#drank a whole bottle of wine while writing this

[damnonew]

ya’ll as an ex religious person

NOTHING IN THIS WORLD slaps harder than the book of mormon soundtrack 

[sleepymarimo]

𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥! 𝕡𝕥. 𝟚

part two to this fic! summary: after catching you in your room, you and the swordsman decide to take things up a notch pairing: zoro x afab!reader cw: mdni, oral (m!receiving), reader cannot deep throat to save her life, missionary, mating press, both parties are inexperienced, soft!zoro an: welp, this is my longest work and it's literally just sex, so... thanks for sticking around 🫶 special shoutout to lana del rey, arctic monkeys and hozier 🫡 and the whole bottle of wine i drank while writing this wc: 4.1k

not letting your eyes leave his, you lower yourself until you're knelt before him, caged between his strong legs. running your hands up and down the length of his clothed thighs, you give him a smile, more than eager to return the favor. "show me."

show me how to make you feel good.

zoro's heart catches in his throat as he processes your bold request, driven by lust and an eagerness to please.

the feel of your hands along his clothed thighs have him releasing a long exhale, his head falling back before he catches himself. you’d trusted him with your body, your pleasure, so why would he deny you?

your head tilts, timidly and almost too innocently, as you gaze up at him. you can’t deny that you’re curious, that you've been curious, your thighs rubbing together in anticipation for his next move. the soft crashing of waves against the hull and the gentle sway of the ship barely register to your senses. even the dull pain of your knees on the wooden floor do little to distract you from the swordsman.

his hands get to work, tugging his trousers and boxers down just enough to release his cock from the suffocating layers of fabric. he can’t help but give it a few strokes and let out a throaty sigh, the events from earlier having him ridiculously hard.

he can almost see the way your pupils dilate, a silent plea for permission to which he responds by retracting his hand and relinquishing control to you. tugging upwards on the hem of his shirt, he removes the garment and tosses it to some random corner in the room. the muscles of his chest and abdomen flex as his palms find their way to the mattress, where he leans back and allows you space to tend to him.

one of your hands tentatively wraps around the base of his aching length, lightly stroking it. that action alone has his breath hitching, his hips gravitating upwards toward your touch. yet, it’s not nearly enough. he can sense your hesitance, your touches feather soft and unsure.

“you can go harder.” he says through clenched teeth, his fingers digging into the bedding.

you obey, tightening your grip and biting your lip as you take it all in. the flesh of his cock is so soft, almost like velvet. it’s a stark contrast to the scarred skin of his chest, a testament to his strength and fearlessness. it reminds you of why you admire him so much, your mouth watering as you continue to jerk him off. your own hips gyrate slightly and you let out a small, shaky breath.

“is this okay?” you ask, so desperate for his validation as you continue to please him. your grip is steady, squeezing slightly harder when you reach the head of his arousal. pre-cum dribbles from the tip, his jaw falling open as he silently accepts your pleasure.

his response is an exhale, a rumble in his chest. “that’s perfect.”

and it's true. the swordsman hasn't ever experienced anything quite like this. he can feel his face growing hotter, his groans becoming harder to contain.

his praise sends shockwaves of bliss to your core, the sight of his closed eyes and delighted expression only making you more bold.

your lips part and you lean closer, your tongue caressing the tip of his hard cock before the rest of your mouth engulfs him. with a hiss, he bucks his hips, unable to resist the warmth and wetness you offer. he definitely didn't expect that. a whine escapes you as you accommodate to the the feel and taste of him, your mouth feeling full.

there’s a salty taste to his skin, a layer of sweat from the training he’d done not too long ago. after a sharp inhale from your nose, you try your best to set a tempo with your hand and mouth. the wooden floor creaks beneath you as you adjust your position.

you can only take so much, his large cock easily sliding past your uvula in a way that had you gagging. tears prick at the edges of your eyes and you focus on anything other than the sensation of his length down your throat. to compensate, your hand works itself a little faster up and down his shaft, squeezing a bit harder.

meanwhile, zoro finds himself struggling to cope with a plethora of new feelings. his chest swirls with lust and affection as he looks down at you. the sight of your mouth struggling to take him in, the sound of your repressed gags and the way your body lurches when you take him in too deep- it has him wanting to ruin you in ways he'd never thought about before.

he doesn't want to fuck this up with his impulsive actions, so he forces himself to take what you so sweetly give him. every fiber of muscle in his body is tense with anticipation, poised and on edge.

your mouth heavily salivates, the sticky, slick fluid dribbling down past your lips and down his cock where your hand uses it as lubrication to pump him even faster.

he can sense your eagerness, your need to drive him to the edge of release. so, he indulges you.

“that’s it.” he praises with a gruff sigh, his hand coming to rest atop your head in a bid to encourage you. “keep goin’.”

when his hips buck and it’s too much, his cock ramming too far down your throat, you have to take a break and open your mouth with a choked whine. strings of saliva mixed with pre-cum tether your lips to the tip of his arousal as you take some breaths, your hand continuing to service him. some tears roll down your cheeks and your eyes flicker up to him, as if wanting to make sure you were doing well.

his reddened cheeks and the way his chest heaves has you feeling confident and assured.

it’s only then that you acknowledge the pulsing sensation between your thighs, a neediness that you can’t ignore for much longer. your free hand slides down to your clit, begging for any sort of friction.

the sound of your moan lightly echoes in the air, your lips quickly returning to their previous position until you’re applying a firm pressure around the head of his cock with your mouth. the noises you make have his head snapping down and he quickly notices how you're attempting to pleasure yourself.

he lets out a small grunt as he assesses the situation. did you need him? of course you did. and he's not adamant on leaving you unsatisfied.

the hand on your head pushes you back, a rough growl emanating from his chest when your lips leave his tip with a 'pop'. “c’mere…”

without much effort, he leans forward and places his hands on your waist, lifting you until you’re on the bed with your back on the soft sheets.

after a squeak of surprise, you find yourself looking up at him with slightly parted lips. he leaves the bed only to shed the rest of his clothes, the mattress dipping with his weight as he joins you once more. your thighs widen, preparing yourself for the inevitable as he settled between your legs.

completely bare, you can’t say that you’ve ever felt so vulnerable. your hands absentmindedly place themselves on your tummy in an attempt to lessen the feeling of being exposed. however, you place your trust in zoro completely. how can you not? you can’t remember a time when you doubted his loyalty or his intentions.

the swordsman’s chest rises and falls in a quick rhythm, knowing deep in his mind that this would forever shift the dynamic between the two of you.

he couldn’t care less, though. you’d proven yourself to him time and time again. there was no point in denying his attraction towards you. he’d suppressed it enough, he thinks, reminiscing about the times he’d force himself to look away when he saw you sunbathing or after a battle when your clothes were torn.

his strong hands, hands which have very well ended the lives of many, softly dig into the flesh of your thighs. letting go of any reservations he might’ve had, he takes a moment to appreciate the sight before him.

now that he was looking down at you, really  taking you in, he couldn’t help himself from groaning. the swordsman was really never good at keeping his thoughts in his head. there’s something in his gaze that you’ve never seen before, a curious hunger and possessive carnality that threaten to tear the seams of his rationality apart.

“you’re so fuckin’ pretty.” he murmurs, hands roaming across every inch of your exposed flesh. he kneads at your breasts, runs his thumbs over your perked nipples, squeezes the flesh of your tummy and rubs circles on your hips. in this moment, every inch of you is his to explore and savor.

he’s captivated by you, his heart threatening to beat out of his chest. his cock twitches and he leans forward enough to allow it the pleasure of lightly rubbing between your slick folds.

you’re not immune to him and your hands do the same, gliding over his biceps and up to his broad shoulders. one of your hands even trails to his chest, where you lightly trace the edges of his scar. something about it has you shivering slightly, a sharp reminder of the beast looming above you.

every touch and caress from him has your back arching, muscles twitching as they beg him to get on with it. even the head of cock against your entrance has you squirming and whining.

his grip settles on your hips and he takes a deep breath, searching for any hint of reluctance or unease in your expression. “y'ready?” he asks, needing your confirmation.

your nod comes so fast that you wonder how you don’t get whiplash. your clammy, shaky hands come up to rest on his biceps. “yeah.”

he doesn’t hesitate, his hips rolling forward until he’s slipping into your wet cunt. your body, unfamiliar with such an intrusion, tightens and welcomes him with a pulse.

so…fucking…warm. he thinks, his grip on your hips tightening.

he’s dizzy, every nerve in his body alight as he sinks into you. he barely registers the feel of one of your hands coming to rest on his abdomen, keeping him from plunging in any further.

wordlessly, he obeys your silent request, though it takes a great deal of self-restraint to stop himself from fucking into you right then and there. he assesses your expression, noting your furrowed brows and open mouth. he’s not even halfway in.

“i just needa sec.” you lightly sigh, whiny and sharp as you look at him with puppy dog eyes. “s’too much.”

he grunts in acknowledgment, his tone calculated and noticeably softer. “let me know when."

your hips gyrate and he bites his tongue, allowing you time to adjust to him. those few seconds feel like eons. the hand that you have on his abdomen starts to lightly trace the muscle beneath. it's almost a sort of thank you, a gesture showing that you appreciate his patience.

when you remove your hand, allowing it to rest on his bicep once more, he searches your face for approval. with your nod of affirmation, he pushes forward once more. there's a noticeable pressure, but no pain as he inserts himself into you inch by inch. he stops for a second when he feels some resistance, but with a grunt he thrusts forward a little more until something just gives.

heavy groans leave both of you when he finally bottoms out, his hips flush against yours. it's a moment that solidifies a new connection between you and the swordsman, a bond that goes beyond mere crew mates.

"shit." he hisses, inhaling sharply as he drags his cock out of your slick folds before slowly plunging back in.

he's stretching you out nice and good, your eyelids fluttering as he continued with slow and soft strokes. initially, there's some resistance as your cunt desperately tries its best to accommodate him. after the fourth thrust, his cock starts to slide in and out of you with ease, your walls sucking him in.

that's when you start to whine and writhe, the pleasure taking a strong hold on you. his mind goes hazy and he picks up the pace, the debauched sound of skin on skin echoing throughout your quarters. you have no words, and if you did, you wouldn't be able to get them out.

your fingers dig into the flesh of his biceps and your legs snake around his waist. a small cry leaves you as you throw your head back and let your mouth fall open. your breaths are heavy and hot, your muscles turning to mush.

zoro still can't get over how tight you are around him. how your cunt seems to want nothing more than to be stuffed with his cock. his skin feels like it's on fire and a light sheen of sweat forms on his body. his hips snap into yours with great fervor and he only pulls out about halfway before shoving himself back inside of you. using almost all of his weight he pins you down by the hips, pushing you into the plush mattress.

at your moans, he glances down at your face. he’s hypnotized by your reactions, his gaze shifting from your sweat coated cheeks to your moist lashes to-

oh, how could he forget?

he’d had his fingers deep in your cunt… you’d sucked him off… now he here was fucking you. all that without having kissed you?

one of his hands releases the grip it has on your hip and he leans forward to plant his arm by your head. you feel his movements, the dip of the mattress, and you open your eyes only to see him above you. the hands you have on his biceps come up to rest on his shoulders, sliding upwards until you caressed his face.

your lips are swollen and shining with drool, making them look all the more inviting.

without wasting another second, he leans down and kisses you. he buries his cock into your cunt, his hips coming to a halt as his senses honed in on the feel of your lips against his. it's not the most coordinated kiss, but it's imbued with a level of emotion which rivals the depths of the seas.

his chest feels a different find of warmth, one that makes his heart flip.

he's quick to lose himself in the feeling, as are you. your lips continue to mold against his, time coming to a still as you revel in the act of a simple kiss.

when his tongue sneaks past your lips, lightly caressing yours, his hips burst forward and it's then that he seems to remember that he's deep inside of you. oh, he likes that. the sudden movement makes you pull back and gasp when he inadvertently bumps against your cervix. in the moment that your lips part, he's quick to lean forward and slide his tongue back into your mouth.

his hips find their rhythm once more, a pleasure building deep within your core. your moans and cries are swallowed up by him, eagerly so. his tongue laps at yours and he finds himself needing to keep his mouth on you.

he pulls back only to get in a deep breath and groan, head momentarily tilting upwards before he lazily rolls it back down to look at you.

"fuckin' perfect." he mumbles, almost in a trance as he drinks you in under his steel gaze. he leans down once more, planting a quick peck on your lips before exploring further. “y’feel so fuckin’ good.”

his mouth doesn’t leave your skin, always finding somewhere new to claim. your jaw, your neck, your collarbone. in his mindless state, he even licks a stripe up the side of your face, reveling in the taste of your sweat and tear coated cheeks. he wonders how it would feel like to use his tongue on your cunt, but figures that he could save it for the next time. between his bouts of exploration, he makes sure to capture your lips in his every so often. he groans every time your lips meet and your tongues swirl against each other.

absentmindedly, his hands fall to your thighs, adjusting the position of your legs so he could press himself closer to you. he didn't expect to pull such a reaction out of you, but the effect was immediate. the moment your legs get slung over his shoulders, he can feel you start to tighten around him with every thrust.

your whole body seems to tense, your whines wavering. "right there zoro...right...there!" your tone is hushed, almost a whisper, as if speaking any louder would pull you out of the rabbit hole you were falling into.

"i got you." he's quick to reassure, keeping that perfect pace. his cock drags deliciously against the swollen and spongy walls of your cunt, pulling more and more whimpers from you.

his forehead presses to yours, your soft moans and his ragged breaths mingling together. everything else seems to fade away, leaving just the two of you as you indulged in this sinful experience together.

simultaneously, both of your heads tilt downward and watch as his hips hammer into yours. you’re taken aback by how his cock slides out of you, drenched in your arousal, before plunging back inside. your eyes glass over and he finds himself turned on by the way you so easily succumb to the pleasure he provides.

something begins to build in your navel, clawing its way up towards your chest.

"oh! zo'..." your face scrunches as it processes the swell of euphoria. it's new, not like the orgasms you've given yourself in the past. it's overwhelming, your chest feeling like it was going to burst. "m'gonna-!"

your blissful expression and pleading whimpers spark something familiar, something animalistic deep within his core. instinctively, his thrusts get a little harder and, even though he won’t openly admit it, a part him absolutely gets off to how helpless and pitiful you look underneath him.

his earlier softness is momentarily put aside.

“you gonna cum for me?” he asks, his voice nearly a growl.

for me. he darkly thinks, his confidence growing as you so sweetly submitted to him. because there’s no way in hell i’m gonna let anyone else do this to you.

you're teetering on the edge, pushed over completely as you register his all consuming and primal aura, something akin to what you would see of him during a battle. "y-yes!"

he can't help but smirk in satisfaction when he hears your sharp gasp, the air stolen from your lungs as you came around his cock. your body spasms and writhes, back arching off the mattress while you cried out his name. his pace doesn't falter and he continues to pry you open, even when your cunt clamps down on him like a vice and begs for mercy.

your head is spinning in delight and your breath hitches. he feels so good. god, he feels so good. you're absolutely soaked, your cunt squelching embarrassingly loud with every thrust.

having reached your limit, you allow your body to go pliant. you'd let him use your helpless form as he wished. your legs limply fall from his shoulders and loosely hang over his waist.

he doesn't complain.

his thrusts get more shallow, more rapid, with the head of his cock growing sensitive and dripping pre-cum. he was so close to cumming, wanting nothing more than to stuff you with his release.

and damn, he wants to.

but the swordsman knows that now isn't the right time, so with a guttural snarl he increases his pace until the muscles of his abdomen start to twitch.

when he can’t take any more, he pulls out and lifts himself up just enough to snake a hand between your bodies and grasp the base of his cock. his cheek is pressed to your temple as his mouth falls open, the most unchaste groans spilling past his lips while he starts to fist himself.

you whine as he starts to jerk himself off, wishing that it was your drenched cunt that was wrapped around him.

his eye flutters closed and he just focuses on you. your scent. the feel of your body against his. your whimpers. he imagines pumping you full of his cum, imagines how it would leak from you, and his hips start to buck into his hand.

fuck, it’s you. it’s you.

he rasps out your name before he shudders and comes to a stop, his muscles visibly relaxing. you let out a small gasp when you feel him cum on your tummy. it’s so thick and so warm that you shake.

zoro has to take a moment just to breathe, his head heavy and clouded by the pleasure he'd just experienced. the next thing he registers is tiredness tugging at nearly every muscle in his body, before some sense starts to creep its way back into that dense head of his.

he'd really just done that. with you. his cheeks burn.

“zoro?” your voice is small and breathless, laced with satisfaction.

whatever thoughts run though his mind come to a halt when he hears the vulnerability in your voice. his head immediately drops down to you, his gaze attentive as his protective instinct takes over.

“hm, what is it?” he grunts, the bed creaking slightly as he sits up a bit. “you okay?”

your nod is firm, but your expression is a little bashful. “m’okay, it’s just, uh…” your eyes flicker down to your cum coated tummy before they meet his gaze again.

a small bit of embarrassment creeps into his chest, though the sight of you painted with his cum does make his softening cock twitch. some of it is even dripping off of you and onto the sheets below, the wet trails looking almost pearlescent in the moonlight.

fuck, she looks good…he briefly thinks, before snapping out of his daze.

“damn, gimme a second.” he looks around the room, focus landing on a box of tissues on your nightstand. leaning over you, he reaches an arm out and attempts to grab it.

his hands are still slightly shaky from his orgasm, the unsteady movements of his fingers causing the box to fall to the floor with a dull thud.

“shit.” he murmurs, groaning in frustration as he got off the bed and retrieved the box.

your eyes wander to his broad shoulders and down his back, admiring every contour of his body. he seems to feel your mesmerized gaze and he can’t help but grow uneasy at how exposed it makes him feel, as if he hadn’t had you cumming on his cock less than five minutes ago.

pushing that thought away, he takes a tissue and runs it along your soft skin. it takes a few of them to properly clean up the mess he'd left on you. when you're clean, you sit up with a sigh. there's a residual ache in your core and at your hip joints.

tenderness isn't something zoro considers himself to be an expert in. he doesn't even know where to begin, his fingers fidgeting at his sides. "what can i do?" he asks, gruff but genuine.

it makes you feel warm and you give him a smile, pushing yourself off of the bed and into a standing position. your legs tremble and zoro takes a step toward you, but you hold a hand up. "it's okay, i got it." you assure, leaning your weight on your dresser while picking some fresh underwear and a tee.

he rolls his eye as he watches you stumble to the bathroom, your knees threatening to fall out from under you. a small smirk tugs at his lips, satisfied that he reduced you to such a state.

"stubborn woman." he mutters, grabbing his boxers off the floor and tugging them back on. instead of going back to the bed, he waits outside of the bathroom.

when you finally emerge, he doesn't think twice about scooping you up into his arms. a yelp of surprise comes from you and he ignores it. he groans in relief when he finally settles down on the mattress and flings the blankets over the two of you.

his strong arms pull you to his chest, your hearts beating in tandem against one another. the scent of sex and sweat are still thick in the air, the sounds of howling winds and splashing water reverberating throughout the walls of the ship. your legs entwine with his and you can't resist the urge to lean up and plant a kiss on his cheek. as you nuzzle your face into his chest once more, he traces circles along your back, silently acknowledging the significance of tonight.

nothing has to be said, sleep claiming the both of you. you know that in the morning, he'll be there.

and that's all you can ask for.

if you read the whole thing, you get a cookie as a ty. 🍪

[pauking5]

my heart calls your name

Pairing: Roronoa Zoro x reader

Genre: modern life mutual pining, friends to lovers, there's spice, smut, fluff, Zoro is a normal being with feelings and reader has personality

Word count: 20.1k+ (new recount)

Part 1

A/N: This is the sequel to New Year, New Me :) Firstly, I would suggest reading Part 1 before this one. Secondly, I started working on this as soon as I finished the first part and it has been a wip for 3 months. It was supposed to be a Valentine's gift but my writing went into a slump. But, I pushed through and wrote it. It went through so much editing, simply because I wanted to get Zoro as right as possible. He's everything to me so I wanted to give you an almost perfect piece of him.

Lastly, prepare for a long rollercoaster of everything. Literally everything.

Now playing: Did It Again - Shakira, we can't be friends - ariana grande, Sometimes - MUNA, Eres Mia - Romeo Santos, Only Love Can Hurt Like This - Paloma Faith, All Night - Beyonce, La La Lost You - NIKI, pretty boy - M2M

(because I couldn't pick just one song :') )

Early morning of January 1st

Heels and green-haired man on your arm, you walked around looking for a place to eat in.

The sand between your toes felt warm, welcoming to the first glimmering rays of sun. The sea just as excitedly splashing on the shore to wash away the old and bring new tides afloat.

Though early, the air buzzed with the atmosphere of the previous night as faint music was still playing from houses nearby.

You passed by multiple cafes and diners but they all closed early in the morning rushing to go on holiday. Every knock on the door was met with an apologetic smile, sending you out to venture further down the beach in hopes of finding at least a vendor that was still selling food.

Just when you thought all hope was lost, you spotted a restaurant that was still open. Today's menu was plastered out on a board outside with the schedule that said they're still serving for a bit. Just enough to grab a bite.

Picking out a table overlooking the shimmering azure sea, you went to pull out a chair when Zoro stopped you to do it for you. Shaking your head with a smile at his gentlemanly mannerisms, you sat down as he pushed it closer to the table before sitting down on the opposite side.

You scoured the menu, stomach twisting in hunger at all the food combinations. Salmon on a bed of baked wedges, mussels boiled in white wine, even your usual chicken tenders - this place had everything. It was hard to pick just one thing, but you had to make up your mind before your insides started digesting themselves.

Zoro didn't have it any easier than you. He perched the menu in one hand while the other sat on his chin as he contemplated what looked awfully like the drinks page. From the way he bit his lip in thinking and the way his sleeves were messily made up to his elbow, he himself looked appetizing enough for you.

"Something tells me you're not that hungry," he flashed you a knowing smirk under the pretense that he was looking at beverages.

"I am," you stated, sheepishly diverting your eyes back to your own menu.

"Then why are you browsing me instead of today's special?"

At that you closed your menu flat and sat back, folding your arms over your chest.

So, audacity is indeed a manly thing.

"You are scrumptious, I'll give you that," you admitted, narrowing your eyes at him.

"Only that?" he wiggled his eyebrows from behind his menu and you couldn't help but break into a giggle at his playful behaviour.

