#confirmation he's coming back. I'm on the fence about it | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thyme-in-a-bubble · 3 months ago

Text

some things are worth it

a/n: so, because i haven’t been able to stop thinking about this guy, especially in this au (literally had multiple dreams about him this past week) i rewatched the longest ride for the yeehaw vibes and this fantasy popped into my head.

summary: “oh, yes you do,” you tilted your head, “you flirt with me all the time, I know you do, I’m not some sheltered little virgin, I know what it looks like when someone likes me!” you felt the truck roll to a stop as you spoke.

warnings: farmhand!tyler owens x farmer’s daughter!reader, smut, farmer au, bull rider!tyler, takes place before the previous fic in this au, secret relationship, bull riding (except i'm a suropean who has no idea what she's talking about, so apologies for the errors), love confession, secret relationship, kissing, clothed sex, car sex, size kink, manhandling, dry humping, dirty talk, handjob, fingering, thighjob, pussyjob, just the tip, overstimulation, penetrative sex, unprotected sex, creampie, why do i keep writing for this dude in the middle of the night?

word count: 4238

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

masterlist | join my taglist

“Hey,” Tyler cast you a glance as you came bouncing towards where he still worked, tinkering with the tractor that had quit halfway down one of the farm’s golden fields.

“Hello,” you blinked down at him. A rusty toolbox was planted in the wheat by his kneeling form as he fiddled away at the machinery.

“You need help with something?” he kept on twisting a bolt.

“Oh, no,” a shy giggle bubbled out of you, “my mom just sent me down here to invite you to stay for dinner tonight. She made a pie for dessert and everything, or well, we did, I helped… it’s rhubarb, if that can help sway you.”

“Rhubarb, eh?” he puffed out a short chuckle.

“Yeah…”

Briefly glancing back over his shoulder at you and the way your flowy dress caught on the wind, he uttered, “I’d love to, Y/n, but–, uhm… I can’t tonight.”

“Right,” you exhaled, a nod swiftly accompanying your words, “you already have plans, of course…”

“Tell your mamma I’m sorry,” he tried to soften the blow, “next time, yeah?”

“Yeah…” you breathed, and as he returned his attention back to the machine, surely assuming that you’d bid him adieu and saunter back towards the main house, you instead shifted to lean against the tractor, “so… what are you doing tonight?”

Briefly glancing up at you, a soft smirk appeared on his lips as he purred, “you’re awfully nosy.”

“Just tell me what your plans are,” you rolled your eyes.

“Bull riding,” he informed you, “I ride on occasion, tonight being one of those times.”

Sucking in a breath, you uttered, “of course you do…”

Halting his tinkering with a chuckle, he pressed, “what’s that supposed to mean?”

“No, you just got adrenalin junky written all over you, so it checks out,” you gestured towards him and he let out a small laugh, retroactively confirming your accusation. As he shifted to look for a different tool, you opened your mouth once more and asked, “can I come?”

“Come what?” his concentrated gaze didn’t meet yours.

“See you ride.”

Tyler’s eyes then snapped up to find yours, “you wanna come see me ride?” hesitation suddenly washed over his usually confident features, “uhm… I’m not sure your daddy would like that.”

“What? Me being around a bunch of rowdy and probably drunk strangers or going somewhere to see you?”

A warm chuckle then rumbled in his chest as a gentle shake found his head, “you’re trouble…”

“Is that a no?” you tilted your head in hope.

“No…” he slowly exhaled and met your eye once more, “no it is not.”

You cheered for him at first when his name was announced and you caught a glimpse of him behind the fence, he even found your eyes in the crowd a moment as you clapped in anticipation. But then when it actually began, you stopped breathing entirely. It didn’t matter that he only had to stay on the beast for a few seconds, your heart still wouldn’t start beating again even after his boots were back on the ground and a proud grin stretched his lips. The petrified expression plastered on your features didn’t fade even when he found you afterwards and offered you a ride back home.

“You okay?” his deep timbre ripped you out of your stormy thoughts.

Twisting your neck to blink over at him behind the wheel of his truck, you hummed, “huh?”

“You’re not usually this quiet,” he pointed out.

“Oh… I’m just tired, I guess…” you lied, averting your gaze before you then heard yourself utter, “hey, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot,” he held his eyes on the road.

“How is it that you haven’t been hurt yet doing all of that?”

“Oh no, I have,” a soft chuckle bubbled out of the daredevil, “just not hard enough to stop me from getting back up.”

A murmur then escaped your lips, just beneath your breath, “either that or you’re just too determined for your own good…”

“Maybe,” he cast you a glance and smirked slightly at the embarrassment that washed over your features at the realisation that he’d heard you, “but then again, determination isn’t always a bad quality to have.”

“It is if it could get you killed.”

“Oh, how unromantic of you,” he puffed, “I could think of a handful of ways dying would be worth whatever goal you were going for,” his eyes momentarily flickered back to you in the passenger seat beside him.

Holding his gaze a second before he redirected it back upon the dark road, you felt goosebumps tingle your flesh.

“Hey Tyler?” you breathed, unsure if you were able to stop the words about to flow out your mouth.

“Yeah?”

“Are you ever actually gonna do anything?” your vulnerable question was barely audible.

Not yet catching onto your subtext, he inquired, “about what?”

Staring over at him, you uttered, “me.”

His eyes immediately fluttered back to find yours, gazing back at you a second before it faltered, “I–… I don’t know what you mean...”

“Oh, yes you do,” you tilted your head, “you flirt with me all the time, I know you do, I’m not some sheltered little virgin, I know what it looks like when someone likes me!” you felt the truck roll to a stop as you spoke.

His firm grip stayed on the wheel long after the car had halted.

“Y/n, I–…” he tried, though gave up in a soft sigh.

As he refused to meet your stare, you felt your stomach begin to flip.

“Oh…” you then breathed, blinking down at your hands as they fiddled with the fabric of the sundress that you wore, “unless I apparently don’t, I–… you know what? Forget it, I’m sorry,” your eyes squeezed shut at the mortification, “let’s just go back to the farm and pretend I didn’t say anything…”

Though his grip didn’t shift away from the wheel, didn’t drift down to twist the key and restart the engine. Instead, to your surprise, you saw him in your periphery twist towards you before you felt his hands come up to cup the sides of your face and pluck it out of hiding.

Pulling you towards him, he then pressed his lips to your own, rendering you reeling to claw your way out of the stunned pit his bold actions had cast you into.

As one of your palms slowly floated up to rest against the back of one of his, a soft sigh flowed from your form as you melted into his warmth.

However, before you sank in and lost yourself completely, you felt him withdraw, though still remained close, letting his nose ghost against your own as he exhaled, “this is a really bad idea… we shouldn’t… I can’t afford to lose my job.”

“Why would you think you’d lose it?” your fingers curled around the back of his hand in a plea to keep his touch glued to your heated cheek.

“Have you met your father?” he scoffed softly, “I should be grateful if he only fires me and doesn’t outright kill me.”

“He wouldn’t do that.”

“You sure about that?” Tyler half-joked before slowly retracting even further.

Blinking back at him, your lips still tingled from his kiss as you quietly said, “…I thought you were the one who just insisted that some things are worth dying for… I guess you just have to decide whether or not I could be worth that kind of risk…”

A gentle chuckle then bubbled out of him as he gazed back at you in amazement, “you sound like a fair maiden 500 years ago,” twisting his fingers and tangling them in your own.

Puffing out a laugh of your own, you defended, “well you started it!” before you felt one of his palms slide to the nape of your neck and tug you back in for another kiss. His lips felt like fire, though the slow smouldering kind that licked you up and ignited your entire soul, “if you don’t think it’s worth it,” you breathlessly uttered against his kiss, “then you should probably stop kissing me like that…”

As a gentle smirk tugged at his mouth, he answered you not in the form of words, but instead drifted his hands down your frame and scooped you closer, plucking you up and lifting you into his lap, wasting no time at all to claim your lips again.

It didn’t take long after you settled above him, the wheel of the truck poking the lower part of your spine, that the slow peck evolved into something more, something else. Something that had muffled whines crawling up from the depth of your lungs and vibrating against his tongue as yours desperately danced against his own. Something that had you rolling your hips and grinding down against the hardness poking your panties so perfectly beneath the billowy fabric of your dress, the material of which had begun to ride up as Tyler’s wild touch began to wander over the curves of your frame.

Panting into his mouth, your head started to lull slightly as you rocked down against him, the sensation being nearly too much to stand in the way it was both overwhelming yet also not at all enough. Nevertheless, if he gave you the chance, you’d surely be able to cum just like this if he let you, if he told you to desperately rut against him like some animal in heat, then you would, because that was just the effect he seemed to have on you. He was always able to turn your brain off with but a glance and nearly cause you to faint if he ever flashed you a dazzling smile.

To say you had it bad was the understatement of the century, but evidently, and thankfully, you weren’t alone in the predicament.

Snaking a hand down in the non-existent space between your frames, you found the bulky buckle of his belt and began to undo it.

“Please,” you panted, your tone sounding downright pathetic, “I wanna–, can I touch you?”

And before you could fumble to do it, Tyler didn’t hesitate to undo his jeans and seize your hand, stuffing it into his pants and guiding your fingers to engulf his girth, squeezing them lightly around himself for but a moment before his touch then faded and he left you to your own devices.

“Oh, fuck–,” he growled, his hot breath fanning against your skin, “just like that.”

His cock throbbed in your palm as he kissed you once again and let his wide hands raked down to your ass, kneading your softness as he groaned against your lips.

But he didn’t let your zealous touch stretch out for that long before you heard him crack the door directly to his left open. His grip on your bottom locked securely as he got out of the truck, effortlessly carrying you with him as he made his way around towards the back.

His hold on you stayed fast as he flipped open the bed of the truck and plopped you down on the ledge. A soft giggle bubbled out of you, even as your hands came up to cup his jaw and he slotted himself in between your parted thighs.

“Shit…” he exhaled as his gaze fluttered down to spot the damp spot decorating your underwear, neatly on show as your sundress had ridden up even further. Your legs dangled slightly off the edge as his touch then reached down to trace the mark of desperation, your bottom lip swiftly getting trapped betwixt your teeth as he rubbed you through the soaked cotton, “guess you really do have a thing for me, sweetheart,” his teasing touch traced your core as the sodden fabric clung to you, “I mean, not that I didn’t already have my suspensions…”

“You knew?”

“You’re not exactly subtle when it comes to these things,” he chuckled before letting his fingers dip into your waistband, “it’s cute,” he smiled as your eyes fluttered when his digits swept through your folds, scooping back up to your puffy pearl as it buzzed beneath his caress, “I always enjoyed all the random little reasons you came up with just to have an excuse to talk to me.”

“Okay, I know they weren’t always that smooth,” an embarrassed heat sparked in your cheeks, “but it’s a lot harder than you’d think it is.”

“Oh, I know,” he stated casually, grinning at the way your eyes suddenly grew, “what? Did you really think I just happened to always have some work in the barn whenever you went for a ride?” one of his long fingers then eased into you, causing your mouth to fall open in a silent gasp.

“Wait, seriously?”

“And the time I needed your help learning the system in the tool shed?” another one of his digits found its way inside of your cunt, rendering you a panting mess in his grasp as he leisurely pumped his fingers in and out, stretching you till your pussy sang out for him, “I already knew where everything was.”

The reply that was ready on your tongue swiftly fizzled out and became a forgotten relic as his touch then dissipated and instead floated down to where his jeans were already half undone. Tugging it the rest of the way open, he then stuffed his hand inside and freed his cock. Like a moth to a flame, your eyes couldn’t help but stare, yearning as you watched his cock throb in his tight fist.

“O-oh, fuck…” the curse flowed out your lungs as your gaze stayed glued, nearly drooling as he suddenly hooked his grasp behind one of your legs and yanked you closer, causing you to tumble back onto your forearms as he manoeuvred your core that much closer to him. Hooking his fingers in the material of your panties, he slid them down your legs and, to your amazement, stuffed them into his pocket. As he then began to tap the hefty weight of his length down against your puffy petals, causing glossy strings of your desire to cling onto him and keep you ethereally attached, your eyes snapped back up to find his and the same whimper left your body once again, “oh, f-fuck…”

Trailing the bulbous tip through your wetness, he teasingly nudged the head against your swollen clit fiercely enough to make your whole frame twitch beneath him.

“God… you feel so good…” he groaned, staring down at how his fat cock slid through and parted your glistening folds.

“Uh, Tyler–,” you begged hazily, your little hole winking every time he denied it any attention, “p-please–”

“What is it, baby?” he cooed smugly, “you want me to fuck you?”

“Uh-huh,” you nodded foggily, your gaze flickering back down to watch his teasing.

“You wanna know what my cock feels like inside your pretty little pussy, huh?” his touch then dented your thighs, pressing both of your legs together, enclosing them around his girth and resting your ankles atop one of his broad shoulders.

“P-please–”

“Is it all you’ve been thinking about?” the softness of your thighs interlocked around him lend him to snap his hips against yours and freely fuck your folds, the underside of him sliding against the seem of your cunt, “what’s been occupying that brilliant brain of yours?” he smirked and you couldn’t help but rock back against his efforts, “because it’s all I’ve been thinking about… how warm you must feel around me, how tight, how fucking wet, how–, fuck!” he then moaned as the way you’d needily tilted your hips up towards him lend his length to accidentally catch your leaking hole and sink in just the slightest bit till he halted his movements.

A shuttering gasp escaped you as well at the sensation as he’d nearly caused tears to roll down your cheeks from how badly you wanted him.

As he caught your eye, his grip digging into your legs in order to hold on to his last strand of self-control, you panted up at him just as he was about to pull back out, “don’t stop.”

Staring down at you, absorbing your every reaction, he slid the tip back out, but so painstakingly slow that it caused your eyes to roll in your skull.

“But what if I did though? What if I just stopped, right here, right now? Just drove you back to the farm and left you a needy little puddle just like this?”

“No, don’t stop! Don’t–, I–…” your walls clung around his girth, “please just keep going, it can just be the tip, I just–, don’t stop…”

When just the memory of him kissed your entrance, he gently sank back in and stuffed the bulbous head inside your cunt, “you sure you just want the tip?” he slowly found a pattern, fucking you with just the essence of him, “you sure you don’t wanna feel me so deep inside of you that you won’t be able to walk afterwards? That you’ll still be able to feel what we did for days and days?”

Blinking up at him, your legs trembling against his chest, you breathed, “I–…” till your dizzy head began to rock in a nod.

“Yeah?” he cocked his head and flashed you a smug smile, “then beg for it.”

“Please fuck me–”

“What was that?”

“F-fuck me–”

“What, like I am right now?” he rolled his hips to just shyly plug you up.

“No, fuck me for real,” your words felt not your own as they desperately flowed out of you, “fuck me exactly like you’ve been dreaming of since we first met, since you first–, ah!” all of the air was then forced out of your lungs as he slammed the remainder of himself all the way inside, stretching you wide of him and letting the tip, the very part of him that had been driving you mad, kiss the deepest part of you and cause your eyes to flutter shut.

Your knees bent and crumbled down to curl up beside your chest as he meticulously slid halfway out, only to jam his dick back inside.

He was practically growling above you, sinful grunts rhythmically flowing from his lips at every one of his frantic thrusts.

“Oh my god,” you cried beneath him as your cunt swiftly began to flutter around him, “you f-feel so–, so–, g-good!”

“Oh yeah?” he smirked and then perceptively asked, “are you gonna cum?” leaning down over you as he kept up his efforts.

You tried to offer him an answer, but in the blissful abyss he’d cast you down in, you could only nod and squeeze your eyes further shut.

“Then look at me, baby,” you sensed his fingers curl around your cheek, his reach dipping into your hairline, “be a good girl and look at me when you cum around my cock,” and when you managed to force your hazy eyes to blink back open, he stared back down at you as your cunt clenched down around him so fiercely that you nearly forced his girth out entirely, “there you go, fuck…”

But as your high began to melt away into sensitivity, the blonde farmhand didn’t slow his efforts in the slightest, moaning above you as he also was too close to cum to simply stop.

“Tyler, it’s too–,” you whimpered, your thighs shaking on either side of his frame as the creamy aftermath of your orgasm created a ring around the base of his cock and aided his erratic efforts, lending the entirety of his length to plunge back into you with such ease, even as your walls quaked and squeezed tightly around him.

“Shh, you can take it,” he uttered hazily, “fucking take it, fucking–, ahh!” his hips then shuttered as he tumbled over the edge and pumped you full of his hot load.

When Tyler one day had an errand to run, some thingy he had to pick up at a neighbouring farm, you hadn’t really paid attention to that part, you had kinda just stopped listening after the discovery that you would get to tag along simply because the neighbour knew you better than him.

So, once you were both waiting on the ground for the farmer to return with the item, just a curious look to make the time pass by morphed into the pair of you full-on wandering around and being more nosy than what was good for you.

Though the snooping halted once you pushed open the door to the westernmost barn and discovered a DIY contraption that tickled Tyler’s nostalgia.

It was a tin barrel, strung up with ropes and tied to a few beams, though he still had to open his mouth for you to fully understand how it was a homemade training tool for when you first began learning how to ride a bull.

By then, some of the fear you’d felt the night you had watched him ride had overflowed and spilt out, which surely also was the reason behind why he suddenly insisted on you hopping on and letting him try to teach the terror out of you.

“So, like that?” you asked, one of your hands hovering above the one you clutched around the makeshift loop tied around the uppermost quadrant of the barrel you straddled.

“Almost, you’re only allowed to hold on with the one hand,” he pointed out and you swiftly adjusted, raising your left hand up high just as you remembered he’d done, “yeah, there you go.”

“So, just eight seconds like this?” your thighs squeezed around the drum as Tyler gently tugged on one of the ropes, only making you sway slightly.

“Yeah,” he nodded as you glanced over at him, “and then there are other things that can get you more points, like how well you hold your balance and if you’re able to control the bull or not, those kinds of things.”

He then caught you off guard by pulling on the rope a little rougher and offering you a much harsher and more realistic buck of the barrel, though, to your shock, you reacted to it surprisingly well, clenching your thighs and tightening your grip.

“Atta girl,” he grinned at the startled chuckle that bubbled out of you, “see? It’s not so scary. You’re a natural.”

“Or maybe you’re just going easy on me…” you pointed out, reflecting on how the love you’d had for riding horses since a very young age surely kicked in and aided you in this skill as well.

“You’re doing great,” he stated, his stare staying glued to how your body and hips swayed borderline sensually to the rhythm he kept up, “relax, give in to the movements more.”

“How?”

“Just–…” he sucked in a breath, “pretend that you’re on something else…” a sly smirk then spread across his features before he uttered, “pretend that it’s me you’re riding.”

You then promptly felt heat begin to rise in your cheeks, as it became impossible to keep up your concentration on the task at hand and swiftly heard yourself shriek, “oh my god, Tyler Owens!”

Letting go of the rope, he stepped closer to you and enjoyed your flustered visage, “or better yet, maybe I should just let you hop on and teach you that way,” he let his palm slide up your leg as he came to stand beside you.

“You’re ridiculous!” you laughed.

Snaking his hands around your waist, he then effortlessly lifted you back down onto the ground and uttered, “you love it.”

As you felt his breath fan across your features, your giggle got caught in your throat and faded away as you gazed back at him.

“Yeah, I think I might…” you then whispered before he crashed his lips against yours.

His boots then began to shuffle as yours did as well, letting him shift you till your spine collided with the gate to one of the empty stalls in the dusty barn. Pushing you up against it as he ravenously kissed you, one of his wide palms then swooped up from his fast hold on your waist to caress the soft peak of your boob through the thin layer of your tanktop.

A breathy moan couldn’t help but slip up from your lungs when his kisses then faded from your lips and began to dance down the side of your neck.

“Okay, easy there, tiger,” you caught his head in your hands as his sloppy pecks fluttered against your rapid pulse, “we can’t do anything here.”

“Oh yeah?” he cocked an eyebrow as he peeked up at you, “is that a dare?”

“No,” you chuckled, then reminded him of your neighbour, “he’ll be back any second.”

A groan then seeped through his grin before he pushed himself off of you, “fine…” yet still held his burly arms stretched out and fast on either side of you, supporting his weight against the half wall behind you and doing his very best to stop himself from diving back in.

But then you slowly let yourself float back into his space, “hey,” and tilted your chin to catch his gaze, “I said not here, not that we shouldn’t give it a try…”

#lea’s writing #tyler owens x reader #tyler owens smut #tyler owens x you #tyler owens imagine #tyler owens x y/n #tyler owens fluff #glen powell smut #tyler owens fic #tyler owens fanfic #glen powell x reader #farmer!reader ᰔ #farmhand!tyler owens #farmer!tyler owens #bull rider!tyler owens #cowboy!tyler owens

2K notes · View notes

starcurtain · 2 months ago

Text

A Look at Ratio and Aventurine... and Ratio/Aventurine

I was morally obligated to use this picture.

Anyway, I got an ask about my understanding of Ratio and Aventurine's relationship both in canon and as a ship that I have been holding on to for a while now because... phew, there's like... a lot to talk about there... But I felt I should at least give it a try, so here is my attempt to comment on the intersection of two of Star Rail's most complicated personalities. Long post is longgggg; you have been warned.

First, Aventurine's canon relationship to Ratio:

In the interest of not hitting tumblr's image limit, let's just throw out some of the information we have in one go:

It's pretty complimentary. (Yet somehow...)

The implication of the infamous "Keeping Up with Star Rail" video is that Ratio understands Aventurine better than anyone else, and Aventurine knows this. At the very least, putting all shipping aside, Ratio is the person who can explain Aventurine's behaviors best. He's the person Aventurine chooses do so. This suggests significantly more knowledge of each other's lives than the game first led us to believe.

Other people (read as: my GOAT Owlbert) perceive respect from Aventurine to Ratio, and although I read them as a bit sarcastic, the 2.1 mission logs not only repeatedly confirm that Aventurine views Ratio as smart and reliable, but that Ratio is reliable "as always," again indicating a longer and closer history of collaboration than we get to actively see in game. The devs were working hard to tell us "Penacony isn't Ratiorine's first rodeo," which is interesting--given Topaz's voiceline recommending the Trailblazer avoid working with Aventurine whenever possible, we're led to believe through 2.0 and 2.1 that not many people will willingly work with Aventurine more than once, let alone many times.

While going through psychological scrutiny from the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come his Harmony-infused self, the "Future" Aventurine suggests that Ratio and Aventurine are quite similar, and that Aventurine puts a surprising amount of trust in Ratio, to be willing to hinge such a dangerous plan on something as untested as Ratio's ability to act. At the very least, Aventurine's own psyche is pondering on Ratio and whether or not their connection has any emotional meaning.

But despite all this evidence suggesting Ratio and Aventurine spend significantly more time with each other than we get to see in game, Aventurine's own thoughts cast strong doubt on whether he and Ratio are actually close.

Aventurine's "About Dr. Ratio" voice line suggests that Aventurine believes Ratio does not particularly like him. He seems to think that Ratio would prefer to stay away from IPC operations where possible, and it's "unfortunate" for Ratio to be stuck with Aventurine as a conversation partner. He's tolerated, rather than enjoyed. His overall impression seems to be that Ratio mostly views them as distant coworkers.

When the "Future" Aventurine suggests Ratio did not betray Aventurine willingly, actual Aventurine immediately pushes back:

(Personally I'm on the fence about whether this was real doubt or just a ploy to continue sussing out Sunday; see my other post about this scene for some more thoughts.)

But if we take this statement to be played straight, it implies that Aventurine doesn't fully believe Ratio will side with him, even (maybe especially) in dire circumstances. If this statement is real doubt, then despite considering Ratio the person who best understands him, despite building an entire life or death gamble around Ratio's loyalty... Aventurine still doesn't think Ratio even likes him.

Aventurine's not stupid or blind, so theoretically he should be able to read the situation better than that. But actually, there's plenty of evidence both in the game and outside it to suggest that Aventurine is not the most accurate judge of his own relationships to others and is a down-right terrible judge of his own worth as a person.

