/ @rogerswifesblog-updates. 💕🔥

Highway to Hell

Pairing: Steve Rogers/Andy Barber/Curtis Everett/Ari Levinson/Lloyd Hansen/Jake Jensen x Reader Summary: A failed mission brought you once again back on earth, a punishment that’s more pleasurable than you'd normally expect punishments to be. Your punishment? Corrupting people’s thoughts. It’s easy, in a very simple way: sexual pleasure. Turns out no man can resist such a beauty like you. And who were you? Oh, just the devil's child. A/N: Anotherrr collaboration with @rogerswifesblog/ @rogerswifesblog-updates. 🌑💕🔥

One Man's Meat

Pairing: Ari Levinson x Reader, Curtis Everett x Reader, Andy Barber x Reader, feat Ransom Drysdale, Johnny Storm & Nick Gant Summary: A collection of stories for the Levinson shifter pack 💕🥀🔥

Pretty Distraction

Pairing: Ari Levinson x Reader, Andy Barber x Reader, Curtis Everett x Reader, feat Pete Brenner, Jake Jensen, and Steve Rogers Summary: A collection of the stories for the Barber Corp. 💕🥀🔥

[holylulusworld]

Alpha!Ari Levinson masterlist

Masterlist for all Alpha!Ari Levinson stories

Contains: 💔 angst // 💕 fluff // 💦 smut // 🖤 light smut // 🤍 implied smut

A/N: All of these will be AUs.

Leo & Alpha masterlist

Find all other stories with Steve/Chris here: Steve Rogers/Chris Evans Masterlist

Divider by me *for my blog use only*

[ravennaortiz]

Everything on this list is incredible!

Masterlist💗

Started: 10/22/2020

Last Updated: 08/25/2024

Angel Reyes

"Hungry and Hormonal"

"Disastrous Deception"

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

"Out of Control"

“Get Your Act Together”

Odell Beckham Jr.

Gif credit: @objs13

"I Got You"

Chris Evans

Gif credit: @capsgrantrogers

“This Thing Called Life”

“Here We Go”

Rio

"Gang Friend and a Gentleman"

“Are You Listening?”

Daily Struggles Series: "Keep Me Posted"

"Are You Listening?" - Part Two: "The Breakdown"

“Gimme Some”

“Are You Listening?” - Part Three: “Bad Idea”

“Through It All” - Part One

“Are You Listening?” - Interlude - “Drinks On Me, Yeah?”

“Are You Listening?” - Part Four - “My Little Rider”

"Tempting Limits"

"Balancing Acts"

Rio Ask/Headcanons (In Order):

(I don't take requests, but sometimes I give in 😆)

Rio and Wifey on Vacay w/ baby girl.

Rio, Wifey, and All Girls.

Baby Mama, Four Times Over.

Built In Babysitter. Evolution of a Mini Hustla.

Valentine's Day and a Wedding Anniversary.

Rio’s Mini-me.

Let’s Go Little Kitty-Kat

It Be Your Own Blood

"Like Father, Like Son"

Pablo Schreiber

"Mini Mediators"

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

"Nobody’s Gonna Know"-Part One.

“Nobody’s Gonna Know” - Part Two.

Kevin Atwater

"Until The Cops Come Knocking"

"Loud and Wrong"

Jay Halstead

“Echoes of Redemption”

Simon 'Ghost' Riley

"Late Night Cravings"

“Under the Mask”

“Haunted Hearts”

🚨SNIPPETS🚨

"Feeling Flustered" - EZ Reyes SNIPPET

"Disastrous Deception: Part Five" - Angel Reyes SNIPPET

"Do Not Disturb" - Angel Reyes SNIPPET

"Are You Listening" - Rio SNIPPET

"Loud and Wrong" - Kevin Atwater SNIPPET

"When You Come Around" - Chapter: "Restroom Occupied" - Dave East - Kofi Siriboe SNIPPET

“Mini Mediators” - Pablo Schreiber SNIPPET

“Don’t Hurt Yourself” - Chapter: “Shot For Me” - Odell Beckham Jr. SNIPPET

"The Way You Move" - "Say What Now?" (song series) - Yahya Abdul-Mateen II SNIPPET

“Clear A Bitch” - Chris Evans SNIPPET

“Get Your Act Together” - “Say What Now?” (Song series) - Angel Reyes SNIPPET

"Late Night Flights" - Chris Evans SNIPPET

Divider Credit: @firefly-graphics 💕.

[kqutie]

THE PRINCESS' SEVEN MERCENARIES —MINI SERIES [✿ ❄︎ ☁︎]

sum. : you're the missing princess living in a cottage with a group of undercover mercenaries

relationships : poly cevans characters/snow white reader ; mercenary steve rogers/snow white reader ; mercenary curtis everett/snow white reader ; mercenary jake jensen/snow white reader ; mercenary ransom drysdale/snow white reader ; mercenary ari levinson/snow white reader ; mercenary andy barber/snow white reader ; mercenary lloyd hansen/snow white reader

tags. : reader is a disney princess au ; mercenary cevans characters ; magic/fantasy au ; a/b/o dynamics (but not too significant) ; fluff ; disney au ; snow white and the seven dwarves inspired ; all of them go soft for reader ; a/b/o 'customs' (i made them my own hehe~) ; evil queen is evil ; eventual poly relationship

inspiration : there were several, the main being 'what was wrong with poisoning her seven men' by @imyourbratzdoll -- a beautiful, smutty snow white adaptation with a slew of delicious hunky men! i highly recommend giving it and the rest of her 'a whore's fairy tale' series a read ;) i'm not much of a smut writer but i am a hoe for cevans various characters x reader and fairy tale adaptations hehe~ so here's my little fluffy twist on the classic snow white fairy tale, i hope you darlings enjoy the read!

chapters :

i. a swift escape ii. a fateful meeting iii. a different morning iv. the liberal guard v. the smitten charmer ⌊new⌉ vi. the foolish genius vii. the lumbering repairman viii. the soft negotiator ix. the gentle executioner x. the lenient captain xi. a peaceful routine xii. the evil queen xiii. epilogue

taglist : @imyourbratzdoll @lovinglimerence @saturdayrj @baw1066 @whereismymindnow @urmomw4ntsme @oneandonlybbygrl

(i still can't believe i have a taglist for this passion project of a series with the first being my inspirational writer for the series (இ﹏இ`。) )

property of kqutie ; all written content is mine and no one else's unless stated otherwise ; do not steal, plagiarise, modify or translate to other sites

art/visual media does not belong to me

[potterhead2207]

In Alia Via - Blurb

‘In Alia Via’ means ‘life in a different way’ in Latin (as far as I know. I don’t speak Latin, so you can thank Google Translate for that). I’ve called it that because it’s the lives of the Marvel and Harry Potter characters and cast, but slightly differently than how we all know them to be. You’ll see. Next, I’ll introduce my original characters, and then we’ll get into the chapters.

In Alia Via Masterlist

Enjoy,

Shannon :)

[buckets-and-trees]

Aspen's Countdown to Chris-mas!

I know of all of you knocking around this little forest of fandom with me, some love Bucky and Steve, some only love Bucky/Seb, and some only love Steve/Chris, so since I went full throttle on completing Hot Bucky Summer this year, I thought I'd balance it with a TRYING to post something for a CEvans character once a week through December!

FIRST WEEK OF CHRIS-MAS = LLOYD HANSEN Welcome Home, Pumpkin [6k]  set of three stories: soft, soft!dark (dub con), dark (non con), explicit smut

SECOND WEEK OF CHRIS-MAS = CURTIS & ARI Taking You Home [6.2k]  tattoo artist AU, sequel to Obsidian Stain and Sin, explicit smut

THIRD WEEK OF CHRIS-MAS = STEVE ROGERS Red, White, & True: Prologue [1.3k] Steve Stays AU, presidential candidate storyline

FOURTH WEEK OF CHRIS-MAS = ALPHA STEVE (& ALPHA BUCKY) The Dawn Has Come [5.5k]  Steve Stays post Endgame omegaverse AU, double epilogue for Warm Shadows, explicit smut

FIFTH WEEK OF CHRIS-MAS = BOLOTNIK CURTIS Never Going Back Again [3.7k] 1800s AU, follow up to this original ask

SIXTH WEEK OF CHRIS-MAS = ARI & CURTIS Worship in the Bedroom [3.2k] tattoo artist AU, third part of the Obsidian Stain and Sin series, explicit smut

SEVENTH WEEK OF CHRIS-MAS = RANSOM DRYSDALE Between the Lines [4.4k] post-Knives Out, fake engagement, slow burn, forced proximity, enemies to lovers

EIGHTH WEEK OF CHRIS-MAS = ANDY BARBER Burned Off the Haze [4.5k] soft!dark mafia boss Andy, new addition to the I'm Your Man Collection, mild smut

NINTH WEEK OF CHRIS-MAS = ??? TENTH WEEK OF CHRIS-MAS = ??? ELEVENTH WEEK OF CHRIS-MAS = ??? TWELFTH WEEK OF CHRIS-MAS = ???

Planned/Anticipated appearances from:

ONE MORE NEW Steve

EVEN MORE tattoo artist Curtis & Ari

my solo Ari debut

New Lloyd

**IT'S ENTIRELY POSSIBLE THE MUSE MAY CHANGE HER MIND FOR WHAT SHE WILL FUEL, but this is what I intend to hopefully be able to share with you**

↠ Main Masterlist | Aspen's Ask Box | Field Guide to the Forest

[boxofbonesfic]

𝔅𝔬𝔵𝔬𝔣𝔟𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔰 𝔓𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔰: 𝕱𝖗𝖎𝖉𝖆𝖞 𝖙𝖍𝖊 13𝖙𝖍 𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖊𝖓𝖌𝖊 𝕸𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙 

A list of all of the wonderful entries for my first annual Friday the 13th Challenge! I will be updating this list annually to catalogue all of the wonderful work my friends and peers have submitted. 

2023 Fics:

Talking to the Moon (Werewolf!Lloyd Hansen x Reader) by @boxofbonesfic. Summary: “Run,” Lloyd gritted the word out to you through teeth like knives as his hands became claws, scoring into the expensive leather steering wheel. “Run so I can catch you.”

Wax and Wane (Werewolf!Andy Barber x Reader) by @boxofbonesfic. Summary: “You were drawn to Andrew Barber like a moth to flame, and now that everything you were is burned away, you cling to him in the ashes.”

Undying Change (Vampire!Bucky x Hunter!Reader) by @geminixevans-stan. Summary: “Reader was on a mission, a mission that caused her to lose to a being that she hated.”

Wherever you will go (Andy Barber x Reader) by @darkficsyouneveraskedfor: Summary: “Your vacation isn’t the escape you thought it was.”

The Night Shift (Thor x Reader) by @darkficsyouneveraskedfor. Summary: “You work the night shift at the local museum and not all history is dead.”

Sleepy Hollow by (Stalker!Ari Levinson x Reader) @onsunnyside. Summary: “Beware the quiet ones.”

Fox Fire (Dark!Thor x Reader) by @syntheticavenger. Summary: “Despite repeated attempts to access a forbidden forest, approval comes with a cost. One that has been centuries in the making.”

No Motive (Serial killer!Stucky x Reader) by @moosereblogsfics. Summary: “Surprise, Sidney!”

Witchview (Steve x Reader) by @buckets-and-trees. Summary: “You wanted out before, but now you were compromised as the bait in your own trap and were becoming desperate for freedom. As he had said famously, the price of freedom was high. Desperation was dangerous. Desperation was fed by hope. Desperation erased the limits of reasonability. You had crossed lines, and you wouldn’t stop now.”

It will come back (Old God!Lee Bodecker x Reader) by @slyyywriting. Summary: “Don't let it in with no intention to keep it. Jesus Christ, don't be kind to it. Honey, don't feed it. It will come back.” -Hozier, It Will Come Back 

The Stalker (Bucky x Reader) by @winter-soldier-101 

Safety Measures (Dark!Vision x Reader) by @springdandelixn. Summary: “The security system you had installed in your apartment was done to keep your stalker away. Little did you know, he's already made his way in.” 

Something’s not right with Mrs. Barber (Andy Barber x Siren!Reader) by @scandinavianfairytale. Summary: “Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Especially with a wife like you.”

K I L L B I L L (Andy Barber x Dark!College Student Reader) by @geniedetails. Summary: “hate to see you happy if I’m not the one drivin’.”

And all was lost (Dark!Steve Rogers x Reader) by @witchywithwhiskey. Summary: “you must make it through the forest without being caught, lest you be forced to give in to whatever dark desires reside in your captor's heart.”

Pretty Thing (Dark!Charles Blackwood x Curvy!Reader) by @bellasburdens. 

Impatient (Lloyd Hansen x Reader) by @flordeamatista. Summary: “There is no breath or glare in the world, but only a faint demonic memory.”

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

the murder at evergreen university

a/n: asdfghjkl I have been writing this since january...... wow. it's never taken me that long to write a story before... also I made a quick student bio about the majority of the people in this story, so if you wanna start off by looking at that, then here is the link ♡

summary:  just a slutty murder mystery

warnings: reader x various CEvans characters (Ransom Drysdale, Curtis Everett, Ari Levinson, Steve Rogers, Frank Adler, Jake Jensen, Lloyd Hansen), DARK content, noncon, smut, violence, university AU, murder mystery, detective!Ari, family friend!Ari, mma!Curtis (I just couldn't resist), surely extremely inaccurate on all levels (the college stuff, the investigation, everything, but this is just for fun so it's okay. lol I got the frat name from fantasynamegenerators.com hehe), polyamory, kissing, alcohol consumption, crying, drugging, murder, somno, daddy kink, dirty talk, choking, penetrative sex, size kink, vomiting, flashback sequences are written in all cursive

word count: 11.100

∼ gentle reminder that feedback, but especially reblogs are the way you support writers on here ∽

masterlist | join my taglist | evergreen university masterlist

Walking up the steps of the Kappa Zeta Nu building, you pulled your humming ear pods out of your ears and popped them in the jacket pocket where your phone rested. If it hadn’t been for the big Greek letters above and its proximity to the college, the fraternity house could almost fool someone into thinking it was just any other regular suburban home. 

Giving the front door a rhythmic knock, it quickly swung open to reveal a scruffy-looking mathematics major, still groggy from sleep. 