Is this the same man I drank a whole bottle of champagne with last night? I'm pretty sure he slept less than I did but he seems more energetic than anyone could ever be this early.

Interesting man.

"We'll see," you said, pulling your lips into a thin line to prevent a grin that would give away most of your thoughts about him that were, let's say, more than scrumptious could entail.

The waiter came over and took your order with a little flirting around you. Though sweet in his remarks, you had to admit he had nothing on the man sitting in front of you. But, you engaged in it simply because you wanted to gauge an innocent reaction out of him. And you did.

Seeing Zoro's hand tighten on the tissue box like it was one of his mortal enemies, you smiled internally. So, he's territorial too. Poor paper crunched under the strength of his fist, knuckles white from making sure no corner escaped its crumpling demise.

Once the waiter was gone with your orders, he let go and leaned back in his seat looking out at the sea.

Your eyes landed on him accidentally, being met with a different side of him. One so different from the man you were used to seeing so rough and isolated in his corner at the club. Because right now, he looked so at peace, like this was his natural habitat - close to the sea, spirit dancing in the glimmer of the sun with the golden sands in the background.

The soft morning breeze caressed through his green locks, moving them in calm waves mirroring the ones out on the shore. His golden earrings jingled around each other like they were singing their own tune cradled in the arms of the wind.

His shirt was now fully dry from your late night shenanigans in the sea, with a few more buttons let loose giving you a peek of his tanned chest. Palm curled around his chin, looking out into the all blue, there was not a thought harbored behind those deep brown eyes.

A heavenly dream walking planet Earth.

The small twinkle reflecting in the corner of his eye made you look out to the water too, curious as to what was so fascinating out there. Though this time, it was his turn to sneak a peek at you while you weren't looking.

His jacket was still snugly wrapped around you, long sleeves neatly rolled up to the cusp of your forearms. Your hair was thrown in a messy bun with a few loose curls falling over your collar bones. Though tired circles rimmed your eyes from staying up with him the night before, talking about everything and nothing at all, your lips were pulled into a soft smile. As if you had the most restful sleep. In his arms of all places.

And that made something bloom in his chest. Something so unknown yet so familiar, almost like the anticipation of what could be if he let his walls down. Only god knew that he was ready to let them all fall down if this was the beginning of something good. Something that he's been waiting for a long time.

But he had to give it time. Rushing into anything ruined everything. Deep down in his gut, in the place he trusted his instincts the most, he had a feeling this was worth waiting for.

It wasn't long until your food arrived. After a long debate, you settled on a creamy shrimp pasta because who doesn't like pasta? You could eat pasta at any time of the day and your stomach would thank you. Although, Zoro's fried chicken wings looked so much more inviting for some reason.

Maybe it was the way his eyes closed in delight at the taste on barely his first bite or how he gobbled on them with all the sauce streaming down his lips like they were the very essence of immortality. But those wings looked divine.

He saw you ogling his plate as you mindlessly poked a shrimp around and was about to ask if you wanted one when you just reached out and stole one. You dipped it quickly in the sauce before his plate and stuffed the whole thing in your mouth, sighing in the same delightful manner he did.

Those were some amazing chicken wings.

"I was just about to offer you one."

"Food tastes so much better when you steal it away," you said, licking your fingers off the leftover sauce.

They were just your regular chicken wings. Deep-fried and golden, meat coming off the bones so tender. But something about them being placed so neatly on his plate made them taste so much better than they would have if you ordered them yourself. Or maybe it was just the fact that he munched on them so hungrily.

Whatever it was, you were glad you grabbed one and left him starring back at you dumbfounded.

You turned back to your pasta and forked a shrimp. Before it could reach your mouth, a firm hand wrapped around your wrist and your fork was redirected to Zoro's lips instead. He bit the shrimp off of it, imitating the sound of delight you previously let out after stealing his chicken wing.

"Hey! That was the shrimp I kept for last."

"That's too bad," he said with his mouth full. "It looked too good to be left for last."

"Then I will have this one," you stole another chicken wing. "And this one and that one and-"

"Then these little shrimps are mine!" he took your whole plate of pasta away leaving you with the stolen wings hanging in the air.

That's how you ended up sitting next to each other sharing your dishes together. You kept poking at his as he did with yours, thing that became a custom for you in the coming month.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between, they were all consumed and enjoyed together in each other's presence.

Among a few other things.

Grocery runs whenever your fridge was empty, since he liked crashing at your place more often than you could count.

Movie nights spent debating all the romcoms you could find where he would give you a piece of his mind on how much of a douchebag the main lead was and yelling at the tv 'stop being an idiot and go get the girl' on the usual like he lived for it. The neighbors ended up at your door sometimes, asking you to have mercy on their ears and keep it down.

Whenever romantic scenes came on screen, your fingers would always find each other on top of your plush couch, tangling together just lightly, barely above a soft brush. But he would never admit that he was a romantic at heart. Not even when he smiled to himself when the main characters kissed. Not even when his hazy eyes, soft hands and raising heartbeat gave all that away. Not even when your own beat wildly, inviting him in.

You even went to the gym together a few times, though that endeavor ended as quickly as it started.

"Come on, push it. Bend your knee more. One more time!"

"I'm really trying to, but this is heavy as fuck!" you pushed the leg press feeling the weight thrash your ham strings apart.

"Your body will thank you tomorrow."

"Not if I die today," you gritted out.

"Tell you what. You do three more and you can flip me off all you want."

"I can do that without breaking my knees. What's in it for you?"

"You grant me a wish when I ask for it."

"What kind of wish?" you perked an eyebrow up in suspicion.

"You'll find out when the time comes."

Determined to get your rights of the bet fair and square, you pushed with all your might and completed one. With some struggle and curses, you managed one more push before you felt your knees give in, accepting defeat.

That was probably your last leg press forever since you deemed it the demon's machine.

Your legs dropped like dead weight on the floor, heaving breaths as if you ran a full marathon. Disappointment hit you that you lost and had to honour a bet, while the man beside you broke into the biggest grin you've ever seen on his face since you've met. It felt magnetic to see him like that, a small nudge pulling at your own lips. One that you tried to hide. What loser is happy when his opponent wins?

"You owe me now."

If he was a girl he just might have squealed. He was literally beaming with joy.

"Spare me the pride bullshit and give me water."

He handed you his own bottle as he crouched down next to you. Patting the sweat on the side of your face with a towel, he made sure to swipe dry even at your baby hairs that were sticking up on all sides.

When you told him you wanted to try working out with him, though you weren't big on physical exercise, he was over the moon. Studying you with gleaming eyes as you laid on the bench, drenched in sweat beyond the human normal, with your cheeks filled with water to the brim, you were a sight to behold.

He knew you wouldn't believe him if he told you, thinking it was just another one of his flirty lines, but you were glowing brighter than the bright sun outside. That golden glow that gave plants and flowers light and warmth to glow had absolutely nothing on you.

"I'm proud of you," he uttered out of nowhere catching you off guard.

You turned and just looked at him. He wore his gear but did not make a move from beside you the whole time you were at the gym. He trained you on his usual routine, toned down to your own pace, but it turned out to be way harder than he made it look in all the times you were there to just spot him.

He made working out look like an art. Effortless. But he refused to lift a finger for his own gain, set to just be your own spotter for the day.

He was there coaching you through it all the way. When you felt like you couldn't do more, he helped you put a little bit more into it with little encouragements like these. An I'm proud of you or Keep going or You've got this, muttered as he corrected your form or changed your weights.

"You're gonna have to carry me home," you breathed out, stretching your aching limbs. "You know that, right?"

"I know," he accepted his demise. "That will be my exercise."

"Are you saying I'm as heavy as the dumbbells you're lifting?"

"You said it not me."

"You little shit."

You were the biggest homebody that's ever homebodied but somehow he managed to do the impossible and get you out of the house.

As romantic as the outings seemed sometimes, he acted like it was just two good friends hanging out.

Nothing more, nothing less.

And that bugged you. Because this wasn't friendly behaviour.

Friends don't take you out on a walk at 2 in the morning when you can't find sleep, twirling you around to let loose in the dead of night, with a lone streetlight lighting your way.

Friends don't hold your hand as jazz music plays in some edgy café you wanted to try, playing with your fingers that always end up caged between longer, muscular ones as you talk over a steaming cup of coffee.

Friends don't look at you like that.

Like you could be more, mean more, feel more.

Maybe you were being selfish, but the more time you spent with him the harder it became to part ways. Even if you saw each other the next day, it just wasn't enough for you. You started wishing he would stay a little more. Hold your hand a little more. Look at you a little more.

Then, ass slow January turned into warm February, your feelings evolved and you craved to have him around in more than just one way. You wanted him in every way.

Slowly but surely, and a little against your will, you found yourself falling for the green-haired guy you kissed on new year's.

And boy, you fell hard.

Present Day

Valentine's Day.

Oh, how you dreaded this one too. Maybe even more than New Year's.

Maybe it was the over-exaggerated displays of affection from strangers on the street, plastering kisses on each other's swollen lips like they would die without getting into a heated make-out session every five minutes.

Or the way the florists had heart-shaped balloons tied to bouquets mixed in pinks, whites and reds in every single window.

Or the fact that most chocolate was on the best sale price you could get it just because it was a special occasion.

All of it was just a ploy to say love exists and that the world will stop at nothing to capitalize the living hell out of it.

But that was just part of the reason you carried an anti-romantic persona around today. This time you had a reason. There was a love interest on your horizon and you were annoyed that he was too lost drifting in his own world to notice how enamored you were becoming with him day by day.

It was crazy how fast you fell for him. For Zoro.

You promised yourself that fast love wouldn't be the norm anymore after what happened the last time. That you would take your time to keep it steady, consistent and cautious. That you would protect your heart well this time.

Until he crash landed into your life, ripping the safety net that you've threaded for so long at the seams so skillfully, little by little, until you were free-falling into his own. A safety-net that didn't want to let you go once it caught you in its hold.

You needed him. As simple as that. The flirting, the sweet-talking, the teasing. Every time you saw him it was all just Cupid's hidden stash of poison arrows aimed and shot deeply into your heart. To make you fall in deeper into an unfamiliar ocean where you couldn't see the top of the water, sinking in the endless stream without a way out.

You needed him. Before you would go and make a fool of yourself and ruin the great bond you already had for some feelings. Before he would sew his existence onto your soul, your conscience, your very being completely and it would become too much to bear. Too much to live without.

You needed him. To stop yearning. To stop wanting. To see how loving him could feel like.

The digital clock on your bedside table read 2:30 pm. You sat in bed most of the day, whizzing through tv channels faster and faster with every romance movie playing, every news channel talking about this wretched day and how lovers planned to spend it, every love song playing on the radio.

Romance was everywhere and you couldn't do anything to escape it. Just hearts and chocolate and red everywhere.

Sick of the world and the pure existence of love, you shut off the tv, throwing the remote to the other end of the bed and watched the seconds on the clock trickle away, wishing for this day to finally come to an end.

You flipped on your back, letting out a long sigh as the empty ceiling gave way to thoughts of him again. Sighing, you closed your eyes trying to think of something else. Anything else. The wide beachfront, the azure sea, the warm sand. But all roads led back to him. All those things were connected to him now.

You kind of expected him to make some plans with you. Even if it was something as small as going to get coffee and walk around. Or watch another romcom and dissect it. Though you knew he wasn't one to do things like that on the go. Not on a day like this.

It wasn't even a minute that he crossed your mind and your phone screen lit up with his name. Cursing telepathy thinking and the universe for loving to bask in your misery, you picked it up finding a surprisingly nervous Zoro on the other line.

"What's up-"

"You, me, tonight. Pick you up at 5?" he rambled quickly and out of breath.

"What?" you asked, trying to make sense of his words.

"I want to take you out tonight," he repeated, a bit more composed than the first time.

"That sounded a little better," you smiled, turning around in bed to flip on your belly.

"Can I take you out tonight?" he asked again, voice way softer and determined than the usual playfulness you grew accustomed to.

What happened to overly cocky Zoro?

"I don't know," you drew out, playing with the hem of the duvet to smoothen the material out, pointer finger spelling the outline of his name absentmindedly on top of it. "Can you?"

You heard him sigh exasperatedly on the other side as you took your sweet time replying. A little payback for waiting so long would hurt no one.

"Jesus, woman. I really want to take you out someplace nice tonight so get dressed as comfortable as you'd like and answer the door at 5. That sound better?"

"It sounded great. I'll be waiting."

"Okay." You could literally hear him smile through the phone. "See you at 5."

"See you at 5."

The call ended and you stared blankly at the ceiling again, hugging the phone to your chest. His words started seeping into your brain and the realization that he finally asked you out on what was possibly an official date made you reach for the pillow closest by to scream into.

"OH MY GOD I'M GOING ON A DATE," you yelled. "Okay, play it cool. Play it cool," you took deep breaths to calm down before something else threw you into panic. "What the fuck am I gonna wear?"

You ran to your closet, throwing it open. Racking through it in a haste since you didn't have the luxury of time, you threw whatever you could find that looked somewhat put together on the bed. Clothes came flying on and off your body as you did a whole catwalk show in front of the mirror only to end up disappointed with every single one of them. Huffing out in desperation at the mess around your room, you came to the conclusion that none of the outfits looked fit for the occasion.

You needed something to make his eyes pop out of his sockets. Something that would make him see what he's missing and to take that extra step to you. Something...

Tapping your cheek in thinking, you spun around to your closet with a gasp. You ran back to it and sorted out through more hangers, digging all the way into the back until you finally found it.

A dress you bought specifically in case you ever got a date that was worth putting in the effort for.

The heart stealer, you called it.

A flowy deep-red satin dress, falling just below your knees. It had a sweetheart neckline and straps to hold your jewels better than a bra ever could, the bodice hugging your middle perfectly too. Elegant, sexy and comfy, all in one. Plus, the ends of it twirled so nicely every time you spun around, imitating a petticoat effect, and the length even complimented your height.

She's the one, you smiled.

The time on your phone read 4:57 pm, three minutes before your agreed pick-up time. You've been struggling to put your earrings on for a while now and were growing slightly nervous, thing that wasn't really helping as your hands shook with a burst of impatience. Putting the earrings down before you accidentally pierced your ear, you let out a breath and looked in the mirror. Which made it all worse.

Your eyes jumped around to analyze the way your hair was down and curled unevenly, if you squinted, to how your eyeliner on the right looked slightly more winged than the one on the left. Even the dress straps sat on your shoulders a little too uncomfortably. Suddenly, your confidence faltered and you questioned everything about your outfit.

Is the dress too comfortable?

I'm underdressed, aren't I?

Where is he even taking me?

I look like a walking cherry. Why do I have so much red on me-

A soft knock echoed through your apartment. Your date was here. Taking a deep breath for reassurance and fixing yourself in the wall mirror one more time, you let it be and moved to open the door.

At the door, you were met with the man that plagued your every waking thought. He wore a loose shirt that looked vintage with a few buttons left open and casual dark navy blue tailored pants, falling loosely from his waist. They gave the impression he was taller than he actually was. The way he dressed without as much as batting an eye, you would raid his wardrobe any day.

He leaned forwards to place a courting kiss on your cheek, the closeness engulfing you in his musky vanilla scent you grew so fond of. You could scent him in a crowd of people like a wolf looking for his lost mate. His lips lingered enough to have blood rush to your cheek, feeling it singe as soon as he pulled away the slightest. It surprisingly made you feel calm, forgetting what you were even stressing about in the first place.

Shaking yourself out of the daze, you stepped aside and invited him inside. Something in his hands completely stole your eyes away from him before he even got the chance to offer it to you.

"ARE THOSE MILKA HEARTS?!" you shrieked as he meekly handed you the chocolates. Your heart raced at the gesture, cradling the box closer.

"I have never seen anyone be so loyal to just one brand of chocolate. It's literally all you eat."

"Because they are amazing and they're not too sweet or too expensive. They have so many flavors, even biscuits, ice cream, hot chocolate. Anything you could ever dream of that could be made out of chocolate, they have it. They're just right and perfect," you smiled as you spun around with the box held closely to your chest like it was your most prized possession, the ends of your dress slightly swirling around you.

"Oh, I know," he chuckled at your obsession with the chocolates. "You literally lick the hot chocolate mug clean after you drink it."

"Can't blame me for having a sweet tooth. Thank you for these." You placed them on the counter, deciding against opening the box just yet.

"Do I get something in return for delivering them to you?"

You saw his plan from a mile away - he was chasing a kiss, this time coming from your own initiative. Before you thought it through, your lips were on their way to connect with his cheek in a short but sweet peck.

"How does this do?"

Before you let go, he tensed and you felt it, grinning mischievously on the inside. If he thought you would shy away, especially tonight, he had another thing coming. Two can play this tango.

"Your sweetness is rubbing off on me."

He's saying that as if you didn't catch the slight twitch of his lips and the faintest tint of pink on the tip of his ears before he turned back to being his serious self.

"Is that such a bad thing now?" you countered.

"To be assessed," he piped up, leaning against the counter as he watched you pace around the apartment to finish getting ready.

"Tease."

"You love it."

"I actually hate it."

"You're such a bad liar."

"Maybe, maybe not" you giggled to yourself.

Truth be told, you enjoyed his teasing a lot even if it was overwhelming sometimes. On most days, it made you forget your worries and he managed to pull a smile so genuine out of you that you didn't even know you had.

"You, uh... look nice by the way," he rubbed the back of his neck, taking in your attire from top to bottom properly this time.

Nice wasn't even the word he wanted to use. Beautiful, gorgeous, sexy, those sounded more like what he had in mind. The more he looked at you in that red dress, the more he had the urge to close the distance between you, press you against the mirror you paced in front of and smudge that cherry tint off your lips with his own, all the while his hands tangled in your curls.

That... that felt like more than what nice could ever encompass.

"Thank you," you said, the surprise present in your voice cracking him out of his thoughts. "So, what's the itinerary for tonight?"

"It's a secret."

"Is it now?"

"I want you to have a nice time and not overthink it too much. So, you'll just have to wait and see."

"Okay, mister Kinder Surprise. I'll just follow your lead on this one."

Normally, he would come up with an idea and you would plan out the itinerary down to the smallest detail. You weren't sure what he had in mind for today, but at least your outfits matched in comfy and classy levels.

Going back to the mirror, you took another look at yourself and realized he was right. You did look nice. You were just overthinking it. Funny how he already knows what sets you off from enjoying yourself.

Grabbing the earrings again, you tried putting one hoop in only to have it slide to the other side. The closing was just too narrow for your small ears and it annoyed you greatly. You were ready to just leave without them when Zoro stepped in the mirror frame next to you. He held his palm out to you looking at the earrings and you obliged with a sigh.

Placing your hair behind your ear, he wiggled the golden hoop around your ear lobe as you watched through the mirror. The proximity sent your heart thundering. You willed it to stop and take to a regular rhythm before he took note and teased you even more.

Looking for something else to focus on, you found his reflection in the mirror, holding the earring with utmost care and attention. Your eyes flew to his and the tug at his lower lip, the concentration on his face making you blush. He was determined to get those earrings on your ears no matter what.

"My ears are just too small for girly shit," you said, looking down to avoid his intense gaze.

"They're not. You're just a really impatient being when it comes to doing things properly for yourself," he said, successfully clipping the earring in. "There. See?" he tilted his head to look at you with that twinkling glint in his eye. "Pretty."

I could kiss your lips right now. And your eyes and your nose and your lips again. I don't think I could stop.

"Dork," you pushed him away, conscious that you were running behind on time. "Come on, I can't go out with only one earring in."

"Give me a second, Speedy Gonzales."

He put the other one in for you as well and rolled them around so they were both facing the same way.

"Look at you," he checked you out from head to your unheeled toes. "You look like you came out of a shop window."

"Oh, yeah? Which shop window?"

"The supermarket."

"I can change into my pajamas sooooo fast and you can just go out by yourself," you patted his chest grinning wickedly. "How does that sound?"

"Okay, okay. I'm just messing with you," he handed you your bag and held out his arm to you as a peace offering. You rolled your eyes at him and put your heels on using the sturdiness of his arm for balance and fixed yourself up one more time. "Ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

He walked you out front to his car, opening the door for you as he held his arm to his chest like a butler while you did a little curtsy before you got in. A little running joke between you since you always ended up being the passenger princess. His passenger princess.

Everything about his car was so Zoro. He drove a dark green jeep, convertible when needed but currently patched up since the rainy weather of early spring was more frequent now. A raspberry Charmander air freshener dangled from the rearview mirror, where you put it on your last grocery run. He constantly argued with you over the fact that its too cute for his car.

"My car is a military tank. Not the Kids' Express," he would say.

"If anything, it's giving the Fun Express now."

But you knew he silently loved it. He had a habit of poking it with his finger each time he got in the car so it would spin around, spreading the fresh smell of berries around.

He got in the car placing the key in ignition and poked it. You smiled turning to look out the window. Kid.

As he drove, the scenery changed from the chaotic city jungle of cars evading rush hour to the more peaceful part of the coastline. The sun was just starting to set, bright orange and yellow painting the sky in lively hues. Some pop song played on the radio making the whole scene look even more tropical.

Zoro rolled the windows down, letting the air flow through and put the song a little louder. You caught up on this habit of his pretty early on - if he heard a song he liked he would make sure you knew it too. Even when you were sitting in heavy traffic and everybody looked at you weirdly. If he knew the song, he might even mumble a few lines with a grin. That made your little crush on him even stronger.

Hope that you will wait for me You'll see that you're the only one for me ~

The lyrics blared over the speakers, emotional yet comforting about falling in love. He leaned back in his seat and snuck a few glances at you. Your hair was blowing in the wind, falling on the back of your seat. Arm laid flat on top of the window frame tapping along to the beat, you looked at the view of the seaside with a smile on your lips. Your other hand sat on your knee, a little too lonely for his liking.

All I really want is to hold you tight Treat you right, be with you day and night Baby all I need is time ~

Adjusting a hand on the wheel, his other one stretched to get a hold of yours, intertwining them together to the beat of the song. Your heart skipped a beat at the sudden contact turning warm atop your thigh. Looking down at your entwined hands, you noticed how his thumb covered yours in guarding, a routine you grew familiar with every time they met in the same space. His eyes were trained on the road but the small smile tugging at the corners of his lips was solely directed at you.

You will be the death of me, Roronoa Zoro.