"Future" Aventurine suggests that one of Aventurine's deep inner flaws--the truths that he rejects about himself--is a massive inferiority complex. This is backed up well by the mission text, where Aventurine's thoughts about himself spiral into self-harm, and the scene in the maze, where "Future" Aventurine taunts our Aventurine with the unforgettable fact that his entire life was only worth pennies:

There's also pretty consistent self-deprecation, with both "Future" and real Aventurine noting several times that he's a pathetic mess of a person that other people don't trust or like.

The overall impression 2.0-2.1 left me with is that Aventurine is perfectly capable of respecting and caring for others, but virtually incapable of accepting other people genuinely respecting and caring for him.

Part of this seems to stem from the directly-stated sense that he's a failure whose only worth is in transactional exchanges, using and being used by others (there's so many layers to this--internalized racism even), but I also suspect that much of his inability to accept genuine connection from others is defensive behavior.

Aventurine's true self, Kakavasha, is deeply hidden away, like the ghost of the child that manifests from his Harmony delusion in the Dreamscape. Although Aventurine clings to that person, claiming that he has "never changed," he actively coats over his beliefs, his kindness, and his authenticity with the mask of a "cavalier gambler," with glitz and glamor and showy distractions. No one gets to see Kakavasha. No one gets to know him, because being buried deep in the dirt is the only way to remain untouchable, and fiercely keeping one's distance is the only safe bet. (For both Kakavasha and any fools who would doom themselves by daring to care for him.)

So: Canon is telling us that Ratio is one of, if not the, closest people in the world to Aventurine. But canon is also telling us that that still means absolutely nothing at all, because Aventurine won't let himself be close to anyone living.

Aventurine's senses of self-worth, trust, attachment, and safety have been warped so badly by ongoing and untreated trauma and mental health issues that, at least until the end of 2.1, I just don't think he was capable of even accepting genuine friendship from Ratio, let alone anything more.

(Interesting side note here: Ratio is actually one of the people Aventurine calls "my friend" the least. He only says it directly to Ratio a single time in all of their lines of dialogue across 2.0 and 2.1, and even then, does so only when right outside Sunday's door, while almost certainly being spied upon by the Family. Anyone who knows how often "my friend" is peppered into Aventurine's dialogue otherwise should know that the absence of the phrase is actually pretty telling. It almost feels like canon Aventurine's not even sure he can call Ratio his friend, at least to Ratio's face.)

Which makes Ratio's canon relationship to Aventurine quite sad and ironic:

From start to finish, Ratio canonically esteems Aventurine more highly than almost any other character in the game. I'm not even talking about shipping when I say that there is no character Ratio is closer to in the entire game.

At present, Ratio has only four voice lines about other characters, and of those four, Aventurine's is the only one that isn't someone from the Genius Society. The only one. Ratio's voice lines are also notably, uh, not very complimentary. Herta is "talented but not helpful to others" and "sees no one as her equal" (read as: she's self-absorbed). Screwllum is a "monarch, rather than a genius" (with the vague implications of being a tyrant), and Ruan Mei is overly ambitious and "fooling everyone."

Meanwhile, Aventurine is "our man" (who is "our" Ratio? who?) whose success "can't all be chalked up to luck," implying that part of Aventurine's success must come from skill. Ratio notes that Aventurine questions his own ability... but as far as Ratio's evaluation goes, he seems to doubt that Aventurine will ever experience a downfall. For someone who thinks 99% of the people he meets are mediocre failures scrambling around in the filth of existence, to be recognized as skilled and unlikely to fail is quite obviously glowing praise.

Then, of course, there are numerous moments that echo Aventurine's hints, implying that Ratio spends significantly more time with Aventurine than we see on-screen, that he knows Aventurine extremely well, and, although he tries (vainly) to pretend he isn't, he's clearly quite concerned with what Aventurine thinks of him.

Especially this last one. "No wonder that gambler likes you so much" is pretty intentional on the devs' part, confirming that Ratio and Aventurine are having off-screen conversations we players are not privy to, which obviously would indicate a closer relationship than the in-game cutscenes could cover.

Then, Trailblazer has the option to flat out ask Ratio to "rate" Aventurine. (Star Rail ship bait is not even subtle.)

At first, this line might read as all over the place:

"The bosses say we're partners but I wouldn't say that" -> Read as: Ratio wants people to know how their relationship is classified but doesn't want to admit to being actually invested.

"I see myself as the teacher to everyone I meet" -> Read as: Ratio at least pretends that he doesn't view anyone as his equal; everyone is either above him--geniuses--or below him--students.

"Aventurine is not that bad of a student" -> High praise; even Ratio can't pretend Aventurine's untalented.

"Actually, Aventurine's probably in metaphysical danger" -> Read as: Ratio is aware of the "void" Aventurine is experiencing and his mental struggles.

The ultimate takeaway of Ratio's "rating" actually says more about Ratio than Aventurine. When it comes down to it, Ratio's choice to answer this question for the Trailblazer instead of dismiss it tells us that Ratio has spent time quantifying and trying to define his relationship with Aventurine, is willing to at least discuss that relationship with other people (when we have no evidence he ever discusses any other personal/non-academic matters with anyone), and that Ratio pays attention to Aventurine's mental states.

Canon Ratio is not beating the allegations, I'm afraid.

But actually, I think the biggest tell about Ratio's canon relationship to Aventurine is that Ratio's behavior completely changes the moment Aventurine appears in the game.

In every single one of Ratio's other appearances, two facts are hammered home again and again:

First, Ratio hates interacting with fools and "noisy" people. He wears his plaster bust so that he doesn't even have to see them. Canonically, we're informed by both March 7th and Argenti that Ratio brought and was wearing his headpiece in Penacony. Curiously though...

The players never see it throughout 2.X--probably because 90% of Ratio's scenes are with Aventurine, and Ratio is never shown wearing his bust on screen with Aventurine--even in their very first meeting in the Final Victor lightcone. Aventurine clearly knows of the bust, but despite Ratio verbally going on and on about how Aventurine is the most "flashy" and "devoid of logic" person Ratio knows... the devs deliberately send their message: Ratio has chosen not to cut himself off from Aventurine.

Aventurine can be more "clamorous" than a screaming peacock, but Ratio will still not put up walls against him. This isn't accidental. The devs had every opportunity in the world to go the opposite route and make jokes about Ratio refusing to take the bust off in Aventurine's obnoxious presence; instead they decided that Ratio apparently has a glaring, Aventurine-shaped exception to his "I don't want to perceive you fools or be perceived by you" life rule.

This "willing to tolerate shenanigans only if Aventurine is involved" behavior continues basically throughout all of Penacony's plot. In 2.3 for example, if you turn around and talk to Ratio again on the Radiant Feldspar, he flat out says:

But there's no actual explanation for why he's there in the first place. He mentions he was assigned to watch over "the IPC's ambassadors," which theoretically should apply to Jade and Topaz, yet we never see him interacting with them in any capacity. He's never even shown in the same room as Jade or Topaz, and he's not shown doing any other form of business for the IPC on the Feldspar either. Theoretically, he could have been on the Feldspar to meet regarding the Divergent Universe... except Screwllum wasn't there yet, and Ratio doesn't mention a single word about the Divergent Universe to the Trailblazer.

The only person Ratio talks about in his dialogue on the Feldspar is Aventurine, and the only non-Trailblazer he talks to in 2.3 at all is also Aventurine, replying to him and only him in the group chat.

He looked like he might give it a shot to try to befriend Boothill and Argenti at the end of 2.3... but immediately changes his mind and leaves without saying a word to them.

It's not really a stretch to suggest that the only reasonable excuse for Ratio to attend the party on the Feldspar was if he was there for Aventurine, a behavior that he himself notes is out of character. ("A waste of time" he says, as he stands there anyway.)

But, second and even more importantly: Ratio's single most defining character trait is that he believes people need to pick themselves up. The entire point of his debut appearance in the game was to present his philosophy that if the powerful or privileged intervene to continually "save" the mediocre, ordinary people will never learn for themselves or get the chance to grow. It is in times of desperation, he says, that fools exceed their limits and reach greatness.

This is why, in 1.6, he insisted on Asta and the Trailblazer being the ones to solve the attacks happening on the space station, without relying on Screwllum or the other geniuses. Although Ratio did actively intervene a little (using the phase flame to save the researchers from death), he did so only from behind the scenes, where his actual help would not be noticed by those affected and where it had no impact on their decision-making or their struggles to solve the mystery.

He let Asta and the Trailblazer panic. He let them flounder. He even deliberately misled them at points, claiming that Duke Inferno must have kidnapped the researchers (when it was actually Ratio himself who re-routed them).

Ultimately, Ratio let Asta and the Trailblazer grow from their experiences.

This is also why he lets the Trailblazer go blazing in to fight Ruan Mei's faux emanator of the propagation, despite knowing that Trailblazer was not actually strong enough to win. Ratio watched and was ready to intervene... but in the end he did not, because it was the Trailblazer's fight to lose.

Ratio's most defining character trait is that he believes standing back and observing is the true kindness, rather than inserting oneself and denying people their autonomy or opportunities to grow.

Buttttt... then there's Aventurine, and suddenly the story is completely different.

Suddenly, Ratio isn't an observer but becomes essential to the plan. He's even walking around making big claims about being the manager of the task, flexing all of his C+ acting ability to actively carry out their mutual ploy.

In 2.3, he claims he was just there to watch, and his Penacony sticker asserts he's only "a supporting character"--yet we have never seen Ratio take a more active role in the entire game. Unlike with the Trailblazer in 1.6, he's not primarily watching events unfold from shadowy corners. He's in Penacony as Aventurine's active partner in crime.

And, even more telling--he later jeopardizes their entire mission just to ask if Aventurine needs help.

What? Huh? The character who is famous for the voice line "You look distressed. Is something troubling you? If so, you can figure it out for yourself" is suddenly offering his assistance entirely unprompted?

The guy whose motto might as well be:

Is suddenly out here throwing his own core philosophy out the window to solve Penacony's mystery for Aventurine and save him from himself in Aventurine's hour of greatest need?

A lot of people get hung up on the second half of Ratio's letter, the part about staying alive, which of course is very sweet. But I think the second half causes people to forget that the first part of Ratio's letter is, quite literally, the answer to Penacony's mystery.

Ratio gave Aventurine the answer.

This is like if your professor just gave you and you alone the score key to the final exam and then turned around to insist he "doesn't play favorites."

Of course, Aventurine is brilliant and didn't need Ratio's answer about dormancy, which makes the fact that Ratio went out of the way to give it to him even more odd. Ratio despises unnecessary repetition. If he wasn't dead worried, he would never have given Aventurine an answer that Aventurine had the power to find on his own.

And, as far as canon tells us, Ratio has never done this for anyone else.

The difference is night and day. It's literally the Gordon Ramsay meme, with everyone else in the entire game being the "fucking donkeys" to Aventurine's "Oh dear. Gorgeous."

So: Even if we entirely put aside shipping, if we look strictly at what we're given in canon:

Ratio treats Aventurine with more respect than he treats most other characters in the game.

He involves himself in Aventurine's struggles in a way that he flat out refuses to do for anyone else.

He compromises his own beliefs purely out of concern for Aventurine.

So, at least as far as we've been shown in canon, it is accurate to state that Aventurine is the closest character to Ratio--and unlike Aventurine (king of self-gaslighting), Ratio isn't even good at acting like he doesn't care.

Frankly, the whole thing is a little sad. Ratio's behavior is so blatantly out of character that a smart person like Aventurine should easily be able to determine it is genuine, but Aventurine's personal hang-ups and ongoing trauma make it difficult for him to even see that authenticity, let alone put faith in it. Even in canon, Ratio is mostly unable to help himself when it comes to Aventurine, which is especially unfortunate given how badly skewed Aventurine's perception of himself and others is by the start of Penacony's story.

PHEW! I finally made it through canon content!

Now there's just... everything else... 🫠

Well, to be honest, I don't think I could ever manage to put all my thoughts about this ship into one post. Probably not even fifty posts.

So rather than trying to say everything there is to say about Ratiorine, what I want to focus on is how fantastically these two characters just fit together. Like puzzle pieces that need to be mirror opposites in order to link, these two characters parallel each other while also perfectly filling in each other's voids. It's some of the best character pair writing I've seen in a long time (though I'm still sort of convinced it was at least 50% sheer luck on Hoyo's part), and my perspective on their ship can really be tied to my underlying perception of Ratio and Aventurine's characters as remarkably similar individuals:

It's obvious that Aventurine is not a healthy or well-adjusted adult man, but like... neither is Ratio.

Both of these characters are "not quite right" marginalized people who, at least in my interpretation, have essentially given up on even faking normality and are now just vaguely play acting their way through being functioning members of a universe that is entirely unequipped to accept them for who they are. In a world full of cyborg cowboys and people with wings growing from their heads, the game still manages to somehow convince us that Aventurine and Ratio are odd ones out.

Kakavasha can't even exist in the dystopian capitalist hellscape of the IPC's machinations. "Aventurine" isn't even a real person, just a never-ending performance, a slick, devil-may-care persona without a single ounce of substance.

Ratio, meanwhile, is a world of one, rejected from the only place he thought he could find validation and acceptance but unable to lower himself to fit in anywhere else.

Aventurine is so bad at making genuine connections that he turns everyday conversations into gambles because he doesn't believe people will care enough to keep talking to him without tangible incentive.

Ratio's insistence on treating everyone as students, not as equals, also means he has an excuse to never emotionally engage with anyone he meets. (This is not at all a textbook method of intentional avoidance to prevent any chance of social rejection. Not at all.)

At the end of the day, Aventurine and Ratio both come across as desperately lonely, and so caught up in their own situations that they really don't have the ability to climb out of that hole on their own.

Preventing them from even being able to maintain any form of relationship is also the fact that neither one of them can even find justification. Neither one of them has a reasonable answer to the question "Why am I alive?" anymore, because Aventurine's reason died on Sigonia and Ratio's reason died with an IPC invitation instead of a Genius Society letter. Though their differing perspectives have led them on opposite paths pursuing their own answers to that ultimate question of "Why should I keep living?" (Aventurine was headed toward giving up before the end of Penacony, while Ratio has invented an immeasurable, impossible goal to distract himself from feeling purposeless), both of them are pretty much miserably unfulfilled in their current lives.

They're also both violently allergic to emotional vulnerability and to having any of their flaws or true desires actually be perceived. Both of them put up insanely high walls. Aventurine pushes boundaries with everyone he meets to provoke their hatred in advance, before they can come to disdain him for his "real" flaws. He acts out harmful racist stereotypes to use others' preconceptions for advantage, manipulating every situation he's in--incidentally affirming the stereotypes against his people by doing so.

Ratio puts a physical wall of plaster between himself and others, but the plaster bust actually doesn't have anything on the mental and emotional gymnastics he's engaged in to justify his isolation from the world, doing everything in his power to convince himself that he's isolated by choice, that it's perfectly logical for Veritas Ratio to have nowhere to truly belong, no one to truly belong with. He's so mundane after all. Of course the geniuses don't want him, that's just commonsense. But everyone else is so... different, so foolish, so illogical... It just wouldn't be reasonable of him to try to become one of them either, to be their friend instead of their distant educator. (You know, if you never try to integrate with others, then they can't reject you. Ratio has learned his lesson.)

Somehow, Aventurine and Ratio are two of the most competent and successful people in Star Rail's entire universe and simultaneously also two of the most misfit, reject, dysfunctional messes in the game. Like... Blade has a better support network than Aventurine and Ratio combined. The 7000-pound murderous mech with a disabled, genetically-modified war veteran who never got to live a normal human life hiding inside it is more capable of making friends than Aventurine and Dr. Ratio.

Which is why I love that the devs decided to make their canon backstory: "Some absolute treasures in the IPC and the Intelligentsia Guild had the galaxy-brained idea of pairing Ratio and Aventurine as strategic partners." The game's writing really said: "These two characters are so socially stunted, they have to be assigned a relationship like it's homework."

They may not have it all figured out yet, but the fans see the design: Now that Ratio and Aventurine have each other, they're not alone anymore. I have never seen two characters better fit the "Is anyone going to match my freak?" meme only for the actual answer to be "Yes."

Ratio is "plays chess with himself" levels of loner weird? No problem--Aventurine is "Wanna take bets on who's going to die today?" weirder. Ratio wears a plaster bust to ward off idiots? Aventurine transforms into a monster on command, which is pretty much guaranteed to achieve the same effect.

Ratio wasn't chosen by Nous? That's fine, Aventurine's one job as a "chosen one" was to save his people and now they're all dead. Nobody can keep up with Ratio in conversation? Watch a single comment from Aventurine turn him into a fumbling mess on live television.

Ratio's inability to relate to the experiences and development of any peers his own age have left him extremely isolated and with a permanently scarred sense of self-worth? Wow, I wonder if Aventurine knows exactly what that feels like.

They just... fit.

And, changing focus a little here at the end: While I personally think that recovery from trauma requires internal motivation and self-kindness foremost, I also think that Ratio and Aventurine's relationship should be considered from the perspective of how they help to fill each other's gaps.

Unlike any connection at the Genius Society who will always evoke unpleasant memories of Nous's rejection, Aventurine isn't going to make Ratio feel intellectually inferior. Aventurine has nothing but good things to say about Ratio's intelligence, and it's even apparent that Ratio felt comfortable enough to at least mention his Genius Society woes to Aventurine, something he explicitly does not do with anyone else.

Even when it comes to social interactions, Aventurine isn't going to make Ratio feel inadequate, because honestly? Aventurine's almost as bad at them as Ratio. Aventurine is much better at faking it socially, but when it actually counts? When he's trying to be real with others? A solid 70% of the people who meet Aventurine still end up wanting to strangle him. The guy tried to apologize for threatening to detonate the Trailblazer like a bomb by buying them a model train...

Then there's this:

Aventurine is the only character explicitly called Ratio's equal in game, and more than just treating him respectfully as an equal, Aventurine also exhibits one extreme appeal that no one else in game has ever shown to Ratio: Aventurine makes Ratio feel needed. For Aventurine, Ratio is not a forgettable after-thought as he is to Herta and most of the other geniuses. He's not just "some weird guy who scolds me about school" like he is to the Trailblazer. Ratio's intellect and skill were integral to Aventurine's plan from step one to the very end. Ratio has a place in Aventurine's plots. For a character who directly assesses worth by how beneficial a person can be to others, the fact that Aventurine can make Ratio feel wanted and valued probably produced some of the strongest personal fulfillment Ratio has had in years.

On the opposite side, Ratio's in a unique position. Out of every relevant character in Aventurine's story, Ratio is the only one who has nothing to lose by choosing Kakavasha over "Aventurine." Ratio doesn't profit off Aventurine or take any expensive gifts from him, like the Trailblazer does. He doesn't need Aventurine's luck for anything at all. He'd be able to work for the IPC even if Aventurine wasn't in it. Ratio certainly doesn't want the glitz and glamour of a shallow gambling hustler persona. His work doesn't require Aventurine's continued involvement like Topaz's and Jade's does. He'd probably prefer not to know any Stonehearts at all, thank you for asking.

Outside of deliberate-acting insults about Sigonians for Sunday's sake, we're not told that Ratio has any connections to--and therefore has no preconceived biases against--Sigonians. Being a person who values self-determination and a refusal to live in mediocrity above all else, he would have nothing but esteem for how far Aventurine has managed to come despite the harsh circumstances of his life. Ratio probably wouldn't even think Aventurine's belief in Gaiathra is that strange; one of Ratio's doctorates is actually in theology.

Unlike literally everyone else in the universe who needs "Aventurine," we have every indication that Ratio's respect and admiration will only grow when he finally gets to meet "Kakavasha."

Loneliness, rejection, betrayal, a lack of understanding from others--all of these can leave wounds that only genuine, deep bonds with others can heal.

On death's doorway, in the darkest shadow, when Aventurine had to make the choice between passing on to be with the family that loved him and choosing to return to a reality without them... Ratio's letter was there, telling Aventurine the exact thing he needed to hear to choose life: Someone is waiting for you to come home.

If the resounding rejection of Star Rail's Nihility is belief in humanity's power to make meaning in our own lives through our connections to others, then the ultimate message of Ratio and Aventurine's arc in Penacony is that no one needs to be alone. The world is not as empty as you fear.

And that is a message that Ratio and Aventurine can learn best through each other.

(I just... love them so much...)

732 notes · View notes

sylusjinwoon · 7 months ago

Text

{ 168 }

the only exception.

yandere!jinwoo sung x fem.reader

disclaimers: i do not condone such behaviors in real life; read at your own caution; contains obsessive and possessive behavior.

whenever the news and gossip magazines chose to focus on the life of south korea's latest s-rank hunter, they would more often than not see sung jinwoo being so close to cha hae-in. there was a kindness in his gaze whenever the beautiful blond woman was settled right next to him, and he remained the ever so perfect gentleman when it came to how he treated hae-in.

and when their dating status had been confirmed, the world went wild for their relationship! paparazzi would discreetly follow them to each of their outings, the cameras catching them in their most pristine moments...

from holding hands while exiting the theaters together;

to late night walks spent on the beach;

and even the hundreds of kisses they shared after the completion of each raid they had went on together.

truly, jinwoo and hae-in's love story was something that was well known across the entirety of the world. there wasn't a single doubt in anyone's mind that they would become each other's endgame-

that is... until you arrived.

{ ... }

you kept pulling at the collar of your blouse, feeling as though the stiffness of your newly bought clothes was a bit too stifling for you-

or maybe you were just nervous about your new transfer to the korean hunter's association branch. apparently, news of your skills as a healer had caught the interest of one of the most well known branches of the hunter's association. and despite being on the fence about leaving the comfort of your country, just seeing the amount of money they had offered you was more than enough to make you reconsider.

before your transfer, you had taken some time to learn a bit of the language, just in case. despite how you knew that the chairman could speak fluently in various languages (including yours) you still wished to do your part and at least make an attempt to speak korean.

while approaching the chairman's office, you smoothed out the fabric of your skirt and blouse once more, ready to knock on the chairman's door had it not already been splayed open for you.

grateful that your reflexes were fast enough, you managed to take a step back, avoiding getting your face smashed in by the wooden doors. with a surprised gaze, you saw standing in front of you was a tall man who appeared to be around your age. his eyes go wide as a gentle, blue glow seemed to shine against them.

his full lips were parted, and his eyebrows were furrowed in response as he kept staring at you; not even blinking once as his eyes kept on trailing down your form. the more he kept looking at you, the more his soft, ebony locks of hair seemed to fall across his face, further covering his eyes.

for what seemed like an eternity, you and the tall man remained in that position. while you were caught up on why he looked so familiar, a sudden lightbulb went up in your head.

he's the super strong hunter that's dating that blond woman, hunter cha?

sung jinwoo. his name finally comes back to you.

he looks back up at you, eyes becoming even wider for the briefest moment as you let out a gasp.

fuck, did i say his name out loud? the urge to apologize to him was felt coursing through your veins as you gave jinwoo a polite bow.

"i'm sorry, i didn't mean to say your name so casually. uhm..." you introduce yourself to him, letting him know how you were a new transfer in as much korean that you could manage.

once you finish, it appeared as though there were a shift in jinwoo's demeanor. instead of staring at you with a look of faint interest, there seemed to be a dreamy expression taking over his features. he tests your name out a few times before looking away from you-

with a prominent blush seen settled against his cheeks.

"would you like to join me for dinner?" jinwoo asks you in a flurry of words, making you take yet another step back.

did i hear him wrong?

a pout was seen against jinwoo's face when you didn't answer him, making him ask again, this time in english (a somewhat universally known language), "you and me, dinner?"