“Morning Frank,” you couldn’t help but notice the spark in his eye that your presence generated. 

“Angel,” your nickname sounded so good on his sleepy lips, making you smile as he gave you a quick glance up and down, “how do you look like that this early in the morning?” 

Walking past him, further into the house, you chuckled, “8:30 is not that early.”

“Um, on a Saturday it is.” 

Thanks to the open floor plan, you quickly caught sight of Jake sitting by the kitchen island, scarfing down a bowl of cereal. 

“Hey!” the blonde smiled, mouth still full of his breakfast, “I’m guessing by the gorgeous look on your face that you made it through last night?”

“Yep,” you exhaled, thinking back on the major cram session you had to power through in order to meet the paper’s deadline. The lengthy assignment for your cognitive psychology class had been so extensive that it probably hadn’t been that smart of you to keep procrastinating it the way that you had, but somehow you got it done, “turned it in just in time.” 

“Atta girl,” the computer whiz reached over the counter to give you a high five, “I knew you could do it!”

“Speaking of yesterday,” yours and Jake’s fingers lingered a moment before parting ways, “how’s our boy doing? Did he make it through last night?”

Appearing behind you, still sweaty and panting from his morning run, Steve answered your question, evidently catching the tail end of the conversation just as he came in through the door, “Curtis is doing just fine,” he leaned against one of the counters, catching his breath, “better than fine actually, he won.” 

“He did?” a bright smile bloomed on your face, “man, I wish I could have been there…” you were usually so strict about being there for important things, such as Curtis’ occasional MMA fights, but because of your procrastinated schoolwork, you hadn’t been able to tag along. “It’s all Lloyd’s fault, you know. He did the whole oh yeah, we can have a little study date, get that paper done, no sweat, and then distracted me, leaving me with all of the work to get through yesterday.”  

“You wanna turn the faucets on down here, give his shower an icy turn as revenge?” Jake suggested, fiddling with his spoon playfully. 

“Nah, I’ll just give him the cold shoulder for a bit,” you settled your forearms against the countertop, unintentionally giving the guys a better view down your top, “he hates it when I ignore him.”

“He sure does,” Jakes drawled, nearly dropping his utensil into the milky bowl as he unabashedly stared down your cleavage. 

Biting your bottom lip a second, you returned to the matter at hand, “is he up yet?”

“Curtis?” Steve clarified, opening the fridge and plucking out a cold bottle of water. 

“Yeah.”

“Nope,” Frank shook his head behind you, “he’s still sleeping.”

Only pushing yourself halfway up, you asked “can I go see him?” slightly taking the others by surprise. 

“When have you even needed permission to go barge into his room?” Frank questioned.

“I don’t know…” you muttered, glancing down at the speckled pattern of the counter's surface, “maybe he’s got company or something…”

“Angel,” Steve leaned over the opposite side of the table, craning his neck so that he could catch your timid eyes, “he is not gonna go pick up some random girl just because you miss one of his fights.”

Bowing your head, you opted not to answer, instead just attempted to shake the doubt off you entirely. 

In a bouncy rocking motion, you straitened back up and moved towards the stairs, two of the guys tagging along as they too needed to head upstairs. 

“So,” you glanced over your shoulder at Frank and Steve, “how’s Ransom settling in?”

“The new guy?” Steve spoke, “fine, I think. I don’t know, I don’t speak trust fund kid, so how would I know.”

“I don’t think he’s that bad… Shouldn’t we at least try to include him in our little group? It just seems kinda mean not to since we’re so tight and you all live with him,” reaching the top of the stairs, you heard, from the bathroom directly in front of you, the trickling clues of Lloyd’s luxurious shower, and briefly glanced down at the far end of the hall where the new guy’s closed door was, his vast room mirroring Steve’s at the opposite side, though his was much more secluded from the rest, being closed in by the injection of both the broad staircase and the bathroom before the cluster of rooms came. “Like you said, you don’t know him yet, he might be super sweet and just takes a bit of time to warm up to people.”

“Maybe,” was all Frank cagily, not giving it any more thought. 

Coming to a stop in front of Curtis’ door, you slowly creaked it open, revealing the sleeping display of a bruised buzzcut, still lightly snoring on his back.

“Jesus christ,” you breathed and leaned your shoulder against the doorframe, taking in the beaten form of your friend, “you sure he won?” you asked the men still lingering a second longer, peeking over your shoulder into the room.

“Yeah, you don’t wanna see the other guy,” Frank gave your behind a quick tap before ducking into his own room. 

Turning your head to look at Steve, himself leisurely making his way down towards the room at the end of the hall, “you sure he’s fine?” 

Stopping in his step, he offered you an earnest glance, “he’s fine, Y/n. Go wake him up.”

After shutting the door behind you, you peeled off your jacket and let it drop down onto the desk chair you passed on your way towards the small mattress. Kicking off your shoes, you climbed the twin bed, kneeling beside your resting friend.

“Wake up,” you sang, dipping your smile down low to rouse Curtis. Receiving a less than lively reaction, only getting a soft inhale of breath as an indication that he’d woken, you tried again, swinging one of your legs over his form to straddle his hips, “hey, tough guy,” you felt his palms slide up the curve of your ass and come to rest around your waist, “you alive?”

Just barely fluttering his bruised eyelids open, a bright smile bloomed on his lips, “hi angel,” he sighed contently at your presence, blinking up at your softly illuminated form as the gentle morning light streamed in through his open window, the family of birds living in the tree just outside aiding in the gentle ambience. 

“A little birdy told me that you won last night,” you let your upper body sink down against his, resting your chin on top of your folded palms, right underneath his chin.

“I did,” you saw as the sting of his various injuries woke him up even further, “although I still would have preferred if my good luck charm had been there instead of doing boring homework.” 

“Oh, please don’t make me feel any worse,” you hid your face in his chest, “I already feel like I have too much making up to do.”

“Oh yeah?” he picked your head up for you to see the sly smirk now adorning his face, “what did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know,” you spoke shyly, feeling your cheeks flush as the position the two of you had found yourself in dawned on you, “I just really wanted to have been there,” and you sat back up, wary of where you placed your hands for support on his beaten frame. 

“Ah,” he waved a reassuring hand, “you’ll be at the next one.”

“Oh, I will,” you grinned promisingly, scooting down to the foot of the bed as you watched him sit up, the duvet falling off his body to relieve the rest of the colourful aftermath, “a simple assignment won’t be able to stop me,” your enthusiasm made him smile through the wince he let out as he got up off the mattress.

Tailing after Curtis as he moved out into the hall and made his way down towards the lavatory, you suggested as you followed him into the bathroom, “we should totally do something to celebrate your win! It’s the weekend, we should do something fun!”

Standing by one of the sinks, Lloyd, fresh out of the shower, didn’t take his eyes off his hair in the reflection as you sauntered in. As Curtis grabbed his toothbrush, he leaned down and whispered cheekily in your ear, “I know a way we can celebrate, just the two of us,” flashing you a glance that caused your breath to get caught in your throat. 

Cutting off your flustered giggle, Lloyd spoke, “there’s supposed to be a party tonight down on the other side of campus. Me and a few of the others were talking about going.” 

“Oh, the one Delta Phi is throwing? Nat’s going to that! Said something this morning about meeting the guy she’s been seeing there.”

“What-, guy?” Lloyd finally ripped his eyes away from the mirror, “what happened to that yoga chick?”

“I don’t know, I think she was moving a little bit too fast for Natasha’s speed,” you spoke of your commitment-phobe of a roommate. Saddling up beside the fighter now brushing his teeth, you said, “so, what do you say?” bumping your hip gently against his as you saw him look back at you in the mirror, “it could be fun.”

Pretending to ponder the proposal, Curtis answered, “if you put on a pretty little dress, then I might be convinced to go,” the foaming toothpaste lightly murmuring his flirting.

“…It’s always the innocent-looking ones you’ve gotta look out for,” Ransom spoke over the loud, bassy music to the moustachioed man next to him on the couch, “and this little charade you’ve all got going on must be a hell of a good time,” he elbowed him suggestively, though didn’t conjure the desired reaction from him, “oh, come on, you can tell me, dude. Just help a brother out with a few details.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Lloyd shrugged with a smirk and took a sip of his beer. 

“What do you mean?”

Huffing out a soft sigh, he answered, “she’s an amazing girl, don’t get me wrong, but she just has a few rules.”

“What, like some bdsm kinda rules?” Ransom’s eyebrows wiggled excitedly. 

“No, man,” he tried not to chuckle at the yearned-for images his inappropriate guess provoked, “back when we met her she-… her heart was fucking broken and there wasn’t a lot of stuff that she wanted to do anymore, that she felt comfortable with, but over time, I guess when she started getting over whomever that fucker was, she began to relax and let us in.”

“So, you’re really saying you haven’t hit that yet?” the prying man furrowed his brows, unmoved by the sob story. 

“None of us have.”

“Then are those stories about you banging her last week just rumours?”

“No, no, well not exactly, we did have fun, trust me,” he chuckled, poking his cheek playfully with his tongue, “but I didn’t exactly bang her.”

“So, let me get this right, you’re all mad for her and she hasn’t given out? To any of you? What, is she still a virgin or something? Waiting for marriage?”

“I don’t think so,” Llyod thought for a moment, “but it kinda wouldn’t surprise me either if she was… I don’t know… it’s kinda complicated, but damn if she isn’t worth it.”

Letting out a low exhale, he shook his head, “I don’t know how you stand it, dude. If she was mine, she wouldn’t be able to walk. Hell, how do you even share someone like her?” 

“Well, I don’t know if she’s mine per se, we all just have fun, you know? Why not share?”

“Hey,” your chipper voice interrupted their lewd convocation as you finally caught sight of them on the dark leather couch in the corner of the party, “there you are,” and immediately grabbed each of their hands in yours, “come on,” you leaned your weight back, ushering them to get up, “we’re doing shots in the kitchen!”

“Seriously, Barnes? Watch where you’re going!” Ransom exclaimed as the host of the party had rowdily bumped into the rich boy on his way through the narrow kitchen, causing the bright pink shot in his hand to spill all down the front of his white sweater, “this is cashmere, dude!” he yelled after Bucky’s quickly disappearing form, clearly not haven noticed the interaction himself over the deafening music and his drunken haze.

“Oh my god,” you gasped, noticing the huge stain now blooming on the man beside you, “are you okay?” the sharp alcohol still stung in your throat causing your words to come out ragged. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he stared down at himself, then over his shoulder in contemplation of whether or not he should run after the guy in pursuit of revenge, “this sweater however is not.”

As your eyes washed over the ivory knit, watching it soak up the colourful cocktail, you thought out loud as an idea struck you, “well, maybe…” and acted quickly, grabbing the man’s hand, “come with me,” you yanked him past the rest of your jovial friends and down the hallway towards the small bathroom.

Catching on to where your head was at, Ransom spoke after crossing the threshold, “Y/n, this is very sweet, but I don’t know if it will work.”

“Just shut up and take it off,” you held out your hand, too blind by your inebriated problem-solving instincts to consider any other outcome.

Gazing back at you a moment, he then chuckled and tugged the sweater over his head with one hand, your eyes widening as he placed the item in your waiting palm, it haven apparently been the only layer he had on.

“Thank you,” you breathed, dumbfounded for a second as you stared at his bare chest, briefly admiring his toned form before shaking it off and spinning around to turn on the sink. Holding the stained material against the slowly trickling cold water, you pressed and pinched the spot gently in an effort to not agitate the delicate fibres. “I swear, I’m always the worst at spilling stuff on myself, I’m like a child, plus the fact that I’m a knitter, so not to promise anything, but I’d say you’re in pretty good hands.”

He didn’t say anything, simply settled in beside you, leaning against the edge of the sink as he watched your face contort in adorable concentration. 

“Oh, dammit…” you gave up after a few minutes of gentle scrubbing. Turning the faucet off, you held the sweater up and looked at the, although lighter, still very much visible pink stain, “well at least it’s a little bit better than before,” you tried, flashing the half-naked man an apologetic look, “maybe if I soak it a bit it’ll get better, but-”

“Hey,” Ransom placed his fingers atop yours still clutching the wool, “it’s fine,” he lowered your hands as he leaned in and closed the gap between you two, his alcoholic breath fanning across your flush cheeks as he uttered a quiet, “thank you,” before unexpectedly pressing a greedy kiss against your lips. 

Feeling his grip tug the sweater out of your hands, you instinctively pressed your palms against his chest for support as the whole move had made your intoxicated body lose its balance. His lips were soft, but his kisses were hungry, determinedly letting it build far faster than you were ready for.

You let out a soft giggle of surprise as he suddenly scooped you up and planted you on the edge of the sink, nestling himself in between your parted thighs, your short dress haven ridden up from the movement.

“So, is this why they all call you angel?” he asked as his heated pecks fluttered down your neck, “because you swoop in and save the day?”

“I don’t know if I do that…” you breathed timidly, the reality of what he was doing just catching up to you now. 

“Oh, but you do. You saved mine,” he smirked, “you’re my hero,” you felt the tickle of his fingers as they snuck further up under your dress, “however can I repay you?” 

“I, um,” you giggled nervously, catching his wrists before they could get any further, pressing your lips against his in an effort to soften the blow as you thought of a gentle way to let him down, “I think that kiss by itself was a pretty good thank you,” you hopped down from the sink even though he made no effort in providing you room to do so.

Enclosing his arms around you as you giggly stumbled further towards the still-ajar door, he uttered, pressing the obvious tent in his pants up against your softness, “but why stop there? I can do a lot better than that if you just give me five more minutes,” but the door conveniently swung open a bit more just as two familiar figures passed it.

“Angel!” Jake, completely blind to the man still clawing at you to stay inside the bathroom, hooked an arm around your waist and yanked you along as he and Frank jovially strolled past, “there you are! It’s almost 11 o'clock, please don’t tell me that you’re bailing on Curtis and truly dooming him to lose to us.”

“I think Curtis would lose to you two in beer pong whether I am on his team or not,” you smiled, thankful of their timing, “you guys are the reigning champions after all.”

“Damn right,” Frank roared, excitedly lifting his fist, “J and F! F and J! Ain’t nothing this duo can’t accomplish.”

“Well, not everything,” you giggled, hooking your arms around their forms as they strolled on either side of you, their arms draped over you in return, “for instance, you’re both terrible cooks.”