Parking the car turned difficult considering everyone was out and about tonight. You barely found a spot somewhere next to the beach. Once parked, Zoro got off and came to your side extending a hand to help you down, heels landing safely on the sidewalk.

You were getting a little impatient and you hoped your nerves wouldn't get the best out of you when the air was still so clear between you. But the questions itched on the back of your tongue until you couldn't hold them back anymore.

"So, what's the plan? How much longer are you gonna keep me in the dark?"

He turned to you with a mysterious grin, debating on whether he should tell you or not.

Someone seems to be enjoying themselves at the expense of my sanity.

"The plan for tonight is just fun."

Well that explains everything I needed to know.

"The amusement park up ahead kind of gave that part away," you pointed out to the Ferris wheel bathed in strobe lights, standing tall ahead in the middle of dozens of games and food stands.

Walking side by side, you followed the crowds of couples into the mayhem still suspicious of what the plan actually entailed. Your gaze wandered down to the ground where you found another thing that calmed you. Unknowingly, your steps matched each other's in a balanced rhythm as you followed his lead. Your lips pursed to hide another small smile.

"That's not the only thing I have planned out for tonight," he informed you, checking his watch. "First, let's go loosen up a little."

Your first stop on tonight's itinerary was the club where you first met. It's been a few months since you both laid eyes on the other, circling the dance floor for nights on end to make your mutual interest known.

Months since your little crush born out of seeking real love took off and made space for feelings. Feelings that nowadays chased you to the brink of madness. You could only hope a trip down memory lane would settle them and give you confirmation that your heart isn't tangled in yet another unrequited love story.

It was Latino beats night. The extended terrace was cleared for an outdoor dance floor, stretching all the way to the end of the beach touching the overlapping waves. Fairy lights hung above from tree to tree, warming up the atmosphere in a golden glow. The drinks at the bar had mini red umbrellas to match the theme.

A bartender came to serve you as soon as you sat down at the bar, pointing you to all the Valentine's recommendations. The cheesy names on the cocktails made a shiver run down your spine in repulse so you turned to the normal range instead since you already knew that one inside out.

"What would you like to order?"

Some sweet liquid courage would do me well tonight.

"A piña colada for me," you ordered.

"A mocktail of that for me," asked Zoro, almost as quickly as your own order rolled off your lips.

Mocktail? That sounds unlike Zoro.

Lifting a curious eyebrow at his request, your eyes narrowed on him for a quick mood scan. You barely saw it but it was definitely there. Tension. He was on edge, rapping his fingers on the wooden bar restlessly, foot tapping to the tempo of the current song playing. Impatient sounds more like it.

"Not drinking today?"

"I will. Just not yet," he smirked, as if he had more opportunities to drink lined up later. Well, frankly, you didn't know what followed later, so you asked for more glasses of alcohol.

The song changed to a slow, sensual bachata as the crowd took to the dance floor. Some pairs looked experienced, busting moves in perfect sync with the strings like this was their regular night out to serve some class. They must be fun at parties.

Others could barely get their feet coordinated, unable to decide who would be the one to lead. The changing rhythm, slow at first then rising faster, had them spinning out of control, gripping onto each other for dear life as they laughed it off and tried again together.

Your relationship with Zoro was kind of like that - uncoordinated in your dance to reach each other's heart with normal steps. Every time one got way too close to the other you took detours, going back to square one. But you kept trying. Together.

Zoro saw you looking at the couples with a longing he's seen before, during your first nights at the club. He wasn't an idiot. He knew that longing himself though he didn't know how to express it. But a tight-lipped curl of your lips at the ground had him pulling on your hand in an instant, eyes motioning to the dance floor. Confused at first, you slowly got a rough idea of what he was suggesting and shook your head.

"I'm not drunk enough to dance yet," you lied, trying to get him off your case. You were too sober to trust your heart that close around him just yet.

"Isn't that the beauty of it?"

The tension washing off of him just moments ago wore off into mischief and playfulness. There he was. Your Zoro.

"Are you sure that was a mocktail?" you quipped, suspicious at his sudden change in mood.

"Yes, it was a mocktail." The look he gave you, full of intensity and certainty was enough to tell you he was dead serious. "I just really want to dance with you."

"Okay, fine."

His hand grasped yours as you hopped off the bar stool, pulling you deeper into the moving crowd. Once he found a spot, he tugged you to him in a twirl. Your back landed against his chest, his deep, steady breaths falling right at the tip of your ear. Swaying from side to side, his palms wandered down to your own, lacing your fingers together, squeezing lightly. His touch turned your insides sticky with something akin to desire. His familiar scent overpowered your senses, musky vanilla turning tropic from that mocktail he had, lingering to the depths of your soul. His presence behind you, assertive, dominating and reassuring at the same time, lit up your whole body with fiery tingles.

He lifted your arms up, getting impossibly closer to you as the pads of his fingers reached up to yours, dancing down to your shoulders in a flow of their own where they fell with the rise of the chorus, briskly spinning you to face him. He placed your hands on his shoulders as you stepped back and forth, bouncing up and down to the music, eyes solely trained on you and no one else, nothing else.

In the synergy of the moment, he finally saw you.

It took him a while to understand but you were his rhythm. He couldn't lose you after he finally found it - the frequency of your heart beating to guide his own. If he lost track of you now, he would lose himself again. Among all the other hearts beating in hundreds of other tempos next to yours, he only wanted to move with yours.

You swayed right a little too hard, leg flying next to his hip. His arm shot out to catch it as the on on the small of your back pulled you close, breaths mingling in a flutter harmonious to the one in your stomach, multiplying it tenfold.

Upon releasing your leg, his hand trailed over the thin material of your dress, from your thigh all the way to your waist, where it got a better grip. One that wouldn't let you sway that hard again. Goosebumps burned on the path he carved into your skin and you found yourself closing your eyes on a shaky exhale.

You were shuddering in his hold and he barely did anything but hold you. When you opened them, he was still eye to eye with you, unmoving, patient, waiting for you.

He drowned out everyone else. The chatter, the music, the alcohol pumping through your veins. You couldn't take your eyes off him even if you tried and frankly, you didn't want to.

No words needed to be said as you let your bodies do the talking. The smaller the space grew between you, the simpler things seemed. It was clear as day your heart kept calling for him in a million ways and you denied it enough.

You wanted to have his eyes on you at all times. To have his lips all to yourself. To get the confirmation that he felt exactly what you felt. That he wanted all these things you wanted too.

He spun you out, reeling you back in against his chest. He looked down at you. You looked up at him.

They were close - those damned lips of his. Pink and soft laying on pink and even softer. Just a breath away. Until he broke your gaze.

Whatever bubble you were in popped and all too suddenly, the reality hit you again. They weren't yours to kiss. They were no ones. Forbidden.

The music filtered in your ears way too loud. People bumped into you from all sides. It was too much in too little of a moment to drown in your insecurities again, when his warm touch asked for your attention and his eyes met yours again.

"Wanna get out of here?" he rasped in your ear.

"You read my mind."

The sky announced the coming of night, faint purple clouds flying above the blue. You headed to your next destination, the amusement park. Looking at all the attractions, you had your first pick on the bumpy cars. They were childish, but they were fun enough to pull you out of your misery. At least for a while.

Hopping into the rink, you were barely strapped into your bumper when he rammed into your back at full speed, rattling your seat hard. He really is a child. But you were a bigger child. You didn't hold back either, chasing and cornering him, only to crash straight into the front of his bumpy car, cackling like a maniac.

At one point he disappeared into the crowd of cars as the lights grew dimmer. Keeping your guard up for a sneak attack, you rounded the sidelines cautiously, trying to avoid being caught in the middle of other people's warfare. Just when you stopped to turn and search the rink again, he marched up to hit you from the side only for you to dodge it like a pro. His car rammed into the edge of the rink, jaw dropped in shock as you bellowed with laughter at him.

His driving pride got shaken a little from your bumpy car skills, but you were smiling again. That's all that mattered to him.

Once your time was up, you were pulled to another ride, this time of Zoro's pick. Knowing him, it would be something too adventurous and risky to ride. You realized where he was taking you way too late - the highest roller coaster in the area. Instantly, you shook his hand off, backtracking behind him. That thing looked like what nightmares are made of.

"Hell nah, I am not getting on that."

Thinking you had a choice was a mistake since he pulled a wildcard on you. A wildcard you wished you never agreed to in the first place if you knew it would come back to bite you in the ass.

"Remember that bet we had at the gym that you lost?" Motherfucker. "I think it's time you make that wish come true."

And to think he gave you the impression it would be an innocent wish back then. All men do is lie.

"That's not fair," you argued, trying to think of a way to convince him to use his wish on something else. Something that didn't involve your stomach switching places with your other organs. Coming empty handed, you slumped your shoulders like a child being denied their favourite toy and got in the line with him.

Your leg bounced up anxiously with each pair admitted for a ride in front of you. The screams of the people on the rollercoaster screeched in your ears. You took a gulp of air to calm your nerves just as Zoro's lips brushed to your ear out of nowhere, almost giving you a heart attack.

"Nothing's going to happen to you. I'll be there to hold your hand."

Is he taking the piss? Hold my hand? How about you hold your balls secure before I kick them to the fucking sky-

Your thoughts were interrupted when something clicked fixed around you. The straps to the ride seat. You squirmed around uncomfortably to find a better position that felt safer, but being in that seat itself was not safe in any way. The straps were safe and secure but not safe enough.

"Zoro, I'm getting off."

To your disappointment, the megaphone called out that the next cart was going up and the ride started moving. Despite having multiple piña coladas at the club to calm your nerves, you still felt the panic grip you a little and grabbed a tight hold of the security holds keeping you in place, shutting your eyes and praying that this torture would end sooner.

"Hey, hey, hey." His voice called out to you softer than you've ever heard it before, willing you to focus on him. "Look at me."

"No, thank you," you chuckled uneasily. "If I open my eyes I will see my impending doom," you continued, feeling your heart thrumming in your chest as the ascent began quicker than you expected it to.

"Then give me your hand."

"I want to smack you over the head with it." Tremors took over your hands slightly, aware of how high you were going. "Why did I agree to this?"

"Because you like keeping to your word and it's something I admire about you."

He does? Oh, that's sweet- Wait I'm still mad at him.

"Please don't give me the compliment bullshit right now," you groaned through deep breaths.

"It's true though," he said, keeping his calm composure.

You cracked one eye open at him to see him looking only at you, anchored to your eyes like you were his view of the safe harbor in the tempest, the eye of the storm far away from reaching you.

Suddenly, everything was fine. All was good. It was just you and him on the same boat going in the same direction. Nothing could rock your boat.

Until you felt the ride stop and the urge to look around grew and despite all efforts, you gave into it. You were standing on the highest point, overlooking the whole park. You stopped breathing just looking around at the point ahead on the horizon where the sky met the sea, surprised to see the moon and the twinkling stars peak through the cover of clouds. The view would've been spectacular if it wasn't a few seconds till the train would drop.

"No no no, don't look-" he tried to warn you before you did the opposite.

"WE'RE GONNA FUCKING DIE!" you screeched.

"-down."

"If we don't die now, I will kill you myself when we're back on the ground for choosing to make such a stupid wish. I swear to GOD-" you were cut off as the train fell down into the drop.

Against your wishes, you grabbed onto his hand and held on for dear life, screaming as loud as your lungs could let you. You let out everything you've been holding inside for the past month in one strong yell. Zoro let out a few surprising yelps too, holding tighter onto your hand. The whole thing was over and done with before you knew it and you found yourself actually enjoying it. Not one hundred percent but a good amount of you did.

All that work to curl your hair only to get a blow out when you got back to the ground. It stuck up all sides, curls dismantled from the sheer force of the drop but still standing. Your hands patted it down with a pout, making Zoro take the matter into his own hands, brushing through your hair to fix it. His hands felt so soothing on your scalp, taming your earlier rage at being dragged to that death trap.

"You acted all cool only to yelp like a school girl during the drop," you giggled, his yelps still fresh in your mind.

"No, I didn't," he argued.

"I think the people that sat behind us would beg to disagree. At least own up to the fact that you were a teeny tiny bit scared."

"I don't fear anything."

"Oh yeah? Look behind you."

"What could possibly be so scary behind me- WHAT THE FUCK!" he yelled as he came face to face with a person dressed as a clown, carrying around balloons. He almost punched them on impulse.

"I don't fear anything my ass," you looked at him as he put down his fist and apologized. Once he was certain they left, he straightened his posture and cleared his throat.

"I was just startled," he said, trying to assure you that the statement he made was true. But you got used to seeing through his bullshit.

"Sure you were. Wanna try the haunted house over there then?" you pointed to the shack where a few people just ran out from, some full on sobbing. A scream came from inside, his eyes going wide and that was all you needed to know. Roronoa Zoro did have fears.

"Absolutely not."

"You sure? Nothing's gonna happen to you. I can hold your hand," you teased him like he teased you before the rollercoaster ride.

"Did you say you want popcorn? I'm gonna go get us some popcorn," he laughed, looking for an excuse.

"Okay. Meet you by the benches?"

"Sure."

Walking around, you stumbled upon a long queue of couples lined up to go on the Ferris wheel clogging most of the circulation around the park. If you were being honest, the rollercoaster was much more fun than waiting for hours to see an overpriced five minutes coast view could ever be. Besides, you could drive up the road and see that for free too.

You walked around some more when one of the stands stopped you in your tracks - throwing darts. It wasn't the darts game itself that piqued your interest, but the fluffy beige bear smiling brightly, hanging above the targets. His brown eyes matched those of your green-haired man, warm chocolate infused with honey, too sweet not to stop and stare.

For some reason you found it really lonely sitting by itself up there. All the smaller prizes were won and replaced on the daily, but by the looks of it he's been there for a while, waiting for someone. No one seemed sharp enough to play the game to the end and take him home.

You wanted to take him home with you.

If only you had the darts talent running in your veins. The price for just a set of three darts was way too much and it took seven perfect shots in the bullseye of the targets to win the bear. Perks of having an amusement park next to one of the most popular beaches on the coast meant complicated games that no normal human could aspire to win.

Sparing it one last look that made your heart ache, you turned and went to sit on a bench, waiting for your date that just so happened to see you stop by the darts booth. More precisely, he saw that pout on your face as you looked at the bear hung up high above the targets when it clicked. You wanted that bear.

Zoro knew you wouldn't ask him to get it for you. You didn't like asking for things and he knew that you might not even accept it if he offered it. But the way your shoulders slumped as you walked away told him how much you wanted it.

Darts wasn't his best sport, but he was good with his aim and had a patience that could kneel most at his feet. So, he marched to the booth, placing the popcorn tubs to the side and started tracing his targets to see just what he was dealing with.

"Feeling lucky tonight?" asked the manager of the booth, a sly smile on his face at finding another victim.

Little shit. If only he knew Zoro had the power to send his little business into bankruptcy right at his fingertips. A grin of his own graced his features making the man's smile quiver at the seams.

"Oh, I'm feeling more than lucky."

He rolled up his sleeves showing he meant business and placed a wad of cash on the dirty table, picking up his first set of darts. He was dead set on getting you that bear no matter how much money he had to blow on throwing tiny arrows around.

Anything to not see that pout on your face ever again.

Shuffling your heels over the dust and rocks on the ground, you drew random patterns to busy yourself. A lot of things were weighing on your mind. You were questioning why you went out in the first place. To give this a chance, your brain told you.

To feel something, said your heart. Well, with Zoro, you felt the whole damn universe in one sitting.

There was no telling how this night would end anyways. But you were slowly starting to think Zoro ditched you there since it's been a while he left to look for popcorn. You sighed again, feeling your world tilt, when a pair of shoes stopped in front of you. You knew those shoes.

"I thought you left to get popcorn not to shake hands with the mayor-," you lifted your head up only to stop mid-sentence. Staring at him like he grew a third eye, you took in the way he balanced two tubs of popcorn under his arm and a big plushie in the other.

The fluffy bear.

"I did. They were out so I went to find another stand. And this is for you," he offered you the bear with a smile that made his dimple pop out.

That small indentation in his cheek that showed up when he puffed them on the inside, usually at times when he did something he was proud of. A pit you could hide in whenever you wanted to without him knowing.

"Buddy looked a little lonely up there," he added, tilting his head back to the booth behind him.

Looking into those plastic brown eyes, you took the bear and hugged it close to you. It was even fluffier than you thought a plushie could be. You snuggled into it noticing that it lightly caught his scent, besides the sugary theme park smell.

You teared up a little. Not out of sadness or anything, but because you were touched by the gesture. Because he noticed, which was a rare thing to come by nowadays. Zoro cared and he showed you time and time again, never once falling short to notice. To make you feel seen.

Sensing a change, he placed the popcorn down on the bench you were sitting on just moments ago, grabbing a gentle hold of your arms.

"Hey," he spoke softly, trying to reassure whatever storm pried onto you out of nowhere. His palms stroked your forearms up and down, earlier glee in his voice morphing into worry. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," you shook your head looking away. It was stupid to have a crying session right now of all times.

"You look like you're about to cry. Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no! Gods, no. You didn't. You're amazing," you smiled. In an instant, your arms reached out to wrap around his waist hugging him as tight as you hugged the fluffy bear.

"Thank you, Zoro," you nuzzled your head into his chest in deep appreciation for more than the bear, hands holding tight onto the back of his shirt.

Your sudden display of affection made his ears grow pink. He silently hoped you couldn't hear the way his heart was beating from how your head was pressed to it. He wasn't sure how to respond at first but hesitantly, his arms wrapped around you too, squeezing you closer for a moment. His chin sat on top of your head as he let out a deep sigh at the comfort it brought him. If only he could hold you like this all the time.

There weren't enough words in the world to express your gratitude to him. For how well he treated you. For everything he did to make you feel happy. You just wanted to do the same for him. At least even for a little bit if this wasn't going to last.

"You're welcome," he smiled softly at you as you pulled apart from the hug. "Now, what are we naming this little guy?"

"Well, he definitely isn't little," you barked a laugh holding the bear up next to your hip. Now that you were seeing him closer, he was half your size. "I'll name him Lovey and I will be his Dovey."

"Does that mean I have competition?" his arms crossed on his chest, playing jealous. "He does seem like a worthy opponent."

"I didn't realise you were a runner-up, tough guy," you patted his chest to calm his coyness down a notch.

"Did I not make it clear enough?"

I think you and me have very different definitions of clear.

"I don't know," you teased. "Did you?"

"Guess I have to go for Plan B," he said, checking his watch again.

He checked that watch of his hundreds of times tonight. Was he in a rush? Is his prince charming cover going to dissipate like Cinderella at midnight or something?

"What's Plan B?" you asked confused, hoping he would let some information slip.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he smirked tauntingly.

This man is an ore of surprises.

You've been waiting for Zoro in front of the park for a little over half an hour. He left to look for his car a while ago and there was no sign of him yet.

Huh, funny how I keep waiting for him. Both physically and emotionally. When does it end?

The sky turned darker and grey clouds rolled over. You felt uneasiness creep up on you, especially since he mentioned a Plan B. If the club and the amusement park were Plan A, what did Plan B look like in his book?

Five more minutes passed and Zoro returned, surprisingly by walking instead of driving, car keys swinging around in his hand.

"Zoro, where's the car?"

"So, uh, bad news. I lost the car," he smiled apologetically, pressing his hands together.

"What do you mean you lost the car? It's a huge jeep. How hard can it be to find a huge... jeep," you motioned around only to stop as you realized most of the cars around looked exactly like his. "Oh."

"Yeah, charm of living on the coast. But good news is that we are in walking distance from my place which was final destination. Though that surprise is kinda ruined now."

"I don't know what exactly you have planned at your place though," you stated, fishing for details.

"You have a point. Well, I can just come and look for it tomorrow."

He says that as if it's a daily occurrence for him to lose a jeep to the hands of sense. Though that made you think. Just how many times did he lose his car around here? But you'd rather not ask. So you asked something else.

"Won't you get a ticket?"

"Most parking around here is free."

"That's fine then," you shrugged, getting up with Lovey under your arm. "What about Plan B?"

Come on, dude. Give me a clue. Just one hint.

"It's on the way," was all he said as he extended his arm to you.

Okay, then no clue.

"Shall we?"

"We shall."

Of all the places you expected to make a pit stop at, Home Depot was the last thing on your list. Zoro had to pick up a bulb for his kitchen light that has been in his shopping notes for the past two months. Two. months. This is exactly why you make the lists on your grocery runs. He always forgets something.

In one hand you held your new fluffy companion close, while Zoro held onto your free one while you padded through the departments to reach the light section. Like any self-respecting humans, you stopped by the furniture section to look at a few sofas and test their softness together. They were so comfortable to sit on but you already had one in your apartment and from what Zoro let on he had one too many. Now, you wanted to reach final destination sooner.

A bit more waddling around floorings and hardware and you finally reached it - the beauty that was the light section. Bulbs of all kinds for all purposes, orientally decorated lamps and simple to more lavish strings of lights hung around each rack, one calling out more than the other.

The section extended into an extra part that seemed to have been arranged more recently. It called to you so you left Zoro looking for his bulb as you went to explore it more.

Following the multicolor trail bouncing off the racks, you came to a makeshift panel widening into the middle of the department. It was built to look like an arch of some sort. Like the kind you would see in extravagant wedding settings.

Fairy lights and crystal chandeliers of all shapes dripped down to paint the grey floors in a myriad of colours. You ventured under it, looking at all the ambient and decorative designs on display. A few lamps were so beautiful you seriously considered redecorating. Although, the warm golden light of a chandelier in the middle of the ensemble drew you in, its intricate framework sending rays of light reflecting from all lamps everywhere.

Zoro found the bulb he needed and turned around to find you gone from his side. He had to put a tracker on you at this point.

Following his instinct, he took just a few steps down the lights wing and found you right away. His breath hitched. There you were, revelling in the warmth of the light of a crystal chandelier. Its main frame made out of goldenrod supported dozens of glass flowers cascading from each side to create a bigger rozette above. The other lights reflected into the glass, shining a warm gold tone all over you, romanticising your features.

You looked like you stepped out of heaven. A fallen angel. His fallen angel.

You were curiously tracing the details of a crystal flower when he stepped closer to you, musky vanilla invading your senses. Turning to him you ended up nose to nose once again tonight, foreheads almost touching in that confined space. He was so close yet so far again. What was he waiting for?

Kiss me, you wanted to scream.

Kiss my lips dry.