"oh, no, i'm sorry!" you quickly held up your hands in hopes of mitigating the tension you felt in the air, "i can't tonight because i have a meeting with the chairman..." your face felt hot, wondering why this was even happening.

jinwoo's shoulders seemed to slump just the tiniest bit in response, with his lips pursed. a sudden movement from your periphery catches your attention, and you trail your eyes down to see what it was, finally noticing the way jinwoo had his fists clenched in response.

a hearty voice calling out your name was what ultimately saves you from this awkward situation, standing up straight as chairman go gunhee greets you, "i was wondering what was taking you so long, but seeing hunter sung jinwoo means that you two must have just met, right?"

"sorry, i'll go now." jinwoo finally leaves just then, but not before suddenly bumping his shoulders against yours. a cold sensation was felt coursing through you, making goosebumps appear all across your skin as you had to fight back the urge to shiver.

jinwoo's presence was just so... overbearing at times. you could feel the darkness exuding from his form in absolute waves, making you feel intimidated by him at first...

but after his sudden question about asking you out to dinner, you were left a bit more confused than intimidated.

only when jinwoo leaves did the chairman place a comforting hand on your shoulder, smiling down at you with words of reassurance. "hunter sung can be a bit intimidating, but he's a good man that means well."

you nod your head in agreement with the chairman, following him into his office, completely forgetting about your strange encounter with jinwoo, remaining blissfully unaware of the strange pairs of glowing, purple eyes that were now hidden beneath your shadow.

{ … }

you had been filled in about the association’s current policy when it came to healers working here. these terms were simple, but had one golden rule that had to be followed:

healers were not allowed to join a guild or form a contract with any guilds; they are meant to serve the association as a whole and go on various raids to help hunters on the field. and because you were evaluated as being an a-rank healer, it was vital that you were kept on call and had to prepare for any raids that were to come.

of course, such a policy remained the same from your own country as well, so you were happy about this fact and saw no issues with following the rules.

as you were escorted out of the building, you let out a happy sigh, taking in the fresh air the night had brought you before making your way back home. as you pass by the citizens that went on with their day, none of them seemed to pay any attention to you, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

which caused you to think back to jinwoo and the general… oddities seen in his behavior.

why did he ask you out when the whole world knew of his relationship with hunter cha hae-in?

as you kept mulling your interaction with him over and over again, you managed to come up with a rational answer…

surely, he had to have meant it in a more professional manner, right? jinwoo probably noticed how nervous you were and wanted to help with further welcoming you. yes, that was probably it.

feeling satisfied with your answer, you began to walk with a bit of a bounce in your step. as your figure got closer to a streetlight, it manages to lengthen your shadow as a sudden, ink-like movement was seen on the pavement.

your eyes go wide, making you look down to see what it was. as your eyes trail across the sidewalk, the only thing you could see was your own shadow growing from beneath the intensity of the light.

“perhaps i’m lacking sleep or something.”

doing your best to convince yourself that you were not losing your mind, you continue your trek home, still unaware of the glowing eyes that remained expertly hidden from beneath the depths of your shadow.

{ … }

to say sung jinwoo had developed an infatuation with you would be a complete understatement-

he was obsessed with you.

ever since you began working as the association’s latest healer (left in the wake of several other healers own retirement), jinwoo had followed along with your every raid.

a strange sense of pride fills him when he sees your face plastered against the news articles. the nation adored your tenacity and potency of your healing abilities, which boosted many hunters’ own confidence and morale with each raid.

and despite how proud jinwoo was for your growing popularity…

he also hated it.

he hated how you were surrounded with other men (and women) who constantly boasted about you and your abilities. seeing how so many people adored you filled jinwoo with a sudden urge to slash them all away from you-

but he held back such urges. after all, it was vital that he play his cards right and appear to be the same, normal hunter sung jinwoo-

a sung jinwoo from before he ever met you.

{ … }

you knew something was amiss when the chairman made a direct call to you on the day that was supposed to be your day off. no gates had appeared as of late, and you took this chance to take a much needed breather from everything.

so you spent the next thirty minutes heading back to the hunter's association building, feeling your anxiety and concern increase by a tenfold the moment chairman go had met with you right when you first entered the building.

"come, let's take a bit of a stroll away from such prying eyes."

the chairman places a gentle hand behind your back, leading you out of the building and back into the warm, afternoon air. you walk aimlessly beside him, wringing your hands together in response to how anxious you felt.

"what's wrong, sir? you seem... conflicted."

he chuckles while glancing down at you, "you're a sharp woman."

the chairman stops walking while staring blankly ahead, and it takes him several seconds to compose himself before he tells you, "ahjin guild wishes to recruit you."

the sudden revelation makes you stop dead in your tracks as well. "what? but that's impossible... you can't mean to tell me that you're considering it, sir?"

he shakes his head while letting out a sigh, "i said the exact same thing to hunter sung. but he would not budge. he truly is going all in, just to have you."

it had been months (a total of 6 months, to be exact) since the day you had first met him. you had not seen him during the various raids you had participated in, the memory of him being brought to the backburner of your mind-

and now, you come to find out that jinwoo wished to recruit you?

impossible.

"he says that if i will not allow you to join ahjin- if i am refusing to make an exception for you, then he will quit being a hunter."

chairman go's words succeeds in making your knees feel weak, nearly making you fall had it not been for the way his powerful arms were kept wrapped around your shoulders, keeping you steady.

"sir, y-you agreed to let him recruit me?"

a solemn expression was seen on the older man's face, giving you a slight nod before admitting to you, "i have made millions of loopholes for the sake of keeping jinwoo within his home country... as long as we have him on our side, then we shall always have the upper hand. i'm sorry."

your heart was pounding in your chest, filling you with a hint of despair, since you knew that there was no way that you could refuse now.

"a-and, when does hunter sung wish for me to start working for him at his guild?"

the chairman meets your gaze and answers, "he wishes for you to start first thing tomorrow morning."

{ ... }

the moment jinwoo received a call from the chairman, pretty much confirming you as the latest member of his guild, he was overjoyed, to say the least.

he had spent so much time paving a path for you; a path that would ultimately lead you to him.

now, all he had to do was tie up some loose ends.

jinwoo remained in his office, settled within the comfort of his guild when he could hear the tapping of someone's shoes echo across his floor. but his mind was too occupied to pay them any mind, holding his cup of instant coffee while staring blankly at the cityscape bathed beneath the light of the full moon.

in the next few seconds, his peace would be interrupted when a woman bursts through his office, panting heavily. he sees hae-in's features being reflected against the smooth pane of the window, and he gives her some semblance of his attention when he acknowledges her with a side glance.

"hunter cha, good evening. what brings you here?"

a sharp inhalation was heard coming from her, the woman's slender hands remaining clenched in response as her eyes began to flash gold. "you know why i'm here, jinwoo. just... just what has been going on with you?!"

"it's been months since we last spoke to each other, and... and every plan that we have made together has been cancelled by you so... so effortlessly."

jinwoo hums, putting down his cup of coffee before fully facing her. "i think you and i both know what's going on, cha hae-in."

angry tears were seen streaming down her face now, with her fists clenched in response. "i may understand it, but that doesn't mean that i'll accept it. we have been dating for nearly a year now, y-yet you're so eager to throw it all away!"

the shadow monarch folds his arms across his chest, left completely unfazed by hae-in's outbursts. "that's why i'm giving you a chance to save your pride; break up with me now and announce it in your next conference."

he watches as her nails dig into the palm of her hand, creating crescent shaped imprints from the sheer amount of pressure she had placed. "and if i refuse?"

the woman wasn't even given a chance to blink when jinwoo reaches her, summoning one of his daggers as he presses the tip of the blade close to her neck. a choked whimper was heard coming from her, and she watches with wide eyes when a droplet of blood manages to slide down the pale skin of her throat.

"you will do as i say, unless you really put such a low value on your life?" jinwoo sneers back at her, eyes glowing a dangerously violet hue.

it was in that moment that hae-in knew jinwoo had changed for the worse, seeing the tendrils of his dark love and obsession take over the entirety of his senses. all she could do was nod in agreement, promising jinwoo that she will make the announcement of their breakup the next day all while silently praying for the new woman jinwoo had fallen for...

{ ... }

[ FAMOUS AND POWERFUL HUNTER CHA HAE-IN JUST ANNOUNCES HER BREAKUP WITH FORMER BOYFRIEND AND FELLOW S-RANK HUNTER, SUNG JINWOO ]

the headlines that you read on your phone made you feel even dizzier as you made your way to ahjin guild's building, sending a wave of vertigo to course through you.

you were breathing heavily, leaning against one of the buildings as you fought back the urge to puke up your breakfast from this morning.

"relax... calm down, it's probably a coincidence. breakups happen all the time, and this time should be no different."

but was it really a coincidence? such timing seemed too... serendipitous. what were the chances that sung jinwoo would become single once more the day you were meant to join his guild?

not to mention, his strange desire for you to join in the first place...

fighting back the bitter taste within your mouth, you continue your trek towards jinwoo's building, ignoring the warning bells that went off from within the depths of your mind. even though your legs felt like lead with each step that you took, you push through and manage to arrive at ahjin's base of operations with a few minutes to spare.

the moment you step into the lobby, you were not expecting jinwoo to be standing directly in front of you, with you barely taking a step across the polished area when the president himself greets you.

he says your name (were you imagining the strange sense of yearning heard in his voice?) before placing a hand behind your back, "i'm so happy to see you again. it's been quite a while since our first meeting, and i intend to make up for it."

the sudden passion heard in jinwoo's voice catches you off guard even further, but you were given little time to react when he tightens his arms around you. a sudden shift was felt in the air as several, wisps of shadows began to surround you and jinwoo-

which left you a gaping mess when you found yourself in an unfamiliar room, surrounded with all the things that you loved.

from a bookshelf filled with your favorite novels and authors,

to various gaming consoles with a brand new laptop settled on a desk-

and the large, luxurious bed settled in the midst of it all-

your mind was struggling to keep up.

a new wave of nausea hits you as jinwoo wraps his arms around your front, bringing your back even closer to his chest as he practically presses you against him. he lets out a soft coo of your name, the tip of his nose felt brushing against your hair before he opens his mouth to gently tug at your ear with his teeth, lightly grazing at your skin.

"you have no idea how long i have waited for this moment, my darling love." a hint of insanity was heard within his voice, causing you to shiver when you tried to meet his gaze-

only to feel your blood turn ice cold at the mere sight of him.

his expression seemed to be in a haze with a prominent blush seen against his cheekbones. his mumblings were unclear to you, but the more you listened to him, the more you realized that such crazed mumblings were of your name alone.

"you’re mine mine mine mine... and if i even sense another breathing down your neck, i'll rip their hearts out."

his sudden admission makes you nearly slump down against the carpeted floors of the room, but jinwoo manages to keep you pressed against his chest. "oh, my darling girl, it's okay, it's okay... you won't need anyone else but me... and i'm going to take such good care of you. you're mine mine mine mine MINE... ah... sorry, i lost myself back there."

jinwoo's rich chuckle fills your ears, and you were still struggling to process everything when he carries you toward the bed decorated with blankets and sheets that went with your usual style. with a hum, he pulls back the blankets, getting into the plush bed with you still in his tight embrace.

after what seemed like an eternity, you manage to ask, "why... why are you like this?"

jinwoo continues to chuckle, further tightening his embrace around you, "well, what do you mean, sarang?"

you tremble and did your best to meet his gaze, "y-you were so loving when it came to hae-in... the perfect couple... you were the picture perfect lover, so why-"

"ah, that version of me is not the real version of me, my darling love." jinwoo interrupts you, admitting it with a sigh of relief. "in fact, it was quite stifling, pretending to bask in such minuscule emotions... one that does not even warrant to be defined as love-"

"oh no, what i felt for cha hae-in pales in comparison to what i feel for YOU. where all i felt was a lukewarm fondness for her, i feel a burning inferno for you."

jinwoo's breathing becomes heavier and more labored when he slowly unbuttons your blouse, lips latching hungrily onto your newly revealed skin as you cried out to him.

"b-but i don't understand... the love that i had seen between you and hae-in seemed so perfect, so why am i so different?"

jinwoo's teeth was lightly felt sinking into your skin, earning a gasp from you as the tears began to well up within your eyes, "well, if my darling must know, then i shall tell her."

jinwoo picks you up just then, allowing your frame to straddle his abdomen when his hands lovingly trace at your figure, "you just have a charm that i find irresistible, sarang. your scent and your appearance drew me into you, like a damn moth to a flame...! i can't help but feel as though the entirety of my existence is to serve and love you..."

he trails off just then, now leaning up to press another kiss against the shell of your ear before harshly whispering, "i'm not going to let anyone else have you. you are the one that evoked such changes in me... revealing my true self... allowing me to love you freely as the way that i have always been."

the severity of his confession was what ultimately sinks in, making you tremble in response. no words were able to escape from your parted lips when he spends the rest of his time littering your face with his possessive sweet kisses.

yet the moment he whispers the following words to you, you knew that your fate had been sealed from the moment sung jinwoo first laid eyes on you:

"you're the only exception... the only one that matters the most to me. everything that happened before you is meaningless now, and i hope that you're ready to take responsibility for all that you have done to me."

a.n. - whew, this was so much fun to write,,, and lowkey hot as well. like jinwoo, i accept you, darkness and allllll 😭😭😭😭

all stories are written by rei; reposts, translations, and plagiarism are not allowed.

#sung jinwoo x reader #jinwoo sung x reader #sung jinwoo x you #jinwoo sung x you #solo leveling x reader #yandere x reader #.stories

710 notes · View notes

batboyblog · 2 months ago

Note

https://www.tumblr.com/batboyblog/763234650399424512/the-recent-chappell-roan-thing-is-why-i-absolutely

I frankly also get the impression that a lot of these people genuinely think another Trump term will just be “business as usual” or “it’ll only hurt the people who deserve to suffer” and that they’ll just be able to hide away from the consequences for four years before someone comes along and fixes the mess for them and they get to benefit.

I don’t think they have any realization of just how bad this is gonna get the second time around, because the first time Trump was metaphorically behind a chained fence and held back by strong rope. This time he’s being let loose alongside his fascist theocratic friends.

I've puzzled about this for some time, because like do people honestly not remember what it was like? what those 4 years were like? the fear, the chaos, the national embarrassment. Every day waking up and going "oh god! what did he DO! while I was asleep!" and how often you'd wake up to some story that he'd tweeted something scary and dangerous at 4am. I believe him threatening to nuke North Korea (the "Fire and Fury" tweet) was one of those very early AM specials that we all woke up to.

I mean for people like Chappell, its hard to remember, but Trump has been the more or less national main character for 9 years, since the fall of 2015. I mean an 18 year old first time voter could have been 8 years old when Trump came down the gold escalators told us all that Mexicans were rapists and he was running for President. So for anyone under 30, Trump is normal since every election they've been able to vote in, he's been the Republican nominee. I've spent 9 years of my life, across 5 elections fighting Trump directly or indirectly. Depressing thought that.

but past that there's been a national effort to gaslight us all into thinking "yeah no it was normal" I mean I remember the media coverage of 2017, the first year or so of Trump's Presidency, every few weeks or so there'd be some "is it time for the 25th amendment now?" story about if Trump's weird behavior this time for his cabinet to step it and remove him. (A quick google turned up CNN Oct 2017, New York Times May 2017, The Guardian July 2017, and Vox February 2017) compare that to coverage today? The term "Sane-washing" has been coined where when Trump says something bonkers it gets characterized as "sometimes meandering" rather than "incomprehensible" and "worrying"

figures in the media have gone so far as to claim there's just no point to covering new Trump scandals because "they won't move the needle" which really should not be a journalist standard. And we see that they do, take North Carolina's Mark Robinson. Caught in a massive scandal, involving sex, porn, and being a Nazi, he's now down massively in the polls after nation wide coverage. Trump just had new court documents opened that showed he wanted a riot on January 6th, that his reaction to a mob threatening the life of his Vice-President was "so what?" and they he knew full well that he had lost but was going to "fight like hell" any ways. And its not much of a story, indeed I'm seeing more news about a NY Republican Congress having worn black face (new story today) than Trump's effort to over throw the government and kill Mike Pence.

past the media's gaslighting of course there's been a major and on-going campaign to effect how we see reality. I know that sounds very woo-woo, but to step back for second, most of what we know about the world is stuff people tell us, so you know Joe Biden is the President because other people have said so, most likely you've never met him or even seen him in person. Well as more and more people turn away from traditional media, and traditional media turns more and more to making of money by confirming the bias of people, it becomes easier and easier to slip things that are not real into "facts we are told". So for example "Joe Biden is President, and also in decline" there's never been any real evidence of that, but if on social media you are bombarded with it 4,000 times a day... you start to take it as understood wisdom.

people are also getting worse and worse at not just taking what they're told if it confirms biases they already have. Former Vice-President Al Gore wrote a book nearly 20 years ago now, called "The Assault on Reason" which had a ton of very interest neuroscience about the ways that moving images, TV he was talking about, by-pass the logic centers of the mind, the way we relate and trust someone talking to us in a way the written word does not. I can't help but reflect on that with the rise of TikTok and short form video as a "source of information" (lol)

any ways this is a long winded way of saying bad faith players, Republicans, left wing grifters, and agents of chaos, have been very good at flooding the zone all through the Biden Presidency with stuff "student loan debt" remember when that was SO! important SO big and Biden "not doing anything" (untrue) was the biggest deal? well yesterday his newest plan got unlocked in court and 3 out of every 4 people with loan debt will get relief.... oh you're just now hearing about that from me? huh... funny... I thought it was the number one issue and reason we should never trust Biden and the Democrats... weird....

but there have been other issues pushed up as THE! issue, its all misdirection, its all meant to get natural Democratic voters to feel frustrated, upset, and hopeless, and not to vote their interest. The world is a big complex multi moving machine, and anyone telling you that one issue either fixes every other issue or totally totally outweighs everything else and should for everyone, is most likely BSing you and doesn't have your best interests at heart.

and lets be clear, Trump is a Rapist he's a lot of things, traitor, racist, scumbag, criminal, scab, tax cheat, fraud, etc but for me any ways, I'm not gonna vote for a rapist to be President and if other people aren't gonna do everything they can to stop a rapist from being the President I don't want to hear how much they care about progressive issues.

#politics #US politics #American politics #election 2024 #Donald Trump

223 notes · View notes

shroomdreams · 4 months ago

Text

Awoo!

Male Wolf Hybrid x Fem Puppy Hybrid Reader

NSFW

CW: Non-con, reader in heat, p in v, creampie, implied marathon sex, breeding kink, impregnation, reader is depicted with breasts and vagina A/N: Something short for y’all to chew on. Also i know i said i'm not into non-con but I've been reading a lot of josei smut manga and it's bled into this fic sdgjhdslkgjh 1.5k words

Imagine being a puppy hybrid dealing with your heat.

As one of the dog hybrids tasked with guarding the farm, you’re trained to take down threats and keep your friends safe. Your pack consists of you, your little brother, and your grandpa! Grandpa’s been getting on in years, and your little brother is still a bit too rowdy to be a proper guard dog, so most of security duty goes to you.

However, if there was one thing you hated about being a puppy hybrid, it’s the heats you go through.

Curling up on your bed, you growl and tear into your chew toy as your hips desperately hump the pillow, staining the fabrics with your juices. It never gets any easier dealing with heats, especially the aftermath where you bleed all over everything. To make matters worse, the owners of the farm have been thinking of getting a dog hybrid for you to mate with! Absolute nonsense. You don’t need any mates, not at all!

Still, you’re grateful that your owners decided to give you the week off to deal with your heats. Much as you despise the process, it was a chance for you to somewhat relax while your little brother takes over your job for the mean time. However, the toys your owners bought weren’t anywhere near enough to stamp down the fire in your loins, but it was better than nothing. Unbeknownst to you or anyone in the farm, things were about to change.

In the early hours of the morning, a lone man stalks the near the woods, his wolf ears flicking around for any sound of prey. Then, a tantalizing scent wafts to his nose. He’s off, quickly tracking down the delicious scent. His feet carry him to a farm, where everyone was still slumbering. The scent comes from a little hut just a few ways off, fenced off from the rest. Though as the wolf made his way to the hut, he’s stopped by a smaller figure, who fiercely glares at him.

“Heck off, stranger! Yer trespassin’ on private property!”

Unimpressed, he raises a brow as he crosses his arms. “And what are you gonna do about it, runt? You’re way too scrawny to be a threat.”

The dog hybrid shakes his head, clearly agitated by his presence. “Don’t matter, I can take ya!” He growled. As the wolf takes a stance, the two are interrupted when the hut’s window flaps open. The scent practically rolls out as you snarl at the two of them.

“WILL YOU TWO PIPE DOWN?! AH’M TRYIN’ TO GET SOME SLEEP HERE!”

“Eek! Sorry sis!”

The wolf hybrid takes a moment to assess the source of the scent he’s been tracking. You’re definitely way older than the pup who called you sis, and your body has been toned from years of fighting off enemies. He eyes your dribbling pussy, your flushed cheeks, and your agitated body language.

Oh yeah, he’s come to the right place. He doesn’t get another chance to eye you up before he’s face-to-face with the barrel of a gun. Right in front of him is a much older dog hybrid wearing glasses. “Howdy pardner. Ya got ten seconds to step away from ma grandbabies b’fer I put lead in ya.”

He wisely retreats, his hands up as he steps back into the woods. The whole time he does, he’s kept his eyes on your hut, watching you squint at him as you slam your window shut. Now that he’s confirmed your presence, there’s no way he’s just going to leave.

He spends a day or two observing your brother and grandpa’s behavior, taking note of their quirks. His tongue licks his lip as his hand strokes his cock, thinking about your previous appearance. You didn’t bother throwing on a shirt or undergarments, as your heat made wearing clothes extremely unbearable. The wolf grins, as he waits for the sun to go down…

…At night, you’re awoken by the sound of your door creaking open and the smell of a wolf inside your room. Before you could fully open your bleary eyes, the wolf hybrid pins you down, your combined weight sinking into the mattress. “You smell better up close,” The wolf growls, nibbling at your neck. You thrash about, trying to push him off of you. “Quit squirmin’-”

Your freeze when you feel his hardening length slide against your folds, your pussy instantly clenching around nothing while secreting arousal. “G-Get offa me!” You say, hitting his shoulders in a futile attempt to drive him off. However, the wolf manages to grab your hands, holding your wrists down with one of his own hands while the other caresses your body. An involuntary whimper leaves your mouth when he fondles one of your breasts, kneading the flesh in his palm while his cock smears itself in your juices. You’re acutely aware of how large he is, and you haven’t at all taken a toy that matched anywhere near his size.

“Poor thing. Haven’t your humans gotten you a mate yet? Then again, I bet they’d just grab some random stray off the street… But don’t worry, girl. I’ll make sure to satisfy ya.”

His lips crash into yours, tongue forcing its way inside and tangling with yours. Your moans are muffled as he presses his body closer to yours, legs parting wide open. “N-Noooo…” You whimper, trying in vain to shut your legs, watching as the wolf angles his cock towards your entrance. The tip breaches your entrance, causing your legs to fly up from the stimulation as you become breathless. Gasps are wrung out of you as your walls struggle to take the wolf’s length. He growls, hand on your hip as he tries to coax you into loosen up.

You struggle to breath, eyes rolling into your skull as he fully sheathes his cock within your warmth, the nearly kissing your cervix. The wolf huffs, noting the little ring of white decorating the base of his shaft as he draws his hips back, shallowly thrusting inside. “Squeezin’ me real good there, girl. You’ve been hungry for a man’s cock for a while now, haven’t you?”

“N-No- Mmh!” Your protests are cut off when he gives you a sharp thrust in reply. Your hut quickly fills with lewd slapping as you pant out, your poor cunt being constantly rubbed by the wolf’s length. “T-Take it out! I don’t- Aaah! I d-don’t wanna be your mate! Oooh!” You yelp when he suddenly sinks his fangs into your neck, marking you as he roughly slams against you. You’re suddenly flipped on your front, ass up in the air while your face is smooshed down on the pillow.