“Shut up, angel,” Jake said playfully, “we’re unstoppable and you know it,” he stopped you in your tracks and trapped you against the wall, “say it,” he smirked down at you as Frank, not missing a beat, slipped in as well, enclosing you completely, “say that we’re unstoppable.”

Sucking in a sharp breath, you uttered, “you’re unstoppable,” the sudden proximity awakening memories that made your heart flutter. 

“Good girl,” he purred purposely, and a shiver ran down your spine as you recalled just how hot they both sounded cumming for you, a while back, when they had managed to talk you into playing with them both. 

“You guys are so mean,” you said light-heartedly. 

“Yeah,” Frank scrunched his nose through his warm smile, “but you like it.”

Twirling you around the dancefloor, Lloyd had been the only one in the mood to satisfy your surge of energy when you came pouting, begging the boys to dance with you. Holding you close, his hands roamed as you rocked to the music, causing you to close your eyes and drift away.

“Hey,” a different hand suddenly tapped you on the shoulder and tore you out of your dream, “I need to talk to you a sec.” 

Eyes fluttering open to look back at your redheaded roommate, you gave her a quick, “okay,” before raising yourself up onto your toes to speak into your dance partner’s ear, “hey, I’ll be right back!”

“Okay,” he shouted back over the loud music, “I’ll just go grab a drink, you want any?”

“Please,” you reluctantly let go of his hand and yelled after him as you followed your friend through the swarm of partying people, “a beer, thanks!” 

Rounding the corner to settle into a comparatively quieter nook, you tugged your wild hair behind your ears as you looked back at Natasha, “what’s up?”

Biting her lip, she spoke, “you love me, right?”

“Well, obviously, I’m about to get down on one knee and everything,” you joked, “what is it?”

“Can I have the room tonight?” she asked with a small winch, knowing damn well how frequent this request was. 

“Seriously?” your eyebrows shot up, “again?”

“Please?” she folded her hands dramatically in front of her and begged. 

Letting out a soft sigh, you said slowly, “if you buy me that super good chocolate with the blue wrapper that they sell down on the corner, then-”

“Oh my god,” she cut you off and threw her arms around you, “thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“You’re the worst roommate ever, you know that?” you smiled, patting her back. 

“And you are the best, a true saint! Me and my sex life pray at your altar.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you chuckled, playfully pushing her away, “go on then, get laid.”

Returning to find that Lloyd had settled in with the rest of the guys, taking up all of the clustered couches, you put on your best miserable expression as he handed you your beer, “guys,” you dramatically caught their attention, “I have some really devastating news to tell you…” faking the need to suck in a self-soothing breath before uttering, “tonight, on this very night, I am homeless!”

“Oh no!” they played along, giggling as you pressed the back of your hand up against your forehead. 

“I know! Whatever am I to do? If only some big, strong, handsome boys would let me crash at their frat…”

Clutching onto Curtis’ broad shoulders as he gave you a piggyback ride back to the frat, you all laughed at Jake and Frank’s terrible, lewd rendition of the school’s fight song. If Lloyd had been here, if his stamina hadn’t forced him to stay out and enjoy the night a little longer, he would have probably not only joined in, but led the tune, waking up everyone in the dorms you passed. 

“So,” Ransom smirked as you all tumbled in through the destinated front door, “who will have the pleasure of bunking with you tonight?”

“I, uh,” you giggled as Curtis sat you down, your shoes clutched in your hand, “I don’t know…”

“You can sleep in my room if you want,” Steve offered generously, “I’ll just sleep down here on the couch.”

“Really? Are you sure? Because I can just sleep down here on the couch, it’s fine.”

“No, no,” he waved a hand reassuringly, “you’ve had way more to drink tonight than I have, so you should really take the room closest to the bathroom, just in case.”

Smiling widely, you stumbled over and wrapped your arms around his bulky form, “thank you, Steve,” breathing in his scent as you smooshed your face into his t-shirt, “you’re the best.”

“You wanna borrow a shirt to sleep in?” Curtis asked, reaching out a quick arm to steady you as you lost your balance on your way towards the wide staircase.  

“Oh, yeah,” you offered him a fuzzy smile, both the alcohol and the hour causing your eyelids to feel like they weighed a ton, “that would be great.” 

Getting settled into the comparatively more private bedroom located next to the stairs, the bathroom too separating it from the rest of the doors clustered down the narrow hallway, you lazily changed into the t-shirt Curtis soon handed off to you, tugging it over your dress before sliding your party outfit off underneath the grey cotton, keeping yourself somewhat covered purely because you didn’t wanna end the conversation you and the rest of the boys were trying to wrap up.

“Alright, we should probably let the lady sleep,” Steve spoke, watching closely as every time you blinked, your eyes gradually stayed closed just a little longer, nearly falling asleep against Curtis’ broad shoulder.

“No, no,” you protested, inhaling sharply in an effort to wake up more, “I’m just resting my eyes…”

“Right,” Frank chuckled as they all got up from their comfy seat on the mattress, being too tired to fight it, Curtis gently helped you lay down, tugging the duvet over your curled-up form.

“Hey,” Ransom poked his head into the room as the rest began to filter out, “I thought you might like this,” you were surprised to see him have a small glass of water in his hand for you. Not simply placing it on the bedside table by your head, he kneeled down next to you and held it out, “here,” expecting for you to take it, “I swear, chugging a glass of water helps with the hangover,” sliding his free palm under your head to raise it up.

“Thank you,” you smiled wearily as you slowly accepted it and raised it up towards your lips. 

Noticing that you were only taking a small sip, his fingers found the bottom of the glass and pressed it up further, “all of it,” he tilted it for you to down it all, “or else it doesn’t work.” 

Coughing lightly as you lowed the now empty glass, it left an odd taste in your mouth, though you just summed it up to be the handiwork of some of the strong beverages you had consumed during the night working its way up again. 

“Thanks, Ransom,” you groggily patted his cheek, “you’re so sweet.” 

His eyes flickering over your tired face, smooshed against the pillow, he smirked, “goodnight,” got back up and strolled out past Curtis still lingering in the doorway, arms crossed and watching over you like a guard dog. 

“Night,” you quietly called out after him as you saw his frame disappear towards the furthest room down the hallway. Redirecting your attention back to your friend, you hummed, “go to bed, Curt. You gotta still be super sore from last night.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Oh, so you’re just gonna stand there all night, fall asleep on your feet and act as my sleep paralysis demon for the night?” you joked with half-closed eyes. 

A small laugh bubbled out of him as he finally moved, “sleep well, angel,” he uncrossed his arms and reached out for the doorknob to tug it closed. 

“Goodnight, Curtis,” you snuggled further into the pillow as you felt sleep overtake you like a wave crashing the shore, adding absentmindedly under your breath, “love you.”

“Hmm…” you hazily blinked your heavy lids open, roused by the pinching pressure between your thighs. Looking up at the dimly lit figure, you mumbled fuzzily, “w-what?” unsure if this was real life or a dream as the whole bed spun beneath you and you felt like you were floating. 

“Shh, go back to sleep, angel,” Ransom’s grunt pierced your ears as his palm pressed over the bottom half of your face, silencing any words you might speak, “It’s alright, daddy’s got you,” a shy cry vibrated against his hand as you felt him rock against you, finally noticing fully the unexpected sensation of his thick girth stretching you out, “just be a good girl and lay right there, let me have a little slice of heaven.”

Keeping your exhausted legs spread wide apart, his determined hips acting as a door stop, he moaned quietly, “fuck, it really did do the trick,” he looked down at your dazed form, awake enough to be present for him, but unknowingly sedated enough for you not to fight back, “almost a shame you won’t be able to remember any of this in the morning,” he slid his hand down to squeeze your throat, pinching your rapid pulse and making the world even more blurry, “look at you, fucking out like a perfect little doll. You wanna be doll, huh? My own personal little fucktoy?”

Fighting to keep your eyes open, your whole body rocked at his movements as he frantically picked up his pace, selfishly pounding into you, melting on top of you and pressing your sedated body further into the bed. 

“You know, I barely needed to touch you a second before you soaked my fingers, you clearly want this as much as I do,” he tightened his grip on your throat, “you need this, you need me,” stifled moans flowed from his lips as he unmercifully pounded into you, scratching his own vile itch, “poor you, none of your boyfriends ever touch you properly. That’s just what you need, isn’t it?” he mocked as your fluttering cunt tried to squeeze him out, expelling him from your body, “you just need your tight little pussy to be stretched out? Just need some good dick? Don’t worry, angel,” you vaguely felt his tongue flicker against your slightly numbed skin, “as long as I am here to help, I’ll keep your pussy sore, keep it filled up,” you just managed to catch him growl before you lost the forlorn battle and your body dozed off again. 

Waking up with a low groan, you quickly sprung up, feeling the contents of your stomach fighting their way out. With no time to entertain the surprising presents of Curtis already curled up at the foot of the mattress, you bolted out of bed and ran out the door, thankful for the close proximity to the bathroom as you soon found yourself kneeling in front of the toilet, regretting every sip you had indulged in as they burned your entire chest on their way out again. 

Feeling as your loose hair suddenly got picked up and gently held back, you heard the warm rumble of Curtis’ voice as he said, “wow, okay, alright,” his large palm found your spine, soothingly caressing it as you hurled your guts out, “it’s alright, angel. Just get it all out.”

“Urgh,” you groaned, clutching the cold porcelain as you spat out the fowl tang, “I am never drinking again,” keeping your head over the bowl till you were sure you had gotten it all out. With a heavy sigh, you slumped back, colliding softly with the mass of your friend. 

“You okay?” he asked, lightly running his hands over your goosebump-ridden form. 

“I think so,” you blinked up into his steely eyes, the reddened look to them flying over your exhausted head, “at least I made it to the bathroom this time,” you tried to joke with a half-hearted smile. 

Letting your body weakly droop down, sighing in relief as you felt the cold tile hug your form, you heard Curtis notice, “no, no, you can’t fall asleep out here,” feeling his fingers already slide beneath your body. 

“But it’s so comfortable,” you let out a small winch as he scooped you up into his arms, your frame draping over his strong limbs, and a dull pain stung your core. “Hey, what date is it?” you suddenly asked, trying to make sense of the uncomfortable tingle.

“I-, uh, why?” he thought, carrying you back into Steve’s room, your eyes noticing the other doors down the dark hallway were all open wide, even though it was the middle of the night. 

“No reason, I just think I might be getting my period or something…”

“Miss Y/l/n?” a voice called, though you were a million miles away, “Miss Y/l/n?” 

“Huh?” you blinked, shaking your head slightly as you unsteadily glanced up at the figure, “sorry, yes,” you reluctantly let go of your friend’s hand and rose from the seat you had been waiting in. 

“You’re gonna be fine,” Curtis gave your hand one last squeeze, “I’ll wait right here for when you’re done, okay?” 

He and the other guys hadn’t let you out of their sight since the terrifying news had spread like wildfire yesterday morning and rocked the entire campus to its core. 

“Okay,” you nodded weakly, not truly present as you followed the stranger inside. 

Pulling out a chair at the cold table, you sat down and averted your gaze from the walls of the bare conference room provided by the school for the law enforcements to use for their investigation. 

“The detective will be right in, you just sit tight,” the figure spoke before they closed the door behind them, leaving you alone in the makeshift interrogation room. 

You didn’t know how long you were in there, maybe a minute, maybe ten, but soon you heard the door creak open once more and a voice, long forgotten, found your ears, “hello, I’m detective Levinson, I will be conducting this-”

“Ari?” you blinked up at your elder childhood friend in amazement, the nauseating feeling of grief momentarily washing away at his unexpected presence as he sat down opposite to you, “what are you doing here?” your eyes drifted over his informal suit, the jacket missing and the sleeves sloppily rolled up passed his burly forearms, “and when did you stop being a beat cop?” 

“Uh,” he blinked, a solemn expression washing over his stern face, softening it significantly, “around a year ago,” he then sighed deeply and said, “I really hoped there had just been another Y/n Y/l/n here at this school…”

Effectively bringing you back down to earth, “oh, yeah… will this be a problem? Can you not do this if you already know me?”

“No, no, it’s not that. I just-,” his head tilted gently to the side, “this isn’t something I ever wanted you to go through.” 

Sucking in a sharp breath, you nodded shyly, “yeah, well, I am.”

Looking over you a moment, taking in the small changes you had adapted in the years since you had last seen each other, he offered a genuine, “I’m sorry,” and attempted to catch your weary gaze. 

“It’s not your fault,” you glanced down at your hands as your fingers once again began to dig nervously into your skin, leaving angry little half-crescent marks in its wake, “you’re not the one running around murdering students,” you awkwardly attempted to joke.  

Exhaling lowly, he then opened the file in front of him and laid out a small tape recorder in the middle of the table, “are you ready to begin?” 

“Yeah.”

Pressing on one of the side buttons on the recorder, Ari then announced methodically, “can you please state your name for the record?” 

“Y/n Y/l/n.” 

“And for the record, are you speaking to me voluntarily?”

“I am.”

Glancing over the open folder sprawled out in front of him, he asked, “what was your relationship with the victim?” 

“Ransom, he-, um… he was a friend. I honestly didn’t really know him for too long, but he lived with some of my best friends, so it just seemed pretty natural for him to also become a part of our little group, if you’d call it that.” 

“And you last saw Mr Drysdale when?” 

“At the party Saturday night. I crashed at their flat after that, so it was probably early Sunday morning that I saw him last, when he was on his way to bed, I think.” 

“Did anything happen to him that night? Anything unusual? His behaviour? Someone he interacted with? Anything you can think of that stands out?” 

“Uhm,” you thought back, remembering the heated kiss you had shared in the bathroom, though looking back into Ari’s studying eyes, you couldn’t help but lie and say, “no, I don’t think so. It was just a party, you know,” the thought of telling your childhood crush that you drunkenly made out with a guy sent your stomach turning, crushing the truth before it could crawl out. 

“Alright,” he nodded, “well, if you do remember anything, please reach out, we’re running the bulk of the investigation from here, so you know where I’ll be.”

“Still have your number,” you forced an awkward laugh.

“Right,” he sucked in a breath and averted his piercing gaze, “so, uhm, I don’t think I have anything else to ask you right now. Thank you for your cooperation with the investigation.”