Kiss me like I'm yours Zoro.

You were ready to beg. To have him close the distance faster and end this yearning.

He leaned in, breath ghosting your lips almost painfully.

In your daze, too focused on him finally showing a response, you backed up into a lamp that nearly knocked out everything else behind you. You turned around just in time to catch it, steadying it back to its place, saving dozens of installations from being crushed to bits and pieces. When you turned back around, his eyes closed in denial, letting out an exasperated breath.

And he pulled away. Just like that. He initiated the moment and he ended it too.

Now what the fuck.

"Did you get the bulb?" you exhaled, still in shock that the moment was gone as quick as it came.

"I have," he inhaled, straightening his posture, cocky smirk flying back to his lips.

Like he didn't just have me begging for a fucking kiss in the Home Depot lights section.

"Do you need anything else?"

"Nope," he got a hold of your hand pulling it between you, thumb softly guarding yours. "I have everything I need right here."

You're such an anomaly, Roronoa Zoro.

All you could think about was his place. Which was unexplored land to you. Your visit there wasn't too early of a feat in your relationship considering how much he loved your place. You just pondered on what was waiting for you there.

An open invitation to become more? A private tour of his home? A one night only limited edition Zoro? The possibilities with this man were endless.

A small stinging sensation brought your attention to your leg. Your ankles. Not having worn heels in a while, you didn't think it would be this bad if you left them uncovered and just slid into the heels for the night. Until it was that bad and trying to walk in a way that didn't give your discomfort away was hard. Every step down the concrete sidewalk had your the shoe brush like a bristle comb against your ankle.

You stopped to lean your weight on a fence, lifting your leg to be met with the new blood crescents forming on the ridges of your heels. Ouch. Rubbing your ankles to soothe the ache proved to be only temporary relief. You tried putting it back in the shoe only to scrunch your nose at the new wave of pain.

You've been walking for quite a while already. Who knew how much longer you had until you reached his place?

Before you could even register what was happening, Zoro dropped to his knees in front of you with a grunt. You blinked, bewildered at his behaviour. His wide back stretched, laid out for you. You didn't notice until now that his shirt was slightly see-through, the glory of his lean, strong shoulders fully in your view. No view of the coastline could compare to the one you had in front of you. Kneeling at your feet of all things.

You just stared for a while still confused but digging it, until his voice echoed like a wake up call in your ears.

"Get on."

"I can walk."

He turned his head around, pining you with an are you serious right now look. He was trying to be a gentleman but your hugely independent persona wasn't having any of that. Well, that and you were still mad about the home depot thing.

The kiss that never happened. The pulling away after railing you up all night, with a desperate sigh on his part, as if he felt the same. If he felt the same he would've said or done something to cement it. To make you stop feeling like a damn fool.

"I know you can," he added, voice turning so mellifluous to sweeten the mood that your knees almost turned to jelly. "I just don't want those red demons to scar you more than they already have."

He was sweet-talking you again.

He turned back around and made grabby hands over his shoulder for you to hurry up. You bit your lip annoyed that he was right. The heels would only scar your ankles more.

"Fine," you sighed and got on, closing an arm around his neck as the other wrapped the bear's arms around your own.

Certain that you got comfortable, Zoro got a hold of the back of your thighs to lift you up. The spot he touched behind your thigh tickled and you tried your hardest to keep stable and not move around too much. You did kick forwards in instinct once, earning a disgruntled huff from your humble transport.

"Is there a place you aren't ticklish in?"

"I'm sorry, I just can't help it."

You took a strand of your hair and tickled his cheek on purpose as he tried to blow it away.

"I will drop both of you if you don't stop that," he warned.

You leaned closer to the side of his head, the rim of your lips brushing just the tip of his ear, voice playing sweet whispering in the same way he did to you all night.

"Stop what?"

He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, jaw clenched, tensing under your hold before slowly reconfiguring his pace. You hit a chord. You grinned in victory that it affected him when your smile fell as you caught sight of the corner of his lip twisting upwards. He welcomed your teasing only to reply with a remark of his own.

"Are you testing me, angel?"

Angel. That was new. So new that your heart fluttered.

You kept your composure unsure of how to respond. This was one of those times his teasing got too deep inside of you and tickled a chord you didn't even know was there. So you just deflected from it, securing your hold on him better.

"Drop me and I will end your entire bloodline."

A deep rumble of a chuckle that he tried to keep inside but failed, boomed under you. The heaviness between you dissipated little by little, unserious, and you giggled along with him.

"You're precious cargo. But I just might," he teased again, readjusting his hold on you.

Yet, the truth was he wouldn't. In fact, he would do anything in his power for you to be comfortable. Even if that meant carrying you and a midsized bear all the way to his place sprawled on his back like a sack of potatoes, with your red feet killers swinging in his hand as your warm giggles filled the night.

Though it was a far reach, the possibility of nights like these becoming a regular thing made his heart soar. Maybe there was a chance for more.

Entering the lush part of the coastline, palm-hidden domains morphed into villas upon villas of the rich and the elite in all kinds of styles running along the lap of a hill. Halfway up the steep hill, your humble transport climbed a set of stairs and stopped in front of a villa.

Your mouth hung open. There's no way this was his.

Your eyebrows reached the heavens when he fished around his pocket for the keys and jingled them in the hole, pushing the door open. This was his.

Once inside, he bent down for you to get off, placing your heels down, putting his own shoes next to yours. You hopped off taking in the place. Each way your head turned you were instantly hit with his scent.

"You're telling me your house was this close to the club and we spent new year's sleeping on the beach?" you asked, twirling around the place.

Walking in further, you came to a dip in the ground going into a spacious living room. Two medium couches and an armchair in a deep forest green laid around facing each other. He does have a couch too many.

"Well, I didn't want to hit third base that early," he said, walking into the kitchen area. "You did take me for a psychopath just for taking you to the beach."

Taken aback at his words, you turned around trying to recall when that happened.

"Pffft, I did not."

Stopping his ascent on a small ladder to change the broken bulb, he placed his hands on his hips and looked back at you then proceeded to utter the exact words you said to him on your first night together.

"Is this the part where you kill me or something?"

He even had the tone right. You laughed remembering his first impression. Oh, how wrong you were. He turned out to be way more than that.

"Fair enough."

Fixing fluffy Lovey on a couch, you walked around some more. The huge space was used so well, beige and green motives spreading all around, combining in neutrals with the dark grey oak wooden floors. Beyond the modern aesthetic and messily discarded trinkets it was so cozy. Compared to your apartment, this place was an oasis.

"You have a really nice house."

"Thank you. It's not much really."

Not much? He's not being real.

He fiddled some more with the lightbulb, lean forearms working to click it into place. Extending his hand to you, he motioned you to the flip switch to test if it works. You obliged and turned it on. The bulb glowed, turning the beige kitchen golden, just like the chandelier you saw.

Moving into the cooking area you realised even his kitchen was something out of the paradise of architectural design.

You leaned your elbows on the marble top, head resting on top of your knuckles, waiting for him to finish. Once he was satisfied with his work, he stored the ladder away and came to sit next to you, mirroring your position. Feeling his prying eyes on you, you turned to find him a few inches away, hip brushing yours, looking at you with a smile.

"Hi," you said softly, smiling back at him.

"Hi," he replied, the crescents around his eyes deepening.

You could sit there looking at each other until time would end. If it wasn't for your stomachs singing in unison demanding some attention.

"I thought that instead of going to spend loads of money on a restaurant, we could cook something ourselves," he suggested.

"You went grocery shopping without me?"

"Yep," he popped the p at the end looking really proud of himself.

You had to give him credit for planning the whole day out ahead of time. It's the most anyone has ever done for you.

"So, what are we cooking?"

"Well," he threw a towel over his shoulder, "your wish is my command tonight."

You loved his determination. Zoro could cook. Just enough to save his life if need be but nothing too grandiose - if that included omelets and fried rice with some creativity to reinvent the dish for every day of the week. Thing that required talent.

So, you thought of one simple thing no one could screw up. Something that would be easy, fun and quick to make that would fill you both. You settled on the pinnacle of good food.

"Then pizza it is."

"Had a feeling you'd say that."

He walked to the fridge and pulled out some of your favorite toppings and a jar of the tomato sauce you swore by. You gasped, holding a hand over your heart in fake excitement.

"You know me so well."

"I try my best," he said, making a bow.

You got to making the dough, mixing the ingredients while he connected his phone to a speaker. Jazzy, romantic music played and you craned your neck at him to see that playful smirk. He wasn't acting like the Zoro you knew.

"Dean Martin? Seriously?"

"What's wrong with it? It's-"

"Romantic."

You never saw anyone cut the music so fast. It gave you whiplash.

"Then what about this?"

The track changed to ABBA's Dancing Queen. You threw your head back with a laugh, shaking it at his questioning music choices.

"Friday night and the lights are low ~," he sang off key, sending you into another fit of giggles. He continued singing as laughter rolled out of you to the point you were holding your stomach in pain.

Cruising around some more, he finally let a pop playlist run in the background as you worked on the dough and he got busy with chopping stuff up. You snuck a few glances at him and stilled - that golden light bounced on his tan complexion, making his focused posture appear so snug and cozy, almost husband material. The amused twinkle was back in his brown orbs, resembling irresistible pralines.

He looked like home.

Feeling your cheeks heat up, you turned back to the dough, sprinkling flour on the table top and rolling it out to spread it as wide as you could eat it. Too focused on it, you didn't notice a floured finger coming to paint your face until the white powder was already smeared across your cheeks.

"You're such a child," you let out before you painted his nose with flour too.

"I think that makes two of us."

He cupped the side of your face, brushing his thumb over the flour covered bits. Though that only smudged the flour more, your heart beat accelerated to an uneven rate. He was too close again. Too close to let go again.

"You made me beg for this date so much," he spoke lowly, brushing your cheek in circles. "I don't do begging."

"Can't blame a girl for wanting to torment the guy she's interested in."

Before he could reply, your stomach grumbled again, annoyed that there was still no food present in it. His hand fell from your cheek, though his touch still lingered. Warm, singed, stamped on your cheek.

You finished decorating the pizza with everything you both liked and once it was in the oven, you crouched down to see it cook. Zoro followed on your side, knee touching yours.

"You know, it's not gonna cook faster if you stare at it," he mused.

"I know," you turned to look at him. The gleam from the oven light coupled with the kitchen light above played tricks on you because you could've sworn that hard, playful gaze of his turned softer. "I'm just surprised you can cook something other than basic military canned food."

"Oh, shut up," he laughed, playfully shoving his shoulder into yours.

You made small talk until the oven dinged that your pizza was ready. Letting Zoro deal with it, you ventured more into his living room like a cat looking for her next napping spot.

You walked all the way to the glass windows acting like an outer wall. Finding a handle, you pulled on it expecting it to be just for décor only to see that the glass slid open to give you access to a private beach front. Your jaw would crack if this man shocked you more tonight.

He has a private beach. Who the hell just has a private beach? And he said it's not much. Dude, I can move here if you don't like it.

Pushing the door open all the way, you took a seat on an extended wooden ledge overlooking the stretch of water you started liking so much. The sky was still cloudy, covering up the moon, yet some stars still sparkled through the white glare. A few birds played around in the trees, chirping as brightly as they would in the early morning. Waves lapped calmly at the shore, smaller than the naked eye could see, crashing into each other before they could make a sound on the sand.

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath of the salty air, letting it sink deep into your lungs. Calm enveloped you like a warm blanket comfortingly there for you. It was more than an oasis. It was how Zoro made you feel. Though most times it was accompanied by chaos, you would always find yourself waiting for this serene peace.

"I see you've found your favorite spot already."

Zoro was quickly at your side with the pizza sliced, a bottle of wine under his arm and some glasses. He sat down next to you working on the bottle before anything else.

"Favorite doesn't even begin to describe it."

Hungry from all the dancing and walking, you dove into the pizza first. The dough melted on your tongue, nodding to yourself as the good tomato sauce hit your taste buds, among with all the other toppings.

"Is it edible enough?"

"It turned out way better than I expected."

"Hand me one," he opened his mouth, waiting for you to feed him a slice.

You picked up a smaller one. Careful not to smudge any of the toppings on his shirt, you held it out for him to take a bite. He stopped fiddling with the cork to take in the taste.

"You're right, this is heavenly. I didn't know my oven could cook like this."

You choked, slapping his arm.

"That's what ovens are for, dummy."

Red wine, darker than your dress, danced in the glasses as you clinked them together. Taking a sip, the sweetness hit you before it lulled into bitter cherries, spilling on your lips like the promise of love on this chilly February night.

"Look out," he pointed out towards the sea.

You looked everywhere. All you could see was a few boats out on the water, the sky clearing some more and the sea. You even squinted, thinking you weren't looking properly.

"I don't see anything."

He checked his watch to see he was too early. For someone who was always late in making decisions, he still had time. Huh, how the tables have turned.

He counted the leftover seconds in his head, leaning back to look at you the way he did on new year's on the beach. Your back was in his full view, covered by your dress and your hair that grew a bit longer. He still has that impulse to trace your spine with the pads of his fingers.

"Look now."

Right as your eyes fixed on the boats, fireworks lit up the night sky from far out on the water. Pink and red spun around in different shaped hearts.

Seems like the surprises keep on coming.

Too engrossed in the light show decorating the sky in cute and heartwarming messages, you didn't notice Zoro slipped from beside you until you heard slow music playing from the speakers. He sat behind you, hand extended your way.

"Can I have this dance?"

"Another one?"

"You can't blame me for wanting another dance with you when you look this beautiful tonight."

"Only tonight?" you questioned, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"All the time," he corrected himself as he pulled you closer.

You stepped left and right under the warmth of the lights and the fireworks, holding the man you've always wanted in your life. Suddenly, you were taken back to that night where you let it all go to have fun with a stranger. A stranger that became something more so fast.

Who knew you'd end up mending each other's solitude and fill up the cracking pieces in your hearts. You were both aware that you meant more to each other than you let on, but the words just didn't seem to find their way out to communicate that. That was your only fatal flaw.

The need to know where you stand was more powerful than anything right now.

Somehow, everything was perfect.

Maybe too perfect.

"This is so fucking cheesy," you quipped.

"What's cheesy?"

"Everything. This night, the food, the wine, the fireworks... you."

You've kept the uneasiness at bay all night but something made it explode everywhere in your body and it definitely wasn't the wine. Or the way he was looking at you with those deep brown eyes like he could tell what you were feeling. If that were true he wouldn't waste any more time than you already did.

"What is this really about?" he asked, hands falling from your waist to rub comforting circles on the inside of your wrists.

If it wasn't crystal clear until now, he knew what made you tick. And something pushed a nerve by the looks of it and the way you were avoiding his eyes.

You wanted the ground to swallow you up for letting your mouth run wild without any basis besides that nervousness. But you might as well just bite the bullet and tell him everything and be honest with each other at least for once. You avoided talking about it way too long.

"It all feels a little too perfect to be real."

Thinking that voicing your thoughts out would give you some semblance of balance was a wrong assumption. As soon as those words left your mouth, he let go of your arms, taking a step back. Once again, you let your inhibitions take over and reel you away from a great thing.

You got lucky by meeting him. But you still couldn't help but think his heart wasn't yours for the taking. Because he wouldn't let you take it. That you couldn't be more than friends with him because more would destroy the already amazing thing you had going on.

By the way his face fell, brown orbs more preoccupied with the wooden floors, you realized you probably fucked up even more.

Frankly, he did all this tonight for you. He was never the type to go out of his way for people, even the ones he had an interest in because he wasn't one to play the feelings game. To chase and court and shower in affection.

But he knew where you were coming from and why.

He didn't make it clear that you've been the sole object of his attention ever since he saw you that first night you came to the club. For him, that was just another night lost to endless glasses of alcohol to numb himself even more from the world.

Until you showed up.

Hair thrown into the same messy bun you always sported, uncomfortably shifting in your clothes as you nursed a different array of alcohol yourself, trying to do exactly the same thing he was doing. Numbing the feelings away. Keeping them at bay. Fighting them with everything you had in opposite corners of the club when you could've embraced them together from that first look that connected you.

The more time he spent with you the more he let those suppressed feelings in and realised that they didn't bring him any pain this time, but solace, comfort, hope.

The hope that he might just have a great thing in front of him worth changing his ways for.

While Zoro was having a revelation, you were having a war with yourself.

There was this monstrous fire harbored inside of you for so long. Zoro woke that fire and there was no telling of the destruction it could cause this time, especially with so many unsaid things lingering in the air. So many unshared feelings. Because he stood still like the sea washing on the beach instead of doing something. Anything.

Please, Zoro, your eyes begged but he wouldn't look at you.

He was danger, screamed your mind. The danger that you got too comfortable. That this was wrong and you put up the 'no vacancy' sign on the doors to your heart way too soon.

Let me in, your heart screamed, blood in your veins trembling in anger.

One rapid thump of your heartbeat drowned in the silence.

Two more passed and he stood still, gaze set on the ground.

On the third one, you made your mind up.

Before tears could well up in your eyes, you turned around with the intention of bolting out through the same door he carried you through not that long ago.

Sensing movement, he caught sight of you shaking your head, that pout he hated back on your lips. He hurt you. Because he was a fucking idiot who couldn't do words.

But he could do actions. He was willing to do even more to prove to you that this was right and it wasn't all just in your head. That he felt it too.

It only took you taking two fast strides in the direction of the door for him to make up his mind too.

"Then let me make it real," he caught your hand and pulled you to him, crashing his lips onto yours for the first time since that night at the club, kissing you like his life depended on your very own lips moulding to his own.

You felt the desperation, the anguish, the need. All of it to have you close and to feel you in more ways than one. Everything you've been feeling for the past month, hope, passion, the beginning of love, spilling from his lips onto yours. He was telling you everything he kept to himself with each desperate tug at your lip and you received every word.

The last time he kissed you was over a month ago, pressured by the new year's kiss tradition. Back then, he tasted like alcohol and his cologne. But now, he tasted like everything you've been waiting for. And you had a hunch he waited just as long for it.

Once you were past the shock of it, you kissed him back even harder, lips finally moving in sync with his. He got a rough hold of your waist and pulled you even closer to deepen the kiss. One of his hands tangled in your curls exactly the way he wanted to since he saw you at your apartment.

He wanted to be selfish. Let that monstrosity of his heart pour out all of those feelings to you. But he reminded himself he had to take it slow with you. So he let go with a small tug at your lower lip, spurring the eagerness inside of your tummy for more.

You pulled apart but remained close, foreheads touching in bliss. Though short, this kiss was sweeter and more meaningful than any chocolate box you could ever get. It was everything you needed to know what his heart held inside and how much more of him you still had to see.

He let you in.

"I wanted to do this for so long," he breathed haggardly, like you stole away all the air in his lungs with just one kiss. A kiss that was so long overdue.

"Why didn't you?" you voiced the question that's been hanging by a thread all night.

"I didn't know how you felt about me."

"You're such an idiot. But you're my idiot."

Shaking your head against his, you pulled him closer by the collar of his shirt and kissed him again, this time with more fervour. You wanted to make sure he understood where your feelings stood, where you wanted this to go and that you let him be in total control of it. Because losing control with Zoro was surrendering to a higher power. One that your heart loved being handled by.

You carved your own feelings into the way you held onto his cheeks and nibbled on his lips in unsated hunger, trying to put the torment, want and devotion you felt for him over the past month and a half into a language that he could understand.

And he understood.

Tapping your thigh, you got the message and jumped up into his strong arms that wrapped around you like a curtain of safety.

Your safety net.

He ripped yours apart to become it.

He held you to him so easily as he navigated through the furniture maze in his living room, taking off into a long corridor, all the while his lips discovered new grounds with yours. He didn't want to waste any more time if it involved you.

Zoro didn't care if this would end up being a fucked up disaster on his part, but he held back enough from showing you how he really feels. It was time he made things right with you.

You.

It was only you.

There didn't need to be anyone else for him.

Just you.

His hold tightened around you as he rounded a corner, not for security but to brand the feel of your being in his hands, to realize that he was finally holding you, feeling you where you were supposed to be all along.

Heavens, how much he longed for this. Your presence wouldn't dare to leave his thoughts just like he never left yours. Oh, he knew of the ardor your eyes held inside and was well aware of what ran around in your head because he let those same movies play in his own around the clock, early day into late night. Maybe he didn't let it be known, not like you did in wistful glances or pink tinted cheeks, but there were signs.

In the way his jaw ticked in disgust at every man who set their eyes on you every time you went out shopping, to the point he was ready to have an MME match if they stared too long. Or how his hand twitched to grab yours whenever you sat too close, the need to lace them together and press you flat against the couch in your apartment overriding his senses. And his mouth. Oh, his mouth. It wanted nothing but to taste every inch of you, everywhere you touched him and riled him up, every time your eyes drifted down to his lips, until there was nothing left to taste.

Hell would freeze over before that happened.

Kicking the door to his room open, he shut it just as swiftly, maneuvering your back to the nearest wall, moonlight the only thing illuminating the room. The cold wall cooled your burning skin, a breathy gasp leaving your throat right into his mouth with a kiss. He let go of your back, hands searching for your palms, pushing them against the wall beside your head. His mouth never left yours, exploring every depth, rise and sigh escaping you.

He hooked you higher up the wall with every kiss, atoning for every missed opportunity over the past month. Your legs tangled harsher around his torso, tugging him even closer as he pressed against you with all his might, feeling all of him and none of him at the same time.

Close just wasn't enough for any of you.

You needed closer. Attached. Intimate.

Soul on soul.

Patience wasn't your virtue at all tonight. You clawed at his hands, needy unlike anyone has ever made you. Except Zoro. Your head was filled with him. You were breathing him in and it still wasn't enough.

In one breath you were unglued from the cold wall and put down on the comfy edge of his bed, separated from his lips and from him. You whined at the loss of feeling him against you, ready to argue that having him kiss you mattered more than whatever had him lose the tempo. Although that need turned into anticipation just as fast once your eyes focused on his kneeling form before you.

Roronoa Zoro, on his knees, for you, eyes darker than the blackness of the night. That vulnerability looked lethal.

Those eyes. You could drown in them for a lifetime if they asked you to.

"Zoro," you sighed, chest rising up and down, expectant of his next move.

Oh, how he loved the sound of his name rolling off your lips. Usually so contained in the form of a sarcastic remark or to warn him to watch it.

Now, it was tuned to demand for his attention. And he wanted to make sure you got all of it.