“This whole den of yours will be perfect for our cubs,” The wolf groans, grinding himself close to your ass while his cock stirs your insides. You shake your head, tears dripping into the bed sheets as the wolf picks up the pace again, making you cry out for mercy. “Fuck- What do you say? I’ll give you a- huff- A litter. We’ll make a whole new pack together.”

“I- I don’t wanna-” You sniffle. The wolf chuckles as his hand swoops down to tease at your clit, the sensation making you cry out in alarm. “I don’t want a litter! I- I don’t-”

“Your pussy says otherwise. Huff- It’s squeezin’ the life outta me. Guess I’ll have to give your body what it needs.”

“N-no! Ohhh! Ahhhhhh! N-Not inside, please! Ah! Ah! I ain’t ready to be a mama! Ah! Ahhhhhhhhh!!”

Gripping your hips tight, the wolf pounds you hard until the feeling in your stomach snaps when you feel his knot squeeze in with a pop!, clamping down on his cock while he pumps his seed inside. You go brainless as your hips push against him, tongue lolling out while he snarls in approval. “There you- pant- go. See how nice you feel?”

Your world spins as he pulls you up, your back against his chest as he gently bounces you up and down on his knot.

The next day…

The poor farmhand who is sent to check on you is thinking about possible jobs he might take after he witnesses the scene happening within your home.

Your legs were wrapped your mate’s waist as he bounces you in tandem with his thrusts, streams of cum leaking from your drooling cunt and onto the floor below. The wolf hybrid growls, forcing his knot in your cunt as you whine from the overstimulation, pulsing around his cock as your arousal gushes around him. The farmhand wisely decides to leave you two alone when the wolf snarls at him, closing the door as he walks off.

“...I ain’t getting paid enough for this shit.”

A few months later, you’ve given birth to a healthy litter of wolfdog hybrids. Your mate licks the bite mark he left on your skin as your children suckle on your breasts. Though your grandpa was less than pleased, he begrudgingly puts up with the wolf hybrid as he watches over his great-grandchildren, while your brother plays with one of your daughters.

Safe to say, you won’t be getting rid of that darn wolf any time soon.

#shroomie.fic #wolf hybrid #wolf hybrid smut #puppy hybrid #puppy hybrid smut #monsterfucking #monsterfucker #monster lover #fem reader #x reader smut #monster reader

362 notes · View notes

runningfrom2am · 10 months ago

Text

cold nights // part fourteen

summary: you showed him colours he knows he can't see with anyone else.

pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader

wc: 3.1k

masterlists / nav / requests

tags/warnings: tribute!reader and mentor!coriolanus, r is very sweet (too kind for this world. literally.), sunshine x grumpy trope kinda, he falls first, violence typical for the source material, r is very smart (as she should), district twelve!reader.

a/n: finally reunited ahh!! (also a note from me while i'm trying to find pics for the header: damn this dude does not look happy very often huh) (okay so update we're settling for a flashback photo bc coryo in his curls era does not SMILE bruh)

my asks are also open to talk about this series! (i do have emoji anons open now too!)

send me any and all of your thoughts! here!

series masterlist // playlist

"Just right here." Lucy Gray stops on the gravel road, nodding up to the house in front of them.

"Okay, sweet." Sejanus smiles, already heading for the front porch but she grabs his arm, stopping him as Coryo just stares at the house, going slightly pale.

"Sejanus, how about you and I go figure out where you guys will stay, and come back for Coriolanus in a bit?" She offers, nodding toward him.

"Oh- uh, yes. Yeah. Good idea." He agrees, picking up quickly on what she meant. Coryo still hasn't said a word, just staring at the run-down shack that apparently was your home. It was clear that efforts were made to maintain the home, the fence had been patched in several places and there were flower beds outside. From what he knew about your family, that would make sense.

"Coriolanus?" Lucy Gray draws his attention again. "We're going to go find you a place to stay, and we'll come back for you in a bit. Does that sound okay?"

"Yeah that's... that's perfect. Thank you." He nods, in a trance-like state as he makes his way up to the door through some only slightly overgrown grass, before he has the chance to second-guess himself.

"He didn't even listen, did he?" Lucy Gray says, both of them watching him from the street.

"Not at all, no."

He can hear the two of them chatting as they disappear back down the road, and he looks for a doorbell that doesn't seem to be there, just settling for a knock instead. He waits a few moments after knocking on the wood, about to do it again when he hears a woman's voice come from inside. "One moment, I'll be right there!"

"I got it, Ma!" Comes from right behind the door as footsteps approach and it's swung open, a young boy standing there. "Hi." He says, eyeing Coryo up and down. It must be your brother.

"Uh, hi." He clears his throat. "Is Y/N here?"

"No, not right now." The boy answers. "Can I take a message for her?"

"Oh, well, my name is Coriolanus Snow, and-"

"Hold on! I'm coming!" The woman's voice comes again, much more excited as she rounds the corner from the hall, brushing her hands off on her apron. "You're Coriolanus?" She asks, a polite but delighted grin on her face as she gets closer.

"Yes, Ma'am." He nods in confirmation, a smile growing on his face. You look so much like your mother.

"Oh my goodness, come in, please! I didn't recognize you!" She gently moves her son out of the way, who is still staring at him with something unwelcoming behind his eyes. As soon as Coryo steps into the home, she's wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "Wow, it is so lovely to meet you! You came a very long way!"

"I did." He chuckles, hugging her back with as much politeness as he can muster behind shaking hands and a pale face.

"Come sit, Y/N will be home within the hour. She'll be just thrilled to see you." She pulls away, gesturing for him to follow her into the living area. "Are you hungry? You must be starving. Let me grab you something." Your mother says, mostly to herself as he sits down on the couch.

"That would be great, thank you." He smiles, still nervous as he tries to adjust his posture on the slightly uncomfortable sofa, looking around. In reality, he hadn't been "starving" for some time now. It felt good to have a consistently filled fridge all the time, but he has hardly eaten since they left the Capitol. He was too nervous to even think about it.

"Why did you come here?" Your brother asks, making Coryo look away from the family photos that adorned the walls. Most of the frames were broken, photos blurry, but he could tell that to your family that didn't matter.

"I hadn't heard from her. I wanted to make sure she was doing okay." Coryo answers, stiffened by your brother's somewhat hostile energy and the thought of getting to see you so soon. Had you told him something you didn't tell your mother? Probably that he killed that boy, but it seemed unlike you to leave out the part where he had no choice. Unless Tigris was wrong.

Unless you still didn't see it that way.

Your brother hums, sitting in the chair across from the couch and leaning his elbows on his knees. To Coryo, this felt like an interrogation. Coming from a teenager, it was almost cute.

"Lennox, Honey, can you come help me for just a moment?" His mother calls him from the kitchen and he's shooting up again, glaring at Coryo as he walks away. He was confused, today alone he's gotten so many mixed signals on your feelings.

You stuck out the day at work, even though while you were reshelving returns you had to rush to the bathroom in the back to vomit after reading the back cover of an old book about a man who hunted humans. You were hoping by now this would happen less and less, but leaving the house had only made it worse. Getting a job was a mistake and you knew that, but your family was hardly scraping by before you were torn from your life- but neither of your parents could work the whole time you were gone. They were sick about it. Your mom still couldn't work, and you knew your father rarely ever slept these days.

You tried to hand over the winnings Coryo's Dean had given you as soon as you got home, holding it out to your parents with trembling hands as they opened the locked door for you. They wanted none of it. Not a dollar from your three thousand, which you had spent time counting and recounting on the train. They only wanted you home. You had hoped it would give you something else to talk about- that you could smile and be proud that you won and that now your family could live comfortably, at least for a little while. The idea almost made it worth it. As you counted your prize under the dim lighting in the train car, you had wondered if you would do it again for them. The money didn't make saying hello again any easier, though, and you cried for what must have been hours on the porch of your family home, the four of you tangled together in a hug bound together by tears.

It was hard to let go, but when they had, finally, your mother shoved the money back into your pocket and told you to save it. One day, you could buy your own home with it, and that wasn't a bad idea.

All you could do for them now that your money sat in a jar in your closet, the best you could do, was convince them you were fine enough for you all to move on and forget about it. The additional income of getting your own job helped, too. So, when your boss tried to send you home, you declined, and five o'clock couldn't have come fast enough.

You drink water out of an old jam jar on the way home, washing the taste of bile out of the back of your mouth. The fresh air made a world of difference. As much as you adored the smell of books, it got stuffy in there, especially in the summers. Even with the sun beating down on your shoulders over your button-up shirt, you felt better just making the walk home every day. The breeze blowing through the trees, the familiar paths beneath your feet, it was one of the very few things that could ground you in the reality that now, you were safe. That, and the meadow behind your house at night time. Reading under lantern light with the stars overhead and your family at your side, you never felt more real. It was truly over.

That's what you would do tonight, you decided, after a long nap following an unfortunate day. At the end of every unfortunate day, you still had that, and that meant the world to you.

"Oh! Here's Tybalt." Your mom smiles, now comfortable on the couch next to Coriolanus as the cat saunters into the living room, jumping up into the space between them. "This is Y/N's cat, she calls him Tybs." She explains, tears forming in her eyes as the cat crawls onto her lap and she quickly blinks them away, but he had already noticed by then.

"She told me about him." Coryo says, placing his now empty tea cup on the coffee table in front of them.

"Of course..." She chuckles sadly. "He took real good care of us while she was away. On particularly... hard nights," She clears her throat. "He would come out into the living room with her father and I and sit with us, he can purr like no ones business, you know, and then after a while, he would run over to our room there and meow at us. Made sure we got to bed. Then curl up with us and just made sure we knew that.... she was still with us."

A tear falls as she speaks and she laughs nervously, quickly brushing it away. "Gosh, I am so sorry..." She quickly dismisses it. "We have company and I'm crying like a little girl. Forgive me..."

"No, it's quite alright." Coryo insists, shaking his head. Of course, he was worried about you in the arena and every night up until then, but he never entertained the idea of what it was like for your family even though he knew about them. That under the same sky, they were sitting here in this very home praying that you might return. Now, he could see it, and you were the lucky one who made it home. He hoped he wouldn't have to see Jessup's family while he was here. "It must have been awful for you."

"Indeed." She nods, wiping her cheek again. "But, you know, it means so much to us that she had someone there to look after her." She smiles at him. It's genuine. Sad, but full of gratitude. He would no longer wonder where you got that habit from. "I decided I wouldn't be watching anything, but her father insisted. He was out at a bar in town, the only one with televisions, then came rushing back in the door twenty minutes later and dragged us back there with him to watch. I didn't want to go but he said 'No, you need to see this. She's not alone. She has a friend.' So down we went, and they were playing reruns of the two of you being dropped into that cage. I just... She looked so comfortable with you. The way you looked at her we could see you cared, that she was human to you, and that you were there to help. I remember thinking for the first time that maybe she had a chance." She's accepted her tears now, reaching over from petting Tybalt to grasp the young man's hands in her own as she spoke.

Your brother scoffs as Coryo lets her hold onto his hands, a small smile forming on his face that's quickly torn away by Lennox's reaction. "Yeah, and then that other boy had to be the one to bring her something to eat after days."

"Hey!" Your mother gasps. "Lennox, get-" She prompts him to leave if he isn't going to be nice.

He rolls his eyes, getting up to leave.

"I didn't have anything to bring her besides a flower." Coryo finds himself stating, shocking even himself at the confession which halts your brother in his steps. He had never told anyone about the poverty he faced at home, but with them, he felt safe to. Something about knowing you assured him that they were not judgemental people. He clears his throat before explaining. "My family lost everything after the war. When I first met her, I also hadn't eaten in days. I gave her everything I could."

Lennox hums before leaving, either not convinced or embarrassed that he'd even made such a comment. Coryo couldn't tell.

"Coriolanus... I am so sorry." Your mother is quick to apologize, and he's embarrassed by the look of pity in her eyes. Pity from a woman who had, for almost a month, believed she had lost her child, and was still struggling with it today. He felt nothing but guilt.

"Well, I must tell you, your daughter saved us from that." He tries to lift her spirits as a confused expression paints itself into her features, but he doesn't get the chance to elaborate as they both turn at the sound of the front door opening.

"Ma!" You call out, closing the door behind you and kicking off your shoes, preparing your smile to tell her about the absolutely great day you just had.

Your mother stands quickly, patting the boys thigh gently and wipes her eyes. "Hi, Honey, how was your day?" She asks, smiling at him through red eyes.

"Come what come may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day." Your groaned response comes slightly muffled from the other room, and Coryo can hear you shuffling about.

"Oh, no. What happened?" Immediately your mother's tone shifts to worry, and Coryo wonders how it took her less than a second to understand.

"Nothing, Ma. All is fine." You call back, putting your bag down in the kitchen, and heading for the living room, gluing a smile back on. "Guess what I saw on the walk home! A ladybug, it landed right on my-" You freeze as you walk into the entryway, seeing your mother and your previous mentor just standing up next to her.

"Oh, I should have mentioned, we have company." Your mother smiles, already gathering the used dishes from the coffee table, and brushing past you to bring them into the kitchen. Likely, to give you two a chance to talk.

When Coryo lays his eyes on you for the first time again, he can swear his heart stops. Yours definitely does as nausea comes over you in a wave again, and your calculated smile drops.

You don't say anything, just staring with an expression unreadable to him. "Y/N, hi." He breathes, smiling at you. You look beautiful but tired, still. Still, that girl he watched in the arena, it was hard to believe that every part of you made it out. You weren't the same girl he saw for the first time in the reaping- you were more. More of you, and more of something else; hurt, if he had to guess.

"It's good to see you." He continues, his voice a gentle whisper that cuts through the awkward tension in the room. Your heart races, emotions swirling like a tempest within you. Coriolanus Snow, your mentor and friend who had guided you through your time in that Capitol and the games, is standing in your living room, looking both apologetic and hopeful.

"Coryo," You manage to say, voice barely above a whisper as you swallow the sickness rising in your throat. The memories flood back- everything awful you had gone through. Meeting him for the first time as he handed you a flower, sitting on opposite sides of the bars of your cage and talking long into the nights. Everything you had done, everything he had given you, the people you both hurt in the process. He takes a step closer, cautiously navigating the fragile space between you.

"I... What are you doing here?" You ask quietly, your eyes unable to meet his gaze. The room feels smaller, the walls closing in on you quickly.

He clears his throat, a nervous habit you remember well. "I wanted to see you," he says, his eyes pleading for understanding. "I didn't know what you were up to and how you were adjusting and... I was worried about you."

The weight of unspoken words lingers between you, and for a moment, neither of you knows how to bridge the gap that only a month of time has built. You had been away from him longer than you had known him, and facing him again, you were embarrassed. Scared. Coryo takes a deep breath, summoning the courage to express the weight of what he's carried in his mind for too long.

"I never stopped thinking about you," He confesses, sincerity etched across his face. "I tried sending letters but I didn't get any response."

The vulnerability in his eyes mirrors your own, and the air crackles with a shared sense of everything you want to say but just can't find the words. You can't help it as you feel over and over again the countless hours spent together in the lead-up to the worst days of your life.

Tentatively, he reaches for your hand, a silent plea for connection. As your fingers take his, warmth floods through you, dissolving the distance. "I missed you," he admits, his voice barely audible.

A rush of conflicting emotions surges within you- that same embarrassment, anger, hurt, but also a flicker of the fondness that never truly faded. "I missed you too," You admit, your voice breaking through the emotional dam, built up from fear and trauma and the stacks of books in your bedroom that held it back all this time.

With those words, the barriers crumble, and the room is filled with a pitiful silence. The weight of what you had both done begins to lift, replaced with the realization that he did honestly care for you, the way you did for him. As you look into each other's eyes, the connection is undeniable, evidence of a bond that time could never change. You would always be connected to him.

"Do you remember when I brought you that blanket?" He asks and you take in a sharp breath. The few pleasant memories you had of your time together were so often overthrown by the awful ones, these days. His eyes flicker quickly across your face. He looks as scared as you feel. "And I said I wish I could get to know you as you are, not as a tribute, and you said you would show me the stars."

A small smile tugs at the corners of your lips as you nod, the nausea you felt steadily subsiding. "So you walk softly and look sweetly and say nothing. I am yours for the walk and especially when I walk away."

Coryo tilts his head at you, and smiles. That must have been a yes. "Please, don't walk away again." He whispers, and in that moment, he feels the tightness in his chest that carried him through the last month finally release.

taglist: @soulessjourney , @that-veela-girl , @dreamyysouls, @rockstarbfs , @maysileeewrites , @baybieruth , @kitscutie , @fratboyharrysgf0201 , @totallynotkaibiased , @stelleduarte , @secretsicanthideanymore , @bejeweledreverie , @drewsandsebastianswife , @niicole-87 , @queenofshinigamis , @innercreationflower , @nallasstuff , @scorpiolystoned , @iovemoonyy , @thatmarvelchick19 , @wearemadeofstardust0 , @regulusblackcore , @puredreamagination , @fantasticchaosthing , @becauseseaotters , @secretsicanthideanymore

okay suddenly tumblr isn't letting me tag more people than this so i just made some cuts unfortunately :') i just left the max amount of people i could whose users i recognized and see in my notifs all the time :) if you're not on here and you should be i'm so sorry!

also this taglist is closed now!! if you’d like to get a notification when i update, turn on my post notifications!! i promise i won’t spam y'all :,)

#tbosas #tbosas fic #tbosas x reader #tbosas fanfiction #thg series #hunger games #the hunger games #thg fanfiction #thg #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #coriolanus snow #coriolanus snow x reader #coriolanus x reader #coriolanus x you #coriolanus fanfiction #coryo snow #coryo x reader #coryo x you #snow lands on top

386 notes · View notes

bubbles-for-all-of-us · 1 year ago

Text

Pretty like the wind

Previous chapter /Next chapter

a/n fourteenth part! You guys we are nearing the end and this one... This one was tough. I will only be able to accept complaints via email. Enjoy! 😉🤍🫧

warning: kids, blood, torture, intoxication, drugs, dark magic, pain, deaths, Illyrian torture mmm... I'm trying to think if I haven't missed anything. Ah... wounds.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

There was one thing Azriel was certain about: he was never going to get used to the sensation of holding you. The way his body ignited. It felt as if only then all of his senses were in tune with the rest of his body. The sweetest taste of perfection filled him. This was what finally feeling whole felt like. So was he pissed off when Rhys's gentle knocking on his mental shields woke him up? Yes. Was untangling his limbs from you the hardest thing Azriel had ever done? Absolutely. Did he linger just a bit longer, slowly brushing your hair as he watched you take in breath after breath? yes. Azriel smiled to himself because this was it. This was his forever. His other half lay in his bed. Peacefully sleeping. So his. Only his.

"I'll let you punch me raw", Rhys had caught up with Azriel in no time, "But you also know I wouldn't have asked if this wasn't serious". Azriel knew his duties. He took them seriously, too. So even if his heart was bleeding for his mate, he knew his people also needed him. "Fill me in," Azriel said firmly, tightening the straps holding his knives. "Cass is finishing the last interrogations, and nothing fucking adds up." Rhys was frustrated, which was always a sign of something going extremely wrong. All he was told before Azriel had winnowed into the south side of Velaris was that the border had been breached. An attack had occurred, but the moment the soldiers were sent, it all vanished. In Azriel's 500 years of life, shit didn't just disappear. "Memories?", Azriel said as he scanned the place. Weavers were already patching up the wards, but none of them looked seriously torn apart or damaged in general. "Ink black," Rhys said and Aziel halted at the sound of it, an odd chill running through his back. "And a freezing one. I could push, but...", Rhys ran a hand through his hair. Azriel recognized that worry now. Worry for the family. A mate, children. He was in the same boat now. "You could push, but let me guess, you would fry their brains in the process," Azriel unleashed, his shadow scattering around the place. He was going to fix this. And fix this quickly. Maybe he will even be able to come back before you have woken up.

Cold. Cold. Cold. So cold. So dark. It was so painful and numb at the same time. There were hands. Cold fingers. Echoes of something familiar. How could one feel so heavy and light as a fever at the same time? It felt as if you were blinking for a moment, desperately trying to wake up, only to be plunged back into the same darkness. Someone was holding your head down as you trashed. before Your body had grown frail once more. Slumping.

"I'm telling you they came with torches; everything was on fire," the man said, and Azriel would have believed him, but he knew the farmer. Had gotten multiple reports from him about younglings messing up his sheep fence. He heard him speak before, and something deep within Azriel screamed that this man wasn't talking on his behalf. "Look, if you got the whole village in on this because of that damn fence..." Cassian huffed; he too was losing his patience. Nesta was pregnant. Nothing had been confirmed, but Azriel could smell it on Cass, and so could Rhys; the two had shared a look but chosen to not test Cassian's boundaries. The man was desperate for her. Out of the three of them, Cassian was the one whose patient was extremely thin today. Not to mention the heightened need to protect that coursed through his body.

Azrie shot his brother a look before motioning for the door. Cassian was halfway through the door when the man spoke again, "What fence?" There was a glimmer of relief in the man's eyes before it all glazed over again, and this time that same odd tone was back: "Torches all of them." Azriel turned to Rhys, whose face bore the same realization. They were all under something. Herbs. Magic. Mother only knew.

"Billy, your goat. How is he doing?", the man practically seized at Azriel's voice. "Bill...", the male breathed. "Yeah, one who chewed up your farm shoes," Azriel continued, the same glistening light running through the male's eyes. As if he was clawing at himself from within. It was as if someone was barging to be let out. But it was Rhys who delivered the last blow. "What about your wife? Huh, how's she been doing? She's still knitting you scarves." The male coughed, clawing at his neck. Panic set in as he moved towards the door, but Cassian was still standing there, his broad shoulders blocking any chance at escaping. "Billy and your wife, how are they?", Cass said it in a demanding tone. The man stilled, and then, thick like lava, liquid trickled down his nose.

"Rhys...", Cassian growled. The male staggered back slightly but gained his stance pretty quickly. And the terror that set in now was of a new kind. "My lord...", he breathed out, pulling his hat off his head, only then reaching to feel the dampness on his lip. Dread pooled in Azriel's stomach. "Fuck," the high lord breathed, "This is set up." Rhys's darkness swallowed the place as he winnowed. Azriel reached for the older male and said, "Go home; I'll be back, but you have nothing to worry about." With that, he snatched Cassian's hand as they both winnowed.

It was the cold that seeped into you that had pulled your eyes open. Your fingers grazed the surface beneath you. They felt numb as if they no longer belonged to you, but enough to still somewhat identify your surroundings. The surface you were lying on was damp. That would explain the sounds of droplets hitting the puddles somewhere. You tried to dig into your mind. Tried to think. Where were you? What was happening? You forced your eyes to fully open. A gray stone was what greeted you. You frowned instantly. Nothing seemed to add up. It was sniffling that you picked up on next. But the moment you turned your head to the side, you were met with something you thought you would never see again.

"No", your voice was barely a whimper. "No", you tried to pull yourself up, crawling towards the painfully familiar bars. You didn't feel a single ounce of magic within yourself. It was as if it had all fizzled out. But this couldn't be true. Absolutely couldn't. You have escaped. You... your hands touched the bars as you pulled yourself up. And for a heartbeat, you wished you hadn't.

In the cell opposite of yours lay two figures that clawed through every bit of sedative running through your system. "Zofie, Axel...", the words were barely a whisper as your knees threatened to buck any minute. "Zo, Ax," you breathed louder, trying to move the cell doors, but for nothing. It all came rushing back then. The strange vision. The dinner prep. Elain. Your thoughts halted - Azriel. Your hand rested on your chest. You couldn't feel him. You couldn't... "No," you breathed. He couldn't be dead. You wouldn't be standing here if he was. Your eyes darted back toward the kids. Zofie was pale. Too pale. Axel's wings were bent awkwardly. They couldn't be. They couldn't... It was enough for the thought to simply swirl there and within seconds you were turning to the side as bile rose in your throat.