“Of course,” you watched as his fingers wrap around the tape recorder, clicking the protruding button and making it stop, “it-, um,” you felt a shiver run down your spine as his eyes fell upon you once more, making the polite words seem that much harder to muster, “it really is good to see you again. Nice to see that you’re doing good,” then added jokingly, “that your mom still hasn’t talked you into cutting your hair,” a sincere smile tickled your lips at the mention of the warm woman living next door to your own parents. 

Even though it was clearly forced, your words still conjured a genuine reaction from the guy who used to babysit you, “yeah, no, you know she’s never winning that battle,” he chuckled, shaking his head lightly, “it’s, uh, it’s great to see you as well. You-, um… yeah…” he dropped whatever compliment was on the tip of his tongue and averted his gaze, “I don’t wanna keep you any longer, you can go, you probably have classes to get to.”  

“I actually don’t,” you informed him, though still slowly got up from your seat, “our professors have given us all some time off to-, uh, you know…”

“Yeah…” he nodded understandingly, his vision following your form as you made your way towards the door. 

Pausing just before your fingertips grazed the doorknob, you looked back, timidly chewing on your bottom lip, “hey, Ari?” 

“Yes?” he responded quickly, clearly still completely captivated. 

Finding it difficult to even breathe properly in his presence, especially when those soulful eyes were locked upon yours, you found that your words crumbled before they even got to see the light of day, “I-, um…” then hastily scrambled your brain for a makeshift, “good luck.”

Breathing out a soft smile as he watched you nervously fiddle with the door handle, he said, “thanks, Y/n.” 

It had been Monday morning that a garbage man had found Ransom’s body in a dumpster on the far side of campus. Even though they had tried to contain the news, it still spread like a wildfire, and come lunch that day, it was the only thing any student could talk about. 

The frat quickly got sealed off as an active crime scene as it had been the last place witnesses had seen him alive, forcing the rest of the guys to temporarily bunk up with friends in their dorms. You felt a bit ashamed about the immense relief you felt at that small detail, the comfort of having each one of them fight over who got to stay with you being something you welcomed with open arms. In the end, it was both Curtis and Steve who stayed with you, Natasha giving you the room and staying with her newfound beau in the meantime, giving you the entire space for a while.  

The guys had always been protective of you, but it almost seemed to have grown over the past few gloomy days. Not a second passed by where at least one of them wasn’t at your side, holding you as you cried, walking with you through the crowded campus or just keeping you company, making sure you weren’t alone. You just added it up to be their version of freaking out and buying into the whole conspiracy that it hadn’t been a drug deal gone wrong as so many had assumed of the recently deceased playboy with a penchant for illicit substances, but actually someone on campus, a stone-cold killer masking as just the person next to you in your lit class. 

“Why don’t you go ask him?” 

“Me?” your brows furrowed in Lloyd’s direction, “why me? If you wanna know so bad, why don’t you just go ask him yourself?”

Chiming in, Jake tilted his head, “well, you did say you know the guy.” 

Exhaling lowly, you averted your gaze, your crossed arms tightening over your chest, “yeah, you could certainly say that…”

“So just go, bat your eyelashes at him for a bit and figure out how much he knows,” Lloyd tried to persuade you, though even his ever-present cocky charm couldn’t sway you this time.

Previously assuming that the whole conversation had just gone over Curtis’ head, as he had just quickly sat beside you and stared out the window, he suddenly perked up, “we just-…” he struggled to vocalise, “if it really is someone here on campus… just the thought you sitting in class with them or-, fuck, anything, it just-…” like a magnet, your fingers naturally found his own in a comforting squeeze, “angel, we just wanna keep you safe and the thought of someone like that running around terrorising the school-… just please go figure out if he has a suspect yet. See if he has got any leads.”

From the moment you had said goodbye to the familiar detective, shame about not telling him the whole truth had nearly eaten you alive. You had lied to not only a person you had known your whole life, but also a law enforcer. It was insufferable, like a snowball rolling down a hill and growing bigger and bigger with each accumulated snowflake. 

“Fine,” you cracked, the shameful storm inside your body becoming too much to bear, “I’ll do it.”

“Knock, knock,” you said with a small smile as you pushed the ajar door open completely. 

“Y/n,” Ari’s spine straightened in surprise, his eyes no longer glued to the computer screen before him, “what are you doing here?”

“Thought you might be hungry,” you held up your alibi for coming in the form of a takeout bag, “it’s from this little Indian place downtown,” you shut the door behind you before plopping the crinkly bag down on the table, the warm light from the desk lamp illuminating the brimming containers of curry stacked inside, “you like Indian, right?”

“I-, I do,” he said, still taken aback by the kind gesture, “thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Thought it was the least I could do as a thanks for what you’re doing,” you waved a hand in the direction of the cluttered corkboard on the wall. 

“It’s just my job, you don’t need to thank me,” he said modestly, leaning back in his chair and lending you to spot the silver pen his fingers fiddled with. 

Lowering your gaze to stare at your shoes, you exhaled, “right…”

“So, um,” he filled out the awkward silence, “was there anything else you needed?”

“Oh, sorry,” you mumbled, keeping your eyes averted, “you’re obviously super busy and here I am just barging in,” your vision finally flickered up to lock with his, already steadfast on you, “I just, uh…” your breaths became more jagged as his sky-like eyes captivated your own, “there was actually something else I wanted to talk to you about, something I wanted to tell you.”

“Alright…” he nodded, listening intently. 

Blowing out a shaky breath, you revealed, “I lied, something did happen that night.”

“Okay,” his brows furrowed, though not as much as you had feared, “what was it?” your anxious brain haven already thought of a million different dramatic punishments he could penalise you with.

“I, uh…” you squeezed your eyes shut nervously, “I kissed him,” your pained voice rushed to force out, “at that party. It was in the bathroom and almost became something else, but, um yeah… we kissed… me and Ransom…” you peaked just one of your eyes open, your tense shoulders nearly pressing against your ears at this point, “I’m really sorry, I just felt like couldn’t tell you something like that, not you. I won’t be arrested for hiding this information, will I?”

“No, no,” Ari quickly rose from his seat, “Y/n, you’re okay,” he stepped closer to you as he attempted to calm your uncalled-for panic, “you won’t be arrested.”

“Oh,” you breathed, “good,” feeling your shoulders begin to drop back down again, “you know how my mind tends to freak out.”

“Yeah,” he nodded softly, “I do…” his words genuine as memories conjured the whisper of a smile to appear upon his lips, “thank you for telling me.”

Awkwardly, you flashed him a tight-lipped smile, grateful that uncomfortable moment had passed, you recalled the other reason for why you had come, “so…”

“So…” he echoed.

“Do you have any leads, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“That’s classified information, you know I can’t tell you that.”

“I know…” you averted your gaze and scrabbled your brain for what you could do or say to get him to tell you, “it’s just, I’m so scared all the time. The school was always a place that made me feel safe, till now…” although your intentions behind those words weren’t completely truthful, the statement wasn’t that far off, “it was just worth a try asking you.”

Holding your gaze, you could almost see his heartstrings get tugged as his brows quivered in compassion, “I-… I do have something. If you didn’t know, we just finished sweeping the victim’s living quarters, so if they haven’t already been notified, your friends should be able to move back in by tomorrow, but we also found something, not there, but in proximity to the dump site, there was a knife with traces of the victim’s blood on it. It’s in the lab right now as we speak, trying to decipher if there are any identifiable prints on it.” 

“Oh my god…” you felt goosebumps sting at every inch of your skin. 

“You haven’t heard any details about what state his body was found in, have you?” 

“No…” both from avoiding the papers and keeping to your dorm, you might be the only student on campus not aware of how your late friend had died, “he was stabbed?”

“That was decisively what killed him, yeah, but he was brutally beaten before that.”

“Holy shit, that’s-…” you shuttered, your eyes just now noticing the nauseating photos pinned on the board beside you, “fuck… I don’t know how you do this all day, deal with these kinds of things.” 

“It gets easier over time,” he shared, his worried eyes scanning your face a moment before apprehensively uttering, “this might be a really stupid question, but how are you holding up?”

“I-…” you toyed with the thought of lying to him yet again, but then opted to share the truth, “I am not doing so good, to be honest. I could probably count the number of hours I’ve slept in the last few days on one hand, or so I’ve been told. I don’t think it feels like I’ve slept at all, but apparently I have, just a little bit.”

Sucking in a pained breath, he murmured, “I’m sorry. I can help find someone you can talk to, if you want.”

“No, it’s alright,” his kind offer made it easier for you to look away from the horror plastered all over the office walls, “I mean, I’m not alone, that fact has become crystal clear throughout all of this.”

“Yeah, I kinda pieced that together,” he spoke in a much different manner than before, causing your brows to crinkle, “I conducted all the other interviews. It’s nice that you’ve made friends, making the most out of your college experience,” he said in a tone, almost reminiscent of jealousy.  

Averting your eyes, memories you so desperately tried to keep at bay pried their way in and snuffed out the fuming flicker his resentment had ignited, “hey Ari?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you know?” you asked wearily. 

“Know what?”

“Did you know all of those years, growing up together?” you lifted your vision once more as he offered you a questioning hum, “did you know that I was in love with you?”

Taken aback, it took a bit before he managed to answer, “no, I didn’t.”

“Why didn’t you ever call me? You just left.” 

“I was getting married, Y/n. What was I supposed to do?” 

“Not fuck the girl you used to babysit,” you shot back coldly, “what even was I to you?”

“I-… I don’t know,” his frustrated words came out breathy, “do you think I planned for any of that to have happened? To sleep with you of all people? I didn’t. But when I came home that summer and saw you again, saw who you had become, I don’t know, everything just changed, you changed. I fully thought that you’d to still be that same little annoying brat you used to be, but you really weren’t. I didn’t expect it to happen, I didn’t expect you to suddenly do something like that to me, have that kind of power over me!”

“So, you just decided to break my heart instead? I was mad for you, for as long as I could remember. That summer was the happiest I’d ever been and then you just up and left in the middle of the night without a word. Did you even think to imagine what it was like for me to run around that morning looking for you and instead finding an invitation for your wedding? I had to hear from your fucking parents that you had just come home to prepare things before the big day. You hadn’t even mentioned to me once that you were engaged, or even as much as just in a relationship. Was any of it even real to you or was I just your last bit of fun before you got tied down?”

“It was, Y/n,” he insisted sincerely, “it was the realest thing I’ve ever felt.”

“Then why did you go without as much as a goodbye? You know how much that broke me?”

“Yeah, well you seem to be doing just fine now,” he said pettily. 

“Excuse me? You don’t get to say something like that to me. You were the one who broke my heart, you don’t get to judge how I glued it back together. Just go back home to your wife, why don’t you.”

Suddenly looking back at you in confusion, Ari then illuminated carefully, “Y/n, I’m not married.”

“What?” you blinked. 

“I mean, I know you weren’t there that day, but I thought my mom at least had told you,” the gears turning inside of him were nearly visible to the naked eye, “I couldn’t go through with it.”

“What? Why?”

Biting his tongue as he held your eye, he then exhaled, “because I didn’t think I should get married if I was in love with someone else.”

Sucking in a stunned breath, you saw tears cloud your vision, “b-but… you never even called…”

“I know I didn’t,” he concurred heavily, his eyes unable to look away from your glossy ones. Feeling as if you might faint, you saw his woeful vision flicker down towards your lips, “I’m sorry, Y/n.” 

But just as you saw him slowly inch his face closer and closer to yours, a sharp intake of air stung your lungs as you raised a hand up as a barricade, “I can’t…” too scared of history repeating itself, “we can’t…”

Sighing deeply, his eyes traced the tear that rolled down your cheek, “I know…”

You had just been helping the guys move back into the frat. That was all you had been doing. One moment you were all laughing, actually having a normal and pleasant moment for once, and the next, two officers were barging down the door and reading Lloyd his rights. 

You’d nearly lost it completely and Curtis had to hold you back so that you didn’t go scratch one of the officer’s eyes out. The man in the cuffs however took it with style, only trying to break through your hazy to let you know that he would be fine and for the others to take care of you, after all, this wasn’t his first rodeo down to the station, although those times it had only been for petty crimes like bar room brawls and such. 

“But I mean, how did it even happen?” you thought out loud a while later, the miranda rights still ringing in your ears like a triggering song you just couldn’t get out of your head, “that’s what my mind keeps going back to,” you had finally calmed down after what felt like forever of the guys talking out of marching down to the station to do something, anything to get Lloyd out. Completely powerless, you sat curled up at the end of the couch as words flowed from your exhausted lips, “how could someone like him be killed? He was such a nice guy.” 

Not being able to stand it any longer, Curtis pipped up from the armchair on the other side of the living room, “no, he really wasn’t,” your bolstering words about the deceased being too much for him to take without cracking, “he was a rich creep and everyone knew it,” frustratingly, he gesticulated, “with everything that he did to you, how can you just sit there and say that he was a nice person? The guy drugged you and violated you in your sleep for fuck sake!” 

The room went dead quiet as soon as those words left his lips. 

“…what are you talking about?” your voice no higher than a whisper as you watched your burly friend shrink in regret. “Curtis,” you repeated more sternly this time as he didn’t offer an explanation, “what do you mean? What did you do?” your voice broke as thoughts about if Lloyd’s arrest hadn’t been a misunderstanding after all entered your mind. 

“You can’t tell her,” Frank shot a glare at the fighter, “we had a deal.” 

“Yeah, well that was before Lloyd got fucking arrested!” Jake chimed in, panic shining clear through in his tone, “she’s a part of this, has been since the very beginning. She has a right to know.” 

Finding your wide eyes in the crowd, Curtis asked you wearily, “you really wanna know what happened that night?” hugging your knees tighter to your chest, you gave him a small nod in confirmation, “fine, I’ll tell you.”

…

“Is she okay?” Curtis pushed the ajar door open further to ask, haven, on his way to the bathroom,  caught sight of an out of breath Ransom tugging the covers back over your passed out form. 

The head of the cashmere-clad man snapped up at the sign of company, the sudden alarm that began to bloom on his features was quickly drowned out by his usual arrogant air, “yeah, man,” he shot back defensively, rushing to get out of the room, “she’s fine,” sounding like it had been a completely crazy question to ask. 