One of his hands extended to your leg, calloused fingers trailing up the arch, circling mindfully around your wounded heel to hold it up to his lips. He pressed them to the inside of your ankle, slow and steady, eyes fixed on yours as you took in a sharp breath. The intensity of his unwavering gaze alone made heat pool between your legs.

Flutters rose in crescendos inside your belly at each kiss and there was no stopping them from roaming free. Not when he was watching your every response like your body was the eighth wonder of the world.

Your hands fell beside you, feeling the softness of his duvet to ground you as you closed your eyes to relish in the moment. Focusing on how plush his mouth felt on your skin on two different extremities. Wondering how they would feel on the rest of your body.

Unspoken but present in the air, that wish was his command.

His fingers trailed higher, past your calf, under your knee, roughly tugging you closer to the edge. Your dress bunched up your thighs as his fingers continued their perusal to reach the small of your back. Slowing his pace, he traced the dip in your spine all the way between your shoulder blades, your back arching involuntarily. Still on his knees, he moved closer between your legs as those fingers circled on your nape, pulling you down to meet his mouth halfway in another kiss, more fiery than the last.

This one sputtered with flames of passion. So much that you couldn't contain yourself anymore.

Your hands shot out to undo the buttons of his shirt. Frustrated with the top ones you just dug your fingers in the holes and pulled it open, poor buttons flying to the floor with a pang, interrupting your fast breaths. He broke apart from your lips to assess the damage only to find his chest half-exposed to your itching hands.

"That was vintage."

"I'll get you another one but I want it off, now," you muttered in a breath, grabbing his face to devour him. You couldn't get enough of how he tasted and every breath for air asked for another taste.

Hooking one hand around your back, he lifted you up and hauled you to the middle of the bed. His lips connected with the side of your mouth, dragging the bottom lip you liked biting so much between his teeth. He was just as annoyed at your dress, desperately looking for ways to feel more of you as he fisted the ends until they creased.

"I want this off too," he groaned, pulling on the skirt impatiently.

Said and done.

You sat up, letting the straps fall off your shoulders, pulling the material over your head to leave you in your undergarments. He licked his lips taking you in. The ferocity of his stare alone drinking you in like his normal glass of whiskey made tremors dance on your skin.

And he didn't even properly touch you yet. You weren't even sure you would survive his touch. The good thing was, you were about to find out.

"What now, loverboy?"

The nickname came out way more playful than you intended it to. It was enough to provoke him in ways that will damage you for anyone else. Ways that will tie his existence to your very own, unable to ever untie it.

"I'm gonna have you like no one has ever dared to before and no one will," he spoke, so deep that your buds prickled against the air at the gravel in his voice. "By the time I'm done with you, you're gonna wish you didn't test my patience for so long."

That turned you on even more. At the need present in him matching the same level of want flowing in your body.

He kicked the rest of his clothes off. Your eyes stopped at the huge package that laid under his clothes, a Greek god in the flesh and balls. They then lingered from the sculpted thighs you were so envious of, to his defined middle where you lost count of his packs and chest, going up to the arched bow of his collar bones, stopping at the plump lips that rushed to capture your own again. This time, he bit your lower lip for access to explore the rest of your mouth, tongues tangling in a dance of their own on the same rapid rhythm your hearts were beating in.

A hand sneaked under your back to lift you higher, pressing your chest flush to his, feeling all the shapes of his muscles against your own. His lungs breathed with yours. Your hearts came alive.

His lips left your mouth, moving down your jaw, prodding under it, heading to your collar bones in hungry fire. They left a burning trail in their wake, stretching tingles even to the edge of your shoulders where he pressed softer ones.

Kiss, lick and bite was his mantra that he repeated against your skin. He wanted to claim you tonight, more viciously than a wolf in heat would claim his mate.

Trailing down, he laid small and large kisses on your sternum, between your mounds. His palms sat on either side of your waist, rubbing circles to tease you more. Damn his teasing.

Feeling his lips, his hands and his torso pressed to you all at once turned your breathing erratic, saprking electric shocks inside of you. He was everywhere, taking your control away. Your eyes darted closed to find some kind of anchor besides fisting his sheets.

"Eyes on me, angel," he commanded and in a second your eyes snapped back to his.

He stopped just above your navel, waiting for you to catch your breath. That was a luxury. Once he was sure you were following, he continued all the way down to your lower stomach where the band of your panties stuck to you uncomfortably. Your breath hitched when he stopped there, blowing above where you needed him most, only to move down to your inner thighs, nipping on the softer skin with that amused smirk of his gracing the outline of his mouth.

He was trying to push you over the edge on purpose.

Fuck that.

One swift push and he fell backwards on the bed. You climbed on top to take the reigns and gain some control back. Little did you know that having you straddling him like that bid the beast inside of him alive.

You moved butterfly kisses from the crook of his neck, down his toned pecs. His hand latched in your hair, grabbing a tight hold around your curls, destroying them like he wanted to do all night. The pressure on your scalp pulled a moan from you just as you bit into his abdomen heaving a groan from him, his other hand digging into your waist as he raised up to meet your neck. He bit and pulled on it too, turning your insides to mush.

Sitting up with you on your kness, he hooked a finger on each side of your panties and ripped them apart down the middle with that shit-eating grin. You choked on every remnant of sanity as he threw the shreds to the side leaving you naked, fully naked, exactly like he wanted you.

Grabbing onto his shoulders, you moved to his lap, legs parted to cage him into your space. One look of confirmation that this was still what you both wanted had you sink down on him at once.

He was big. Collosal almost. He felt bigger than you thought you could take. Eyes closed, it took you a moment to get your bearings back but once you did, you felt him everywhere. His upper thighs supported the rest of your weight. His hands circled around you, both grabbing and holding you upright. His cherry wine-infused breath fanned the side of your neck.

And his eyes? Waiting for you as you opened yours. One look at them and your hips started rolling on autopilot. Every swing buried him deeper, further, closer to where your being called for him. And he let you have it. Letting you ravish his gear the way you liked it, feeling him stretch you sore.

His mouth went back to his mantra. Kissing the crook of your neck, licking it right in the middle and biting it hard enough to leave a bruise. To mark you as his. His and his only.

You gripped his shoulders, shifting to get a better position as your hips started getting tired. Silently, you cursed yourself for ditching gym with him because you didn't know how much stamina riding him would take out of you.

You were close and from how he gripped your waist to help your rhythm, pulling them faster front and back, he was too. He stopped nibbling on your neck, moving to your lips to swallow your quiet moans. He had to make them louder.

You rolled your hips until you couldn't find the energy to push into him anymore. He took that as his chance to take over again.

He pulled out, turning you around as he spread you on all fours. Your hands landed on the bedpost to support you as he climbed behind you. He laid kisses from your lower back all the way to your left shoulder where his lips brushed your ear just as his tip lightly caressed your opening. His warm breaths foreshadowed sin on your skin, making you wetter by the second.

And he entered you. One, two, three pumps and he got accustomed to your tightness just as you did with his size stretching you out. He bit the side of your neck with every thrust, sending your conscious into oblivion, chasing that high together.

Every moan you withheld from him earned you a deeper thrust. He wanted to hear you in all your glory. Wanted to know how badly you wanted him, not just like this but in every way.

In your lost haze, you ended up on your back closer to release. Entering you roughly, he pounded in you so fast you were seeing stars, head rolling to the side in complete ecstasy. His hand grabbed your jaw, tilting your field of vision back to him.

His free hand grabbed your hand for the millionth time tonight, placing it on the messy sheet beside your head, fingers smoothly sliding through yours as he kissed away all of your sighs. Your other hand climbed from deep down his waist to his upper back, hard rock muscles rippling under your touch like a stone thrown on the surface of a still river, disturbing its peace, turning it turbulent and wild. Waking up every primal urge in him as he groaned in your neck.

He accelerated, twitching inside of you and you came, letting your insides explode into a mess as he continued chasing his own high. He wasn't done with you yet, thumb rushing to rub another climax out of you as he was close to his own. His mouth bit into your breasts, grazing your buds one at a time, pulling on them in a way that added to your pleasure way more than the last one.

You gripped him again, tighter, and in no time you both came furiously, spilling everything you held back out onto that mattress. He pulled out, letting his seed fly onto your stomach.

You tried to catch your breath. It was gone somewhere between ecstasy and what laid beyond euphoria. He left to clean himself up, returning with a token of aftercare for you. He wiped his mess off of you, gentle and attentive to get everything off. Once he was done, he got in next to you, pulling you close.

You both just sat there for a while, reflecting on everything that happened. You still felt him inside of you, on you, above you, behind you. He managed to ruin you.

His voice cleared the quiet, making you focus back on the real world for a bit.

"You okay?"

"I just got fucked to oblivion. I would say fantastic but I can't feel my legs."

He chuckled. He would never fail to love your sarcasm. Even in moments like these.

"Did I go too hard?" he asked, not sarcastically but wanting to know if it was too much. If he went harder than he should have.

Looking at the vines of love bites he left on the entirety of your neck, the smudged makeup that looked almost natural, and your tousled messy hair, hard couldn't encapsulate it better. You would've said "you could've gone harder" but that meant urging him on another round and you were spent for tonight. So, you laid your head in the crook of his neck and closed your eyes, releasing a content breath, a silent confirmation that you were okay.

A single thought passed through your head - this was all kinds of right. Your once in a lifetime right time right place, as cheesy as it sounded. Maybe cheesy was good.

He was in his head thinking everything through in his own way, breaking down the once intense feelings into little flurries of emotion buzzing inside of him. That passion masked itself as denial for way too long. But tonight, you held his face and took that mask off, giving him clarity and he was able to feel something else.

Something close to love, he thought, chuckling to himself.

You cracked one eye open, taken aback at his sudden cheerfulness. One look at his face bathed in the glow of the moon and you saw him beaming.

"What are you so smiley about?"

He just shook his head, smile widening like a Cheshire cat that's been caught up to no good.

"Nothing."

Taking it upon yourself, you got up from his side with slow moves and straddled his waist, getting his attention back on you.

"Tell meeeee," you stretched, poking your fingers through every dent in his abs until he told you.

"What are you gonna do for it?"

Not this again.

Actually, this time, you knew what he wanted. A kiss. So, you just leaned over and caught his lips sweetly, smiling into it. His hand came to cup your face, smiling back. He pulled away, soft praline orbs gazing at you warmly.

"What if I still don't want to tell you?"

"Zoro, stop playing with me," you complained, slapping his chest.

"Okay. Okay," he held his hands up in surrender.

He sat up to lean on the headboard and get a better look at you - his ruined shirt hugged your smaller form, running all the way to your thighs. The marks of his feelings that he still couldn't utter decorated you everywhere. You sat back on his lap, arms crossed on your chest, waiting for him to speak.

"I'm not one to do feelings," he started, eyes darting down in thinking. "But you changed that."

Your eyes stayed focused on him, softening at his words.

You knew that he was a reserved person, keeping to his corner rather than reaching out into other people's. Until he found something worth thrusting his hand out at full speed to get it. Something worth hanging onto with his teeth.

As he connected his eyes with yours, brown blazing fire burning as bright and consuming as yours, it dawned upon you that something was you.

He was trying. For you.

"You were right. I am an idiot," he paused, fiddling with the ends of his shirt beside your calf. "It took me so long to figure it out but now I know."

Your heart started running when his hand held yours and brought it to sit on top of his own, running just as fast in his chest. Though the rate of yours spiraled out of control at the honesty of his incoming confession.

"I think I'm in love with you."

Your head spun, blinking in confusion at him.

"Am I hallucinating or did you just say the L word?"

"Yes. I did just say the L word," he nodded, confirming that he felt the same for you.

Before you could breathe it through, you leaned in for another kiss. He deepened the kiss trying to reach every corner of you. Wanting to both take his time and rushing to taste every part of you.

Breathless. Serene. And everything in between.

"I take it you love me back?" he asked, needing you to say those words back to him.

Your heart did flips at the way the word sounded coming from him. It dripped with honey and warmth.

"A little more than love," you grinned. "You do realise that I won't be able to stop it, right?"

"I don't want you to."

"Great," you clapped your hands together. "Because I will become so annoying."

He howled a laugh, throwing his head back, the sound you loved so much making you laugh too.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

You leaned down connecting your lips for the millionth time tonight. But you still couldn't get used to them or to the fact that your heart called out his name and his answered back calling out just as loud.

Falling forward into his arms, you sank like a ship happily waiting to meet its end in the depths of the ocean that was him. Because no ocean was deeper and so familiar to swim through than your Zoro.

He kissed the crown of your head, pulling you closer. Happy felt like an impossible destination until he held you to him like this, safe and warm in his embrace. He felt a tinge of it and he wanted more.

"Are you tired-"

Before the question even left his mouth properly, his eyes drifted to the steady rise and fall of your chest, drained body curled into him tightly, head tucked into the crook of his neck, chest pressed to his.

She's drooling again, he chuckled to himself, moving some hair away from your face so you wouldn't inhale it. You sat like a baby coddled in its mother's arms, but your position looked a little uncomfortable.

He pulled your feet from under you to get you in a better posture. Moving his arms around you, he got more cozy, drawing the covers over the both of you and let the night come to an end.

Birds chirped announcing a new day, with the sea singing the same tune as its waves crashed in a swirl outside. The morning sun peaked through the curtains, its soft rays caressing the top of your head, willing you to wake up.

The first thing you felt was your cheek pressed against something plush. A pillow. The pillows I fell asleep on last night were way better.

You rolled around the bed trying to find some more sleep when the thought of last night sparked your brain like the tip of a vinyl record player, making memories play faster than your sleepy mind could catch up to.

Lips kissing on every part of your skin available to sight, carving themselves on the hidden ones. Hands caressing your body like a holy prayer, thought but never uttered. Eyes making secret promises with yours in the darkened moonlight.

You turned on your back and opened your eyes, letting them adjust to the light in the room. The fluffy duvet fell to your lap as you sat up, stretching your sore limbs with a groan. Everything ached but in a good way.

Pulling the covers away, you folded them neatly on the bed and took in the space in the light of day. The beige and green from downstairs broke off into a two-tone sandy beige and a cotton white on the floor and the walls. It truly felt like home. And smelt like it too. That musky vanilla you liked so much enveloping you, mostly from his shirt.

After a steamy shower that your skin welcomed fully, you stopped in front of the mirror to see just what he drew on you last night. You traced the red marks down your body, feeling the ghost of his lips like he was kissing and biting those places again and again. He didn't need any words after all.

Rummaging through his wardrobe, you stole a t-shirt, fitting like a dress on you, and a pair of pants that barely wanted to stay on your waist. You had to roll them up and double tie the strings for them to sit still.

Taking to the long corridor, you followed the sunlit path and looked for your partner in crime. You found him in the kitchen, handling an egg carton, preparing for what looked like the Zoro Special - omelete with a bunch of side dishes and orange juice - or Champions' Breakfast as he called it.

He had his back turned to you, busy chopping up some tomatoes. You sneaked behind him, trying to be quick and silent on your feet, planning to jump him. You rounded the marble top of the island, grinning that stealth was on your side, only to get caught between his arms. He already sensed you from when you entered the kitchen so your surprise attack was doomed from the start.

Unpredictable like a breeze of the wind, he picked you up, placing you on the island as strong arms planted on each side, caging you in his space. He took one look at you, recognizing his clothes draped loosely on you, messy bun on top of your head and his heart did flips again.

"Fancy seeing you here," you said, shying away from his gaze. It looked hungry and not for any damn food.

"I could say the same," he spoke, raspy voice sending tingles down your spine. He studied you some more, lips perking up in amusement. "Trying to sneak up on me?"

"Maybeeeee," you played with the hem of his shirt. "What are you making?"

"My special-"

His words got caught in his throat as you laid your chin on the crown of his chest and looked up at him with the softest eyes he's ever seen, all his resolve crumbling to the depths of the fucking universe.

It was truly a wonder to him - how you could go from one extreme to the other, being both adorable and sexy at the same time.

"Can I be your special?" you asked, voice sweeter than candy.

"I wouldn't mind that," he smirked, leaning down to capture your lips in a slow morning peck quicker than you would've liked it to be.

As if on cue, your stomach made a noise of complaint that the pizza you made together last night got digested.

"Let's get some food in you," he said, patting it tenderly.

"Do I get to assist on the special?"

"You get to watch the special," he rubbed his hands together and got started.

Pre-heating a pan on the hob, he held a knife in one hand and an egg in the other. Your eyebrow lifted up in curiosity as he held the knife horizontally to put the egg on top of it, balancing it side to side. With a confident grin your way, he flicked the handle and launched the egg in the air swiftly turning the knife sharp-edge upwards, just in time to catch the egg right in the middle, separating its contents from the cracked shell successfully. The egg sizzled in the pan while your mouth sat agape, shook at the skills he was pulling.

"You really are the gift that keeps on giving."

"So I've been told," he said cockily, flicking imaginary dust off his shoulder. You hopped off the island and elbowed him playfully, settling beside him to watch the magic omelet take shape.

Once enough eggs were cooked, he arranged the plates. He cleaned up his working space and leaned in for a kiss you dodged on purpose. That brought an ambush of kisses on your face, from your forehead to your cheeks, your eyes, your nose, your jaw and your lips. Everywhere he wanted to leave his affection on you.

You managed to shimmy out of his grip and bolted out in the living room, through the open glass door on the beach. The wind blew cold, waking you up like coffee, making your heart thunder. He followed right behind you just like the night you met, leaving your footprints in the sand. Though this time he caught up to you way quicker, whisking you up in the air and spinning you until your stomach hurt from laughing.

The sound of your laugh filled his ears in the most beautiful way possible. And something else clicked in his head. He wanted that to be the first thing he heard every morning, every day, until you got sick of him.

He placed your feet back on the sand and brought you closer, waves crashing next to you like the beat of his heart. He had to give it a shot no matter what. So, without letting any other thoughts cloud his decision, he just asked.

"Do you want to move in with me?"

OH, boy.

Thank you for reading :)

[creative-frequency]

Lucanis Dellamorte x Reader: Late Nights & Delayed Confessions, pt.2

Summary: Late night of hanging out with the two Dellamortes. Lucanis is concerned for your wellbeing. Part 2 of 5. Word count: 1339 Notes: (Unresolved) romantic tension, pining, you’re an Antivan Crow, no spoilers for Veilguard → Part 1 → My writing masterlist

After instructing the tavern keeper to send up ‘whatever is the most expensive food and drink around here’, you excused yourself to freshen up. The room you had been given was at the other end of the long hallway from Lucanis and Illario’s, even though you were absolutely certain most of the rooms were unoccupied on the floor.

You ate, drank and talked for hours. A feeling that you could only describe as home warmed your chest. The little jabs Lucanis and Illario threw at each other, the silly flirtatious remarks from the latter, and the adventurous stories of grandeur, whose only point was trying to top the previous one. Just like always on the nights back in Treviso.

Things had always been like this between you and Illario; you were good friends who tossed flirty jokes around and shared gossip over a bottle of wine. He was… simple. Safe. On the same wavelength. Nothing romantic had ever happened between you nor were you interested in him as such.

Lucanis was like a brother to Illario, so you had formed this tenuous friendship, that was more about having a loved one in common rather than nurturing an actual relationship.

Lucanis was complicated; intelligent, efficient and business-oriented but also loyal to a fault, kind and considerate. He was an expert assassin, but his heart was in the right place. Not to mention you oftentimes had difficulties taking your eyes off him or stopping undressing him in your reveries. Lucanis was an enigma that made you itch and you yearned to scratch that itch. There was just no way it could ever happen and you had accepted it a long time ago. He was the grandson of the First Talon and you were just… you.

But there was also another reason.

You were terrified that one day Illario would realise you had been in love with Lucanis Dellamorte ever since the day you met.

While you ate, Lucanis and Illario told you about the Wigmaker contract in Vyrantium. It had earned Lucanis the moniker ‘Demon of Vyrantium’ and the rumours were already spreading like wildfire. Caterina was surely pleased.

Illario wanted to know more about your recent contracts, as much as you would be able to share. Lucanis tried to reel in his cousin’s eager insisting, ever the picture of a considerate gentleman.

“Fiore, I’m so happy to see you, but I thought you would surely be busy on a contract,” Illario tried again to inquire as to why you really had come to this small harbor town to meet them.

Maybe three glasses of wine was enough. You glanced at Lucanis, instantly regretted it, hoping Illario wouldn’t have noticed, and started talking:

“I am. Busy on a contract.”

“In here?” Lucanis asked, quirking a brow. The tone said all there was to know about the town and the probability of someone hiring an assassin on a target in such a place. There was literally nothing but the fish market, and a small harbor that served as a logistical centre for other towns further inland that couldn’t afford the taxes and expenses issued by larger harbours. Lots of people passed through, hence the fairly nice accommodations, but usually the kind of contracts you were dealing with would never turn their snooty noses towards a place like this.

“Not here. But–”

“The contract knows you’re onto them,” Lucanis ended the lie before you had the opportunity to speak it out loud.

You shrugged in admittance of defeat. It was just like him to follow your line of thought so fast, then just unravel the whole delicately woven web in a single pull.

“Ah, a false sense of security. I like this!” Illario clapped his hands together and patted Lucanis on the back – possibly as a way of congratulating his cousin’s quick wit.

“Also,” you started and cleared your throat, “There was a small incident yesterday, after I arrived in town.”

Lucanis and Illario exchanged looks.

“Who tried to murder you?” Illario asked in jest, but his smile soon dried up.

Lucanis placed his wine cup on the table and straightened up. He looked annoyed and his gaze started instantly scanning the exits in the room.

“I’m not sure,” you replied slowly. A pang of guilt tried to make a rise. “I took him down, but there was nothing on him to indicate if it was an order or a paid attempt. So who knows.”

“We should leave,” Lucanis said, still rigid and looking really unhappy.

“Come now, Lucanis. She said she took care of the amateur,” Illario argued and motioned towards the almost empty wine bottle. “Besides, we can’t leave a bottle unfinished. The Crows’ reputation will be ruined.”

“I’m sure he was working alone. I will be perfectly safe in my room,” you said and tapped the dagger hidden against your side. 

“Which one is your room?” Lucanis asked, just slightly relaxed.

“At the other end of the hallway.” You nodded to the general direction, already sensing where this was heading and it filled you with ominous tingling.

“Speaking of which, I should head to bed.” You started to rise up from the table and avoided both pairs of sharp eyes.