No matter how much panic Azriel felt coming from both Rhys and Cassian, he refused to let it settle in. You were fine. You had to be. They were all just panicked. Nothing like that has happened since Amarantha. So it was more than understandable that everyone would be ticked off. Azriel unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt as he winnowed back to his apartment. Rhys was meeting him there the moment both Nesta and Feyre were in the safety of the house of wind.

Just the moment his foot hit the wood floor in his apartment, Azriel knew that something was off. The place seemed ice-cold. The burning smell filled his nose. No. No. No. Not happening. "Y/n," he called out as he stepped deeper into the place. Bile rose in Azriel's throat as his eyes scanned the kitchen. Flowers were scattered on the floor, with a smashed vase to accompany them. Fresh goods were still in the bags by the little kitchen counter. A burnt-out pot—whatever had been cooking there had turned into a chard mess. At least now he knew where the smell was coming from. Azriel's eyes fell onto the colorful drawing that now lay upon all the filth that filled the floor. A card. He hesitated. He knew whatever was in... Azriel folded the paper open. Messy's scribbled writing in two different colors greeted him.

We wanted to ask you a big question. Written with a k instead of a q, that's been crossed out and corrected. Azriel wanted that to warm his heart, but all it did was cause more ache. Yet nothing prepared him for the next line. Can you please be our dad? We'd love that, Zo and Ax. The world in front of Azriel shifted. His vision went out for a second. Their dad. A father figure. Azriel gripped the kitchen counter. His kids. They were already his kids. But to know that they both wanted that and that they had all of this set-out... All of this was supposed to be a surprise for him, and now...

Azriel heard rustling outside his apartment door that he only now realized was slightly ajar. "Elain?", a muffled voice that belonged to Rhys called out. Azriel crossed the distance in a couple of steps as he yanked the door open. His anger was boiling even hotter. He saw her, hiding in the corner of the hallway. That same black liquid trickled down her nose. "I couldn't. I tried", she managed to muffle between sobs, but Azriel turned away from her. "Tell Lucien that she's here. I don't need a territorial male running around causing trouble", Azriel said bluntly to Rhys.

"Azriel, please," Elain shifted, trying to reach for any part of the shadow singer she could get her hands on. "Elain, unless you have something useful to...", Azriel batted her hand away as he scowled at her. She probably didn't deserve it. It wasn't her fault that she had gotten herself under that spell, yet knowing that she was the one who had seen you last didn't sit well with Azriel. "They know you'll come; she wants that," Elain muttered, making Azriel frown. "Who?", the female shook her head, and Azriel moved to step away instantly. "A lady in white, she... I don't know, like a priestess."

And within a beat of a heart, it was all crystal clear. The threats and the unwillingness to cooperate—Rhys said it had all been done and taken care of. A new wave of anger rushed through Azriel as he reached for Rhys's neck, bending most of his body over the sixth-floor railing. "I should have burned that place down," Azriel hissed. "Azriel," Rhys said, pushing against his brother's hold. "If my mate and my kids get hurt because you stalled, I swear on everything holy to me. You will never see me again, Rhys", and with a final shove, Azriel let go. Rhys managed to keep himself upright, but before he could turn to the spymaster, he was already gone.

The next time your eyes snapped open, you scrambled to your feet almost immediately. Reaching for the bars, you cast your gaze upon the cell opposite yours. A breath hitched in your throat. They had shifted. Axel was leaning against the wall. All you could see was his face; his wings were messily draped over his chest, he no doubt had to be holding Zofie. "Axel," you called out softly, not wanting to startle him even more. Mother knew these kids were through hell just because of you. "Sweetheart, Ax," you called out again, knees buckling as those golden eyes gazed straight at you. "Y/n," he breathed in return, trying to move closer, but you quickly shook your head.

"It's okay; stay where you are. Are you hurt? Does anything hurt?", you looked him over the best you could. The boy only shook his head. "But Zofie is cold," he muttered, pealing one of his wings to reveal a sickly pale girl with no color in her skin. You sank to the floor. "Is she...", the ringing in your ears grew louder. Axel quickly shook his head once more. "I think it's the empathy thing," he said softly. "I've been thinking all the happy thoughts, and pa-Azriel," Axel stated. Your eyes softened. "You don't have to correct yourself, Ax; you can call him your papa." You wished they hadn't taken this evening away from them. Why this one out of them all? "Will he come to get us?", there was doubt in the boy's tone, but you met his eyes with your blazing gaze. "He will. He will always come for us. No matter where we end up, Azriel will always find a way to bring us back home. You want to know why?", you asked him, and Axel instantly nodded, "Because he loves us, and we love him."

Azriel's shadows were swirling all around the sanctuary as he watched from the mountain peaks. He knew that you were there. The last bits of mating bond practically screamed at him while he ran over ways he was going to slather everyone stupid enough to get in his way. He gritted his teeth together.

"You know... I was never afraid of your darkness," you had muted to him as you two had laid in bed together. Your hand was extended up in the air as his shadows swirled all around, tattering your skin with kisses. "You should be; most are," Azriel breathed. "Why would I? It's a part of you, and it's beautiful to me." Azriel had shifted slightly from the words—loving you is the easiest thing I have to do in my life, he had thought but he didn't say it. too afraid that it was all moving too fast. too afraid to scare you away. And now, more than ever, Azriel wished he would have spoken those words. Would have told you about the house on the very side of Velaris. He had bought it decades ago for his family. For his mate and for his kids. And he had just that—all of it—but it was slipping past his fingers.

A handful of papers slapped against Azriel's chest as Rhys winnowed right in front of him. "Padme wants you apart because you two were a profit in some ancient scroll," Azriel snatched the report, taking his eyes off the building just for a heartbeat so he could look it over. "You two are the opposite of the spectrum; your union can... You'd become more powerful than most high lords", Rhys said firmly, knowing that at any moment the words he spoke could be his last, " So this whole thing could be set up by one or multiple of the other high lords, or someone desperate to save the world".

Azriel had to give Rhys credit. The stuff he pulled out in such a short time was impressive, and it would explain the level of magic used to possess others. But if he could do it in such a short time, he could have given him the papers with this information weeks ago. As if reading his mind, Rhys spoke, "Let us help you get her and the kids back, and then you're free to step away from your position as my spymaster." The words drilled holes in Azriel's already bleeding heart, "I should have taken action sooner. I failed you and your family." Azriel lifted his hand, silencing his high lord. "Two entrances are unguarded. Your job is to get the kids and take them away from that place", the cold tone Azriel used felt wrong, but he couldn't do this now. Azriel's priorities no longer lay with Rhys. No longer lay with his court.

You were humming an old Illyrian lullaby when the doors to the dungeon creaked open and in strolled Padme, accompanied by at least four guards. "I hope you're enjoying your fantasy now," she said with that same cold smile on her lips. "You bitch," you spat her way, throwing all of your weight at the iron bars. "Pick your words wisely, child. I have power over you", she said, standing right in front of you now, looking you over as if you were nothing more than a speck of dirt beneath her shoes. "I trusted you," you said through gritted teeth, "You said...", "That I cared? That I will keep you safe," Padme cut you off, "The same thing your supposed lover is saying to you now. Look where my love brought you; want to see where he will take you?" She stepped over so quickly you didn't even notice when her claws had dug in the hack of your scalp, that same demonic face flashing right in front of you.

Then flames erupted all around you. All of the Velaris was up in flames. Houses falling. People were trying to crawl from beneath the debris. You ran forward, trying to help a woman free her leg, but the moment you approached, she screamed out in panic, trying to move away from you. You shook your head. "Do you want this?", Padme's voice rang all around you. "You are going to be so selfish and end so many lives just because you think someone can finally love you," her laugh echoed, chipping even more of your already frozen-over heart. "I kept you safe. It is I who truly knows how to love a creature like you". Your head fell back as the priestess pulled her blood-coated nails away from you, licking the very tips, "You always belonged with me." Your eyes locked on her dark orbs. You've never seen them in their true colors before.

"That's a lie! Azriel loves us; we're a family," Axel's voice rang out, making you blink, "Tell her, YN, we'll always be together." Padme turned to the boy, yanking the cell door open as she stepped in. "No," you breathed out, reaching for them. "Say that again, boy," her hand wrapped around his neck as she lifted him from the ground, Zofie's frail body slipping out of his hand, awkwardly filling the cold floor. "No, Padme, let him go," you pleaded. You were not letting them go through the same torture you had already endured. "He loves her," Axel said firmly, even if he was slowly losing oxygen. "I'll do whatever you want, but you have to promise you will not hurt them, Pad," you said so quickly that you could barely make out your own words.

The priestess's head turned toward you, a vicious smile spreading across her face. "Return them safely to Azriel, and I will do whatever you want," you pleaded. Padem simply let go of Axel. "Very well," she said happily. "I'll drop them off at that old lady's house," You nodded along with her words. Cordelia will look after them for now. She'll explain it all to them. Take good care of Zofie until she can once again lay in Azriel's arms. "But you, my dear," Padme mustered, "You owe me your heart, especially the part of it that belongs to the shadowsinger." Your vision blurred as her words settled in. A part. There wasn't just a part. All of it was Azriel's. You had given it to him that night outside his mother's house. He had it ever since.

Azriel had his finger pressed to his lips as he once again came into contact with a small group of terrified females, slowly gesturing for them to exit the place. Knowing well that Rhys would guide them out of the building. One of them had already told them how to get to the lower floors of the sanctuary. Azriel would find you. He'll take you home. He rounded the familiar corner. He was trying to be as quiet as he possibly could. It was strange to think that he had lived here for a bit. He had met his other missing part between these walls, which made him nothing but sick now.

Down the corridor. Into the main communal hall, and then right on the left corner, Azriel stopped. There was no way. No, there was no way this couldn't be it. His eyes instantly darted up, looking for anyone planning an attack from up above, but he saw no one, and his shadows sensed nothing.

"Y/n," he breathed out, and you instantly turned around. Your dress was dirty and damp, and there was blood running down the back of your neck, mixing in with your light hair. Blood. Azriel crossed the distance between the two of you in a couple of steps. "Why are you here? Did you kill her?", he carefully cupped your face as he looked you over. Your lip trembled. "Love," Azriel breathed. "The kids are at your mother's. I got them out, but you need to leave," the last word was choked out, and you quickly covered your mouth. Trying to fight your emotions. Azriel pulled at your hand, but you quickly pulled back. "You need to leave me behind," you whispered. "That will never happen," the spymaster said firmly.

"Azriel, I will lose control again. I will burn the city down. I saw it", you shook your head, trying to chase the images away. "I will burn it for you if you give up on us," Azriel said harshly, but his touch still stayed nothing but soft.

"I'm not giving up on us," you whispered so quietly. You promised to push him away. Make him leave you so the kids will be safe. Be safe with him. They didn't need you. But you couldn't lie to him. You'll make him leave you behind in some other way. But Azriel cupped your face with both hands and said, "I waited for you my whole life. You are everything I ever wanted and more. I can only breathe when I'm with you, Y/n. You are my everything. If you are not with me, I don't want to live." His honest words pulled a light sob from your lips. "Azriel, I...", you breathed right as an arrow pierced Azriel's shoulder. The spymaster hissed as he turned back, trying to find the source of the attack.

"No," you shouted, but Azriel was already shielding you while an arrow after an arrow pierced his skin and wings. A roar slipped past his lips, but he stood unmoving, using his body like a shield. "No, let me," you breathed out as you tried to pull him away but... The room died down quickly, and you watched as Azriel slowly sank to his knees.

"Azriel," you followed suit, cupping his face in your hands. His lips were tinted red. No, they couldn't be. No, this couldn't be happening. Azriel moved one of his hands up as he grasped your forearm firmly. "You belong to no one," he said, pausing to take a breath between each word, "Don't let them control you any longer." His grip loosened, and his hazy eyes only focused on you. "No, Az. Azriel! Look at me, Azriel", you bagged, tapping his face lightly, trying to keep him awake.

"And so the story ends," Padme said, moving from behind one of the columns with a pleased smile on her lips. "What did you do? What did you do?", you shouted at her. "I saved the world, child," she said, raising her hands in delight. Her laughter filled the space, but your eyes were already back on your mate. "Azriel, look at me," you pressed your hands against him, trying to flicker at least some of your magic on, but you couldn't seem to get a hold of it. The spymaster smiled slightly, grasping your hand in his. "I'll see you on the other side," he muttered. You choked out a cry. "No, no, you will not," you said angrily. "Azriel," his name was like a prayer on your lips. You felt the last bits of the bond slowly flicker out as an overwhelming pain crawled all over you. Time slowed as you watched Azriel's eyes slowly droop.

But then your deathly glare rose to meet Padme's satisfied gaze. "What did you do?", the scream ripped through. Ignited even more by the pain of feeling Azriel slipping away, the cry seemed never-ending. You heard glass breaking. The cracking of the chipping stone. You saw nothing but white rage. Pulling one of the arrows out of Azriel's body, you pointed it at Padem. "I will be your worst nightmare," you said through gritted teeth. Your body didn't feel like your own as you logged the arrow. And it hit Padme straight in her heart with the speed you'd never thought you could muster.

That same itching feeling in your throat started once more. The same one you felt when they ripped your wings off. The sanctuary was slowly falling apart. The females rushed to get out, but you couldn't bring yourself to care anymore as you pulled Azriel's head over your lap. There was so much blood everywhere. Too much blood. The tears fell freely down your face in a never-ending stream.

You moved your hands over Azriel's heart, watching as your hands disappeared within the light you possessed. But it didn't seem to work. "Y/n," you heard Rhys's shaky voice. "Get out," you barked out. The high lord still tried to step closer, but you hissed at him, "Get out, Rhys, and take the ones you can with you." You felt the last bits of your self-control failing. He only held your gaze for a moment before he winnowed away.

A sob slipped past your lips as you cupped Azriel's face, leaning over to kiss his cold lips. Time slowed once more. The static felt unbearable. One heartbeat. Two. Three. Four. And it all erupts with a sob like no other. You felt blood trickling down your ears as all of your being clawed at your fragile body. The light was blinding. So was the warmth that followed it. It felt like forever. The sizzling of your skin eased as the snow slowly fell upon you two. You blinked a couple of times. Pouring whatever was left into Azriel until your hands slipped off his chest and your body sagged on top of his.

The first thing he felt was coldness. Then the snowflakes fell on his face. His body also felt heavy. Like it had never felt before. The gray sky was all around him as he opened his eyes. His mind felt numb. For a moment, he had no idea why he was lying there in the first place. Until it all came tumbling down. One image after the other. The sanctuary. You. Arrows. Was this what the other side looked like because, shit, it was grim. Azriel shifted slightly, halting when his hand hit something. Something that was sprawled out across him.

He sat up so fast that your body rolled down to his lap. No. "Y/n," he said, wrapping his arms around your body and hissing at the coldness of it. "My love," he muttered, flexing his stiff wings. They had to be torn. Azriel turned. Not a single cut was on them. Not a single arrow was in his flesh. You've melted it away and healed him. "Love," he called out desperately, "Open your eyes." You couldn't die. He couldn't have just been here, lying unconscious, while you slowly faded from this world.

Azriel's eyes darted across the fallen sanctuary walls. Blood on the white stone. Padme's body was not far away from where you two were. Only the outskirts of the city looked burned to the ground, but there was no doubt that Rhys knew that something like this was coming. Azriel shook his head as he pressed his forehead to yours. "You promised me forever, love," he said softly, "I'm calling in my bargain now." Azriel carefully brushed his lips over yours, and the faintest of thuds echoed in your hallowed-out chest.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Taglist: @naturakaashi @hoemadegrace @just-m-2 @thereadinggremlin @i-am-a-lost-girl16 @stressed-reader

#azriel x reader #azriel x you #azriel x oc #azriel imagine #azriel shadowsinger #azriel spymaster #azriel acotar x reader #azriel acotar imagine #azriel acotar #acotar imagine #acotar x reader #acotar x you #acotar x oc

335 notes · View notes

slaymitchabernathy · 23 days ago

Text

The Nanny

꧁ One Week Later ꧂

Soarynn brings her hands up to her mouth, blowing air onto them in hopes of warming them up. It snowed last night and the children have been itching to explore the fresh blanket of fallen snow since the second they woke up.

The girls giggle while they run around the snow-covered grounds, leaving behind tiny footprints. Soarynn smiles at the sight, doing her best to forget about how terrified she had been a week prior. To forget about the attack.

When they arrived at the Capitol the morning after, they moved silently. No one had been made aware of the conflict that took place in Four and Coriolanus planned on keeping it that way. They exited through the front of the train, heading down a dark maintainence tunnel where a car was waiting for them.

Very few people were told about the attack, such as Quintus Heavensbee and the family doctor who conducted several checks on Soarynn and the children once they were safely inside the President's Mansion. He told her that her nose wasn't broken, only swollen, and that the bruising around her eye would disappear. He also provided some healing salve to speed up the process.

He had offered to test for the possibility of any sexually transmitted diseases but she assured him that nothing had transpired while she was held captive. Part of her wondered if Coriolanus didn't entirely trust her, would he go to such lengths to confirm or deny her claim?

Coriolanus had locked himself away in his study the first day they got back from the trip, goodness knows how much work he would have to do. But he's been acting more...flippant. Asking her how she's doing more often, checking in on her more often, encouraging her to ask the staff for anything she might possibly need. As if she could ever need anything while living with him and his family.

He seems more caring but Soarynn wonders if it's because of the attack or what transpired after. The kiss.

Oh, that kiss has been the bane of her existence. Some of her wishes that she let it go further, that she spent the night in his embrace. But the other half of her is glad she didn't give in to her desires. Even though she really wanted to.

He had come up to her the following day with specific instructions that she could not under any circumstances leave the property with or without the children until he said so. Soarynn had been a bit put off by that order but he explained that no one could see her in this injured state, and he wasn't too keen on letting his children out of his sight at the moment. So, they stayed inside, they could go out onto the grounds so long as they didn't go beyond the fence. It's not like they could with the heightened Peacekeeper presence surrounding the Mansion.

The Snows were on high alert.

Soarynn had asked Eudora if they'd still be throwing the end-of-the-year party and Eudora confirmed that the party was still on as far as she knew. Soarynn hoped it would stay that way, the girls were so excited about it.

"Look Soarynn! I made a snow angel and I'm a Snow!"

Soarynn walks over to Ceraphina who's sitting in the snow, not a care in the world as to how cold it is outside right now. It had taken quite a bit of convincing to get the girls to wear coats, hats, and gloves before they braved the cold but Soarynn insisted that they wear the gloves. Caspian had already thrown his off, he hated the things and Soarynn had given up on making him wear them about an hour ago.

"What a beautiful angel," Soarynn says, giving Ceraphina a nod of approval. Celeste runs between the two of them, her pink scarf flying behind her like a cape. Celeste had insisted on wearing her favorite pink scarf as well, claiming that it was the "perfect accessory."

"There's Daddy," she points, looking up at the large windows overlooking the grounds.

Soarynn looks up as well, her heart beats a little faster when she spots Coriolanus looking down on them. "Wave to your father Cas," Soarynn says, lifting one of Caspian's little arms. Caspian mumbles something about Lenny who was not allowed to come to play in the snow for fear of him getting dirty and buries his head in her neck. Soarynn chuckles, pressing a kiss to his head, "You'll see Lenny soon when you take your nap."

She looks back up at Coriolanus one more time, offering him a wave this time, and to her surprise, he returns it. Another man joins him after a moment, Quintus Heavensbee from the looks of it and he also waves which is a big hit with the girls who gasp and also start waving. "Daddy can see us!" Celeste says, running up to Soarynn and clinging to her leg.

Soarynn nods, tearing her gaze away from the most conflicting man she's ever met to focus on his darling daughter, "He certainly can," she agrees, "and you look so stylish in your winter coat."

Both girls wore light pink coats today to match their hats while Soarynn dressed Caspian in a dark red coat, very similar to one that his father often wears when addressing the nation outside. Soarynn went with a cream-colored coat today, a brave choice while watching three children but she felt it made her look sophisticated. She'd taken off her gloves to hold Caspian better but she was beginning to regret her decision.

If only Caspian enjoyed the snow more. He liked it for about...two minutes. Then he was tugging at her pant leg, asking to be held which she happily obliged to. "Can we go inside can we have hot chocolate?" Ceraphina's question causes Soarynn's stomach to grumble in agreement, "Yes," she answers, "hot chocolate sounds delightful." It really does and then she could put Caspian down for a nap right after.

She had worried that the attack might've had severe psychological effects on the children but they glazed right over it. After losing their mother, perhaps nothing phased them anymore.

It certainly affected her but she was doing a good job at pretending like it didn't.

And she'd keep acting that way until she forgot how it felt to be thrown around, treated like she was nothing. She knew she wasn't nothing, she was just the nanny.

꧁ ꧂

"Does it hurt when I press down?"

Soarynn looks up at the ceiling while the doctor applies a slight pressure to her nose, it doesn't hurt anymore which is a relief. She had worried that her injury might have led to something more severe like a ruptured sinus or a disfigured nose.

"No, it doesn't," she answers.

The doctor hums, pulling his hand away from her face, "Good, it's almost back to normal. By the end of the week, you'll be good as new." Soarynn forces a polite smile onto her lips, fighting the urge to ask if he can prescribe anything to fix the damage that has been done to her on the inside, not the outside.

"Now, let's check on your eye. You haven't been experiencing any vision problems since I last saw you correct?" Soarynn shakes her head while carding a hand through her hair, "No, my vision hasn't been affected by the bruising."

The doctor pulls a tool out of his bag that shines a bright light on her face, "Keep your eye open," he instructs, "I just want to make sure the cornea is still intact." Soarynn has no idea what any of that means but she does as she's told and holds still, even though she can feel her eye beginning to water from the bright light.

Finally, he pulls away from her face and she lets out a breath of relief, "All is well then?" She asks, watching him pack up his things after scribbling down some notes. She wonders if he gives these reports to Coriolanus. He probably does. Nothing happens under his roof without him knowing about it.

"Yes," he confirms with a smile, "you seem to be right on track to a healthy recovery. Just remember, if your eye begins to bother you, use a hot and cold compress and have President Snow give me a call."

"Thank you doctor."

Soarynn watches the man walk out of her bedroom, leaving the doors slightly ajar and she falls back onto her bed, sighing loudly. She's been so tired lately, she hasn't been sleeping well since they got back home. She wonders if this might be some sort of post-traumatic disorder. Maybe she should've mentioned it to the doctor, or has he already noticed and told Coriolanus?

She certainly hasn't been slacking when it comes to her job as a nanny but she knows herself well enough to know that eventually, this will all catch up to her.

Maybe she can get some sleep now that the doctor's gone. She already put the children to bed. Sleep sounds good. Her eyes slowly drift shut and she focuses on breathing in and out, in, and out, in and… "Soarynn? Coriolanus wants to speak with you dear."

Soarynn rolls over to her stomach and groans into the mattress before pushing herself back up, "I'm coming," she calls back, not wanting Eudora to come in and find her like this, sulking and moping about. She slides off the bed, hoping she doesn't look as miserable as she feels before yanking open the doors, "Did he say what he wanted to talk to me about?"

Eudora shakes her head, waving for Soarynn to follow her, "I imagine it'll have something to do with the attack," she muses, leading them to the back staircase, "he's been working on interrogating all the Rebels who took you and the children hostage. You might need to identify some of the men who escaped."

Soarynn's mind immediately goes to Marvin who managed to slip off the boat and swim away unscathed. His friends couldn't say the same. But did they catch him?

"Soarynn?"

Soarynn blinks several times, pulled from her frequent thoughts of District Four, "I'm sorry, what did you say?" Eudora gives her a concerned look from over her shoulder as they make their way down the hallway, "I asked how everything went with the doctor. Did he say anything?"

Soarynn shakes her head, "No, nothing major to report. My nose and eye should be back to normal by the end of the week."