Furrowed brow staying put, Curtis uttered slowly, “alright, but I think I’m just gonna check myself, if you don’t mind.”

“I said she’s fine!” Ransom slammed the door shut behind him, prohibiting the man now only inches from him from entering, “just go back to your own room!”

Worry and suspicion only growing at the obvious fibs, Curtis demanded, “what were you doing in there? What did you do?”

“What are you talking about?” he scoffed back. 

“What did you do to her?” Curtis took a looming step closer just as their raised voices began to stir some of the other slumbering residents.

“I didn’t do a thing,” he cockily dared a chuckle, “calm down.”

“I will not fucking calm down,” Curtis barked back before attempting to call to you through the closed door, “angel, you okay?”

Leaning against the wall beside his own room, Jake rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he groaned, “guys, can you not yell in the middle of the night? Some of us are kinda trying to sleep here.”

Frank, as well haven appeared, seemed a little more alert at the sudden commotion in the hallway, “hey, what’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on,” their suspicious friend waved a hand, “Curtis is just being a little bitch and freaking out for no reason,” the ostentatious gesture granted the opposing man an opportunity to slip past and enter the room.

Nearly kicking the door down, Curtis rushed to your side, examining your unconscious form with worried eyes, “angel?” the dim lights streaming in from the hallway just barely letting him notice how wrinkled and haphazard the t-shirt he’d lent you just a few hours before was on you. 

“Jesus, just let her sleep, dude.”

Ignoring Ransom’s words of warning, Curtis tried once more, “Y/n?” touching your skin lightly before giving you a gentle shake, “come on, wake up for me, baby,” his heart nearly beat out of his chest as he unsuccessfully tried to stir you, the shallow rise and fall of your abdomen not granting him as much comfort as it should have. 

Nearing the end of the hall, Frank asked once more, “what’s going on?” side-eyeing Ransom warily, “is she okay?”

“Of course she’s okay,” the trust fund kid scoffed.

“The fuck she is,” Curtis’ head whipped back in the direction of Ransom’s silhouette in the doorway. Getting back up on his feet, his sharp intakes of air causing his shoulders to rise, he stormed back out and demanded, “what did you do? Why were you in here and why the fuck is she not waking up?”

“Did you not see how much she had to drink tonight?” Ransom defensively gestured to your passed-out form on the narrow bed, “I was just checking up on her,” and with a heavy sigh abandoned the argument entirely and descended the stairs. 

Catching Curtis’ arm just in time to stop him from storming down after the man at the centre of the quarrel, Frank tried to catch the darting eyes of his friend as he asked firmly, “Curtis, what’s going on?”

“I saw him in there, hovering above her like a creep.”

Already worried eyes suddenly growing in alarm, “he was in there?” Frank quickly shared a panicked look with Jake, both now sharing the same inkling of what horrible thing had occurred, “alone with her?”

“Yes.”

“Wait,” Frank gasped, “did you say she’s not waking up? She is still breathing though, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, she’s just out cold. Why?”

“Oh my god…” Jake shuttered, his interrupted slumber now long forgotten.

“What? What is it? What aren’t you guys telling me?”

Exhaling lowly, Frank carefully began to explain, “Curtis, you know that my sister goes to Bayshore, right?”

“Um, sure, yeah?” unsure as to why that fact was significant.

“Well, she told me about this student who overdosed after being drugged and raped. The guy was apparently caught and everything but just came from a wealthy enough family to not only never be convicted, but also keep the news out of the papers. Curtis, that’s where Ransom transferred from.”

Seeing nothing but red, Curtis stormed down the stairs. On his determined path to the kitchen where the object for his bubbling rage now stood, leisurely sipping from a glass of water. Curtis narrowly caught sight of Lloyd as he finally stumbled through the entrance from his drawn-out merriment, uttering a hushed apology to the bulky frame of Steve on the couch for the way he had carelessly slammed the front door shut behind him.

Only rolling his eyes at the sight of Curtis, Ransom didn’t even lower his glass as the fuming figure neared, “dude, I already told you, I didn’t do a thing-” though the rest of his provoking words got squashed as Curtis’ fist suddenly collided with his jaw, swiftly grabbing onto his soft sweater before he could crumble like the shattered glass now scattered across the cool tile, “what the fuck!”  water splashing onto both of their feet. 

“What did you give her?” Curtis barked, his fingers digging into the intricate, stained knit so hard that they threatened to poke through to the other side. 

“Give who what?” appalled glare piercing as he fought against the hold. 

“Y/n!” he shook him heatedly, “what did you give her?”

“I didn’t give her shit, man,” Ransom just managed to spit out before white knuckles collided with his face once more. 

“Did you touch her? Because I swear to fuck, if you laid even as much as one finger on her, I’m gonna-”

“Oh, I see,” he actually dared to chuckle, a bit of crimson already staining the pearly whites he flashed, “you’re jealous that you didn’t get with her tonight.”

Landing another raging blow, Curtis yanked him in close and growled, “you shut up and answer my question! Did you touch her?”

Scoffing through his laboured groans of agony, Ransom finally disclosed smugly, “of course, I did, man. She’s been all over me all night long, begging for me to give it to her good.”

The rest of the frat haven now clustered in the kitchen as well, staying in the periphery, Frank accused, “what did you give her? Was it the same as the girl you killed back at Bayshore?”

The deep-pocketed man’s eyes flickered over Curtis’ shoulder, bruises blooming and swelling up his vision, “excuse me?” 

“The rape victim that overdosed at your old school?” the bridge of Frank’s nose twitched in fury, “it was you that killed her, wasn’t it?”

“I didn’t do anything of the sort, all I did was show those girls a good time, it’s not my fault some can’t keep up.”

“Is that what you think happened tonight?” Curtis hauled him against the fridge, gaining the man’s attention once more, “you call assaulting Y/n a good fucking time?”

Keeping his head held high, Ransom slurred, “what are you ashamed you’re not man enough to rough your girl up a bit and give her what she really likes?”

Huffing like a bull, he uttered, “she does not like it like that.”

“Oh yeah? Then tell me why I had her moaning the way I did, dripping down on ol’ Steve’s bed like a cheap whore. Kind of a shame that she won’t remember any of it in the morning, just hope I fucked her good enough that at least some part of her won’t forget…”

…

“Oh my god…” you shuttered, unable to look any of them in the eye, “oh my god,” your palm shot up to clasp over your lips to choke the shaky cry that forced its way out, “I thought-…” vision darting everywhere and nowhere at the same time, “I thought it had been a dream,” tears streamed down your ghostly face as the hazy nightmare suddenly came into focus, “oh my god! I-… I knew him,” you jaggedly tried to piece it all together as vile stung in the back of your throat, “he was-, he was my friend. I hadn’t known him that long, but he was my friend. I-… he wasn’t just some dangerous stranger in the back of an ally threatening to kill me, he was my friend.”

…

The incoherent screams of Curtis slowly subsisted as his rampant blows finally slowed down. Slowly backing up, chest heaving, horror took over his eyes as he saw how far he had been pushed, watching as blood bubbled out of Ransom’s mouth, guggling his words.

“Just you fucking wait till my family finds out,” he weakly continued his threats from his wrecked position on the tiled floor, “do you have any idea how much power money gives you? I can squash you all like little bugs, ruin any chance you might have of a pathetic future and keep angel all to myself.”

Unable to look away, Steve suddenly uttered as Curtis shakily retreated into the shadows, “…guys, we have to call an ambulance.”

Whipping his head around, Jake protested, “no, don’t!” ready to swat away any phone that might be raised, “he’s right. He has the upper hand no matter if we get him to a hospital or not.”

“So, what do we do? Look at him,” Steve woefully gestured to the beaten playboy crumbled on the floor, “he’s dying. We can’t just leave him here!”

“No…” Lloyd sighed, his demeanour seeming surprisingly calm and level-headed under the circumstance, “but we can use what little time we have left before the sun comes up to our advantage…” 

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Frank’s brows furrowed frightfully. 

In a wide arc around Ransom’s broken form, Lloyd made his way over to one of the kitchen counters and pulled open a drawer, “he said it himself,” he exhaled lowly as he accepted his fate, “he is more than capable of making not only angel’s life hell, but also all of ours,” his tone cold, he riffled through the utensils, “from where I’m standing, there’s only one way for us to get out of this with minimal casualties,” and fished out a knife, the steel reflecting in the low light seeping in through the other room. 

“You can’t be fucking serious,” Steve gasped, “we’re not murdering him!” 

“So you’d rather try and explain his corpse just lying here in our kitchen? This way we get the upper hand, we speed up the process and use the remainder of the night to our advantage till the rest of campus wakes up, hide him somewhere else, somewhere he won’t be found,” Lloyd stressed, “we have to kill him, it’s the only way.” 

“Shit dude…” Frank breathed, he and the rest realizing that he was right, “where would we even hide him?”

After only pondering it a second, Jake pipped up, “it’s trash day tomorrow,” tensely sharing glances with the rest, “if we get him to one of the big dumpsters on the other side of campus, drop him in there, no one will know! And even if they do eventually discover parts of him out on some dump, they won’t be able to get anything off of him anyways at that point.” 

“I-…” Curtis’ shaky voice finally filled the room, guilt seeping through in his brassy timbre as he asked what no one else would, “…who’s gonna do it?” 

Not letting the others even consider that weight, Lloyd swiftly declared, “I’ll do it.”

“What?” the trembling fighter’s eyes finally lifted.

“If they actually do somehow manage to nail us for this, it should be me that goes down for it,” he stated deliberately, “always knew I’d go to prison at some point just like my old man, this way it wouldn’t be for anything stupid.” 

© 2023 thyme-in-a-bubble 

[ronearoundblindly]

No pressure at all! But I had an idea for your ‘how would the Cevans characters react’ I’ve loved every installment of this so far 🥰🖤🥰

How would they react if reader was having an off day and for some reason couldn’t get off so she faked having an orgasm in bed.

Is this because of @cevansbrat0007's Ari fic? (which is great, go read that, but I feel like I've seen a surge in this trope since) Because, see, this is very interesting to me, and I really hope you've read other stuff of mine before, nonnie. I don't write everybody as a perfect gentleman...

Warnings for various levels of spice since we are, in fact, talking about orgasms, duh! MINORS DNI. See my Light Masterlist for all-age friendly fics!

James Mace

Ok, I'm not sure it would get so far as for you to actually fake it. Mace is a slow, steady, deep kind of lover. He'd realize you aren't getting anywhere or building up to it pretty quickly, all things considered, and he would make you talk to him while he continues foreplay/touching you. Pretty sure he just wants to be attached to you in some way while you have time together...

Curtis Everett

Curtis gets very intense when he senses you're holding something back, like predatorily intense. Uses his body to cage you in, constant eye contact, probably even pinching/tickling you until you confess.

He doubles down. You fake one; Curtis forces two out of you in return.

Jimmy Dobyne

Shockingly, Jimmy would be super upset if you faked an orgasm with him. (There is one caveat to this: IF HE FINDS OUT.) Jimmy is a straight-forward guy who doesn't enjoy dating games. You aren't into sex right now? Fucking say something. He's horrified by the idea you would just lay there and take it or whatever because what the fuck???

He's got simple rules. If you don't like something, tell him because he can handle himself for one night/a little while or he'll happily do something different. If you never want something he does, then you two shouldn't be together. That's it.

Sex is an important aspect of your relationship, but it ain't the whole thing. Tell him to piss off, or ask for a quiet night of holding each other. Do not lie, cheat, or steal. You lied about being satisfied, you cheated him out of the chance to actually give you what you needed, and you stole his confidence that he recognizes your body's signals. Yes, Jimmy sorta makes it about him, but that's mostly because he feels helpless and a little dirty.

Johnny Storm

Existential CRISIS.

Have you ever faked it with him before? Have other women faked it with him?? Is this a common thing??? Hot shot goes into full-meltdown mode, and unsurprisingly, you end up kinda lost in the narrative there, soothing him instead of yourself.

Oddly enough, you two do end up closer from the experience though because Johnny realizes that he very much values trust and honesty, whereas before he would have thought plain ol' fun the most important thing...

Jake Jensen

Jakey, my beloved, clueless noob... He doesn't really know what to do. He asks a lot of questions. What's wrong? What can he do? What do you want in this moment? Should he have done it differently? Do you need more? Something else? Was it him?

For a dozen times after, he'll ask if that one was real or fake. He's touchy about it, but 90% of his concern is just that you are actually happy. He puts in quite a bit of extra effort for a while after, too.

Lloyd Hansen

I am a broken record when it comes to Lloyd: he does not care. At best, he'd be torturing you to come for his own pleasure. At worst, well, he's there to get off. You don't need to.

If by some magical scenario Lloyd does give a fuck about you or your feelings, I think he'd expect you to take what you needed from him to climax. Otherwise, it's not really his problem.

Ari Levinson

Depends on his own mood for sure. When Ari is stressed or tired, he tends to turn inward and focus on his own feelings, not purposefully ignoring you but still. It reads like he didn't/doesn't notice and just continues on with sleep/the normal routine. If he's got the emotional, energy bandwidth to talk it out with you, he absolutely will. Don't take any offense. Sometimes he's muddling through like you.

Ransom Drysdale

Has no idea. Probably doesn't want to have an idea. Unless it becomes a regular problem, he's just gonna let it slide. He won't bring it up if you don't.

Steve Rogers

On the surface, Steve looks concerned and listens to your reasons for faking, but honestly, on the inside, he hates the idea that you felt the need to. Steve will easily forego sex in favor of literally anything you want to do, so to let it get all the way to love-making and apparently suffering through till he's finished? It makes him a bit sick. He'll get more more restrained and cautious in future, all for want of you never faking again.

Bucky Barnes

Feels like a huge failure as a partner. Spends a good portion of the conversation having you promise to communicate with him better from now on. This is from a man who has so many things going on in his mind that Bucky is often derailed from pleasure/enjoyment during sex. He's just very triggered by the darndest things, and you've been so understanding. Why can't he be that for you, too?

Thank you for asking!

A/N: I know these are a bit short. Let me know if there's one or more you'd like expanded on, but thank you for reading!

[Main Masterlist; 'Who Would...' Asks; Ko-Fi]

[holylulusworld]

The assistant (10) - Apologies

Summary: You are invisible most of the time.