“Are you going to let her sleep alone in a place like this?” Illario teased, looking pointedly at his cousin.

“I can–” you huffed, but Lucanis shot you an intense look. His eyes were so dark and unamused that it shut you up at once.

“He is right,” Lucanis said. “We might not be able to hear you across the whole building if something happens.”

You swatted the words away. Whatever he was implying was not enough to bring you around.

“It’s fine. Seriously. I don’t think the Merchant Princes would waste any more gold on trying off little ol’ me.”

Illario nodded slowly but Lucanis didn’t look convinced.

“You’re a target. We don’t know who is after you, but if it were me, I would strike tonight.” Lucanis pinched the bridge of his nose and continued explaining carefully: “There are no witnesses. The building is only two stories high. No one will look twice at a murder in a place like this.”

You bit your lip. Lucanis was making a good case and perhaps only because you had been thinking about the same points yourself. If the assailant had not been working alone, it was most likely that they would try again before you had the chance to skip town. Maybe they knew you were with two other Crows, maybe they didn’t, but did you really want to risk it to keep your silly pride?

“I’ll accompany you for the night, just to be safe,” Illario said and for once you couldn’t detect a hint of ulterior motives in his tone. Though, the lack of confidence in your abilities stung.

Lucanis stood up and locked eyes with you. A chill rushed through you. He was determined. And maybe a little pissed.

“I’ll go. You didn’t sleep on the ship so you must be exhausted,” he said offhandedly to Illario.

“Always so considerate,” Illario replied with a blatant smirk that Lucanis missed. He too got up and stretched his arms.

You sighed in defeat and popped one of the few remaining grapes into your mouth. You should’ve never brought up the stupid contract. The Merchant Prince would pay extra for arranging this spectacular shit show.

“I will take care of her. Now rest,” Lucanis turned to say to Illario, who he found still smirking.

“Oh, I have no doubt you will.”

Lucanis replied to his cousin with a flat stare. Heat rose to your cheeks and Illario winked at you.

Great. So it was not about being confident in your abilities. He was just trying to push you into making a move on his cousin. You didn’t want to think about what that implied.

“Well, fine then. Shall we?” you asked Lucanis.

He motioned you forward. “Lead the way.”

There was just one problem: your room had only one bed.

-

→ Part 3

[mistypsych]

ANATOMY OF A CRIMINAL - CHAPTER 3

/ yoongi / suga / agust d /

summary: as a doctor you never expected to be dragged into “the criminal life”, nothing and no one seems to be true anymore, your whole world turns upside down after you save him.

pairings: yoongi mob boss x f.reader x non idol bts members.

warnings: smut, guns, knives, stabbings, blood, gore, murders, drugs, criminals, gang life, medical emergency, illness, abuse, swearing, angst, dubcon, gang violence, corruption, manipulation, lies, cheating - 18+ minors dni.

Note: Hi! This is an attempt of writing a fanfic long after writing anything at all. Please also keep in mind English is no longer my first language and it might be a bit rusty and odd at times but I try my best. The story is a non idol BTS fanfic with Suga being the main character. As promised slowly we are going into the chapters where Yoongi will be taking the main lead. If you want to join the tag list let me know!

After you had your hot bath and a glass of wine that turned into a whole bottle, tiredness of the whole event took over making you pass out on the couch. The fact was you also couldn’t bring yourself to go into the bedroom and fall asleep next to Hobi. You had yet to make sense of everything, but already your gut was telling you that all this new information was going to be a sticky deal. You dreaded that what Jungkook said is fully true and you didn’t know if you could pretend and ignore the facts.

You loved your fiancé with all your heart but could you be ok with him being dirty? Maybe if he had told you, maybe if he would not hide the fact he was entangled with the mafia and gave you a sensible explanation to all of it. You just didn’t know, because one thing you really hated was dishonesty. You could handle a lot of bad shit people have done or were doing as long as you knew about it. Once someone hid the truth from you it was a different story. You always believed the ugliest of truths was better than the prettiest of lies and this was a fucking hill you were willing to die on.

You felt a slight tingle on your cheek. A nice and warm feeling coming after it. Shutting your eyes harder and scrunching your nose you let out a quiet mumble as you felt an ache spread over your muscles. Last nights events surely strained your back. The decision to sleep on the couch did not help that matter as well.

Suddenly you felt a delicate kiss on your neck and then another one. You slowly opened your eyes to see Hobi sitting on the edge and leaning over you. Once your eyes met he gave you his sunshine smile and smoothed your hair back gently saying quietly “Hey. You slept on the couch?” his face had a bit of concern written over it. “Morning…” you croaked, your throat being dry from all the wine you consumed “Yea… I came back really late from that whole medical emergency. I drank some wine and passed out. I also didn’t wanna wake you…”

He hummed slightly soothing your cheek with his hand and grabbing a mug from the small table in-front of you. “Cold brew” he said smiling and passing the cup to you. Lifting yourself on your elbows you gladly drank the coffee, caffeine being exactly what you needed. While downing the brown liquid of life, your brain went back to yesterdays information about your fiancé that has been brutally thrown at you.

Seeing you’ve spaced out, he looked at you asking “You ok Y/N?” you shook your head throwing the intrusive thoughts to the back of your mind. You weren’t ready to confront him. Not yet. Matter of fact you didn’t believe that laying it out just like that would be a smart move. You had to plan it out safely. You could not draw suspicions and give him the option to lie himself out of trouble if what you heard about him would turn out to be true.

“Yes I’m fine.” you said forcing a smile. You had to keep your cool. He was a detective. You could not let him sense out that something was wrong. “I’m still sleepy a bit. Didn’t fully wake up yet” you cooed sitting yourself up completely.

Hoseok looked at you as if he was analyzing what you were saying but then he smiled nodding his head. “Not woken up yet hm?” he moved a bit closer to you, taking the mug out of your hands and setting it aside. You blinked a little raising an eyebrow “I’ve got just the thing to wake you up…” he said with a deep voice, a smirk painting over his lips as he leaned in to kiss your neck.

“Shit…” you thought to yourself as you didn’t think threw what to do if a situation like this occurred. Should you pressure that you are tired and not in the mood? Or should you play along? You actually didn’t know for a fact if Hobi was 100% a dirty cop and you wouldn’t be sure of it for some time. You were stressed out and needed to shut off your panicked mind. Giving in seemed like a really good idea. So once you felt his lips on you did just that.

A suppressed moan rolled out off your mouth as he licked down the skin of your throat. You weren’t aware how much you needed to be touched and just let yourself be careless at this very moment. “Told you I would get your blood flowing.” he groaned grabbing your chin and kissing you hungrily. You leaned your head back opening your mouth allowing his tongue to enter. You could feel him smiling, clearly happy about how you reacted to him.

Soon you were both out of your clothes and catching your racing breaths. Your mind still battling with the fact that Hobi might not be who you thought he was. But as his skillful fingers reached your wet core you decided to forget about it all for now. You pushed him down on the soft cushions and climbed onto him.

“So needy…” he chimed but you put your hands on his toned chest, letting your nails gently scratch over his perfect skin “Yea… so you better fuck me good Hoba!” you let the words fall out from your lips. There was no need to ask him again as you lowered yourself onto his already very hard member, deep moans coming out from both of you.

Grabbing your hips he stared thrusting into you, meeting your needy movements. Your breaths got shaky and uneven. As you bounced yourself to the sound of your bodies connecting you slightly wrapped your hand around his neck. You didn’t know what got into you. You never let yourself get too pushy with Hoseok. He was never really the rough type.

A bit shocked by your action he lifted himself into a sitting position, grabbing your back to make sure you didn’t come off of him. He continued to push deep into you as you moved your hand to his nape, not wanting to let yourself get anymore wild ideas. A knot in the bottom of your belly started to form. You pushed your hips back and forth hard into him seeking your release.

Loud groans and breaths slipping out from your mouthes. This time around all you wanted was to feel the pleasure to crash all over you. It was the only thing that mattered. You didn’t care to get intimate or sensual. You just wanted your mind blown so you could forget everything from that night, at least for a while.

So you kept the tempo, fucking your fiancé hard and fast until you both felt your bodies shaking from the short but strong release. You leaned your forehead on his chest catching your breath and not yet lifting off of him. You could feel him getting soft inside of you. He pushed your hair back from your sweaty face, saying with a slightly amused tone “well someone was in a rush today”.

Finally getting up you smiled with the corner of your lips “I guess I couldn’t wait since we didn’t get to have our fun for a while now…” you lied a bit. Truth be told you just wanted your needs fulfilled as soon as possible, so you didn’t have to be close to him for too long. You knew you were being a bit of a hypocrite, for not being honest with him. But he was the one who decided to hide things from you, so you felt you were allowed to bend the standards a bit.

Your gut was telling you that you couldn’t really trust him, that he was not being open and those facts taunted you. That is why you decided to start weaving a web of lies to shelter yourself. You could feel your morals screaming in your skull. This wasn’t like you. But you were angry, confused and fucking scared. Petrified that you were about to have your life blown up into flames and crumbled. You really had a lot to think threw. The realization that you probably will be facing some extremely hard decisions made anxiety slap you in the face.

* * * * * * * * *

The next days at work passed surprisingly well. You and Jungkook had an unspoken agreement not to bring up what happened. At least for now. Both of you didn’t direct any of the conversations towards that nights events. Luckily you were also pretty busy at the hospital.

You decided to take up extra shifts to the maximum and cover for some of your colleges. This meant you wouldn’t see Hoseok much those days. You knew you were procrastinating, but you needed to set your mind straight before making any meaningful moves and this seemed like the perfect way to do it.

Taking more on calls also meant you would get a couple days off after. You felt those would do you well and that you would then start your questioning of Hobi. Also you thought it would be good to simply go shopping and try to do the down-to earth little things to clear your racing mind and ready yourself for the tasks ahead.

You and Kook also coordinated work with the charities in such a way that you got to have the next week away from them. After all that unraveled, both of you had to fix up and manage some things in your private lives. You suspected Jungkook very much like yourself tried to ignore and push away everything that went down in that forsaken hangar. You could see he was trying hard to maintain your friendship and fix the trust he has thoughtlessly broken. But for the time being you felt other than hospital work, you needed a break from him.

* * * * * * * * *

As the final day of work before your days off passed, you could feel the anxiousness crawl up you skin. You were happy to take time for yourself but it also meant that you should start your head hunt for the truth about your fiancé. To say you were dreading that moment was an understatement. Your mind was already slowly making assessment and plans in case the accusations towards Hoseok were correct. All this shit daunted you.

Even tho you were a bit scared of the confrontation you gladly made your way back home after a long and hard day at work. Once you jumped out of the buss a couple of blocks away from your apartment, a strange feeling washed over you. Shaking it off, you turned around to check your surroundings. Nothing seemed suspicious so you shrugged, thinking it must be the anxiety toying with your tired brain.

As you were about to pass next to the alley of your apartments building, a tall figure walked out in front of you and blocked your way. Your heart dropped as you heard “Good evening doc…”. Namjoon was standing right there and looking down at you with his annoying smirk, that seemed constantly plastered to his face. If you wouldn’t know any better you would’ve surely slapped him, because of how he made your blood boil.

You could hear steps behind you as well. You turned your face to the side, so you could make out with the corner of your eye who it was. You recognized the shorter guy but the other one you did not recall seeing ever before. He was tall like Joon and had a look about him as if he has just stepped out of a GQ magazine.

“Oh wow not only is she talented but also pretty ey?” he spoke in a low, velvety voice. “Knock it off Tae, we are here to take her to the boss, not to romance her!” the low voiced brunette shook his head in disappointment and said “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t wanna find out what those capable hands could do. You know that surgeons have the steadiest of hands? Only imagine…”

You couldn’t take it anymore so you snapped “We also know how to use sharp scalpels!” the man laughed a little and winked at you clearly amused. You tried to walk off saying “And I am surely not going anywhere with your lot, so be so kind and fuck off! You have Jungook!”

You were only able to make a step before Namjoon skillfully grabbed your elbow and painfully yanked it, causing you to hiss. “I wasn’t asking doc, so now you’re gonna shut your pretty little mouth and get in the car!” he whispered angrily in your ear and stared at you warningly. You were sure if you tried something, maybe you would get away but the later consequences could be not worth it.

You ripped your arm from his grip and gave him a side eye while gritting your teeth. Now aware that you better cooperate, altho that didn’t stop the rage from bubbling in you. The fuck was their whole deal? Why did they have to bother you instead of your college. Taehyung opened the back door of the black SUV and moved his hand towards the seats in a welcoming way. If the circumstances were different you’d almost feel like some movie star. But the fact was, you knew you were about to get into deep shit.

Sighing you jumped into the car. “Jimin get in the back with her just in case she tries something” Joon said to the shortest male, who kept quiet until now. He sat next to you, his eyes scanned over you as he said quietly “Soon it will all be behind you. Just don’t make it more difficult than it needs to be…” his voice had a specific ring to it. You just gave him an angry eye roll, barely controlling yourself from telling them to eat shit and die.

Closing your eyes you waited for the drive to be over. You did your best to ignore the men who seemed to not be able to shut their mouths for even a minute. You just wanted it to be done. Go do whatever they wanted you to do and leave. Slowly your mind was starting to wonder towards considering moving back to your home country, especially if Hoseok was to turn out a liar.

Suddenly you heard the doors open and then slam. You jerked up in your seat, the loud sound startling you. Then your door got opened and you saw Tae with a big grin as he said “Let’s go!”. You dragged yourself out of the vehicle and took your medical bag. They were lucky to grab you right after work. Who knows maybe they were smarter than they looked and specifically chose that moment knowing you should have such things on you then.

You followed them inside the hangar. You could feel your back slouching a bit as if to block you from all the panic that was starting to rise from within. Walking into one of the big rooms with creepy walls made of small windows you felt your heart start to beat faster and then you saw him. He was sitting on a wonky looking stool, staring at the screen of his phone.

Once he heard footsteps, he rose his head and looked your way. You weren’t able to see his eyes during your last encounter but now they were piercing threw you in all their glory. They were almost pitch black and dark like his hair. Their gaze seemed cold but also had something extremely calm in it. You could feel a shiver run threw your whole body. He surely had an intimidating vibe about him.

“I wanted to file a complaint…” he said slowly in a raspy voice, while grabbing a cigarette and lighting it up. You raised your eyebrows giving him a dumbfounded look and letting a “Huh?” fall out of your lips. He stared down at his abdomen and then you saw it, the blood trickling threw his white T, that he styled under a Hawaiian looking shirt.

You straightened yourself and cleared your throat, showing you were starting to get ticked off “Well you are sitting here smoking instead of resting and let me take a wild guess, you sure had quite the activities in between?” you seethed threw your teeth. He took a deep puff of his cigarette letting the smoke blow out his nostrils and had an amused little smile come over his lips. “Can’t recall my doctor left any ‘doctors orders’” he hummed.

You could see he was a piece of work so, you mumbled a “Well I am not your doctor. You’re lucky you got to live in the end. You weren’t looking so hot on that table.” he jerked an eyebrow putting out the cigarette and saying “well we are gonna change the you not being my doctor part” after you heard those words, you let a loud, hysterical laugh out and dropped your bag, while clapping your hands and saying “how about FUCKING NEVER IN HELL!”. You were not about to get intimidated by some thugs, your anger went way over the roof at this point.

He sighed getting up and that was when you realized, everybody else had left the room. He walked up to you slowly like you were some sort of prey. You refused to look like a helpless deer in headlights, so you rose your head higher and masked your face with fake confidence. He was taller than you. When he got close, you realized he was a really good looking man. His body was slim and toned. His raven black hair was thick and wavy.

“I don’t recall I was asking…” he said in a very calm tone, that made you even more annoyed, so you shot the next sentence without thinking “Well I don’t care and if you kill me for refusing, you will have police looking at your hands. I don’t think you want that kind of attention…” once you heard what you spat out, you cursed at yourself in your mind.

He let out a deep laugh and shook his head saying “Oh I am well aware who’s girl your are Y/N. You think just because Jung Hoseok is fucking you, it will change the fact how well acquainted I am with the police?” you started, nervously blinking and thinking of what to say next but he cut you off “If I chose to break your pretty little neck, the police would not give one fuck, it would be just another sad accident.” he took a lose strand of your hair and tucked it behind your ear saying “That would be a waste wouldn’t it? And as much as I respect you trying not to get shaken down by a mobster, the reality is your shit outta luck and I don’t think I need to threaten your life to make you understand that?”

You could feel sweat starting to form on your forehead. The way he spoke of these things had you thinking he can make your life difficult. But you decided to try and lay out facts “Well I work in the hospital for your information and not like I would be at your every whim!” he laughed again and said very slowly “You really think that if I can handle the police like a bunch of dogs, a hospital would be a challenge? You really believe that director of yours isn’t mainly money driven?”

He looked at you with an amused gaze and shook his head lightly “But don’t worry your pretty head Y/N. I rarely get hurt and so do my men… and when we do it tends to be at nights and you wont convince me, you mainly work night shifts.” You gave him a glare, the fact he knew your name and other things about you, was bugging you beyond belief. He must have squeezed info out of your friend.

Seeing your irritation he sighed and walked behind you, just to lean over your shoulder and whisper in your ear “Don’t worry I won’t take up your precious time if it won’t be an emergency. Unless you will want me to…” You scoffed taking a step away from him and muttering “Yea for sure!” irony dripped from your voice but he did not seem bothered, if anything he was looking at you confidently as he said “Time will show won’t it? But for now…” he moved his head, showing down to his abdomen and saying calmly “I’d appreciate you handle the work you have already started”.

tags: @wobblewobble822 @nansasa @kooslilhoe @yoongisducky @danielle143 @xjiminsthighsx @nochook @kootieful

[plushie-sentai]

King Ohger Drinking Headcanons

Made a little list earlier in reply to @stickers-on-a-laptop but then got carried away in my free time at work and did a whole bunch so. Have fun! I love liquor and spirits (in like. A ooh yummy this is cool bartender way and not in a I love getting drunk way) so this was honestly rlly fun to write!

Character headcanons below the cut with some little stories hidden inside lol

Sorry I’m too lazy to fix the formatting I might do it later lol

⁃ Gira isn’t accustomed to drinking, he’s young and was used to being at the orphanage all the time anyways. When he does drink with the kings he either opts for something nonalcoholic like a glass of sparkling cider or whatever someone hands him. Kaguragi likes to mess with him and give him cocktails that he SAYS aren’t alcoholic but… definitely are. (Kagu learned the hard way the first time he messed with him like this that Gira is a lightweight and ended up taking care of him overnight in Shuggodam’s castle. The only person who knows is Douga since Gira doesn’t remember and Kagu refuses to admit he felt bad about the incident or that it even happened)

⁃ Yanma - drinks watered down bud light ass beer for the longest time. He doesn’t like it, but it’s what his mentor drank and he thinks it makes him look cool. That, and it’s cheap. This is all he drinks until Himeno buys everyone a round of her favorite cocktail of the week and he realizes he REALLY likes sweet stuff. He orders fruity drinks all the time “for shiokara” but if you watch carefully they’re always sharing it and he never finishes more than one shitty beer anymore. Kaguragi hasn’t told him abt craft beer and ipas yet but he knows it’ll rock his world. Absolutely forgot to add that if Yanma DOES order a cocktail for himself openly it’ll always be a jack and coke.

⁃ Himeno - Drinks fancy cocktails all day everyday. They’re usually very sweet, sometimes extra dry depending on the mood, and she loves anything with champagne, but despite how they look they’re always a higher percentage than anything the other kings are drinking. She also loves a good wine and savors any sommelier knowledge she receives from Sebastian, Cleo, Elegance, and of course Jeramie. Her dinner parties are always coupled with tasteful optional drinks planned to fit the meal. At least once she has a drinking contest with Kaguragi and absolutely drinks him under the table to everyone’s surprise (except sebas)

⁃ Rita - Rita also doesn’t drink much, as they aren’t a fan of being drunk around others and certainly don’t enjoy the mood that comes with drinking alone, but once they’re closer with the other kings (especially Himeno, as she and Morphonia get Rita to try all kinds of new things together) they branch out into drinking here and there. More often than not, you’ll find Rita at a king celebration nursing a glass of sake, a Smokey whiskey, or some very expensive vodka on the rocks. Don’t knock it till you try it in the cold of gokkan.

⁃ Kaguragi - Kaguragi of course drinks anything hand crafted from Toufu. His favorite are the Nigori sake and Daiginjo Junmai sake made from the Suzume’s tears rice. Of course, he’s also a big fan of mead! He does enjoy a good craft beer on the occasion, and will often drink whatever Himeno is serving at her dinners, even if it’s not his usual taste. He’s just happy to be included and have an opportunity to mess with the others a little given he has the highest tolerance out of anyone other than Himeno and Suzume and finds himself getting more tipsy while the others are already fully drunk.

⁃ Jeramie - Jeramie LOVES wine. He’s been drinking it for a long time and even has some bottles that he found in his mothers things that he’s never opened (that in my heart him and Gira share at their wedding). He tends to drink a rose or any white wines as he’s cautious of spilling red wine onto his suit, but he does love a nice sweet red blend too. Whenever he goes wine shopping in the different kingdoms he brings a bottle of his favorite reds to Himeno as a gift.

⁃ Racles - Big baby with alcohol. Never drank much due to fear of letting down his guard around others. Will drink whatever Suzume gives him but mostly refuses drinks from others even after the end of the story. When he does drink, he loves Suzume’s Nigori sake or a small glass of orange blossom mead. He does his best to be the “DD” for Gira (or whoever else needs it really but he always says he’s only there for Gira) Is a very loving and silly drunk the few times he has been and always gets snuggly with Gira (familially obviously), Suzume, and Kaguragi. Gira gets a bit embarrassed but always welcomes it happily, and suzu and kagu LOVE the attention and a chance to mess with him.