Eudora lets out a sigh of relief, "Well that's good to hear. It'd be a shame if those brutes managed to mark up your pretty face permanently." Soarynn merely hums in reply, both women coming to a stop in front of the ominous doors that lead to Coriolanus Snow's study.

"I'll be in my room should you need anything," Eudora tells her.

Soarynn nods and watches Eudora walk back down the hallway, she's been staying in her honorary bedroom since the attack, swarmed with paperwork and reports to sort through for Coriolanus.

Soarynn gently knocks on the doors, her gut feels like it's been twisted into a knot. "Come in," he calls from the other side.

Soarynn quietly opens the doors, closing them behind her. It's dark in his study, only the fireplace and a few lamps providing him with light as he works.

She slowly approaches his desk, unsure of how to conduct herself with her boss behind closed doors after the last time they were alone together. Coriolanus remains focused on his work, not even sparing her a glance when she sits down. Soarynn absentmindedly drums her fingers against the armrests of the chair, looking up at the ceiling and the carvings that look down on her.

"Your nose looks better."

Soarynn looks back down and across the desk at Coriolanus who sits back in his chair, pen in hand but his attention is now on her, "And your eye," he adds. Soarynn is now hyperaware of her appearance, she had taken off her makeup per the doctor's request and she had planned on trying to sleep right after he left which means she's barefaced once again.

"The doctor said I should be healed up by the end of the week."

"I know," he answers, his blue eyes scanning her face, "he also said that you haven't been getting enough sleep."

Soarynn tenses in her seat, "I never said I wasn't getting enough sleep."

His lips curl up into a smirk and he tilts his head, looking very handsome while doing so, "You don't need to tell him anything. He's a practiced man and he's been staring into your eye for the past few days, he can tell when someone hasn't been getting enough rest. Not to mention it's clear as day to the rest of us."

Soarynn frowns, she's been doing a good job at acting like everything is fine but maybe she hasn't been doing as good as she thought. "I'm fine," she insists, mimicking his relaxed body language, "Eudora said you might ask me about identifying our kidnappers."

Her attempt to switch topics has its intended effect and he drops his smirk and leans forward, adopting the stern persona she's more than used to dealing with by now. "Yes," he shuffles through some papers on his desk, "we apprehended everyone on the beach that wasn't shot on sight but we need you to confirm a few of these Rebels before we proceed."

He slides a file toward her and Soarynn tentatively reaches for it, opening it up to find Marvin's face staring up at her, "This is Marvin," she murmurs, flipping to the next page, finding the face of the man who was shot while trying to jump off looking up at her as well. "And this man was trying to escape," she brings her fingers up to her mouth, remembering how the blood tasted, "I...I saw him get shot. But he's dead now."

She flips through the remainder of the pages but finds no more familiar faces, "Those are the only two I came in contact with," she tells him, placing the file back on the desk, "what will happen to them?"

Coriolanus folds his hands, "I thought about turning them into Avoxes," Soarynn swallows at the casual threat, "but that was too merciful. They'll be executed along with the rest of the Rebels later this week and we'll televise the aftermath to deter any other Districts from trying anything before the year is up."

She sits back in her chair, he says it so casually as if talking about what they'll have for breakfast tomorrow.

"Do you think I should do something else to punish these men?"

Her eyes widen at his question, Soarynn could never conjure up such a punishment, her mind wouldn't allow it. "They said they wanted you to stop the Hunger Games," she recalls, watching his face carefully, "but I guess you won't be doing that."

Coriolanus shakes his head, "I won't be doing that," he confirms, "it's my job to keep the Hunger Games alive."

What a horrible job to have.

"Okay," she says softly, "I trust you to make the right decision."

They both stare at each other for a moment, blue meeting blue-gray. It's like two different oceans crashing against each other. Sometimes, she feels so close to him, other times, she wonders if they're living on the same planet. They've gotten closer but they're still so far away.

Like December and January, so close yet so far.

"How's Petunia doing?"

Soarynn didn't expect him to ask her that, but it gets her mind off of things and she appreciates that, "She's happy to be back in my presence," she says, remembering how excited Petunia had been when Sejanus dropped her off. The girls had been more excited than Soarynn, hugging and kissing Petunia.

Coriolanus hums, "That's good. The stables are done being built."

Soarynn perks up at the good news, "Oh the children will be so excited."

Soarynn had forgotten all about their little agreement to get the children a horse or two to ride and take care of but it’s sure to be a hit. She wonders if each of the children should have their own horse or if just one would be better suited for them at their age. It would certainly teach them to share better.

While Caspian doesn't mind sharing, his sisters certainly do which is rather ironic since they have everything they could possibly need.

Coriolanus studies her for a moment, his eyes lingering on her lips for far too long, "I thought we might discuss what happened on the train," he finally says. Soarynn's breath hitches in her throat, is this when he fires her again? She definitely put her own feelings before the children's. Maybe that kiss was a test and she miserably failed.

"Oh," is all she has to say, her cheeks burning with shame. Coriolanis sighs, running his fingers through his trussed curls. They always look so pristine at breakfast, perfectly styled for another day of work but by the end of the day, they look softer, he looks softer.

"I think we can both agree that emotions were running high," he says and Soarynn nods, there were a lot of emotions on that train, "and we've been dancing around the most pressing topic since we got back," he continues. Soarynn sits up straighter, preparing herself to be fired once again except this time, he has proof. He was there.

His lips on her lips.

"Are you going to fire me?"

Coriolanus looks taken aback at her question, his eyebrows furrowing, "Fire you?"

Soarynn nods, her head hanging in shame, "I crossed a line," she tells him, "the children are the most important thing to me and I let my emotions rule over my decisions."

Coriolanus looks absolutely dumbfounded, so completely and utterly lost. "Soarynn, I'm not going to fire you." She lifts her head, staring into his gorgeous eyes, he truly is a handsome man. "You're not?"

Coriolanus shakes his head and a small smile grows on his lips, "I think the girls might actually kill me if you left again. And I simply wanted to talk about the change in our dynamic." Now Soarynn is the one who looks confused.

"Our dynamic?" She repeats, puzzled by his words. Their dynamic is crystal clear to her. She's the nanny, he's the President of Panem. Simple enough.

"I haven't kissed another woman since Livia," he admits, scratching the back of his neck, "I haven't even looked at another woman since Livia, and yet the second you stepped foot into this house, I haven't been able to entirely focus on my job."

Looks like we're in the same boat, she thinks but she just nods at him to keep going. Coriolanus sighs, "These things can be tricky, I have an insurmountable amount of pressure on me to always be the perfect leader, the perfect boss, the perfect father, but being the perfect partner is something I've always failed at."

"No one is perfect," she tells him softly, "it's impossible to be perfect. Someone will always feel as though you're not doing enough."

That seems to hit him hard as he leans back in his seat, deep in thought. "I enjoyed it," he finally says, looking across at her, "I enjoyed kissing you, holding you. I enjoy being in your presence even though I can tell that you're always on edge around me." He smirks and Soarynn immediately feels flustered and called out.

"Well, well you're the President," she argues, "and my boss. It's natural for me to have a certain degree of nerves. A healthy fear if you will." His smirk drops and Soarynn's heart along with it. Did she say something wrong?

"I've always said that it's better to be feared than loved," he tells her, "when people love you and you love them, they aren't afraid to push back. If people fear you, then they won't risk any pushback. It's the things we love most that destroy us."

Soarynn knows all about that. She loved her father with all her heart and his death absolutely destroyed her. Coriolanus loves his children with all his heart and people took them away from him, used them as leverage against him. But they used her too, which leads her to wonder how he felt about that.

"I don't want you to fear me Soarynn."

Maybe this attack left scars on him too, only on the inside but scars nonetheless. And maybe she'll be allowed to see them someday.

"You want me to love you?"

A pained look crosses his face, a look she's all too familiar with, the look of remembering what once was, what he used to have with another woman that wasn't her. Livia has left scars all over his body.

"I don't think I'm capable of loving anyone outside of my children," he admits, "but, I do think I'm capable of opening up again."

Soarynn can feel her heart beating so fast. It feels so hot in this room all of a sudden. So suffocating.

"Okay," is all she says.

Coriolanus holds out his hand, beckoning her to come over to him, "Come here," he says, calmly and quietly. Soarynn is shaking as she pushes herself from her chair. This is so different from the train. Their dynamic is different. She's dressed differently.

Still, she walks around the desk.

She's never been on this side of his desk but she bets he feels so powerful sitting behind it. He looks powerful now, with his shirt slightly unbuttoned and his legs spread as he turns to face her. She places her hand in his and he wraps his fingers around it, gently pulling her towards him until she's standing in between his legs.

Coriolanus takes his other hand and rests it on her bare thigh, causing Soarynn to draw in a shaky breath. She's never done any of this. Will he teach her or will he expected her to know how things are done in the bedroom? They're not even in a bedroom right now. They're in his study like she's some sweet little secret he doesn't want to get out.

His hand slides up further and further under her nightgown and stops when he reaches her inner thigh, inches away from her covered core. He looks up at her with those blue eyes, clouded with lust and desire. He tugs her forward and she gasps, within one swift motion, she's seated in his lap, essentially straddling him.

His lips are crashing against hers within seconds.

Coriolanus slides both hands under her nightgown, grabbing her waist and he groans. Soarynn whimpers when his teeth gently tug at her bottom lip, this is all so new to her, so new and overwhelming. He is overwhelming. All she can smell is roses.

She doesn't know what to do with her hands so she rests them on his broad shoulders, he feels so strong.

One of his hands slides down her back, resting on her ass and squeezing it. Soarynn moans into the kiss, and goosebumps cover her skin. He pulls away from the kiss only to start kissing up and down her jaw, pressing kisses on her neck as well. Soarynn sighs, staring up at the ceiling again, wondering if this is how all their encounters will go from now on. Secret and rushed.

His other hand leaves her waist, sliding out from under her nightgown to grab her throat. He applies a slight pressure to the sides of her neck and Soarynn gasps, her head feels hazy, her breaths are shortened and she's panicking.

She's remembering.

Remembering what those men said about her. How good she'd feel. How she's the President's whore.

Whore. Slut. The President's little plaything.

Her vision is growing spotty and his lips are getting more aggressive. Soarynn can feel his fingers sliding under the waistband of her panties. She tries to buck his hand off but he must think that she's into this, into him.

"Good girl," he praises, sucking on the tender skin under her ear.

Soarynn squeezes her eyes shut and uses all the strength in her body to shove him back. "Stop," she gasps, opening her eyes again, "stop, please stop." His hands disappear from her body instantly but she still feels like she's being choked, being touched. Touched by them, by those men who talked about fucking her while she was tied up.

Soarynn gasps for air, tears burn in her eyes.

"Soarynn," he starts, his eyes filled with concern and confusion but she's already shaking her head, already trying to get off of his lap.

Everything is so fuzzy and she ends up falling backward onto the floor. Pain shoots through her body but the adrenaline takes over and she pushes herself onto her feet, "I'm sorry," she whispers, shame flooding her voice, "I...I can't."

She rests a hand on the edge of his desk as she walks around it, ignoring his calls for her. She stumbles towards the doors, opening them and welcoming the fresh air.

"Soarynn," he calls again.

She ignores him.

She ignores everything while walking back down the hallway, a million terrible thoughts racing through her mind. She manages to make it to the back staircase and she leans against the banister for a second, catching her breath.

She can still feel his hands on her body and she hates it.

Soarynn grabs onto the railing and pulls herself onto the stairs, making her way up them at a pathetic rate. When she reaches the top, she's out of breath. She wonders what he's thinking, if he's following her, or if he's really going to fire her now that she's truly lost it.

Tears begin to stream down Soarynn's face but she keeps walking, desperate to go to her room and sleep all of this away. She walks past Ceraphina's room and chokes back a sob, she can't believe she made such a foolish risk like that when the children are her main priority.

How could she be so stupid?

When she finally gets to her own room, she slams the doors closed behind her, sinking down onto the floor. Soarynn pulls her knees up to her chest and allows herself to properly cry. Would this all be different if her father hadn't died? If Livia hadn't died? Are they both watching her run around with the President of Panem like she's living in some delusional fairy tale?

Her entire frame trembles as she cries, her gasps echo throughout her room. She's so tired, so exhausted both mentally and physically. When does it all end? The anxiety, the unknown, the battle between her heart and her head?

A soft purring momentarily distracts her from the world falling apart and she looks up from her spot on the floor to find Petunia staring up at her, those eyes identical to her own filled with unending devotion in a world full of conditions. "Oh Petunia," she whispers, "I ruined everything." More tears threaten to spill down her cheeks but Soarynn forces them back.

Coriolanus was right about one thing.

She's not getting enough sleep and she's exhausted. She knows that the lack of sleep isn't doing her or her emotions any favors. "Let's go to bed," she mumbles, reaching out for her loyal feline. Petunia allows her to scoop her up and Soarynn slowly stands to her feet, more stable now that she's had a proper breakdown. She doesn't even get under the covers, she just flops onto the bed and finally, finally gives into sleep.

꧁ ꧂

When Soarynn wakes up she can hear birds chirping accompanied by the sound of a small person breathing beside her.

She cracks one eye open and finds Celeste watching her intently. "Good morning," she whispers causing Soarynn to smile, she probably looks rough right now but Celeste isn't one to comment on one's outward appearance. That's her sister's specialty.

"Good morning darling," she replies, reaching out to rest a loving hand on her cheek. Celeste leans into her touch and her eyes hold worry and fear, "Daddy said you were sick so you couldn't come to breakfast, are you really sick?" Soarynn swallows, she must've slept through her alarm which means Coriolanus thinks she's avoiding him.

Which she is but that's a hard thing to do in his own house.

At least he came up with a good lie to cover up her absence. She feels bad though, missing breakfast means that either Coriolanus or Eudora had to wake the children up. "I'm not feeling my best," she answers truthfully, sitting up slowly, "but I don't think I'm sick."

Celeste lets out a sigh of relief and nods, "Okay good, I don't want you to get sick like Mommy did."

Soarynn feels her heart break into a million pieces.

She can't imagine the fear and anxiety that the children must deal with whenever the adults in their lives get sick or injured. The slightest cough must send them over the edge and here she is, sleeping through breakfast because she can't handle a bit of intimacy.

Get it together, she chides herself while patting the spot on the bed next to her, "Come sit darling." Celeste smiles at the opportunity to get into someone else's bed and attempts to jump onto the bed but she's still too little so Soarynn swoops her up, making her giggle. "Who woke you up?" Soarynn asks, running a hand through Celeste's curls. She's still dressed in her pajamas which means it's still early in the morning.

Celeste cuddles against her, "Eudora did. Then Daddy let me try some of his coffee but but was so yucky Soarynn." She grins at a very true statement, Soarynn has never been too fond of coffee even though it always smells delicious. Her father would always drink it at breakfast. He'd read the paper while they spent their mornings together, Soarynn preparing for school and her father preparing for work.

She misses those moments.

"At least you tried it," Soarynn tells her, "it's important to try new things." Celeste hums, playing with the hem of Soarynn's nightgown, "Can we go to the park today?" Soarynn wishes they could, the children are beginning to grow stir crazy and she can't really blame them. "Once my eye and nose look better then we can go," she tells Celeste who looks up at her face to assess the damage. "I'm sorry we couldn't help you," she says quietly, her eyes dropping back down.

Soarynn frowns, has Celeste been carrying around this guilt the entire time? And Ceraphina for that matter? Heaven knows what Caspian has been thinking about since they got back home.

Soarynn insistently shakes her head, quick to deter any of these terrible thoughts, "You all were a great help to me, darling. You kept me calm and you helped me when I fell. And most importantly, you listened to me. You all trusted me and I...I," Soarynn feels herself getting choked up but for different reasons this time, "I love you all very much. I can't imagine a world without you children in it."

Celeste's own face reflects the same feeling of endearment, her eyes look so much like his, and yet Soarynn knows exactly where her heart lies.

Coriolanus Snow might be a mystery to her but his children never are.

꧁ ꧂

Later that day, Soarynn finds herself at the Capitol Stables.

This is the last place she expected to be but according to Eudora, Coriolanus wants Soarynn to select the perfect horse for the children. She still hasn't seen Coriolanus since last night but she's perfectly fine with that.

"Did you ever go to the races?" Sejanus Plinth's question pulls her from her faraway thoughts about Coriolanus Snow and back into the present where they're strolling through the Stables, looking at all the horses in their stalls.

"I did," she answers, "my father loved watching the races and I loved the horses." Horse racing is a well-practiced sport in the Capitol, known for its wealthy spectators and expensive bets placed on the horses. During the off-season the Stables are open for people to visit the horses and even purchase one of their own should they choose to do so.

Soarynn has been the arena where the races take place but never the Stables, not until now that is. She didn't know what to expect and since Eudora would be watching the children, she had invited Sejanus to accompany her. She felt safer with someone beside her, and Sejanus had taken such great care of Petunia while they were gone.

Sejanus nods, "They're beautiful creatures," he agrees, "how was District Four by the way?" Soarynn pales a bit at his question, but she recovers smoothly, "It was cold," she answers, "but beautiful. The ocean is a force to be reckoned with."

They stop at one of the stalls where a spotted horse sticks its head out to greet them, "Oh, aren't you a pretty thing?" Soarynn asks, reaching out to scratch its head. They both chuckle when the horse leans out further, just like Petunia asking for pets. "Is there a specific color you're after?" Sejanus asks, resting a hand on its neck. Soarynn purses her lips, she wasn't given any specific instructions as to what to look for but she can imagine that Coriolanus would want something that screams 'The Snow Family.'

"Something white," she decides, giving the horse a pat farewell, "Coriolanus would like that."

Sejanus grins, "First name basis huh?" Her cheeks burn pink as she starts walking again, "You're not funny you know," she says, quickening her pace, "and he insisted that I be on a first-name basis with him." She slows her pace when she comes across a beautiful horse, all white, "Hello there," she greets, gripping the stall door. Sejanus comes up next to her, looking the horse up and down, "I'd say he matches your description, and as for Coriolanus, I'm simply surprised that he insisted. He's been so closed off since Livia."

Soarynn hums, watching the horse slowly walk up to them, its tail flicking behind it, "I know," she murmurs, "and I barely even speak to him as it is. We're both far too busy with our jobs." Lies, lies, lies.

Sejanus looks like he doesn't believe her but she chooses to ignore it. She's been choosing to ignore a lot of things lately.

꧁ ꧂

When Soarynn comes back from the Stables, all three of the Snow children rush to greet her. She must admit, it was nice to leave for a while, see the city again. Eudora had instructed her to apply a liberal amount of makeup to cover up any bruising or swelling and since Sejanus hadn't commented on any of it, she must've done a good job.

"You're back!" Ceraphina says, throwing her arms around Soarynn's legs. Soarynn almost tumbles back but Sejanus prevents that from happening, quickly steadying her, "Where are my hugs huh?" He teases, earning him more excited gasps. The children see Soarynn every day, Sejanus is a rare treat when it comes to visitors.

While Celeste and Ceraphina flock around Sejanus asking him all sorts of questions, Caspian slowly but surely toddles over to Soarynn, holding his hands out for balance. Soarynn grins at the sweet sight, "Come here sweet boy," she croons, bending down to pick him up. She sometimes finds it hard to believe that such a sweet child can exist in a world like this, that evil men had no issue holding up a gun to his head.

It makes her feel even worse about what happened last night.

A week ago she was fearing for her life and now she's having sexual relations with their father. What the hell is wrong with her?

He's probably stressed, she tells herself while watching the girls interact with Sejanus, he just needed to blow off some steam, this'll all blow over by the end of the week.

And it will. She'll work up the courage to talk to Coriolanus about all of this, get their relationship back on a professional track, and move forward.

Simple as that.

"Are you coming to the party Sejanus?" Ceraphina's question reminds Soarynn about the party that they'll be throwing at the end of the year. She's a bit surprised that Coriolanus is still going through with it but at the same time, she understands his need for normalcy and moving forward. If you dwindle in the past for too long, you're bound to be left behind.

And Soarynn refuses to be left behind.

"I am," Sejanus confirms with a nod of his head, "I can't wait to see you two tear it up on the dance floor again." The girls giggle at the memory of the last party they had but it only brings up more sour memories for Soarynn who only remembers how the night ended for her.

She presses a kiss to Caspian's blonde hair, if he hadn't spoken up for her, she might not be in this position right now.

She just doesn't know if that's a bad thing or a good thing.

꧁ ꧂

"Coriolanus, I wanted to discuss what our professional relationship has turned into. We're both adults and I would never want to jeopardize my job for the sake of physical intimacy."

Soarynn nods at her reflection in the mirror, "Just say that and you'll be fine," she mumbles, raking her fingers through her hair. The children are finally asleep and she's getting nervous. She could just go to bed, and pretend nothing happened last night but that would be childish, not to mention highly unprofessional.

As if kissing him while straddling him isn't considered unprofessional.

Still, one must make necessary strides toward things that are important to them. And keeping her job and not abandoning her children is very important to her.

Soarynn takes a few deep breaths before she feels prepared to face him. But it’ll feel like a long walk to his study. That’s fine, she can think about her stupid mentions and their consequences on the way down the hall.

Soarynn quietly opens her doors so she doesn’t somehow wake the children and can’t hide her look of surprise when she sees an Avox waiting outside of her bedroom. The Snows only hire Avoxes to do things such as cleaning and waiting on them so that no private information can be spread.

Soarynn has often shuddered at the thought of losing her tongue. How would she sing and laugh?

She swallows, taking a step back when the placid faced Avox moves towards her, holding out something in their hand. It takes her a moment to realize that it’s a letter. A letter that looks identical to the one she had waiting for her in her closet when she first moved in.

Soarynn takes the letter.

“Thank you,” she says quietly, only getting a silent nod in reply. Well, she can’t expect much.

She closes the doors behind her, the original mission long forgotten as she tears open the letter, breaking the seal with a rose embossed on it.

Her fingers shake as she unfolds the perfectly folded paper.

Soarynn, You won’t find me in my study tonight, some work-related issues have been brought to my attention and as you know, I intend to solve every problem sent my way. As for the growing problem between us, allow me to offer my deepest apologies for any pain I might have caused you. If I moved too fast or hurt you in any way please know that was never my intention. Despite the internal struggles within our complex relationship, I still find myself drawn to you like a moth to a flame. You’ll find me to be a terribly possessive man who doesn’t back down from a fight easily. Whenever you’re ready, I trust you’ll know where to find me. Until then, sleep well and look after my children for me. Yours truly, Coriolanus

Soarynn nearly crumples the letter in her hands. How is it possible for a man to make her feel so many things at once?

He knows what he’s doing, she’ll give him that. But why her? There’s a part of her that still worries this might just be a ploy to get into her pants. The other part, the optimistic part, thinks and hopes that this might be more. That Coriolanus might see her as an equal, as someone to cherish and spend time with.

She just wishes she could figure out which one she’d prefer.

But after reading that letter, it seems she has no choice but to play his little game. It’s fine, she tells herself, thinking about those men who were so easily sniped from the shore, those men whose lives were so easily discarded by Coriolanus.

There are much worse games to play.

| Part 8. |

| tumblr oneshot/drabble |

꧁| tag list: @lovelylove268 @strawberriicakes @kickmybark @iswearicanfixhim @wonderlandbound111 @melodyoflovee @thevoicesinmyprettylittlehead |꧂

50 notes · View notes

daryl-dixon-daydreams · 1 year ago

Text

Warnings: implied assault and sexual assault (no super detailed description, but this drabble references some traumatizing shit—please read with care), coercive control, frightening scenarios and imagery, Protective!Negan

You were already trembling before you stepped across the threshold and the sight of Negan and his bat did nothing to ease your panic.

"Dwight, um, said y—you wanted to see me?" you managed to squeak out.

Negan finished oiling Lucille and looked up at you. His expression was serious and you marked the lack of the usual cocky smirk with another electric jolt of panic. He eyed you carefully, standing and letting his hazel eyes linger over every bit of you. The bruise on the side of your face didn't go unnoticed, nor did the cut by your eyebrow. You gulped nervously. "Mopping? Is that the shit they've got you doing for points right now?" he asked, gesturing to the mop in your hand.