Pairing: Former!Boss!Steve Rogers x Former!Assistant(plussized)!Reader

Possible pairing: Jake Jensen x Reader, Lloyd Hansen x Reader, Curtis Everett x Reader, Ari Levinson x Reader, Andy Barber x Reader, Mike Weiss x Reader, Ransom Drysdale x Reader

Warnings: angst, flirty CEvans characters, language, plus-sized/chubby reader, protective brothers, Lloyd being Lloyd, arguments, fighting, violence, brothers being brothers, choking (non-sexual), injuries

A/N: We are back to business and bam, did I just add another brother? Yes. No. Maybe.

The assistant masterlist

The assistant (9) - Revenge for champions

Lloyd reluctantly opens the gate for Steve. He eyes the captain warily, and huffs. “Captain Asshole.” He grunts.

“Kidnapper,” Steve bites back. Like promised, he came in civilian clothes, and without his shield. He’s carrying a duffle bag while surveilling the property on his way toward the mansion.

“I see Captain Asshat came,” Ari sneers at Steve. He looks the captain up and down, wondering what everything sees in the blonde.

“Play nice, Ari,” Andy warns. He doesn’t like having Steve on their property either, but this way, the brothers have control over the situation. And he made a few calls. Things will go according to his plan, not Steve’s. “No killing Captain America.”

Lloyd snorts. “Speak for yourself, not me. If he only breathes wrong, he’ll bite a bullet.”

“Ah, we already reached the status of threatening,” Curtis steps out of the mansion, his muscular arms crossed over his chest. “Jake checks on the cameras, and Mike is doing Pilates or crap with Y/N.”

“If he touched her,” Steve wants to jump at Curtis. “I’ll break his neck.”

“Whoa…whoa,” Lloyd points his index finger at Steve. “If anyone breaks our little chaos’s neck, it’s me. He’s my brother, not yours.”

Andy coughs and looks away. He doesn’t know how to tell his brothers whom he called to join forces with them. If they must fight Captain America and the Avengers, they’ll need every help they can get.

“So, uh—” he loosens his tie. “We should talk about something before we let him inside. I made a few calls and asked for a favor.”

“You asked for a favor?” Curtis turns his head to look at his brother. “Andy, what did you do? I hope you don’t try to bullshit us with your lawyer crap again.”

“I wish it was only about lawyer crap…” Andy looks at the still-open gate. He huffs and removes his tie. “I called someone to join us today.”

“Another guest?” Lloyd rolls his eyes. “Andy, we’ve got our hands full with Captain Turd over there. I don’t have the nerves to handle our little chaos, Cappy and another guest.”

“Here we go…” Ari sighs when a car drives through the open gate. He shakes his head before punching Andy’s arm. “He’s an outcast, brother. How dare you call him?”

“He’s still our brother,” Andy argues. “I mean…yeah…he chose another family over us, and his love for money is making me sick but…”

“Andrew Barber, there is no but!” Lloyd lunges at his brother. He has his hand around Andy’s throat to slam him into the wall.

“Whoa, stop it!” Ari struggles to drag Lloyd off his brother. “We don’t kill each other, Lloyd. Save your energy for our real enemies.”

“He invited Ransom fucking Drysdale, Ari! How could he? That bastard said we are not brothers,” Curtis yells as said man gets out of his brand-new car. “You! Get off our property!”

Curtis storms toward Ransom to punch his face. “You fucker!” Ransom dodges the next punch. He likes the finer things in life but didn’t forget how to fight. “Andy called me!”

“What is this all about—” Jake and Mike stop in their tracks. While Ari tries to keep Lloyd from strangling Andy, Curtis and Ransom throw punches at each other. “Guys! What’s going on here?”

“So, this is how you keep Y/N safe?” Steve huffs. He drops his duffle bag to the ground to storm past Jake and Mike. “I’ll get her out of this madhouse!”

“Buddy, you better stay out,” Jake puts his hand on Steve’s chest to stop him and make things worse. He doesn’t stand a chance against Captain America, but right now, he gives a shit.

“GUYS!” you stomp your foot. “What is going on here?” You storm toward Lloyd to slap his shoulder. “Lloyd, let go of Andy. Ari same goes for you. Stop hitting your brother’s back.”

“But—” Lloyd pouts. “He…and then…and he invited the gold-digger!”

“I don’t care, Lloyd Hansen,” you poke his arm. “We do not hurt the people we love. I want you to apologize to your brother.” You harrumph and tap your foot. “Lloyd, apologize to your brother or there will be no dessert for you.”

Lloyd’s eyes darken. He looks at your crotch and hums. “I love me some dessert, Cupcake. What do you have to offer?”

“Not that, you little pervert,” you slap the back of his head. “Now play nice, Lloyd.”

“Fine,” he pouts. “I’m sorry for choking you.” He looks at Andy, not sorry at all.

“Ari, your turn,” you point at Ari. “I’m waiting. There will be no head massage and hair pulling for you if you do not apologize for slapping your brother.”

“Is it just me, or is this kind of hot?” Lloyd grins. He’s happy that he isn't the only one who got in trouble this time.

“Lloyd, I’m sorry for slapping your back. Even though you deserved it and I only tried to keep you from choking Andy to death.”

“Very well,” you clap your hands and turn your attention toward Mike. “Are you okay? Did one of them hurt you too?”

“No, I’m good but—” He points at Curtis and Ransom. They are tangled in each other, fighting for control. “Uh-we should stop them too…”

“Christ on a cracker!” You throw your hands up. “You…” you point at Steve. “Hands off Jake.” You look at Jake. “Jakie, no violence. How about you and Mike talk some sense into your brothers.”

“Sure, Sweetie,” Jake relaxes when you press a soft kiss on his cheek. “But if he blinks, I’ll smash him with my laptop.”

“Fair,” you nod and walk toward Curtis and Ransom. Curtis tries to wrestle Ransom to the ground while Ransom tries to kick Curtis’s shin. “Guys, what’s your problem?”

“Hey,  Sunshine,” Curtis pants. He pushes Ransom to the ground, grabs his arm, and twists it. “We are good, Y/N. Just give me a minute to convince my brother to leave our property.”

“Another brother,” you crouch down to get a better look at the man on the ground. “You really are the seven dwarfs.” You smirk at the man staring up at you. He grins and licks his lips.

“Oh, that’s a nice new addition,” Ransom purrs. “Tell me, Sugar. Whom do you belong to?”

“She’s our friend, stop hitting on her,” Curtis puts his foot onto Ransom’s chest. “You are not welcome here.”

Ransom sucks his lower lip in. “She belongs to all of you.” He whistles. “You’re a sweet thing. Hmm…I can think of a thing or two to make you happy.”

“Ransom!” Jake grunts. “Don’t talk like that to Y/N!”

“Curtis, let his arm go,” you place your hand on Curtis’s shoulder to calm him. “People are watching.” You whisper. “We don’t want to draw too much attention toward us. Remember?”

“You’re lucky she stopped me,” Curtis drops Ransom’s arm and steps away. “If not I’d rip your arm out to slap you to death with it.”

“Curtis!” You tut. “Why are you so angry at him?”

“He left us when we needed him the most,” Lloyd wraps his arm protectively around your shoulders. “We were barely fifteen, and that bastard talked some rich people into adopting him. They wanted an heir, and he wanted to get away from us.”

“Can you blame me for not wanting to end up being a mobster and get shot dead? I wanted more from life than that. Just like Andy. But he’s here, parading around the mansion!” Ransom growls. “You forgave him for leaving, but not me. I was a kid looking for hope.”

“You’re a gold-digging whore wanting shiny things, nothing else,” Lloyd spits on the ground next to Ransom. “I suggest you stay far away from me, and Y/N.”

“Lloyd…” Andy sighs. “Please stop this shit. You can’t expect all of us to want the same things you want from life. We tried a different life, okay. The moment you called I was there. Just like Ransom came here after I asked him for help.”

“He won’t get one of the good bedrooms,” Lloyd pecks your cheek before he turns to walk inside the mansion to calm down. “We should head inside and…” he looks at the still-open gate. “Can someone close the fucking gate?”

“So…” you press a cool pack to Curtis’s cheek, “Ransom is the last brother or are there more of you?”

“You can’t get enough of us, huh?” Ari smirks. He bandages his hand while glaring at Lloyd sitting across from him. “You didn’t have to choke Andy.”

“You didn’t have to…” Lloyd mimics Ari. “I do whatever the fuck I want to do.”

Jake and Mike keep out of their fight. They busy themselves watching Steve. The captain sulks in a corner while you play nurse for the brothers.

After offering a cool pack to Ransom and taping his split eyebrow, you took care of Curtis. “Press the cool pack to your cheek. It will help.”

“Thank you, Sunshine,” Curtis sighs when you run your hand over his head. “You’re the best.”

“Andy, no. We need to put something on that too,” you sniffle looking at Andy’s bruised neck. You carefully touch his skin. “Lloyd, you should be ashamed of hurting your brother like that. This is not okay.”

“I said I’m sorry,” Lloyd grumbles under his breath. “He had it coming. What’s a good choking among brothers, right?” He flashes you a smile. “Come on, that one was funny.”

“Not if anyone gets hurt, Lloyd,” you tut. “I thought we wanted to prove to Captain Rogers that I’m safe with all of you. The moment he set foot onto your ground you started fighting each other.”

Steve crosses his arms over his chest. He watches you and listens closely. This is his chance. If he can convince you that the brothers are dangerous, you’ll follow him.

Part 11

Tags in reblog.

[thezombieprostitute]

Character Masterlist

Characters w/ multiple stories

Andy Barber

Ari Levinson

Bucky Barnes

Curtis Everett

God the Bounty Hunter

Hal Carter

Jake Jensen

Jonathan Pine

Lee Bodecker

Lloyd Hansen

Mace

Nick Fowler

Steve Rogers

---------------------------------------

Characters w/ only 1 or 2 stories

Charles Blackwood: Tenure (ft. Curtis Everett, Ransom Drysdale)

Chris Beck: In the Woods (ft. James Mace) / Breakfast Surprise

Harald Finehair: At the Gala / After the Gala

Jefferson/Mad Hatter: Magic

Johnny Storm: Missing You

König: Grocery Store Meeting (ft. Lance Tucker)

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick: To the Rescue

Mordecai (Borderlands): Done This 10

Ransom Drysdale: Stuck / Come Straight Home

Robert Pronge/Mr. Freezy: My Man's an Undertaker

Sam Wilson: Vacation (ft. Jake Jensen)

Steve Kemp: Last Night

Steven Grant: Museum Tours

Syverson: All Your Lovin'

Walter Marshall: Panic Attack

---------------------------------------

Multiple Characters

Bouquet Event Masterlist

Charity Auction

Grumpy Days

"I need kisses"

Kidnapped (Gus Williams, Jonathan Pine, Lloyd Hansen, Ransom Drysdale)

Receiving Affection (Curtis Everett, Jake Jensen, Mace, Steve Rogers)

Tech Tuesdays

"Tell me I'm pretty"

---------------------------------------

Unnamed Characters

Alpha to the Rescue

At the Gym (SStan character)

Too Old? (CEvans Character)

[kqutie]

THE PRINCESS' SEVEN MERCENARIES

CHAPTER FIVE : THE SMITTEN CHARMER

relations. : cevans various/reader -- steve rogers/reader ; curtis everett/reader ; ari levinson/reader ; lloyd hansen/reader ; andy barber/reader ; jake jensen/reader ; ransom drysdale/reader

chpt. sum. : operations centres around the royal family and the capital. with nothing to do, ransom volunteers to stay home with you hoping to drive you away only to be pulled in by your charms.

tags. : snow white and the seven dwarves au ; fairy tale au ; fluff ; domestic fluff ; a/b/o universe but it's not the central point ; disney princess reader and her seven sexy mercenaries hehe~ ; ransom drysdale centric chapter ; ransom fully falls for you ; scheming ari ; lloyd being stubborn ; jake being a lovable dork ; slight a/b/o dynamics

length. : 5.8k

← four. the liberal guard | navi. | series masterlist

Full of your delicious food catered in gratitude to Curtis, the team ensured you were comfortable before commencing their nightly meeting, as was routine. They delved into the recent developments and Steve swiftly handed the lead over to Lloyd who informed them of their latest target — the kingdom’s royal family. 

“Not a lot is known except for the fact that the Queen has been the official ruler ever since the sudden passing of the previous monarch in battle,” Lloyd informs and clicks his tongue, his lips tugging up into a smirk that was simultaneously an unsatisfied grimace, “her rule is… turbulent. There’s good and bad but the good doesn’t always seem to outweigh the bad,” 

Andy nods along and smoothly interjects with the information he had dug up on his supplementary research, “It’s said that the previous King had a daughter but since his passing, there have been no known sightings of the princess. Talk of her flits between heedless rumours and confident accounts; the consensus of her existence appears mixed. It also seems as though the palace staff have been confined to the palace so reliable accounts of inner palace workings are close to none…”

Silence. 

“That’s it?” Steve asks, his tone more curious than accusatory at the lack of information. 

“I’m afraid so,” Andy confesses following a sigh as Lloyd shakes his head trying to deny the situation. 

“We’re back to zero,” Lloyd mutters but is still loud enough for the team to comprehend and there’s a unanimous slumping of shoulders throughout the room. 

“At least we know where to focus our efforts from now on,” Steve is optimistic, “a concentrated effort is better than a divergent one,” 

“To think that the royal family could be a suspect…” Jake shares a look with Ransom, prompting the machiavellian mercenary to speak his thoughts.

“But it seems the queen is the only primary suspect. Nobody even knows if there’s a definite princess or not,”  

“That’s true…” Ari adds as Curtis nods beside him, “Our operations can go two ways then, investigation into the Queen or the potential Princess. Is she even real?”

Lloyd grumbles, “It would be useless looking into her if that’s the case,” 

“If she’s real, that would make her the true heir,” Andy helpfully points out. “So keeping staff inside the palace would also keep talk of the princess at bay and potentially lead the kingdom into questioning whether she exists in the first place…but is this hypothetical princess already of age or not?”

“No clue,” Andy shrugs, frustrated. 