⁃ Douga - douga doesn’t like to drink a lot since he works a lot, but Gira tries to make sure he and his family are invited to celebrations where douga may partake in the occasional light beer (typically whatever Kaguragi brings bc he knows it’s always good). He used to drink a decent amount when he was younger so he tries to gently help Gira make sure he isn’t gonna over do it… Gira does accidentally anyways frequently lol

⁃ Kogane and Boone obviously don’t drink alcohol but Gira still makes them Shirley temples all the time as a treat (my sister used to make them for me when we had sibling sleepovers and watch mean girls so this is mostly for me lol)

⁃ Shiokara usually drinks fruity cocktails because he enjoys sour stuff and sodas, which he now usually ends up sharing with Yanma while he poses like he’s still drinking just his shitty beer. Shiokara is also a lovey dovey drunk, but no one is surprised since he’s also like this when he’s sober. Shio is also often a caretaker after parties, even if he himself is drunk, and finds himself helping with clean up and getting people home hydrated and safe, despite usually needing a place to crash himself (hopefully into yanmas arms-)

⁃ Sebastian doesn’t drink super often as he’s worried he wouldn’t be able to keep up appearances as an older gentleman, but when he’s with just the kings or just the ishibana squad, he doesn’t mind letting the veil drop. He’s unexpectedly a bit of a flirty drunk, but knowing this he’ll usually remove his makeup before drinking just so he doesn’t accidentally creep anyone out. Even regardless of that he’s still very aware and occasionally charmingly over-careful about people’s boundaries. He usually drinks whatever he is helping to prepare for Himeno as it’s what’s available, but his favorite is Spumante champagne.

⁃ Cleo - Cleo is a conniseur of all things ishibanan, her favorites being cocktails made with crème de violette and/or white chocolate crème liquor. She doesn’t get drunk often unless she’s having a girls night with elegance and Himeno (and sometimes sebas), but when she is she somehow ends up very quiet and only speaks to either give the wisest advice you’ve ever heard or something just completely unintelligible to anyone but her.

⁃ Elegance doesn’t drink pretty much unless Cleo does, so they’re about on par there. They like to share drinks with each other on occasion so they can try everything sebas and the chef came up with for a meal or party. The first time she drinks with the other kings however they learn that she used to be a bit of a partier when she was younger and always has stories to tell about this time. Yanma (and sometimes Kagu) like to challenge her to arm wrestling but they pretty much always lose. Yanma definitely always loses.

⁃ Morphonia may have started drinking when she was a teen (just for shits n giggles) but she still has a laughably low tolerance. She tried once to drink whatever Rita’s drinking but that night… did not end well. Not that she didn’t appreciate being waited on by Himeno and Rita themselves. She’s honestly a fan of the light beers Yanma never seems to finish, and she thinks the fact he won’t admit he hates them is funny, so she drinks them for him whenever he leaves one open. I don’t think Yanma ever notices it’s her drinking them, lol. She loves to party, but she’s a very chill drunk, and definitely prefers an edible to a glass of anything.

⁃ Kuroko - will typically have the first glass out of any bottle opens for Kaguragi, mostly for safety, but he tends to enjoy the same as him other than will prefer to have beer more often than any spirit. Doesn’t drink a lot because he likes to stay on guard for Kaguragi (though he usually doesn’t need it lol)

⁃ Suzume CAN outdrink Kaguragi, and is pretty evenly matched with Himeno, but often prefers to pretend to get drunk so she can pull pranks or gossip or do whatever scheme she has her heart set on. She also loves a good Suzume’s tears nigori sake, and will occasionally partake in an edible when offered by morf. The few times she does get genuinely drunk, she almost seems exactly the same and lucid?? People are very confused by this lol

⁃ Gerojim, like other bugnarak, have “strange taste” when it comes to liquor. His favorite drinks, on the rare occasion that he feels comfortable to partake, are VERY light absinthe cocktails with a lot of sugar, a bugnarak-made kelp liquor (yes it exists irl), and buganarak algae beer (which also exists, tho very little of it lol. A French brand made some in 2022 and it’s BLUE). Despite his size, he is definitely a lightweight, and is very careful about how much he drinks as alcohol tends to have a bit of an aphrodisiac-like effect on bugnarak and gerojim gets very embarrassed about his behavior during previous fun-times. (note: this is based in studies showing that rejected male flies may turn to alcohol when offered combined with a cursory glance at articles about alcohol creating pheromone signals in fruit flies as well. No promises that this is perfectly accurate but I think it’s fun LOL)

⁃ Dethnarak tends to avoid alcohol, as he both doesn’t enjoy most of it but also is uncertain as to the effect it may have on him in larger quantities.Some worm-descending bugnarak are incapable of getting drunk and find health benefits to drinking it, and others are highly sensitive to it and can do major damage to their nervous systems when partaking. If he drinks at all, it’s usually a glass of expensive smoked mezcal tequila on the rocks. (See again cursory google search at the effect alcohol can have on earth worms, also the joke of worms being in mezcal lol)

⁃ Iroki, Nephila, and Karras have girls nights in hakabaka whenever they feel like having a little fun. Given its hakabaka, they can really have whatever they want, but iroki tends towards a very sharp Namazake sake like she drank made from the rice grown by the dybowskis, nephila a deep dry red wine like an aged Cabernet Sauvignon, and karras a nice bourbon brûlée like she’d have to keep warm and cozy in gokkan. They get as pleasantly drunk as they wish, no matter how much they drink. Their nights are always fun and maybe… occasionally involve some spice.

⁃ Akka likes a good IPA and will often bring a case of somethin new to try to hang outs with the nkosopa gang. He doesn’t drink a lot in general and tends not to get drunk just by preference.

⁃ Mayuta LOVES coming up with new fruity and sour cocktails with shiokara, but also really loves a good IPA like Akka since he keeps bringing them to hang outs. She gets tipsy at parties but isn’t crazy about being drunk either. She just likes to have fun :)

⁃ Asuba drinks a lot of seltzer drinks, basically whatever nkosopas version of white claws and trulys are. He’s happy to drink whatever Yanma and shio are supplying as long as it’s not his shitty watery beer, though. He likes a good party and drinks a decent amount while gaming with the rest of the squad. He’s definitely a goofy/clumsy drunk, telling a lot of jokes but tripping over his words and himself.

⁃ Bonus: Grub! - grub kinda drinks whatever’s put in front of him and has a surprisingly high alcohol tolerance. A lot of people think he’s a bit of a pothead but he doesn’t actually smoke or do edibles as he’s not a fan of feeling high. He can be a bit of a sad drunk, so he’s grateful to have a higher tolerance to keep himself in check, but he’s still a big softie caretaker at heart and will help clean up after parties with shiokara if he’s sober enough to do so, otherwise he tends to fall asleep easily past a certain point and he’s a VERY heavy sleeper lmao. His favorite drinks are margaritas and lemon drop shots, anything sour!

[trash-king18]

m pt. 7

i wanted y/n to be a dynamic character so you get to meet her family, and see her backstory a little bit in this one. i personally really enjoyed writing this part but as i said in pt. 6 dw there will be more smut to come

minors as always dni w/ any posts involving nsfw labels

————

“FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!!! 

despierta cumpleañero! tu tia favorita esta aquí”

happy birthday! wake up birthday boy! your favorite aunt is here 

“TIA!”

“ay Diego mírate look how big you’ve gotten mi hijo”

look at you, my boy

Diego was your younger nephew, who was turning 6 this year. Your nephews were your most beloved treasure in any world, and your time with them always made everything immediately feel better. they got that from their father. whenever you visited home you could always go back to work feeling revived. 

You and your sister (technically sister in law) has arranged a whole day of Diego’s favorites. after waking him up with a spanish birthday song, you had churros and ice cream for breakfast a tradition he had picked up from you, then you had unlimited outdoor playtime until he would eventually get bored and you’d have a picnic and feed all the ducks and even some squirrels since you weren’t supposed to. later you’d have whatever meal was his favorite at the time and then cake and presents with more of your extended family. 

and of course the pinnate which was their favorite part. 

the boys birthdays were the only times out of the whole year you saw your parents. Tia May was still around from time to time but she didn’t always make it. 

this year was no different. the whole day was full of laughter, comfort food, and playing copious amounts of hide and go seek or tag. 

and the night… was full of awkward tension between your parents and you that you tried to ignore for the boys sake. your older nephew, Matias was 8, you knew he was beginning to be able to sense the tension. but if there was one thing you and your parents still agreed on, it was putting it aside for the happiness of the boys. 

Now of course the most important birthday tradition was the boys got to stay up as late as they could manage eating all the candy from the party and pick whatever movie they wanted. So naturally they crashed on their sugar high before 10. and once they were tucked in you and your sister took a bottle of wine up to the roof and drank and caught up while getting hammered. 

it felt extra good this time. you hadn’t been home in a while, too long. after laughing and gossiping for a while about everything happening here and her routine reassurance that your parents would come around eventually… she finally asked 

“how’s things?”

that’s all she had to say. those two words were all she ever asked about your job. She knew what it was, everything you had been doing the past few years even if you couldn’t give her too many details. 

“things are… complicated.”

“ahh i see. so.. who is he”

“..what?”

“the guy”

“the- there is no guy Crystal.”

“really?”

“yes really..  what?!”

“i just haven’t seen you like this in a while.”

“like what”

“wound up. he’s a confusing one isn’t he? i can tell by your face. part of you wants to smile when you think about him but the rest of you wants to tape a picture of his face to a dart board”

“i- no i don’t know what you’re talking about”

“he’s a real challenge isn’t he”

she’s relentless, as always, she’ll work you until you give up. it was her job as a detective. 

you sigh but you say nothing 

“ohhh he’s a real big challenge.”

“just drop it”

“is he hot?”

“hey knock it off i’m not talking about this”

“ok ok fine…. so he’s really hot then?”

“ugh”

you lay back on the blankets and pillows you’d dragged up 

“crystal i came here to get away from him.. it i mean it. work.”

“mmmhmm”

she lays down with you 

“that’s good.”

“hmm?”

“you need a challenge in a guy”

“what do you mean?”

she sits back up 

“hello? you started and graduated college early with a masters in biochemical engineering and now you work for a super secret multi dimensional superhuman organization”

“shhh keep your voice down”

“sorry sorry all i’m saying is: you never let anything be easy for yourself, you don’t know how to do anything the easy way. if you were with an easy straightforward guy you’d get bored.”

“i feel like you’re saying i have bad taste”

“nooo no you just like a particularly difficult brand of stimulating”

“well my job certainly is that”

“you know next time you come visit i expect to meet him, or at the very least a picture”

“alright girl settle down now.”

you guys giggle and drink more. before you finally ask her what’s been on your mind 

“do you ever think about getting back out there? ya know finding someone new?”

“no no between the boys and work i have too much on my plate.”

“i know and i’m sorry i haven’t been around as much works just been..”

“hectic? busy? don’t worry hermana i understand 

i married spider man remember?”

“Pedro would want you to be happy”

“i am happy. I have Matias and Diego, and you”

she nudges your shoulder 

“when you can take a break from your super duties“

you two look at each other and in your drunken haze you burst out laughing 

“Super duties”

you guys chat about simple nothings for a little while longer before she sits up. 

“I’m going to bed, don’t stay up here too late ok?”

she kisses your forehead with an overdramatic “Mwah” and then clambers over to the steps. 

you look out at the city skyline, you can’t help but remember how much you miss it. summer nights on this roof. mix of latin music and rnb drifting out of dimly lit windows. you and your brother begging your parents to let you go ice skating in the central city. you had so many memories here, but you still couldn’t seem to manage to enjoy those memories without the deep twang of guilt ripping into your chest right after. 

tears start to fall gently and you sniff and wipe 

your face. before raising your glass 

“salud, mi hermano. te extraño”

cheers my brother, i miss you. 

you’re too wrapped up in your emotions and nostalgia to notice the shadow lurking on the roof of the building behind you.

you finally make your way downstairs to pass out in your sisters bed. 

and Lyla pops up on the shadows wrist watch.

“Was it really necessary to follow her?”

“im making sure she’s alright. she was almost attacked the other night”

“is that the only reason?”

“Lyla why didn’t you tell me about her history? her family?”

“it wasn’t for me to tell, she asked me not to include it in the records. so i may have bypassed the system and taken.. some things out. Sorry boss.”

“It’s fine. i’ll be back to HQ soon.”

“Miguel? don’t project what you lost onto her. that’s not fair to her. she’s a real living person, and she doesn’t deserve that.”

“mm.”

————

taglist:

@urmotherswhor3 @marcswife21 @l3laze

[cshfvck]

𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 "𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧" 𝐑𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐱 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐞! 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

‧͙⁺˚･༓☾ 　☽༓･˚⁺‧͙

Genre: Angst/Hurt - Possible comfort

a/n: Writing again yay, this fic will probably get very dark and touch upon some touchy subjects, otherwise enjoy the angst!

cw: abuse, mentions of assault, traumatic past, drinking issues, addiction, mental health problems

Male reader!

‧͙⁺˚･༓☾ 　☽༓･˚⁺‧͙

You want to be loved so bad. It's disgusting. It's fearful. It's agonizing. It's the sin of your entire existence. You don't need to feel real, you don't need love to make you whole. It's just the thought of why you cant get to indulge in humanism. You feel so backed off from everyone, almost like there's a wall between you and every single person you have ever met. You watch from the broken, discarded window at the people beneath you as they fall in and out of love. You were never one to like staying inside yet you want to stay ever so badly right now. You clung onto the loveless, hopeless, misshapen, relationship that used you in every way.

You used your entire "teenage-hood" to avoid this feeling. The feeling of being so pathetically alone and even found found feeling of love is like a sick comedy that loops itself to the point its hysterical. It's like you they all deserve love and you don't. That's so pathetically visible to you, making bile rise in your throat. For they will play outside, the sun kissing soft skin, pavements scrape gentle knees, while you stay inside the window, skin breaks on your palms. Blood sinfully drips into the cracks and crevices of the shattered window. Velvet red, just like their lips... his lips. Blood slowly pooled beneath you as you stared at it, e/c unseeing, looking like red wine.

red wine.

You were drinking red wine and must've passed out, your face was exhausted and bruised. Scars littered your entire being, whether they be from him, training, or anything else. Half lidded eyes scanned around you, noticing you had gone out drinking by yourself and sighed. The wine bottle in your hand started to slip, you gripped it tighter and snarled, nails snagging the bottle while you took a violent swig, red wine dripping into your palms. Your entire body was violently trembling and aching from the alcohol, how long had you even been at the bar?

The wine you were drinking tasted bitter, the taste invading your mouth as it sadistically seemed to make you feel better. The fade of memories slowly fading your mind as you winced, the buzz getting more the more you drank. You wanted to throw up, you hated all of this. You couldn't help but drink more, the trauma in your veins slowly calming into a calm river as you drank, memories becoming a fuzzy blues, flashbacks seeming to fade away in the alcohol.

You seemed to have quiet a few eyes on you, not that you cared. You stayed silent and drank away, needing more and more of the terrible taste the alcohol left behind in your mouth, the burning in your throat making you moan under your breath quietly, hands weak holding a whiskey bottle you were now drinking from, your face a light red from being drunk. Slowly, you rubbed your eyes and whined under a stretch, your limbs violently trembling while you sat a little straighter. Shaky hands ran their way through your hair, trying to calm yourself before drinking again. Putting down the bottle, a sluggish hand rubbed your entire face and threw the hair out of your face. A present frown was obvious on your face, snarking at a man that walked past you, seeming as if he just wanted some fun.

Groaning, you gave up and gave into wanting more, the hole in you needing to be filled somehow. You trembled while drinking away, your face red as you slumped against the chair behind you. Unpleasant memories flashing across your mind, a certainly unpleasant one making you feel repulsed. Hands strongly gripped your waist, trying desperately to forget the memory. Fingers slid in a dirty manor down your throat, drool dripping from your mouth as you whined, your body shaking. You shook your head and snarled at the memory, finishing off yet another drink while you felt your eyes getting heavy, your body trembling and littered in small cuts and bruises.

"Y/N."

A voice spoke up from behind the bar, it was a bartender that you knew. Grunting, you look at the man, his face soft and full of concern, your own face faultering as you saw his caring look. He slid you some water and told you to drink up, noticing how he walked out from behind the bar to make a call. Yu simply shrugged and drank the water, it quickly soothed your throat, a whine escaping your throat while a man came up behind you.

Calloused hands held your slightly exposed waist, a wince coming from you as you turned to face the stranger, not recognizing him but recognizing that look in his eyes... noticing how lustful they were you felt repulsed and snarked out at the man, not in the mood for any quickies right now.

"Fuck off"

A quick snap came from you, the man clearly not happy as he grabbed you, a hand slowly soothing your side. His touch made you dizzy, the alcohol kicking in as he attacked your neck, you told him to get lost and shoved him off, watching as he walked away in defeat, wiping away the drying drool on your hand. Sighing, you rested your head on the bar table and started to drift off, being exhausted and drunk.

"L/N."

price. what the fuck was he doing here? You shot up and looked up at your superior. Eyes widening you felt yourself cower, price stared at you and sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose and turned around on his heels, you felt disgusted in yourself. Why do you do this to yourself?

Before they could find you again, you stood on your unstable legs and walked out of the bar. You walked the empty streets of where ever you were staying at the minute. You hated all this, you could never catch a break. mission, move, stay, mission, move, stay. It's the same ridiculous and lonely cycle that makes your stomach turn and twist. The same way it was twisting now, you felt nausea wash over you as you heaved, grabbing and running to a bin near you before throwing up whatever remained of the last bit of food in your system. Bile burned your throat violently, the taste making you cough into the bin, your throat and eyes both burning. Grabbing the bottle of alcohol in your pocket you downed it, getting rid of that forbidden taste of bile.

Slowly, you walked away from the bin and headed back to base, your eyes heavy and your limbs aching. The burning of tears fell to the floor while you walked, ignoring the tears as you drank more. You were soon a mess, collapsing onto the sidewalk as you curled up into a ball, knees tucked into your chest, head tucked into your knees, shaky hands running their way through your hair. Cycle. This cycle sucks.

The streets were pretty empty but you heard footsteps approaching you, Simons voice echoed throughout the streets as he found you. He looked down at you, his expression unreadable due to his mask, a hand held your chin as he made you look at him, you looked wrecked and hurt.

"Y/n. Y/n, what the fuck have you been up to eh? Getting pissed out your mind 'n draggin' yourself out 'ere?"

Simon sighed as he picked you up, seeing that look in your eyes made him disappointed and sad. Pity covered his face as he crouched to your height, a hand running though your hair. You and Simon were pretty close but you didn't think any thing of it, you two were simply just friends. You cried as you grabbed onto Simon, finally breaking down and letting all the emotions loose, all the trauma, hurt, abuse, everything coming down and crashing onto you at once. Simon sighed heavily and hauled you up into his arms. Lifting up his mask a little, he placed a tiny kiss on your temple before pulling his mask back down and walking with you back to base as he carried your trembling, drunk body.

Why do you have to do this to yourself?

ridiculous.

‧͙⁺˚･༓☾ 　☽༓･˚⁺‧͙

...tbh i wanted to hurry up and get this over with so i could write something else i hate how this turned out crying rn, hopefully you somewhat find it okay xc

[yukisideas]

NEEDY.

“ älskling. “ the soft high pitched voice called out, making the said man turn his head over his shoulder to look at the smaller. “ .. yes dear? “ he questioned, putting down his utensils to give his attention to the other.

the other fluttered his eyes up at him with his puffed up red cheeks and half lidded eyes, “ .. do you still have that wine..? i finished mine. “ he asked making the taller widened his eyes,

“ you drank the whole bottle?! “ he exclaimed, making the other nod his head in response, “ that’s enough, mon cheri.. you drank enough for tonight. “ he softened his eyes with a frown on his face.

the other giggled, “ hehe, sorry älskling.. but you were too cute that i couldn’t help myself to ask for more.. “ he boldly stated making the demon’s face turn crimson “ m-mon cheri, that’s enough.. head to bed okay? “ Vox said making the Ike frown “ but.. i want you to be in bed.. with me.. “

Yep.

Those words broke Vox.

The demon mentally malfunctioned for a few minutes until he regained his composure, sighing “ I’ll eat first and I’ll be there with you.. Is that okay, Ike? “ Ike stayed quiet for a bit as if he’s thinking about it, “ ..Fine. “ He nodded, walking back to his shared bedroom with Vox

Vox smiled softly at the Novelist’s behaviour earlier, “ What a needy boy today. “ He mumbled following with a faint chuckle.

“ Back to cooking. “

After the demon finished eating his meal, he tied his black mane up into a ponytail with his golden eyes complimenting his features as he entered the room he shared with Ike, “ mon cheri? “ he called out, seeing the Novelist working on his new book.

The scene in front of Vox made his lips curl into a soft smile, he really admires the man that used to ignore his flirty remarks is now finally his husband

Yep!

They are married with matching rings with their initials carved onto it. ( does it feel familiar? hehe~ )

“ what are you writing, mon cheri? “ He asked, looming over his sitting figure with his eyes scanning the words that are placed onto the paper “ ..another chapter? impressive. “ He complimented making the Novelist smile “ it’s the last chapter for this book, I have to make at least a thousand copies for it and sign them for my fans. “ He said with his closed eyes.

“ well then, mon cheri.. whatever you do, i’m proud of you. “ He said, caressing his brown locks slowly

“ ..remember that for me. “ He mumbled, lifting his chin making the other stare into his eyes as Vox does the same to him. “ you’re so pretty like this. “ and with that, he pressed his lips onto Ike’s making the other moan softly in the kiss but returned it passionately.

after a while, they both pulled away gasping for air “ it felt nice doesn’t i– “ his sentence was cut off when he saw the novelist’s eyes tearing up.

Fuck.

He’s so pretty.

“ m..mon cheri? is there something wrong? “ he asked, concerned but is responded with a tight hug by the smaller making him freeze up for a while but he wrapped his arms around that damn waist of his.

“ i really.. missed this.. “ Ike sobbed into his shoulder as Vox chuckled in response, “ hmm.. do you now? “ making him nod in response, “ work’s been getting to me.. ‘m sorry.. “ He spoke up with a shaky voice following with a choked out sob, “ that’s it, let it out.. you should really do this often. “ His smile was wiped with a worried expression.

“ it’s not healthy for you to be suffering like this, i’m here okay? you’re not fighting this alone.. i’ll be here with open arms. “ he reassured Ike which made him sob more into his shoulder

“ ..mon cheri, look at me. “ Vox demanded, lifting Ike’s chin up slowly “ ..I am here for you, i’m your husband. I’m here to love and give you all the support you need. “ he paused, “ ..and i’m here to remind you, the world doesn’t deserve you and you deserve everything nice and shiny. “

“ älskling– “ his mouth was zipped when Vox put his pointer finger onto his lips “ ah, ah, ah.. you’re doing that thing again. You are enough and that’s how much I love you. “

“ ..promise me you’ll tell me your struggles and always.. always tell me the truth. “ He said, taking out his pinky finger making the other wrap his around Vox’s. “ löfte. “ He mumbled.