You only nodded and avoided his gaze. What the fuck was happening? Why were you here?

"For fuck's sake, you are worth way more than that. I really wish you'd take me up on my proposal," he said, almost vaguely, pacing toward you. He seemed to realize you were shaking and his brow furrowed. "Oh, fuck me. You probably think I'm about to do something horrible to you, don't you? Relax, doll. You aren't in trouble. Quite the opposite. Everybody always thinks being asked to come see the big bad wolf is a death sentence. Admittedly, nine times out of ten, they're right. But not you." Negan watched your expression muddy with confusion. "I heard something," he said, scratching at his beard thoughtfully, "from some of my men. And if it's true something needs to be fucking done about it."

You were still staring down at the floor and his finger curled under your chin and gently tilted it until you met his eyes again. "There we are," he said softly. "You've got beautiful eyes, doll. Don't hide those babies from anybody, especially not me." His finger left its place under your chin, but you held his gaze. "You want to tell me what happened two days ago out back?"

Your stomach dropped. "N—nothing. Nothing happened." Even as you answered, you could feel the way that man had grabbed you and pinned you against the fence with his body as you walked back from dropping a load of trash into the dumpster. You could feel his roaming hands and hear his careless laugh echoing in your head as you begged him to stop, as you tried to resist. The growls of walkers on the other side of the fence had slowly grown louder; danger behind you and danger in front. Just as their grasping fingers would almost have you, that man, the soldier, would rip you away and slam you back again further along the fence. You'd disconnected yourself from what had happened then—disassociated. If you hadn't, you would have thrown your body to the infected yourself.

"Really?" Negan's eyes searched yours. "Because you're shaking again," he said softly, his gaze darkening. "How did you get that bruise?" You didn't answer. "Listen to me—if what I heard happened, did happen, then somebody needs to fucking pay for it."

You opened your mouth to speak, but you couldn't get any of the words out for a long moment. Part of you wanted him to pay. Part of you wanted to watch Negan cave in his fucking head with his bat. Part of you had already imagined it. But the rest of you (despite your situation and despite this world) wasn't cruel, wasn't cold, and perhaps, stupidly even, didn't want the man to die that way for what he'd done. Pay? Yes. But die viciously in pure terror and guaranteed agony? No... maybe you were soft. Probably you were soft. "I don't know what you heard, I'm sorry. But—" you shook your head. "Nothing happened. I don't know what you're talking about."

But Negan wasn't buying it and he sighed heavily. "Please don't lie to me, doll. Because I'm pretty sure I already know exactly what the fuck happened. I just need confirmation from you before I deal out some violent justice." He lowered his voice to a near whisper. "What did he do to you? You don't even sound like you anymore."

Your wide eyes flooded suddenly with tears and you felt your body revolt against the lie you were trying to maintain. The best you could do was to not crumple to the floor and not sob aloud.

"Ah, shit," Negan swore. You were shocked when he pulled you in against him the next moment, pressing you into his chest, wrapping his arms around you. "It's alright. It'll be alright. I'll take care of it. He's a fucking dead man walking..." You felt his hand smoothing over your hair, tucking you nearly into the crook of his neck and marveled at how strange it was to be offered comfort and safety by this man, who so often haunted your dreams. "Fuck, I'm so sorry. He's a fucking dead man." His teeth clenched and the muscle in his jaw twitched. The only thing left was to devise the man's brutal end. "You're done working for a while," Negan said, his voice strangely soft again. "Come with me and I'll get you settled safe up here for a while... Don't worry about a damn thing."

Prompt: "What did he do to you? You don't sound like you anymore."

#negan smith #protective!negan #negan smith x reader #era: the sanctuary

191 notes · View notes

mini-jiminie · 3 months ago

Note

Just some thoughts:

Daeun - I'm on the fence. Look I know she seems crazy as hell, but crazy as hell doesn't deny the possibility of dating. To me there are three possible scenarios

She doesn't know jimin and was never involved with him in anyway and is just doing it for clout

they were friends, so she was actually in his apartment, but she's now trying to make it seem like it was more for clout

they dated but it ended bitterly and she's now releasing all this stuff while he's away from the public eye to be petty

I think its interesting that any of the stuff she posts that tries to tie to jimin is from 2019/2020. To me, there is a possible timeline that they dated, it ended badly and that would correlate with negative feelings jimin was having at the time plus the music he was making (like face-off, MUSE being about the idea of thinking you're in love and realizing its not real, etc.). She could very well just be a clout chaser, but I just also don't think its impossible that she's just a nasty ex who is being petty to rile up his fans now that he is away in the military. Kind of indifferent either way, because whatever it was or wasn't is very in the past, even from the stuff she tries to hint at.

Jungkook video - I've seen a couple theories on this

most common is that the girl in the video is a model friend of j*nnie's. I can't confirm this and some people say it was just started by chinese netizens

recently I saw an anon on a jikook blog say that the girl was actually an englsih translator working for bighit who jungkook had been friends with for a long time and she was helping before releasing Golden/doing schedules abroad and that she had supposedly come and left in a couple hours. Liek I said, I only recently saw this theory, so I can't confirm anything details to that.

I could actually see #1 because we actually see an uptick in tkk hanging out during that time. No offense to their bond, they just don't normally hang out much outside of work, so if they both happened to be involved with girls who were friends, it'd make sense why they randomly starting hanging out more. A tumblr jikooker actually found photos very similar between what tae posted in hawaii (where jungkook was present) and photos j*nnie had posted. If true, do we really think jungkook was just thirdwheeling his bandmate? Or was he maybe there because her friend, a girl he was chatting up, was also there?

Not sure about the translator, but definitely not impossible. Does that mean it wasn't romantic? Of course not, but it would beg the question about jungkook and female friends. Like if we think about mijoo (the tattoo artist), he also did the backhug thing. If we believe them, that there was nothing romantic there (which I will give them benefit of the doubt since it was denied by all sides and she supposedly even had a rather public relationship at the time anyway, so it would've been kind of insane for jungkook to be acting like that in public in front of a whole group of friends if it was meant romantically), then this is a thing he feels comfortable doing with female friends and they feel comfortable doing with him. Which for me, would naturally lead to the question of why? Most straight women aren't letting their straight male friends go around back-hugging them. I think you see where I'm going here.

But then that also rolls up into a whole other can of worms when analyzing jikook, which is how many people would even know if they were in a relationship or even just if they were non-straight individually? I think for jungkook, the number of people he would open up to (obviously within reason, he's a celebrity in a homophobic country) would be higher then jimin would, just based on personality. I mean if you saw jungkook's messy insta posts today, you know he's not really afraid of laying it out there, whereas jimin is very private and holds private details very close to his chest. Tying it all back, I don't really think it would be crazy for longtime translator friend who works in-house for BH (assuming that's who the girl was for the sake of the argument) and for a tattooist (which is still a very alternative, counterculter in korea and was probably the first time as an adult jungkook got to experience a more open nonconforming culture friend group) might be in the know IF he was non-straight/dating a man. I will say I don't think jungkook was lying when he he didn't have a gf, just because with his personality I think he's the type who would rather not speak on it or lie by omission than straight up be dishonest about something (not saying there is a right or wrong way for a celeb to handle keeping stuff private, just the vibe I get from jungkook). Either way, it doesn't really give a clear answer because that could mean he just had something casual going on with a girl that wasn't labeled or it could mean he had nothing going on romantically with a woman during that time at all.

Whew, hopefully I didn't lose you with all that speculation upon speculation. That's just the different considerations I've had about the whole thing, none of it really denies or confirms anything related to jikook tbh, just thoughts I've had about the recent possible dating(?) stuff surrounding the two of them. At the end of the day, daeun could be a clout chaser, the jungkook video could be fake or he's secretly hosting gal-pal sleepover parties with all the girlies, and him and jimin are secretly married. Who the hell know with them LOL

Anon, I don’t agree with some of these speculations but, I can see where you’re coming from with some of these.

Let’s hope you don’t piss my anon girlies off too much with this one. They can get quite catty when everyone doesn’t adhere to their borderline cult mentality :)

#jikook thoughts #jikook #anons stop moving like tkkrs thank you💋

11 notes · View notes

aangelinakii · 1 month ago

Text

APOCALYPSE GAMES.

— pop goes the zombie!

summary : fenced off from the dead that roam the earth, you and duke try to make some fun out of the dreary situation you're in.

note : FIRST DUKE POST !!!!!!

surviving the apocalypse alongside duke and the other surivors you'd met had actually been quite fun, taking everything into consideration.

after months, you and your friend tim had found a group of others, all around your age. although they seemed gritty — dick, duke, jason and stephanie — they were no harm to you. the six of you teamed up, blood-pacting and pinkie-promising to not turn against each other.

you'd found your way to smallville, a farm town, and an abandoned farm along with it. with the use of supplies already in the barn, and supplies found elsewhere, you fenced up your territory, keeping out the living dead and raiders alike.

today, a bland day, you and duke were patrolling from the watch tower — a hut built on top of the barn — when something seemed to catch his eye.

"hey," he hummed, and you glanced up from your binoculars, pointing them out the open window, staring into the trees.

"what's up?"

duke was standing at the window behind, his rifle in his grip. he peered over at you, watching as you lowered the dual telescopes. "i bet you..." he glanced around the watch tower before his gaze landed on a wrapped candy bar on the table. "this chocolate bar you can't kill these two zombies with a single bullet."

as he swiped the bar from the table top, you migrated post to stare out his window, bringing the pair of binoculars back up to your eyes.

sure enough, lingering slowly in the trees, just far enough away from your territory to be confirmed a threat, two undeads wobbled on their scrambly thin legs.

with a chuckled scoff, you placed the binoculars on the window sill, bringing your rifle up to your chest. "next time make a difficult bet."

as you pulled the rifle up higher, your eye met the scope, the pulling green zombie skin magnified. your finger was about to press the trigger when—

"no scope."

eyebrows creased, you pulled the rifle down, and you turned to glare back at your partner. "excuse me?"

but it was difficult to keep looking at him like that; not when he offered his sickly sweet smile in return. "you heard me. no scope."

he's only saying that because he knows you'll win the bar if you scope them. one bullet. two zombies. you know this.

unable to resist his charm – his duke thomas charm – you tugged at the scope atop your firearm and removed it, pocketing it for when you get your hands on that chocolate bar. with one last playful glare his way, you had returned to your original stance, rifle up.

admittedly, it was more difficult from this distance to see the living dead in the dark of the trees. maybe you wouldn't be getting that chocolate bar. maybe you'd be stuck in this watchtower for another two hours, having to watch duke unwrap it and savour the sweet chocolate with each bite, and then, once he's finished it, you'll only be left with the memory of what chocolate you missed out on.

on your exhale, you pulled the trigger, and immediately duke shot forward to grab your binoculars.

in his silence, you still didn't breathe in, lungs aching for him to reveal whether or not you'd hit two in one.

and he laughed.

"looks like i'm getting that chocolate bar."

without giving him time to pass the dual scopes, you put down your gun and grabbed them from him. eyes squinting, you were, unfortunately, able to make out the two zombies, probably moaning and groaning, trying to figure out where the gunshot had come from.

"you dick," you scoffed, pulling away from the scene to furrow your eyebrows at him. "you don't deserve it unless you can do it."

if you hadn't been so close to him, you would have missed the flicker of uncertainty over his features; he really wanted this chocolate bar.

his eyes lingered on you for a moment, corner of his lips twitching, before he reached forward and took your scope-less rifle from the window sill. as he positioned himself, you reached for the binoculars, preparing yourself to witness a failure worse than yours.

then you could get the chocolate bar.

bang!

your jaw dropped, and duke immediately questioned it. no way. not a chance!

"you're a cheater..." you muttered under your breath.

now that you think about it, you easily could have lied to him, told him he'd missed and taken the chocolate bar; but you were much too much in shock.

two zombies with one bullet.

own jaw dropped, duke tore the binoculars from your weak grip, pressing the lenses to his eyes. "no way!" he gasped, involuntarily jumping for joy. "no fuckin' way!"

without wasting another second, duke was unwrapping the crackly packaging of the bar, laughing to himself under his breath. way to rub it in?

your starving gaze lingered on the way duke's perfect teeth chomped down into the chocolate. maybe next time. with an inward sigh, you turned back to the window, pulling your binoculars back up to your face. if you looked hard enough, maybe you'd find two more zombies to one-hit?

duke's chewing ceased after a few moments, and you noted the silence. it wasn't broken until you felt a tap on your shoulder.

when you turned, you found duke holding out the rest of the bar. he'd only taken one bite.

"what?" you hummed, looking between him and the bar, appetising as ever. but... "hey, no. you got two in one, you won it fair and square."

you weren't actually that mad; you swore you remember catching a glimpse of a few candy bars under tim's bed that morning. if you were peckish enough, you could just swipe one and face tim's wrath — not anything you weren't used to, however.

but duke shook his head, prodding the barely-eaten bar towards you. "i was just playing. take it. we both know you would've got it anyway, if i hadn't made you take off your scope."

allowing a few beats to pass between you, your eyes flickered between duke's seemingly genuine smile and the chocolate bar he held out to you. one bite wouldn't hurt... and so you swiped it from him, sending a grin his way.

just between you and me, this story isn't about a guy wanting a chocolate bar.

#aangelinakii #dc #dc comics #dc imagines #dc reactions #dc headcanons #dc universe #duke thomas #duke thomas x reader #duke thomas imagines #duke thomas headcanons #signal dc

10 notes · View notes

austinslounge · 9 days ago

Note

I’m on the fence with regards if they seen together again! I will try to explain - A pap walk would make sense if they’re still together and that’s what their PR teams want us to think but that’s when damage control makes even more sense cause it’s still to early after Z/C split IMO and all a BU article would bring is Kaustin shippers making a whole lot of noise to try protect her and make out it was ALL Austins fault cause their princess can never do anything wrong 🙄

But then it would be stupid to carry on the circus act as the last time they were seen together (him looking unhappy again) was at HER friends concert and by what videos we’ve seen (I know we only got a few seconds) but they didn’t even look like a couple. Plus when she was actually IN NYC for her Vogue party he didn’t attend though it was a big night for her and then she went straight back to LA when it was supposedly his day off and we didn’t get the usual pap walk.

So nothing makes any sense with these two cause if they’re still a couple why not spend time together rather than go back to LA for a meal with friends. Why couldn’t he attend the vogue party even if it was just for a few hours - shippers can’t say it was because he was tired from filming as he went to that concert straight from set. Then to suddenly been seen as a ‘happy’ couple and doing pap walks again etc just looks weird. I just hope we don’t have to deal with another Cabo scenario 🤢 I can’t cope with that!

However I do believe if they have split then it probably won’t be confirmed til next year like it was with Vanessa even though they split in Nov. I can’t help but think that he’s just letting the dust settle after all BU rumours and he’s trying to do it quietly (again like he did with V) cause there’s not been much mention of them in the media or articles. Too much has happened this year to make me believe they’re a real couple nowadays and I do think it was a PRship from the beginning when maybe it was good for them to be seen around award season as it got people to notice him and maybe he was happy with the situation until the family started demanding more from him. Maybe their opinion is that they think he owes them by that I mean helping Kaia get the publicity and attention like she did for him. Controversial opinion I know!! IMO all she did was cause a media storm for him and not always in a good way but esp this year when he’s acting should be the talking point and not them.

I'll admit girl, your theories sound valid! While I don't think they would be holding off on a breakup announcement (if they did breakup) forever due to the Z/C breakup, I can definitely see the both of them not wanting to bring any attention to a breakup at this current time.

I just don't think that Zoe is even a factor in any of this, and I think it's silly that people are even speculating about her and Austin in the first place. For one thing, we haven't even seen Austin hanging out with her outside of filming on this shoot at all. Usually, when two costars have something romantic going on with each other, there WILL be signs.

Second, it doesn't even seem like Zoe's role was huge in this film, because I haven't seen her filming on the set for weeks since their initial scenes filmed outside. I'm sure she did some indoor scenes with Austin at some point, but we haven't even seen her coming out of any place near set in weeks.

Anyway, I totally agree with you regarding the Vogue party, but we have to also keep in mind that a lot of celebrities attend events without their significant other. It happens all the time. It doesn't mean the couple has broken up. I've followed quite a few couples over the years, and so I see patterns with celebrity couples.

Also, keep in mind that Austin and Kaia are never going to be a Tomdaya or even an Austin and Vanessa. They're just not that serious. Their relationship is totally different. So they may not do the normal things that normal couples do, because I don't believe that they are a normal couple.

So we have to look at a variety of things (imo) to see what the status of this relationship is. Presley still not following Austin back again is quite telling though, I will say that. 🤔

I agree with you about the PR thing. I started strongly suspecting that Austin and Kaia are PR last year, and that feeling has only intensified this year.

PS- I also cannot do another Cabo trip either 😩 With a towel over his head 😭

#asks

11 notes · View notes

houseforwhores · 7 months ago

Text

indecision pt 3 | billy loomis x reader

a/n: yeah yeah it's been awhile life sucks not much to say about that, i'm trying here 🫡

wc:885

part 1 part 2

your p.o.v.

you were sitting in the edge of your bed, it was only four in the morning. you had another seven hours before you were supposed to go meet billy. your stomach was twisting in knots as you tried to calm your nerves. sleep has long evaded you. you weren't sure how all of this would work out. but it was too late for regrets now in your mind.

you heard your window being shimmied, you'd rushed over, your eyes nearly buldging out of your sockets as you saw who was in the other side of the glass. you unlocked your window and pushed it open wide so he could get in, he must've changed his clothes somewhere along the way. his new clothes free of corn-syrup and blood. you yanked him inside, he fell on top of you again, much like a few days ago, you cushioned his fall.

you rolled him off top of yourself, before you stuck your head out the window looking both ways before quickly shutting it and drawing the blinds together. you didn't see anyone watching but you were a bit paranoid at the feeling of someone seeing him here.

"billy." you'd said softly almost as if you didn't believe he was here.

"hey doll, god, i've missed you." billy's hand caressed the side of your face pulling you back down to him.

"billy. what are you doing here? what if they've seen you?" your mind losing its filter as your mouth began running like a waterfall every scenario you could think up leaving your tongue before billy pulled you into a kiss, his tongue gliding against your bottom lip asking for entrance which you granted him, his tongue whirled against yours as his hands embraced your waist making all your worries melt at the moment. billy pulled away softly before looking you in your eyes.

"something felt off, i couldn't wait that much longer to see you," billy said wiping the stray tear from beneath your eye, you didn't even know you'd shed.

"billy they wanted me to set you up, they think they're gonna apprehend you in the morning, behind the theater."

"that's where we were supposed to go for our first date," billy paused a small smile gracing his face. "then i decided to take you to that little italian restaurant."

"giovanni's." you confirmed "why'd you come here? what if they're watching me?"

"i hopped a few fences i didn't use the side walk, i think i'm good here." billy said he started to sit up, he looked to still be a little sore, you lifted up his shirt to get a glimpse of the injuries you didn't get to see when he'd initially came to get you. you'd seen some jagged stitches and some yellowing bruises, but it looked like he'd survive, just a few flesh wounds.

"im alright baby, i think we sh-" billy was cutoff by a knock on your door.

"hun? who ya talking too in there?" your dad started to fiddle with the handle

"not dressed!" you shouted before bolting to the door, almost planting face first into the wood as you used your whole body to close the door, while you locked it.

"oh , sorry honey! are you alright? i thought i heard you talking in there to someone?"

"it was just some lame movie dad, now can i have some privacy?" you said more confidently

"ohm, alright. i'm here if you need me honey, i know you don't exactly like me right now- but i- i'm still your father. i still love you." your dad said, he hadn't left the door you could still feel his presence and see the shadow of his feet at the bottom of the door, blocking the hallway light, he must've been waiting for a response.

"yeah, love you too, see you in the morning." you'd rushed out. you saw his feet walk away from the door, you waited a bit more before you decided to relax.

"i think we should go now." billy said and before you knew it you heard gravel crushing the rocks outside as a car pulled in front of your house.

"wait, billy, someone's here." you heard the knock on your door, you listened as your father walked to open the door. you heard the series of locks being taken off the door before your father opened it, your ear was pressed to the door. the words were muffled but you heard them clearly enough

"agent grant? what are you doing here?" you heard your father question. your mouth dropped open as your throat went dry.

"billy!" you whisper shouted as you dashed across your room to grab the bag you packed, you tossed it to him so you could began dressing yourself into something warmer.

"y/n what's going on?" billy asked in a whisper throwing the straps of the bag over his shoulders.

"no time to talk." you said as you began sliding your window open but before you could scatter out your window there was a knock on your door

"y/n" it was your dad again, he'd paused for a moment giving you time to respond, though you hadn't thought of a response. "agent grant is here, he'd like to talk to you."

#billy loomis x reader #stu macher x reader #scream #billy loomis #scream x reader #scream1996 #ghostface x reader

41 notes · View notes

lumiolivier · 9 months ago

Text

So is the Life of a Pirate (3/?)

Series: One Piece

Chapter: 3/?

Word Count: 4738

Rating: T

Pairing(s): Sanji x OC (Reader)

A dalliance six years ago has a funny way of catching up to Sanji when the Straw Hats stop to restock the ship.

a/n: Thank you, friends! I'm so glad this is getting more than just likes. I put a lot of love into this. So here. Have a new, shiny chapter. Just for you. <3

[1] [2]

Sanji and Cordelia ran back to her house, just hoping that it still stood. All four walls were still intact. The roof was right where they left it. The front door still swung on the hinges. Everything was exactly where it was supposed to be. Cordelia let out a little sigh of relief. That’s why I leave Zoro and Nami in charge. If dinner’s still on the table and Ash doesn’t have any new bumps, bruises, scratches, or tattoos on his body, I’ll be happy.

“Cordelia!” Nora waved her down from her porch.

“Shit…” Cordelia mumbled to herself, “Sanji, go inside.”

“Cordelia…!”

“Just…” Cordelia hushed him, “Please. I don’t need to play twenty questions with my boss. Go inside.”

“Alright,” Sanji nodded, “But can I ask a little favor?”

“What?” Cordelia bit the inside of her cheek. Come on, Sanji. I know I’m about to get grilled here. What could you possibly want?

“When we get to the Baratie again…” Sanji kept his voice down, “I want us to tell Ash. I haven’t been able to make a single decision about my son’s life. Let me at least have that one.”

“Ok,” Cordelia nodded, “But not a word about the Baratie trip until I get in the house. Deal?”

“Deal,” Sanji snuck a quick kiss to her forehead, “Don’t take forever. We can only hold Luffy back for so long.”

“I’ll try not to,” Cordelia let Sanji in the house while she hung over the railing on her front porch, “Hi, Nora!”

“I didn’t know you’d be having company tonight,” Nora pointed out, “I could’ve sworn I counted five going into your house.”

“You counted right,” Cordelia confirmed, “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d really like to get back to them. I got food on the table and I’m starving.”

“Hold on, honey,” Nora started walking over and leaned against Cordelia’s fence, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I just watched the man of your dreams walk into your house.”

“Well,” Cordelia bit her lip, doing her best to hold back a smile, “If he is, in fact, the man of my dreams like you said, you wouldn’t want to hold me back from him, would you?”

“Of course not,” Nora peeked in the window where Sanji was already putting everything on the table, “But I think I’m just now realizing how much Ash looks like his father.”

“Good talking to you, Nora,” Cordelia started heading inside, “And tomorrow, I need to drop by the tavern about my sabbatical.”

“Taking the yearly trip again, are you?” Nora assumed.

“Mmhm,” Cordelia nodded, “But we’ll talk tomorrow. Ok?”

“Fine,” Nora let her go, “But I just need to know one more thing.”

“What?” Please don’t ask about Sanji. Please don’t ask about Sanji. Please don’t ask about Sanji. Please don’t ask about Sanji.