Another silence fills the space as the group slowly turn to their captain. Prompted by his team’s gazes, Steve begins to lease out assignments catered to each member’s speciality. Andy and Steve will take on further strategising and research efforts. Lloyd will carry that further by tailing several known nobles who are allowed limited access into the castle. Curtis will aid in Lloyd’s assignment. Jake and Ari, equipped with knowledge of weaponry and magical artefacts, will continue investigating the stolen artefacts in a more localised area spanning the kingdom’s city centre. Steve has also permitted them to engage in suspicious and potentially dangerous activity. As the captain, wasn’t willing to risk causing a stir in the underground too early on in their investigation but, now that they had a lead, they were ready to get their hands dirty again.  That left Ransom with nothing to do and free to join any of the three operations. 

“I’ll stay here then, keep an eye on our intruder,” Ransom’s comment makes Curtis visibly displeased as Ari smirks, looking smug. 

“Don’t be shy now, you like her~” Jake smirks, narrowing his eyes in playful accusation, “you wouldn’t be so eager to stay behind, otherwise; Captain finally gave us the green light for going all the way,”

Ransom glares at the only other beta in the group, prompting Ari to laugh as Andy smirks in amusement, Steve remains a neutral observer, “I still don’t fully trust her.” Ransom turns to Steve, “With your permission captain, I’d like to make some observations of my own,” To the surprise of everyone, Steve accepts. 

“But you have to promise not to do anything that would scare her away. Judging from what Curtis told us about escorting her to the nearest village, she’s safer with us than anywhere else and we can’t risk her safety.”

Comforted by Steve’s condition, Curtis eases into his seat as everyone else nods in agreement. Lloyd seems to be the only other person still at odds with you. He and Ransom couldn’t believe how vocal they were upon arriving home and being told what had transpired. Their current backtracking was almost laughable to the group. They didn’t want to admit the growing softness they had towards you – that was the last thing they wanted to do. 

“Sure,” Ransom agrees flippantly. Although that was enough for Steve to finally give his dismissal, some others weren’t quite satisfied yet. Lloyd happily retires while everyone else lingers, not allowing Ransom to leave until they’ve said their share. 

Curtis gives Ransom a silent look that borders on a glare before dragging an equally glaring (though not as intimidating) Jake out of the meeting room. Andy moves to stand by Ransom’s side and offers a hushed warning. Despite the negotiator’s usually modest disposition, Ransom couldn’t help but take his words seriously. 

“She is innocent and precious and worth protecting Ransom; don’t let me see you treating her otherwise or you will have hell to pay,” 

“Agreed,” Ari grips at Ransom’s shoulder tighter than what is necessary. The giant man is smiling amicably but his eyes are a piercing sort, eager to cut him up if Ransom ever crosses him. “Don’t mistreat our Angel,” there was enough threat in Ari’s eyes for him to leave. 

“Goodnight Ransom,” Steve utters, his monotone voice coming off more threatening than it should and shoots a shuddering bolt down Ransom’s spine. 

Breakfast twice in a row was pleasant. Heading out with full stomachs was pleasant. Having a lovingly prepared lunch to carry them through the day was pleasant. Leaving with a kiss on the cheek from an angel, was heaven on earth. 

Steve graciously accepts his kiss with a soft smile, leaning over so you can reach. He smells clean, like fresh, cotton sheets and has a smile that makes you go weak in the knees. “Thank you…” he whispers and kisses the crown of your head before heading through the door first.  

Andy kisses your knuckles first before leaning into your kiss against his cheek. He feels the light touch of your gentle fingers briefly comb through his neat beard and he raises a brow. Staying inclined towards you, he whispers, “You don’t like it?” he sounded willing to shave his entire beard off if that was your preference. 

“No no, I like it,” you look adorable flustered under his questioning but fond stare, it prompts you to answer his silent question, “I just wanted to know how it felt,” he chuckles lowly and brings your hand up to cup his cheek and feel for his beard a little longer, “I’m glad you think so. Take care, pretty girl,” he kisses your fingers before joining his captain outside.  

Jake approaches you shyly but with open arms. His bashfulness makes you smile and almost coo at his lovable image despite the visible muscle in his arms and his broad chest. You hug him close and turn your head to sweetly kiss him on the cheek. A little more shameless than the rest of his team, Jake quietly asks for a second kiss on his other cheek, which you happily grant. This sends him cheering and jumping in glee out the door, eager to brag about his second kiss to the rest of his teammates, “Have a great day, princess!” his favoured nickname still catches you off guard but you don’t let it show on your face this time. 

Ari doesn’t tease you by staying upright this time and happily bends down for his kiss. However, he isn’t eager to let you pull away, “Don’t be shy,” Ari teases, holding your chin hostage and moving his lips to brush against your own as he speaks, “Why not a kiss on the lips, angel?” Your heart jumps in your chest and you almost give in to his smooth seduction.

“Shove off, Ari,” Lloyd grumbles, pushing away the tall, broad-shouldered man who laughs in good humour. Ari appears to get equal satisfaction from seeing you flustered as he would if you actually gave in and kissed his lips. 

“I’ll get that kiss some day,” Ari promises as he steps away, leaving behind a grumbling Lloyd, who faces your flustered form sternly. 

“Don’t let him do shit you don’t like,” silently, Lloyd leans down for his kiss too. And, feeling in the mood to tease, you kiss him on the corner of his lips, ignoring Ari’s hearty laugh outside the door from the display. Pulling away you barely contain the giggle that bubbles up at the sight of Lloyd’s wide eyes and pink cheeks. 

“That moustache is a magnet,” you teasingly say, louder than you anticipated, which earned a round of laughter from the mercenaries outside the door. Lloyd refuses to burn a deeper shade of red and stomps off in a huff, stubbornly withholding his goodbyes despite your call to him. 

“Have a good day, Lloyd!”

Last up was Curtis who patiently waited for his kiss behind everyone else. He holds your much smaller hands in his own as he receives his kiss and he doesn’t seem to want to let go, lingering behind the front door with you as he stares into your eyes. He doesn’t say anything but it’s all in his gentle, blue eyes, “Take care, Curtis. Come home safe,” he visibly softens at your words and leans down to touch his forehead with yours.

“I’ll be back soon…”

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

It was just you and Ransom now. And Ransom was on a mission to test your limits. Confident in ‘innocently’ driving you away, he begins immediately with the chores you set yourself to do after the team leaves. 

He sits around observing while you wash the breakfast plates. You informed him you had planned several things to do for the house and it began with maintenance chores such as doing the dishes, sweeping the floors and some light dusting. Again, you keep clear of the upstairs for their privacy. Andy had kindly asked you that morning to help them wash their bedsheets and ensured everyone delivered theirs to the pantry for you to easily sort through and wash up. 

For now, you were sweeping the floors with a pan nearby to collect the debris. Ransom makes himself useful by doing nothing and instead, goes outside to get flowers for the dining table. He innocently forgets to dust the roots clean of soil before stepping through the front door and proudly showcasing his find and throwing clumps of dirt everywhere, rendering your earlier efforts useless. He expects you to angrily reprimand him for dirtying the floors again but is shocked to find you awed by his beautiful arrangement. 

“Ransom, these flowers are gorgeous,” you lean forward to smell the bunch as your hands come up instinctively to hover over where he’s gripping the stems, “wherever did you find them?” he can’t deny your pretty eyes and cute lips; before he can stop himself, he’s already apologising for his mistake of dirtying the floor. He hardly apologises to anyone, if, at all. 

“I’m sorry…about the floor,”

“Oh don’t worry, I can clean that up easily. Do you mind cleaning off the rest of the roots outside and putting the flowers in the sink with some water?” he’s captivated by your gentle demeanour and unjudging tone, “It’ll keep the flowers from wilting while I get a vase for them,”

Obediently, Ransom does as he’s told. Spurred on by your kind voice, gentle direction and sweet smile. It isn’t until he catches himself staring in wonderment while you tidy up the flowers on the dining room vase that he grows a newfound determination to push you away once more. He’s never felt so foolish! 

You just finished putting the team’s clean bedsheets on the washing line to dry when Ransom comes prancing by, only to trip and kick up mud right onto the freshly washed sheet. Still collapsed on the ground, Ransom expects you to angrily shout at him for muddying your hard work but is shocked once more when you rush to his side instead. 

“That fall looked like it hurt, are you alright?” you reach up and gently brush back his hair to examine his face before leaning back to observe the rest of his form for any injuries, “are you hurt anywhere? I’m not a medic but I know first aid,” as you continue fretting over him, Ransom stares in disbelief at you. 

“Wh-what about the sheets?” 

You only glace at the dirtied sheets briefly before returning your worried gaze back at him, “I can clean those again, easily,”

This would be harder than Ransom originally thought… but (and he’ll never admit this aloud) he quite likes your attention – you’re worried just for him, nobody else. Briefly, he wonders if he can easily monopolise you like this.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

The night before, you had offered to patch up Curtis’ torn shirt from his valiant rescue at the town square. Curtis couldn’t say ‘no’ to you and nodded with a small smile. This also prompted Ari and Steve to kindly ask if you could also sew up some of their torn clothes. Due to their occupation, many of their clothes now have rips and tears in them. Happily, you agreed and, equipped with their sewing kit, sit in the conservatory with a pile of their torn clothes on your left. You currently had one of Steve’s shirts in your lap, peacefully patching it up while Ransom talks your ear off. 

Surely you’d be annoyed by his endless yapping right? Nobody likes someone who talks too much, not only that but this was the perfect outlet for Ransom to talk about the miscellaneous things he normally didn’t have time to discuss with the others. 

The team always prioritised the mission, it was their livelihood and, although tumultuous, it was the one thing they were good at and the path to their retirement of such a life. It was this same focused mindset that they became the most sought-after group of mercenaries for hire with a clientele that ranged from high-class merchants to Royalty. Nevertheless, the men still had their own individual interests, Steve with his art, Andy with his reading, Ari with his plants, Lloyd with his knives and Jake with his magi-tech devices. Ransom was interested in writing and that meant having multifarious knowledge, including trivial things. 

He sat to your right, barely fitting into the loveseat atop the torn clothes on your left. You were almost pressing into his side as his arm slings across the back of the seat. The warmth you emit is pleasant, gently brushing against his sensitive nerves as he continues rambling on. He watches you nod at points and hum in thought or agreement with some of his statements. The action makes him grit his teeth. It’s annoying how you pretend to be listening when it’s clear that you’re not!

“What do you think?” he asks suddenly, hoping to catch you out and smirking confidently. 

“Hmmm… I think you’re right,” Ransom tries not to roll his eyes too obviously. What a basic, avoidant answer. “A lot of things can be improved when it comes to city layouts. It’s too dense and that makes it hard to navigate, both for the people and the policing patrol. Naturally, people who live in the city are used to the layout and the systems of city life, however, tourists aren’t as adept and that’s a major downfall, especially for businesses that rely on tourism to keep them going. I think there are some businesses tailored to helping tourists but it’s all for separate problems in tourism. I think having one business that does it all would be more beneficial…” you continue to comment on cities and Ransom’s eyes widen in disbelief; you were listening. As an amateur writer, he’s gotten into fleshing out specific locations that appear in his plot and, of course, there has to be a fictional city location too. Ransom’s fingertips itch to reach for his pen and paper but he doesn’t want to expose himself like this, he hasn’t even told the team about his hobby. They all believe he has an ego thing going on by shutting himself away at any given chance when he was only eagerly planning and writing up his many projects. The only person who knew of his passion was Jake, who helped him create a more convenient way of travelling with his papers. 

The acumen you were spewing was incredibly useful for his world-building but it also expressed how attentively you had paid attention to his ramblings, pulling on ideas he had presented much earlier. Unable to help himself, he softly pauses your speech before rushing off and coming back with a small notebook and pen. After that, Ransom’s ramblings had divulged into bouncing ideas off you and seeing your perspective on aspects Ransom has been stumped on for too long. You brought a fresh perspective and didn’t ask about his need to write things down from your conversation. There wasn’t a hint of judgement in your tone or eyes, you remained ever-patient with him, diving into his ideas with him wholeheartedly – never questioning, never condescending, never adjudicating. You’re just what he needs…

Ransom hasn’t felt this excited about his writing in a while and it’s all because of you. It was irritating but he couldn’t deny the elated pacing of his heart nor the tremor of delight in his fingers, slightly skewing his handwriting. But that didn’t matter. For once, he felt heard, he felt excitement for his writing outside his private quarters and it felt incredible. He doesn’t want the feeling to stop, even if it’s with you. 

Around noon, you urged Ransom to eat the boxed lunch you prepared for him that morning with the others. In the meantime, you whipped something up that was quick and easy but filling for yourself. Ransom shouldn’t have been surprised to see a note tucked away for himself but it was there, your penmanship as elegant and pretty as the last note, “May this meal be as comforting as having you around” It was touching and almost made him feel guilty about what he had done and what he planned to do later on. The assignment he had set for himself was still at the forefront and made the food you had lovingly prepared rather hard to swallow. 

You went back to sewing after lunch and conversed with Ransom again. And it tore at him every time you asked if he was enjoying the lunch you packed. It was his mistake to ask you about how you had made certain food items just to keep the conversation going—a habit he had grown from his speciality as an overt spy. The culpability that culminated around his airway was suffocating. 

He shakes the thoughts out of his head and focuses back on holding your attention, rambling on while occasionally pausing for your input on the subjects. In his mind, he was lulling you into a sense of comfort and ease in the hopes of driving you away or, at least, having reason to vote you out of the cottage by tonight. 

Through their earpieces, Curtis and Lloyd actively reported back to Andy and Steve, vocalising suspicious and noteworthy behaviour for the two to record and ruminate over. They had been stalking a select few nobles all morning and had made some progress on ones with access to the castle. The frequency of visits also needed noting but was impossible to track so early on in their investigation. At least they had some names to go off of and were content with returning to base. Jake and Ari would also be returning soon enough, hopefully with good progress to report also. Steve had full confidence that, despite the go-ahead he gave on engaging in suspicious and dangerous activity, nothing too alarming would occur just yet — it was just the beginning, after all.  

Those who were already there began eating the packed lunch you had prepared and couldn’t hold back their smiles, even Lloyd who made sure his back was turned so as not to be seen. Again, the lunch was still warm and it came with a short but sweet note.

Steve reads your note first, softly uttering the sweet words to himself with a gentle smile, “You deserve all good things today!” you’re too precious. Steve places the note down on the desk, keeping it in view as he eats your lovingly prepared lunch for him. Every so often, he would look up and smile more noticeably when his eyes trace the curving letters of your elegant penmanship. 

Andy also reads his note first, somehow, feeling more anticipation for the note than eating the lunch, “Hope this brightens your day the way you brighten mine!” you certainly know how to make someone feel special. As a mercenary, that is a rare feeling to experience and Andy wants to savour every sensation of it, from the ache in his heart to the lightness in his head to the butterflies in his stomach.  

Curtis silently goes about opening his lunch and preparing to savour every bite, “A little reminder: you’re appreciated!” he smiles and carefully pockets your note before proceeding to eat his lunch. He misses you but being able to eat your cooking away from home is comforting. Curtis will defend his choice in having you stay no matter what; he hasn’t felt this comforted and cared for in such a long time. He’s sure it’s the same for the rest of the team. 

Lloyd doesn’t read his note aloud but is prompted to when Jake and Ari finally arrive back. Ari sees him with the note and innocently asks what it says with a sly smirk hidden beneath his beard. With all eyes on him, Lloyd begrudgingly reads his note aloud, “Smile! There’s someone out here who thinks you’re amazing!”

With a teasing grin, Jake goads the neat man, “Where’s that smile Lloydie?~” Lloyd raises a clenched fist and growls, threatening the Beta to continue but Jake is unphased cackling mischievously as he slinks away with ease, his smaller frame making him the most agile in the group. 

Jake immediately makes his way to his boxed lunch and happily announces his note after fawning over your ability to, once again, keep his lunch warm, “You’re in my thoughts today – I hope this lunch brings you joy!” Jake coos and does a little dance before sitting down to eat his lunch, “she’s the best!”

Ari wastes no time in tucking into his lunch, holding your note to him in one hand and reading as he ate, “Packed with love, just like every note to you,” the sweet message makes the broad-shouldered man chuckle and turn to his teammates, who were holding their notes close, “she’s Luna material, I tell you,” he knows that bit by bit, they’re getting accustomed to the idea he’s putting forward. Gradually, more and more of them will be picking up what he’s putting down. He’s confident that it’ll only be a matter of time before they’re claiming you and vice versa to form an official pack. 

There’s no way on earth Ari will be letting you go; having you around makes the days feel so much easier to face and there’s a warmth that lingers in every minute spent thinking of you. The mercenary life isn’t a glorious one, you need thick skin to be able to endure it but having to do it for an extended period will make any person go numb. Ari is finally starting to feel something again and he can tell that you’re having the same effect on his teammates. These are the people he’s grown to trust his life with, the ones who he would sacrifice his life for – that’s the type of bond they have. They’re so close to becoming an official pack, all they need is an omega, a Luna to balance them out. The pack will be Alpha-heavy but that isn’t a bad thing, they know how to take care of each other and readily keep others in line if need be. Jake and Ransom are also the perfect Betas, caring for each other and offering stability to the group. You coming along was a blessing they didn’t deserve but desperately needed. You are their missing piece — their omega, their Luna, who will soften their hardened exteriors and provide a gentleness they’ve been deprived of for too long. 

“She deserves better,” Steve comments, immediately drawing attention. Ari figures their captain will be the hardest to crack but his heart is in the right place and Ari can’t fault him for that. Meeting eyes with Andy, a silent alliance is formed. Both Alphas are motivated to keep you and will make it their mission to convince everyone else that you have to stay by them. 

To your surprise, Ransom had offered to help you with dinner prep and you were delighted. It was a small gesture but it brings back memories of having a bustling kitchen full of talented cooks preparing meals for the Queen and the majority of staff. The feeling warmed your chest and made your limbs feel lighter. However, you never expected the put-together and suave man to be such an uncoordinated mess in the kitchen. Watching him cut vegetables almost gave you a heart attack. Nevertheless, you remained ever-patient… His clumsiness was something you looked upon with a touch of fondness, seeing your younger self in him. Ransom almost couldn’t hide his shock when you placed your hands atop his to slowly guide his movements. 

He sucks in a sharp breath when you simply tut but giggle at his inexperienced navigation of the cupboards, handing you something entirely different to what you had asked for. 

“It’s okay, I can’t expect you to get it right the first time or even the second time,” you said. 

He grits his teeth when you also didn’t find fault in his trip over a chair leg and falling head-first into the sink, accidentally turning on the faucet and sending water everywhere.

“It’s an easy clean-up. Are you hurt at all? I’m worried,” you said. 

His eyes bulged when you dismissed the way had sabotaged the broth by adding too much salt and smoothly fixed it by adding some tomatoes and a little lemon juice. 

“They help balance out the salt. It’s a useful tip a really good chef taught me,” you said. 

It wasn’t until he flailed his arms widely, tipping over the pot and spilling the bubbling broth that you finally seemed to snap. And, although it was what Ransom wanted, he didn’t feel satisfied by it, at all. 

“That was so stupid of you to do!” you shout at him, eyes gleaming with rage and jaw clenched to hold back words you didn’t mean. This was what Ransom wanted but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything other than an apology. “Don’t do that again!” you snap sharply, your words making him flinch more than when you were tending to his minor burn. Thankfully he didn’t burn himself from the spilled soup but rather the side of the cooking pot. For twenty or so minutes, you held his hand under some cool running water, removed his rings in the process and carefully patted his skin dry with a clean towel. You rushed to your wicker basket to retrieve a tub of aloe vera gel and antibiotic ointment you created with Alma and Otis (the palace herbalist and gardener). It was completely silent as you slowly began to wrap his hand with gauze and, when Ransom finally found the courage to face you again, he found your hands shaking and your eyes welling up with tears. 

“I’m sorry,” he apologises but you don’t respond, only sniffle and stubbornly rub at your teary eyes. Ransom’s chest constricted painfully at the sight – you were crying over him the same way you had cried over Curtis the day before. This was the first time anyone had cried for him like this and, although it hurt to know that he was the cause, Ransom couldn’t deny your beauty. He’s always wanted to be cared for and loved sweetly by someone and you were doing it all as if it was the natural thing to do. He can no longer stubbornly deny your kind, sweet nature — you’re everything he’s ever hoped for and he wasn’t going to sabotage having you ever again. 

Keeping your head down to focus on bandaging his hand, he leans forward and presses his lips against the crown of your head. He whispers another apology. He’s filled with regret for wasting an entire day trying to rile up a sweetheart like you. You didn’t deserve his underhandedness. He knows swarms of people more deserving of his trickery than you. 

“...don’t ever do that again…” you whisper and his heart swells. 

“I won’t, I promise,” once his burn was securely wrapped, you jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. It was only natural for him to return your affection, a silent agreement to not do anything reckless again. The pheromones you released made your distress obvious and he instinctively began releasing a tranquilising scent. As a Beta, it was the perfect remedy to get you to calm. You had to redo the dish from the beginning but were in much better spirits. And Ransom would make sure you stayed that way. 

The team returned right on schedule, just as you were turning off the burners and Ransom was setting the table. Despite the exhaustion of the day weighing down their shoulders, the mercenary group immediately brightened at the delicious smell in the air. 

“What’s on the menu, angel?” Ari calls out fondly. 

“You’ll find out after you wash up, now go!” you shoo playfully and Ari laughs before complying. Everyone else follows him up to the washrooms, all of them even taking the time to change out of their ‘work’ attire and into more comfortable, loungewear. 

Like every night, the team compliment you on your labour and the delicious spread laid out for them. Tonight they were being treated to two main dishes: a hearty pasta soup with handmade spinach and ricotta tortellini and a creamy, lemon chicken orzo. For sides, there was fresh garlic bread and a simple but refreshing side salad. And, for dessert, cookie brownies. 

“Delicious as always, thank you,” Steve voices sincerely, meeting your eyes from across the table as Jake chimes in with his own praises. 

“Yeah! I swear you can cook everything, princess!”

 “Thank you,” you smile warmly, “but Ransom helped a lot too,” the man seems flustered by the sudden direction of praise but huffs stubbornly. 

“You did most of the work anyway,”

Jake leans over and inspects his fellow Beta’s injury, “Is that why you’re hand is bandaged up?” Curtis raises a brow and looks at you as Andy makes a sound of curiosity. 

“Th-there was a little accident in the kitchen…” you explain, avoiding their eyes as you didn’t know how comfortable Ransom would be with what you choose to divulge. The Beta immediately picks up on your intentions and holds back a smile. You’re far too considerate for someone like him —he appreciates it so much. 

“It was my fault,” he focuses on his food, ignoring Ari’s knowing smirk at his clear change of demeanour towards you while everyone else’s jaw drops — this is the first time they’ve seen Ransom admit to being wrong. “I didn’t know what I was doing in the kitchen,”

“But he’s a quick learner,” you helpfully chirp, and Andy smiles at your sweetness. For Ransom to be treated so purely was unheard of, the merc has had to deal with and smile at the most disgusting low lives of society, the ones who ruthlessly trample on innocent lives without a care, all for their selfish gains. This is a first time for Ransom, and it’s amusing to see its effect on him.  

“I see,” Steve pipes up and smiles, almost mischievously, at Ransom, “good job, Ran,”

Everyone finds Ransom’s behaviour towards you so uncharacteristic and different they decide to stay downstairs to witness the cleanup the merc promised to help you with because of a previous incident. You were surprised Ransom had brought up the incident himself and, though you weren’t quite sure what he was referring to, you happily accepted some helpful company. 

Lloyd glared while everyone else stared with amused faces as Ransom followed you about the kitchen like a lost puppy, doing your bidding and assisting wherever he could. He wiped down surfaces, dried while you washed and put away the ceramic plates that were stored in the higher cupboards. 

Ari had to bite his lip to keep from grinning too hard while Andy and Steve leaned back in their chairs with observant eyes, carefully taking in the profound influence you’ve had on the usually snappy and sarcastic merc. Curtis remains quiet and stoic but there’s a glimmer of understanding in his eyes. Jake leans forward and rests his head against his folded arms, smiling softly. He’s so happy to see Ransom like this, his shoulders weren’t tense, and his eyes looked gentler — it was a good change. Lloyd, as stubborn and cold-hearted as he was could tell that Ransom was finally allowing himself to feel the warmth of acceptance and kindness he had always longed for but never received in his family. Yes, he found the group but they always had a job to do and needed to be kept at a distance despite the obvious bond that was forming between them all. 

The last person to bid you goodnight was Ransom, whom you swiftly pulled down to kiss the cheek of. “Pleasant dreams Ransom, thank you for keeping me company today,”

Staring into your eyes and taking in your sweetly, smiling lips, Ransom felt a sudden, overwhelming urge to lean forward and…kiss you? Embrace you? He did none of those things, succumbing to the heat in his cheeks was more than enough. 

“Goodnight,” he rushes upstairs, face turned away from you and hiding his beaming smile. 

navi. | series masterlist | six. the foolish genius →

a/n : i'm so sorry this took so long, my lovelies! (ó﹏ò。) life has been a bit demanding recently, i'm trying to do a lot of personal development stuff and it's more tiring than i expected. i hope you darlings enjoy this update though, please tell me what you think and hopefully, the next chapter can come sooner (づ>/////<)づ♡

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[coulsons-fullmetal-cellist]

Dieter gets bitten by The Viper (figuratively)

(Dieter x horror loving female)

Words: 572

Summary: Dieter acquires a new piece of clothing, a rather famous piece of clothing… Inspired by this post

Warnings: mild swearing, mild spicy suggestions, references to Game of Thrones including spoilers that are ten years old, Dieter being Dieter

Check out masterlist here

“Dieter, what did you do?”

The look of guilt on his face was so readable that no amount of Oscar winning acting could hide it.

“Honey cakes, remember this was a charity auction.”

“How much did you end up buying?”

“It was just the one thing.” He put down the box that you somehow only just noticed, possibly you were too distracted by those puppy dog eyes. “And I didn’t go over my intended limit.”

“Well good, I don’t want to have to rethink our already reasonable wedding budget.”

“I did however pay twice the intended target price.”

“What?”

He took off the lid, revealing a stunning gold material embellished with even more golden embroidery.

“It’s a shame I already have my wedding suit because I would love to wear this.”

“Is that…?”

He nodded, “Yup, it’s the robe that handsome guy from Game of Thrones wears.”

You looked at him in surprise, “Dieter, you’ve never seen an episode of Game of Thrones in your life.”

“I tried,” it was like a child trying to be brave. “Everyone said I’d like it because it’s very sexy. But I watched the first five minutes, and it scared the ever-living crap out of me.”

You tried to remember what happened many seasons ago, “Oh yeah, it was pretty scary for you.”

“I know. But people say I say I kind of look like him,” he shrugged. “I don’t know why; I don’t see the resemblance.”

“I see something familiar in the gait.”

He lifted the beautiful robe out of the box, the embroidery shimmering as it moved. “Now honey cakes, I don’t have a robe.”

“You have several bathrobes in various colours.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have a fancy one I can just lounge around in feeling spectacularly melodramatic in. Maybe with one of those long-handled cigarillo things.”

“I don’t have a problem with you getting one.”

“Really?”

“Really really. Although those feathers…”

“Yes, the feathers. All the more reason.” He held the robe up against himself. “Don’t you think I’d look good in this? Then we could pretend that…I have no idea, what does he do?”

“He’s a prince who’s bisexual and he spend a lot of time being a big slut.”

Dieter gasped, “Oh my god! He’s me! Does he end up with that dragon queen?”

“No, he doesn’t last the season and dies a very memorable death.”

He gently put the robe back into its box. “Well, we’re not doing that.”

“No, it sort of dampens the mood.”

“Can you be the dragon queen?”

“You think I could pull off being a queen?”

He looked as if he’d just been insulted, “Of course you can be a queen. You’re my queen and I’m your prince.”

“You don’t want to be a king?”

“Nope, quite happy to be the prince that worships his queen.” He started his initial worshiping, starting with your neck.

“Dieter,” you paused his wandering hands. “You can’t wear the robe when you’re doing the worshipping.”

“Fuck no, not with what I paid for it.”

“Just look pretty in it then take it off.”

He smiled, “I can do that.”

Very gently, he led you towards the bedroom, leaving the box on the coffee table.

“Wait, you’re not going to wear it now?”

“Well, we haven’t worked out a roleplay and I really want to get to the worshipping,” he picked you up bridal style. “Dieter horny.”

“Fair enough.”

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