A little smile crept across Nora’s face, “Do I need to put padlocks on the fridge at the tavern?”

Cordelia let out a little giggle, “Did you see the jolly roger in the harbor?”

“Of course, I did,” Nora started heading back to her own house, “Send Luffy my best. And let him know the tavern is heavily reinforced.”

“I will,” Cordelia grabbed the door and walked inside, closing that same door behind her, “Sanji, I’m screwed.”

“What do you mean?” Sanji worried, “Cordelia, what’s wrong?”

“It’s not that there’s anything wrong,” she explained, “It’s just…I need to go see Nora tomorrow morning and I know she’s going to ask about you and I know she’s about to give me shit about how I’ve looked out at the sea from the cliffs for the last few years waiting for you to come back and it’s going to be the absolute worst.”

“Hold on,” Sanji settled her, “You’ve…been waiting for me to come back?”

“I…” Cordelia felt an instant heat rush in her cheeks, “I always just…kind of had a feeling you’d come back. Listen, that’s not the point. I’m going to the tavern to discuss my sabbatical, not my potential love life. This is going to be a disaster!”

“Then, why don’t I come with you?” Sanji suggested, “Clear everything up?”

“That’s digging us into an even deeper hole, Sanji,” Cordelia groaned, her face buried in the tabletop, “I’m so screwed.”

“Cordelia?” Zoro stuck his head in the back door. Only to find her face down at the table and Sanji back in the kitchen, “What the hell did you do to her?”

“Me?” Sanji squealed, “I didn’t do anything! Why is it you immediately think I did something?!”

“Because the last time she was crying in this kitchen, it was your fault, you dumbass!”

“Boys,” Cordelia stopped them before they could get started, “No. Please. Zoro, this isn’t Sanji’s fault. It’s Nora’s. Although, it’s kind of Sanji’s fault by proxy. But this isn’t something we’re blaming on him.”

“Alright,” Zoro took a seat at the table next to her, “Are you sure? Is everything good again?”

“Yeah,” Cordelia nodded, “Everything’s fine. We can all just sit through dinner and enjoy the night like we intended to.”

“Did I hear that right?” Luffy popped up seemingly out of nowhere, “Is dinner done?”

“Yes, Luffy,” Cordelia assured him, “Dinner’s done and on the table. If you could-”

“Cordelia,” Sanji pointed at the table where Luffy had already sat down with the rigidity of a pointer dog and the patience of one with a T-bone steak on its nose.

“Dear god,” Cordelia giggled, “Never change, Luffy. Never change.”

“Dinner’s ready!” Sanji called out the back door.

“Yay!” Ash came running in, “I’m starved!”

“You’re not starved,” Cordelia shook her head, “You’re just hungry, Ash. And how could you possibly be hungry? You’ve been snacking on everything while we’ve been cooking all day.”

“But I’m still hungry,” Ash whined.

“I know you are, baby,” Cordelia was already putting a plate together for him and slid it down the table, “Go on. Eat.”

“Yay!”

“What about me?” Luffy pouted, “Don’t I get any?”

“I’ve learned with you,” Cordelia scolded him, “You get food after everyone else does or there will be none left for anyone else.”

“I’m not that bad!”

“Yes, you are,” Cordelia stared blankly.

“Yes, you are.” With Sanji following suit.

“Yes, you are.” And Nami…

“Yes, you are.” And Zoro…

“Yes, you are.” And Usopp.

“Well,” Luffy threw an arm around Ash’s shoulders, “At least I got my new first mate to have my back, right, Ash?”

“Asher Grey, don’t you even think it,” Cordelia put her foot down, “You are not joining up with the Straw Hats.”

“Come on, Mama!” Ash whined, “Please?”

“Luffy,” Cordelia glared a hole through him, “What have you been telling my son?”

“That there was always an open spot on the crew for him,” Luffy shrugged, “I didn’t think that’d be a problem.”

“You didn’t think letting a four year old join a pirate crew, not to mention, the most notorious pirate crew in the East Blue, was a bad idea?” Sanji scolded him, “Luffy, I’ve known you for a long time and I’ve never heard something so insane come out of your mouth.”

“I guess you’re right…” Luffy backed off, “But I’m just saying.”

“Luffy,” Cordelia held her face in her hands, “Have you ever met anyone that you haven’t immediately signed up to be part of your crew?”

“There was my first ever crew member!” Luffy thought, “But he had to leave. He had his own dreams to chase after.”

“What happened to him, Luffy?” Ash wondered.

“He joined the Marines,” Luffy told him, “He ended up becoming my grandpa’s favorite! If only I could’ve been his favorite…”

“Ok…” Nami settled him, “Luffy, we love you. Truly. But this may not be the place to unpack those issues.”

“Do I get to eat yet, Cordelia?” Luffy asked, his eyes full of hope and wonder and strong desire to tear some meat apart.

“Hold on…” Cordelia did a quick assessment of the table. And by the looks of things, everyone had food except Luffy, “Alright, Luffy. It’s all yours.”

“Yay!” And Luffy sucked it all down like a vacuum. All of a sudden, a few appetites were lost. No one knew why, but deep down, there was a great understanding.

“Actually,” Cordelia smiled a bit, “Ash…I’ve been wanting to ask you something. And since we have everyone else here, I’m sure this would be a good thing to run by them, too.”

“What is it, Mama?” Ash shoved a piece of bread in his mouth.

“Well,” Cordelia looked over to Sanji for a little reassurance, “I was thinking that since your birthday’s coming up, it’s time we make our annual trip to the East Blue.”

“We’re going to the East Blue?” Ash gasped, “Does that mean we get to go out on the boat?”

“That was the thing,” Cordelia went on, “I was thinking…If they didn’t mind…and I’m sure they won’t…You wouldn’t want to make that trip to the East Blue on a real pirate ship, would you?”

“We do every year, though,” Ash pointed out, “Your ship is a pirate ship.”

“I was thinking a different one,” Cordelia’s smile only grew bigger, “With a real crew instead of just the two of us.”

“You have a crew, too, Cordelia?” Usopp perked up.

“Not for my ship,” Cordelia shook her head, “But you do.”

“You’re wanting to hitch a ride to the East Blue?” Zoro gave her an odd look. For a brief moment, his eyes flashed over to Sanji, who couldn’t wipe the smile off his face if he wanted to. Oh…I see. That’s what this is about. Someone’s looking to make up for lost time with his son.

“ON A REAL PIRATE SHIP?!” Ash freaked.

“Complete with a real pirate crew,” Cordelia nodded, “That is, if it’s alright with the captain.”

“Please, Luffy?” Ash tugged on Luffy’s arm, his energy absolutely boundless, “Please, please, please? Come with us to see Grandpa!”

“Grandpa?” Luffy asked, “Who’s Grandpa?”

“Grandpa runs a restaurant in the East Blue,” Ash told him.

“And we get to eat for free,” Cordelia sweetened the pot a little, “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

“It can get awfully dangerous out there on the open sea, Ash,” Luffy licked the last bit of food off his plate, “Are you sure you’re up for it?”

“Yeah!” Ash nodded furiously, “I’ll be the best cabin boy you’ll ever have!”

“I didn’t say you were joining the crew, Ash,” Cordelia stopped him, “But I wouldn’t say no if you were up for giving a girl and her baby a ride to the East Blue. That is, if you don’t have anything else going on. If you do, I totally understand and we can just take my ship instead.”

“No,” Luffy shook his head, “You two are more than welcome on our ship! It’s fine with me. Especially since there are promises of free food attached to it.”

“Hold on,” Nami thought back, “Don’t we know someone who owns a restaurant in the East Blue?”

“You’re awfully quiet, curly brows,” Zoro nudged Sanji under the table, “Cat got your tongue?”

“No,” Sanji glared at Zoro from across the table, “I was just thinking about this trip.”

“When are we leaving, Cordelia?” Luffy asked, “Since we are the ones taking you, I’ll let you call the shots.”

“In a couple days,” Cordelia kicked Zoro under the table. Not enough to cause any alarm, but enough to send a message, “I need to get my time off from the tavern and-”

“You’re still working at the tavern?” Zoro nursed his shin.

“Yep,” Cordelia nodded, “And I’m sure Nora would love to see you in there, Zoro.”

“And Zoro would love to see Nora, too,” Zoro excused himself from the table. Only to get down in Cordelia’s ear, “Is everything going to be ok here?”

“We talked, Zoro,” Cordelia reported, “We’ll be fine.”

“Ok,” Zoro gave her a nod and started heading out the door.

“Where are you going. Zoro?” Luffy cocked his head, “We just got the first course.”

“The first what?” Cordelia’s heart sank into her stomach.

“A little presumptuous of you,” Sanji pointed out, “Don’t you think, Luffy?”

“Was…” Luffy wondered, his eyes losing some of their luster, “Was that it?”

“She had the decency to make you a meal,” Sanji got defensive, “The least you could do is thank her and show a little gratitude.”

“I am grateful,” Luffy assured her, “It’s been a long time since we’ve had Cordelia’s cooking and I forgot how good it was.”

“I’m going to get a drink,” Zoro decided, “I’ll be at the tavern if you need me.”

“Wait, Zoro!” Nami got up from the table, “Don’t go alone! Someone’s going to…And he’s gone.”

“Zoro!” Cordelia called after him.

“What?” Zoro popped his head back through the door.

“Sanji, cover Ash’s ears please,” Cordelia ordered, “Because I’m going to need to say some words in order for this to fully sink in.”

“Got it,” Sanji’s hands immediately went over Ash’s ears, “Fire at will, Cordelia.”

“If you think you’re going to bring your drunk ass back here,” Cordelia growled, “You’re sorely fucking mistaken. If you’re going to get shitfaced at the tavern tonight, someone’s dragging you back to the ship. Do you understand?”

Zoro knew better than to argue with someone like Cordelia. Cordelia, who was not afraid to get in his face. Cordelia, who had overthrown a ship before and was not afraid to spit on the shoes of Marines. Cordelia…The little sister he never had, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Alright. Good talk.” Cordelia got up from the table and started taking plates. Along with Sanji’s hands off Ash’s ears, “Alright, sweetheart. You’re still innocent.”

“Yay!” Ash smiled, albeit a touch confused, “Wait, why am I still innocent? And why did I have hands over my ears?”

“Because you don’t need to hear when Mama gets a little angry,” Cordelia kissed the top of his head, “Anyone else while I’m up?”

“I think I’ll go to the tavern, too,” Luffy got up, “Just to keep Zoro in line.”

“That’s fine,” Cordelia allowed, “And by the way, Luffy, I have a message from Nora for you. She wants you to know she knows you’re here and she’s already got the walk-in fridge padlocked.”

“Aww…” Luffy gushed, “It’s nice to know she still remembers me.”

“You’re a hard one to forget.”

“If I don’t see you tonight, Cordelia,” Luffy waved behind him, “I’ll see you tomorrow! Usopp, you coming?”

“Yeah!” Usopp got up from the table, “See you later, Cordelia!”

“See you tomorrow!” Cordelia grabbed the last of the plates and dropped them in the kitchen sink, “Well…That leaves the four of us.”

“That it does,” Sanji nodded.

“Yep,” Nami sighed out, kicking her feet up on what was Luffy’s chair.

“So…” Cordelia smirked, “I did make chocolate éclairs, but the boys left before I could say anything.”

“Yes, please,” Nami perked up.

“You made chocolate éclairs?” Sanji gasped.

“Of course, I did,” Cordelia reached into her fridge, “I knew I’d be having company. I had to make something.”

“And I helped!” Ash chimed in.

“You did?” Sanji melted inside. The kid’s not even five and he can already make an éclair? Color me impressed.

“Yeah,” Cordelia chirped, “The kid piped in the filling. Getting the pastry right was my job.”

“Pastry’s too hard,” Ash gladly helped himself to one of the éclairs.

“You’ll figure it out,” Cordelia assured him.

“Pastry gets finicky,” Sanji agreed, “But your mother’s right. You’ll get the hang of it someday.”

“Really?” Ash’s eyes sparkled in a way that Cordelia had never seen before. And for Sanji to be the cause of it…She teared up a little.

“I think so.” I didn’t get pastry right until I was fifteen. You got plenty of time.

And those tears caught Nami’s attention, “Cordelia? You ok?”

“Yeah,” Cordelia quickly cleared her throat and threw those tears back, “Aces. Why?”

“Just curious.” Because the second Sanji gives the baby a little encouragement, you buckle at the knees.

“My god…” Sanji swooned, his teeth sunk into an éclair, “Cordelia, these are wonderful.”

“Have I ever fed you bad food?” Cordelia giggled, taking a little pride in her work, “But thank you.”

“So,” Nami wondered, “Are we just…going to ignore the elephant in the room or are we going to talk like grown ups?”

“You guys brought an elephant?!” Ash gasped, frantically looking around.

“Oh, Ash…” Nami awed, “Hard to see who you take after.”

“Nami,” Cordelia stopped her before anything could be said, “No. We’re not talking about it. You see it, too. I get it. But that’s not something we’re talking about quite yet. There is no elephant, Ash.”

“Aww…”

“Wait,” Sanji perked up, “Nami knows?”

“Asher, go to your room,” Cordelia ordered, “No, you’re not in trouble. Yes, everything’s fine. Go find your jammies, put them on, and I’ll be in to say good night in a minute.”

“Ok, Mama,” Ash got down from the table and made his way into his bedroom. The second the door closed, Cordelia’s body slumped over the table.

“So, back to what we were talking about before,” Sanji went on, “Nami knows?”

“Nami isn’t blind,” Nami scoffed, “Look at him, Sanji. I’m surprised it took you as long as it did to figure it out. You’re one of the vainest people I know. His hair moved slightly, I noticed the uptick in his left eyebrow, and only one other person I know has something like that.”

“That’s because he’s me from his nose down and Sanji from his eyes up,” Cordelia mumbled into the table, “Nami knew about Ash before you did because Nami met Ash before you did.”

“Who else knows, Cordelia?” Sanji quietly panicked.

“As far as I know,” Nami looked toward Cordelia, “I’m the only one. And you now, Sanji.”

“And Zoro,” Cordelia bit her lip, knowing the lashing that would follow.

“You told Zoro?!” Sanij freaked, “Zoro knows?!”

“Zoro can keep a secret, too,” Cordelia swore, “And if it weren’t for Zoro, I wouldn’t have gone looking for you with as level of a head as I had. Or with a little backstory…”

“Great,” Sanji scoffed, “I have to go back to the ship with that on my mind.”

“Because you don’t have bigger things to worry about?” Cordelia pointed out.

“Yeah,” Nami agreed, “I’d think what Zoro knows about would matter a little more than Zoro actually knowing about it in the first place.”

“Well, yeah,” Sanji brushed her off, “But that’s beside the point…Why did you go to Zoro?”

“Zoro asked,” Cordelia smiled a bit, “Come on, Sanji. You can’t tell me you don’t see it. Zoro treats me like a little sister. He always has.”

“Well, I’m glad, sweetheart,” Sanji applauded, “Because your big brother is likely going to kick my ass when I get back to the ship.”

“He’ll be too trashed to do anything and you know it,” Nami settled him, “I really don’t think you have anything to worry about, Sanji.”

“Just one thing,” Sanji didn’t mind going back to the Baratie. However, now that Ash was in the picture…

“Sanji…” Cordelia took his hand, “You can’t tell me you’re still worried about Zeff.”

“I’m a little worried about Zeff,” Sanji admitted, “You’ve never seen Zeff good and pissed, Cordelia. He’s a different monster. That’s when the pirate in him comes back out. And it’s truly frightening.”

“I don’t think he’ll do anything drastic,” Cordelia laced her fingers between Sanji’s, “And do you know why?”

“Because he can’t do anything when I’m already a dead man walking?”

“Because, you drama queen,” Cordelia rolled her eyes, “Just as much as how I’ve never seen him good and pissed, you’ve never seen him with Ash.”

“I saw him with me when I was a kid,” Sanji grumbled, “That wasn’t always sunshine and roses either.”

“Just trust me,” Cordelia promised, “Zeff won’t kill you because of Ash. Now, as much as I don’t want to kick you out…”

“Got it,” Nami nodded, getting up from the table, “Don’t overstay our welcome. You don’t mind if I take some of those éclairs back to the ship, do you?”

“Not at all,” Cordelia insisted, “Take as many as you’d like.”

“I should probably bring a few back for the boys,” Nami started stuffing her bag, “And maybe a few for me later…Something for breakfast…”

“It’s good to know Luffy’s still here,” Cordelia teased her.

“I’m a simple girl,” Nami finished off the plate, “Sometimes, those late night sugar cravings hit and nothing else will do. And good pastry always hits the spot.”

“It sure does,” Sanji agreed, “Really, Cordelia, those were amazing.”

“I try my best,” Cordelia got up from the table and brought the plate to the sink. Those can get done tomorrow. There is no way in hell I’m doing dishes tonight.

“Well,” Nami rocked back on her heels, “We should be going, Sanji.”

“Yeah,” Sanji snapped out of his headspace. Should we? Should we really? “You’re right.”

“We’ll see you tomorrow, Cordelia,” Nami waved behind her, “Come on, Sanji.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Sanji shook her off, “Just…Hold on.”

“Fine,” Nami waited outside leaned against the house. You’re not coming with me, are you, Sanji?

“Cordelia…” Sanji kept his voice down, “Do…you think I could…”

“Sanji,” Cordelia draped her arms over his shoulders, “Don’t.”

“Alright, I understand,” Sanji let it go. Despite the tear it left in his heart. He pressed a kiss to Cordelia’s forehead, “Good night, sweetheart. I’ll see you in the-”

“What the hell are you doing?” Cordelia refused to let him go, “Sanji, I don’t see you for almost six years and you think you can just leave? No, no, no, baby. You’re not going anywhere. You’re more than welcome in my bed.”

“Really?” Sanji asked, “You’d…be ok with that?”

“You have to be the one to tell Nami.”

“I can tell Nami,” Sanji was already at the door. However, Nami wasn’t, “She already left me.”

“She already knew,” Cordelia giggled, “Come on, Sanji. You can’t tell me Nami didn’t already figure out you were going to stay here instead of going back to the ship.”

“Valid point,” Sanji pulled Cordelia back into his arms, “Believe it or not, that’s not what I was going to ask you.”

“Oh,” Cordelia looked at him strangely, “Then, what were you going to ask me?”

Sanji did his best to hide the red in his cheeks, but there was no hiding it, “I was wondering if I could say good night to Ash before we left. But it seems I’m not leaving.”

“And?” Cordelia bit the inside of her cheek, “That doesn’t mean you can’t still say good night to him, Sanji. I’ve kept him from you for long enough. Go ahead. If you want to, go say good night.”

“Thank you,” Sanji started walking up toward Ash’s bedroom door. Only to freeze at the doorknob, “Why is this making me nervous?”

“Because you’re not used to it yet,” Cordelia took his hand, “I’ve had his whole life to practice riding this dragon. If you want, you can just hang back. Watch a little. See how it works. Have you never been around little kids, Sanji?”

“Can’t say I have,” Sanji thought back, “I was kind of hoping if I ever had kids of my own, it’d just click, but…”

“Don’t worry,” Cordelia assured him, “It will. Just…Give it a minute. Ok?”

Cordelia’s words brought Sanji little comfort. But a little was still better than none, “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Cordelia stood on her toes and kissed his cheek, “Watch.”

“Watching.”

“Ash?” Cordelia knocked on his bedroom door before slowly opening it, “Can I come in?”

“Yeah,” Ash allowed, jumping into his bed already.

“You got your jammies on?”

“Mmhm.”

“And…” Cordelia noticed the tag on the back of his shirt sticking out proudly from the front. Along with the seam, “Did you get them on right?”

“Mmhm.”

“You sure about that?” Cordelia tickled his nose with the tag, getting a couple giggles out of him, “You sure you didn’t find it in your drawer inside out and maybe, just maybe, put it on backwards?”

“Aww!” Ash whined, “I thought I got it right!”

“Noble effort, honey,” Cordelia peeled his shirt off and put it back on him the right way, “Hey, you got your pants on right. That’s a win in itself, isn’t it?”

“I guess so,” Ash perked up a little.

“Alright,” Cordelia went back to the list, “You got your jammies on.”

��Yep!”

“You got Omar?”

“I got Omar!”

“Who’s Omar?” Sanji wondered, growing more and more curious about the display in front of him.

“This is Omar,” Ash showed off a blue teddy bear in desperate need of restuffing and possibly in need of a new button eye.

“We don’t go to bed without Omar,” Cordelia told him, “That’s very important.”

“Super important,” Ash squeezed the life out of Omar, “Keep going, Mama.”

“Alright, alright,” Cordelia went on, “Do you have your blankets?”

“Mmhm,” Ash wiggled himself down into a thick quilt Cordelia had made while she was bedridden and seven months pregnant. A patchwork of any scrap fabric she could find around the house. A collection of old pillowcases, bedsheets, even a tablecloth or two. And it kept Ash warm every night.

“A good pillow?”

“The best pillow!”

“Alright, alright,” Cordelia gave him one last kiss, “Good night, Ash.

“Good night, Mama,” Ash hugged her tight.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Good night, Ash,” Sanji gave him a little wave, “It was wonderful meeting you today.”

“Good night, Sanji,” Ash let out a little yawn and a halfhearted wave.

Although, it was strangest thing. Sanji wanted so desperately to know what it felt like to be called Dad. He wanted to say it so badly. It’s me, Ash. It’s me. You don’t ever have to worry about your dad ever again. I’m right here. But he kept quiet. And he went straight to Cordelia’s bedroom just next door.

And Cordelia couldn’t help but worry, “Sanji…? You ok?”

“Yeah,” Sanji’s voice broke, “I’m…Oddly good.”

“Are you sure about that?” Cordelia asked, sitting next to him on the bed.

“Cordelia,” Sanji fell back, “I just put my son to bed for the first time. There was no vital check. There was no blood drawn. There was no screaming, no crying…It was amazing.”

“Of course, there wasn’t,” Cordelia looked on in absolute horror, “What the fuck happened to you?”

“More than I ever want to talk about,” Sanji brushed her off, “Trust me, Cordelia. That’s not somewhere we need to go right now. Right now, I just want a little quiet with a beautiful young lady that I have far too much time to make up with.”

“Hey, hey,” Cordelia stopped Sanji’s wandering hands, “Don’t get me wrong, Sanji. I’d love for us to have a little fun, but our almost five year old son is sleeping in the room next door. And if the last time we did anything was any indication, neither one of us can be quiet.”

“So…” Sanji winced, “Not tonight?”

“Not tonight,” Cordelia got up and dug around in her dresser.

“That’s fine,” Sanji let it go, watching as Cordelia changed into her pajamas, “Cordelia…”

“Hmm?”

“When did you get a tattoo?” Sanji wondered, appreciating the little koi fish on the left side of her lower back.

“Shortly after Ash turned one,” Cordelia smiled, “I don’t remember saying you could look.”

“Sorry,” Sanji squeezed his eyes shut, “It’s not like I’ve never seen you naked before, sweetheart. Obviously.”

“Sanji…”

“Alright, alright,” Sanji kept his mouth shut, “Not another word out of me.”

“No,” Cordelia crawled into her bed and got comfortable, “Please. Keep talking.”

“Cordelia…”

“Hmm…?” Cordelia laid her head in Sanji’s warm, bare chest, listening to the gentle rhythm of his heartbeat.

Sanji hardly spoke above a whisper, “I love you.”

“I love you,” Cordelia shut her eyes as Sanji’s arm draped around her back.

“And…” Sanji held her tight, “I’m so sorry for what I did. What I said. It was wrong of me.”

“It was just the shock talking,” Cordelia hushed him, “I understand. I’ll forgive you if you forgive me.”

Sanji gave her one last kiss before Cordelia had fully succumbed to sleep, “Deal…”

#one piece #one piece fan fiction #one piece x reader #sanji x reader #one piece x you #sanji x you #sanji x y/n #one piece brainrot #accidental pregnancy

23 notes · View notes