“ Good, I’ll go do my night chores now– ah! “ He yelped in surprise when Ike grabbed his wrist and dragged him to bed, “ ..Don’t leave yet. “ He begged as if telling the demon to stay longer.

He sighed in defeat, caressing his palm onto his cheeks “ Five more minutes, mon cheri. “ Ike smiled, nodding as he kissed the other’s cheeks and then the forehead. “ Five minutes. “ He giggled, making his way down to Vox’s collarbone placing his kisses onto it.

“ Y-You’re quiet bold today.. “ Vox nervously said, “ ..Maybe we can go further, Let’s extend to one more hour. “ Ike said, the corner of his lips curling into a smirk.

“ as you wish, mon cheri. “

PHEW!

short but comforting!(?) i guess..?

my motivation suddenly vanished once i started writing, so it’s kinda scuffed and also this is not proofread so ;w; bare w me

words ; 938

time taken ; half an hour..?

[sailtomarina]

Choose me

They started over a shared appreciation over a particular bottle of merlot Malfoy insisted was far too good to waste on “unappreciative plebs,” not that Hermione knew the difference. To her, all that mattered was that the wine went down without a bite and paired well with her charcuterie.

One glass became two, then a whole second bottle, and then Hermione realized she’d had far too much to drink in too short a span of time. The words spilled out of her before she could take them back.

“Gods, you are so pretty. And smart. Did I ever tell you how glad I am that you can actually argue with me?”

Not five minutes later, he pressed her into the booth with the full length of his body and she drank him in as ardently as she had the wine.

One hour and a couple of sober-up potions later, they yanked off their clothes in Malfoy’s ridiculous flat and didn’t leave for the rest of the weekend.

One month later, Theo dubbed her “Granger the Conquerer” for her relentless dominance of the games at their weekly get together. That was three times as fast as it had taken him to accept Blaise in the Snake Pit, and they were dating.

Three years later, a still alive and now wizened Crookshanks joined them in bed with a box in his mouth which he distastefully spit out onto Hermione’s lap while Draco struggled to hold back a laugh. He’d ply the familiar with his favorite treats later.

“…Draco.” She uttered his name in a disbelieving whisper and stared down at the sapphire velvet as if afraid it might transform into a serpent and bite her.

“Hermione.”

In the span of the five minutes it took for him to take up the ring and—smirk and dimples fully present—to ask her to “Choose me,” Hermione had turned into a blubbering mess of a witch with curls double their usual size and an alarmed cat at the end of the bed unsure whether to escape or maul the human who’d tricked him into taking part.

WC 350

Just another attempt at trying to write short pieces while still conveying the mood/setting I want. It's so, so hard to not fill in the gaps. I don't know how other writers do it!

Twitter prompt from DramionePrompts

[whathebeep]

The New Durge Epilogue (Spoilers OBVI cause I need to write a different ending for that) (this is super self indulgent but also if it's well received maybe I'll make a fic of it??) Astarion Romance centered!

Explanation of the dark urge route I have in mind under the cut- I'll probably do a true evil one another time but this is more chaotic good so all the companions are there!

More or less this will be based on a good Durge who took Bhaal's blessing and became an undead assassin in order to stop the netherbrain. Did this from the perspective of " We're not strong enough to stop the brain but if I submit myself to the urge and take the power we have a better chance." Sacrifice for the greater good type idea, with the goal of fixing it somehow after the brain is gone.

Six months ago, they disappeared. 6 months ago they had transformed into the slayer as Bhaal's chosen and destroyed the nether brain, goring it with its claws and teeth to ensure the grand design would never come to pass. When everyone regrouped on the docks, those who remained were off to celebrate. But at some point the group realized their bhaalspawn friend was gone, nowhere to be found.

It was easy to tell that the murders in the city were of someone's doing- murders that stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the dead who fell from the ilithid attacks and toppled buildings- but despite those who remained in Baldur's Gate trying to find you, it was to no avail.

And then came a letter in the mail.

All gathered at the original campsite to celebrate- Wyll and Karlach returned from the hells, Astarion from the Underdark. Gale from his prestigious teaching position, Halsin from the now former shadowlands, Shadowheart from her wandering adventures. Lae'zel's projection was there too, as were Minsc and Jaheira, two grand heroes who were more than proud to see the next generation of heroes gathered.

Yet there was still a missing presence at the camp. Friends reminisced about you, others kept silent and masked their sorrows about your missing presence in a bottle of wine. Withers gave his toast and praised everyone for their parts in saving the world and everyone drank to that. Mirth and good tidings were in the air as everyone drank to their victories...it was Astarion who spotted them. He dropped the bottle he had and it shattered on the ground as he stared, and the others turned to look too. The music stopped and all was silent.

Lumbering over the log was you. It was you! Shadowheart called out for you but was stopped short by Halsin, a firm hand on her shoulder.

In your hand you held a blade- one just like Orin's. Dried blood and dirty stained your old camp clothes, and your otherwise cheery bright eyes glowed red. You lumbered forward, white knuckling your dagger.

It wasn't one of your companions who broke the silence, no- it was Withers.

" You're foolish to have brought them here, Bhaal."

The way Durge twitched, it was clear more than ever as they came into the light what had happened. You had been consumed by your urge, a far greater mad dog than Orin had ever been. Orin at least had her wits about her, but you, here and now? All that you were now was a puppet for Bhaal.

Tears seared from Karlach as they singed away the second they fell. " Soldier..."

Withers approached first, if not slowly.

" Here they are amongst friends. Among memories of goodness and mirth. While here they were free from you, free from their birth right as bhaalspawn. Bhaal, you are but a fool for bringing them here. They may have made their choice and sacrificed everything to be your chosen, to be gifted the power to end the netherbrain...but by bringing them here, there is but a chance to save them. Their destiny is not yours to stitch, god of murder...but their own. That much they are owed. I, however, cannot intervene. These comrades, friends, fellow heroes...they can."

It took the strength of the whole group to bring you down - to stop the slayer form you had changed into and force you into bindings strong enough to keep you still.

While recovering and healing from their injuries, the mood throughout the camp was somber. Seeing you like this, a shell of your former self, it hurt. It hurt so many that cared and loved you.

Withers helped keep you restrained and brought you to his workshop while the others discussed options- discussed how to save you from this unforgiving fate. Jaheira, Halsin and even Gale spoke of magical means- how to potentially ask Silvanus to aid you or even find a magical means to remove Bhaal's hold over you. Shadowheart suggested potentially reaching out to Dame Alin and Isobel to see about intervention from Selune.

Wyll comforted Karlach, who was still rather injured and still overwhelmed by what had happened.

Astarion was the one who spoke up that until an answer was found, that you would need to be kept under watch and key, perhaps even by one of them. No jail held by mere guards in any city would be well fortified enough. That's when Withers returned, Scratch by his side.

" I believe our furry friend has found a solution for that." In his hand he raised the astral prism. The very device that imprisoned Orpheus, that housed the Emperor and kept the party safe from the tadpoles in their brains.

" Are you...are you really suggesting we cage them in there until we find an answer?" Astarion asked in disbelief, and he nodded.

"It is the strongest prison we all know of...and we would have the time we need to find an answer." Gale frowned as he spoke up. This situation wasn't to anyone's likings, but it was better than leaving you out and at risk of killing more.

" And what are we to do if there is no saving them?" Jaheira spoke up, arms crossed. " What if we are delaying the inevitable for them? Would it not be best to end their suffering?" She motioned to you on the ground, and Minsc spoke immediately.

" Are they not worth the attempt? Did they not save each and every one of us?" He motioned amongst the group. " Astarion, Minsc is sure they helped you be free of Cazador. And Minsc is sure they saved bear Halsin from a cage! And did they not do everything they could to save our fire hearted friend from burning to crisp?"

Words of agreement rose from the others in the group. " They sacrificed everything...even succumbing to their birthright as Bhaalspawn to save Baldur's Gate- to save the world from the Absolute and the Brain. We will do everything we can to save them, as they had done for us." Halsin spoke to the group, and all were in agreement. Even Karlach spoke up.

" I might not be of much help in the hells, but we'll help as soon as we can. That much I can promise."

"I will come assist as soon as possible. The war against the Lich Queen will be concluded as fast as possible- but if my direct aid is ever needed, do not hesitate to call on me." Lae'zel spoke- even she had showed up as soon as the fighting started.

Wyll agreed with a nod. " They helped save me from my contract and my father...many of us wouldn't have our freedom without them. It's only right we help fight for theirs." With the overall agreement, Withers stepped forward and his hands glowed once more. A light green hue filled the astral prism and then enveloped you, your bound body turning to mist and being sent inside. After a few moments his hands stopped glowing, but the glow of the prism remained- this time a deep red.

" They are healed and bound inside now. They will not be able to leave, but if needed to any of you may travel inside if not to check on their condition. However...one of you must carry the prism with you. I cannot be the keeper of it." Those in the group looked uncertain. Discussions rose amongst the group of what to do, how to proceed- some outright couldn't. Halsin couldn't due to the children- Lae'zel, Wyll and Karlach couldn't - bringing you and potentially losing the prism in another plane would be disastrous.

It was then that Astarion finally spoke again. He had been the closest to you, your nearest and dearest friend and lover. He had been keeping his feelings all under wraps but there was no denying the remorse painted on the vampire's face. He had missed you- he still misses you.

" I will. I'll keep them with me in the Underdark. There's more than enough vampire spawn down there who I trust are strong enough to help guard it- not that I would let it leave my person." Withers nods, handing over the prism to Astarion. The pale vampire stares down at it, running his thumb over the runes on it. He bites back his tears. " We...we should all get some rest and discuss this in the morning. Please."

Everyone turns to their cots that night, and Astarion retreats to his tent to sleep as well- he'll get up with the others, but will need to be mindful of the sun as it rises. The prism is kept close to his chest as he curls up to sleep, tears falling from his face.

They have to save you- they WILL save you, if it's the last thing he ever does.

[rabbittf2x]

Hey! I saw that your asks were open :) Could you write some headcannons about Demoman with a Spaniard S/O??

Thank you!! <3

Hope u enjoy :) <3

Demoman with a Spaniard!Reader

It didn’t matter where you came from to Demoman. He was gonna love you no matter what. Though you both spoke English, he asked you from time to time to teach him some Spanish

Demo tried to speak your native tongue to you while severely drunk. You thought it was hilariously cute as he sat before you, slurring his words

“Te…” Demo’s eye drooped as his head slowly bowed

You took your hands off the blackjack table and folded them across your chest. You laughed silently to yourself, watching him drunkenly try to tell you something

“Te amo… dearie.” Demoman slurred

Your heart warmed, and a big smile graced your features. “Yo también te amo, amor.” You purred back

Demo liked to try different alcohols/wine from Spain. You often brought him some, as he was always open to giving them a go (what I meant by him ‘giving them a go’ was that he drank the whole bottle in one sitting but anyway)

But if you didn’t like the excessive intake of alcohol, or you were worried for his poor liver, Demoman could actually stop for a bit. Not for too long though…

See, you were so seductive to him. He loved your Spanish accent and how certain words rolled off your tongue. If you were to come in real close, and snake an arm around him while purring in his ear… Demo would do anything you wanted

Definitely wanted to take a trip to Spain with you! God, it’d be so fun! Demo had drunken daydreams about the two of you running around your hometown, with plenty of alcohol and Spanish food to enjoy. Maybe he’d even bust out his sombrero if you let him…

[theslowpath]

i think (if i remember correctly) you have a shipcest big brother au with tenth, so may i know some more about that? when did the two of you realize you had feelings for each other? what was it like to realize that? how did you both go about exploring your feelings? were either of you reluctant to peruse your feelings or was it easy to just go for it?

- @freakkisser

Ooo this is one of my favorites! Surprisingly I haven't written any actual fics for my big brother tenth au, I've only roleplayed it with my friend. I'm planning on actually writing something soon, though.

(Long post)

Okay so in this au, donna noble is our single mother. I'm in early high school and ten is in college. We were really close growing up, but since ten started attending college classes he was always too busy to spend time with me. This made me really sad because he was the only one who ever really kept me company, as I got bullied in school and had no friends.

He went to the same high school as me when he was younger and was fairly popular. He wasn't like a jock or anything but he got along well with everyone and everyone who knew him thought he was just a funny, smart, chill guy. No one ever suspected that he was gay, much less that he was attracted to his younger brother who was a small child at the time.

Ten had already been attracted to me for years by the time I started to develop a crush on him around fifth grade, but had no idea what these feelings meant or how to describe them so I just ignored it.

The day we finally confessed was when we were home alone. I had come home from school after an exhausting day and to my surprise he was there because classes had let out early that day unexpectedly. We talked and I ended up showing him some of my poems (hes the only person allowed to see my art + writing) and it led to us having a deeper heart-to-heart discussion.

I admitted to ten that I had been really lonely since he started classes and I missed spending time with him. He said he missed me too and decided to spend the whole night helping me study, since I was failing some classes and really needed it.

During our study sesh, I brought a bottle of wine to his room and we drank together. I wasn't expecting to get as drunk as I did. He got a little tipsy, but I ended up absolutely hammered. I ended up sitting on his lap and making out with him while we both confessed our feelings to each other. At first, he was absolutely panicking with shame and guilt but he ultimately went through with having sex with his younger brother, who was almost (but not quite) blackout drunk at this point.

A few hours later we had both sobered up and were cuddling in his bed. We had fallen in love ages ago and the cat was finally out of the bag. There was an overwhelming feeling of guilt and disgust for both of us but it was overshadowed by our mutual obsession toward each other.

We were officially boyfriends in secret now, and after a while the guilt was gone from both of us and all we cared about was being happy. It wasn't abnormal for me to sleep in his room and have "sleepovers" with him prior to this. We would stay up late playing video games and watching movies together and I'd end up falling asleep in there all the time. Donna had no reason to suspect anything, so she didnt.

[jigensnacks]

I. Fucking. Forgot to include one bit of information to the Jigen Alcohol Preferences Headcanon post.

This one is short, but I'm going to drop it under a Read More anyway.

Content warnings: alcohol, (a bit of) alcohol abuse.

what else would i write about lmao.

Anyway. His go-to is usually the expensive stuff, when they're riding the high of a successful heist, he splurges, buys the good stuff, not the usual bottle of rotgut for twenty bucks. Drains at least two with Lupin. Sometimes with Goe too, but he's got his own preferences, ones that don't mesh with the rest of the gang.

If they're going to drink some variant of whiskey, they trust Jigen's pick. Because they let Lupin pick a bottle once, and it ended up being one of the worse things they had to drink.

So the fun is had. Alcohol is drank merrily. They burned through the high-end stuff. And all the other alcohol in the hideout. The morning is going to be a disaster, but they'll be alright the day after. I have a headcanon about the whole gang, plus Zenigata, being pretty much functional alcoholics, with two exceptions - those being Jigen, for he slips into the non-functional territory once in a while, and Fujiko, because she drinks far less than the rest. But that's for an entirely different post.

But Jigen, he doesn't want to get used to the high-end alcohol. And to keep himself appreciative of its value, he wanders off, buys the worst, cheapest bottle of whatever (the worst thing he's found so far was a 200ml bottle of some no-name vodka for two bucks) and he just sits with it, stares it down, and he knows it'll be a horrible experience. But that's the point.

There's a reason he reaches for the bottom-shelf supply after indulging in actual quality alcohol - to never forget how good he has it, that he's not restricted to this gas-station swill that surely only exists to keep people on the wagon. It keeps his taste buds sharp, he refuses to forget the taste of bad liquor, he doesn't want his standards to rise too much. He wants to keep his appreciation of the higher arts, he wants to remember the stark contrast between cheapshit wine and the bottle worth half the monthly salary of some office clerk.

Even though Jigen feeds his habit with mid-range liquors, stuff like the aforementioned fifth of whiskey for twenty bucks, he still reaches for the bottom shelf every once in a while. Partly because he doesn't want to get spoiled, so to speak, partly because his self-worth is sort of tied to his choice of poison. If the job ends in a catastrophe, he grabs the worst drink he can find. A little self-harm never hurt anyone, right?

[redheadspark]

4. A outdoor movie marathon with Druig. That's all i got for ya! Happy writing! :)

A/N - STELLA! This is perfect! I love this for our mind controller, thanks for requesting this!

Whole

Summary - It was the simple things that made it all worthwhile

Warnings - Just some fluff with a HINT of angst

The last of the kernel popped and you grinned widely, getting a few more pieces of candy that you knew you and Druig loved and placing them on the tray.  It was filled to the brim with all that you needed: sweets, a big bucket of popcorn, two tall glasses for your drinks that were chilling in the cooler that Druig brought along with him, and a set of napkins.

Kingo let you two use his rooftop terrace at his apartment in the city since he was out of town on business.  You actually were housesitting for him since he was only going to be gone for a few days and all of his exotic plants needed watering.  Of course, Druig had to tag along since you two were a pair, and Kingo had a few spare rooms available for you two to use.  But you both used the one main guest room, Kingo leaving some cash to say thanks, and you two were bi-curiously living just like Kingo.  

One of his main avenues of entertainment was his private rooftop terrace that had an outdoor movie projector.  You loved it, seeing it for the first time when he invited everyone over for a house warming party.  The projector itself showed on the concrete wall, big enough for any nosy neighbors to see if they wanted to try and pry.  He would have some review nights there from movies he worked on, let alone massive season finales from the big TV shows.  

Now it was just for you and Druig to use.

Walking out onto the rooftop, you saw Druig fiddling around with the remote control to start the projector and get the movie qued up.  It was a action flick that both you and Druig were looking forward to seeing, and since Kingo had the massive connections in the movie industry, he was letting you two see it a week before it was going to be released.  It was another way of him saying thank you, not trusting another set of people with his home.  

“Here we are,” You said as you placed it on the small coffee table in front of the loveseat you two were going to use, “We close to getting it ready?”

“Yep, though if I beak this, it’ll cost me an arm and a leg,” Druig muttered as he pushed a few more buttons.  The wall then was illuminated, Druig grinning as he saw the menu of the movie quad up and ready to push play.  He looked back at you, grinning in victory, “See?  I can handle it!”

“Would you like a gold star?” You teased as you grabbed a few pieces of popcorn to throw in your mouth.  Druig glared playfully, walked over to take a few pieces himself before he threw one at you to hit you on the nose, “Hey!”

“Don’t tease,” He warned as he then walked over to the cooler, opening the top and then reaching in to grab the chilling red wine, “We can thank Makkari for the wine.  She found it when she was at the winery with Ajak and Sersi,”

“She does have good taste with wine,” You commented as Druig was uncorking the alcohol, “Remember that one time she got us that great Mascato for our one year anniversary?” 

“We drank that whole bottle in one night,” Druig said in a chuckle, pouring out the two glasses.  You walked over the the loveseat, sinking into the plump pillows as Druig gave you a glass that was chilled.  He then took one of the threw blanket in hand, sprawling it over your lap before you could protest or say no.  You gave him a look as he sat next to you with his own glass, humming in contentment.

“I’m not that cold, Druig,” You said to him as he shook his head and took a small drink of wine.

“Not gonna take that risk and get ya sick,” Druig reasoned as he threw an arm around your shoulders to let you snuggle into him.  You took a small drink, the sweet taste of the wine hitting your lips while the stars were already seen high above you in the black sky.  Being in the city, you would hardly see any stars because of all of the lights in the skyscrapers.  But then again, on certain nights like this one, there would be some stars that would pop out and be right enough to notice.  Kingo’s apartment was in the heart of city, to no one’s surprise, so the view of the city around the rooftop terrace was enchanting.  Especially on nights like this one, 

“So, we got our popcorn here,” You explained, reaching over to the tray that was waiting for you two on the table and placing it on both your lap and Druig’s lap, “Coated in butter, per your request.”

“Thank you!” Druig thanked you as he pecked you on the cheek with his lips.

“And our favorite kinds of M&M’s, some sour patches, my own Bon Bons, and some butterfingers,” You kept explain as Driug was looking at the spread that you made for the movie night.

“Looks perfect,” Druig complimented you, giving you a kind stare as you grinned back softly at him, “Thank you.”

“Of course,” You replied, taking a few M&M’s in your hand to pop in your mouth as Druig shook his head.

“No I mean…thank you.  These last few months were not the best, and you’ve helped me through a bad time of my life.  I don’t think I can thank you enough.”

It was true, Druig’s life the past few months have been a bit rocky.  His relationship with his old foster family was rough and uneasy, and even with the love and support of his new guardian Ajak and you, along with the others, he was trying to find his way again in life.  Druig knew that he had to jump through more hoops and over come more obstacles.   Druig was tough though, he was tough and determined to find the light at the end of the tunnel.  

He would claim that you were his light at the end of the tunnel.  Thena, a friend of yours from your local gym, brought Druig along for an outing at the bar with her friend Gilgamesh.  She figured you two had a lot in common since you both were readers and loved to talk about philosophy.  And she was right, you both were swapping stories and theories over ciders and beers for at least two hours.

You two were attached ever since.

“You don’t have to thank me for something like that, you know that Druig,” You reminded him as you leaned over to kiss his lips softly.  You felt him lean into him carefully, trying not to spill the food and wine in your hands as you tasted his own wine from his lips.  You would help him over and over if you could, hugging him when he cried, standing nearby as he lashed out and scream, you did it all with no need to retreat. He was more than the pain he had to endure.

He was love, pure love.

Druig pulled away and pecked you on the forehead as you snuggled into him and looked at the screen, Druig hitting the play button and the movie started to play on the wall. As the movie was playing, you are snacking away and watching with wide eyes and your full attention as to what was going on.  

However, Druig was watching you.  A smile on his face, the warmth back on his cheeks and in his soul knowing that you were always going to be his anchor when life got tough.  He counted his blessing for all the times you should have walked away from him when he was mean or cruel, all the times when you should have thrown your hands up in defeat when it was getting so complicated.  Yet you stayed, holding your ground and never once showing a once or resistance.  

Leaning his head on yours, he finally tore his eyes away to watch the movie, knowing this was where he always wanted to be: with the one person who mended his brokenness and made it whole. 

The End

June Spring Prompts

[aeneidjellyfish]

Post traumatic Megatron disorder support group (2)

bunch of headcanons, very time consuming. At first i just want to write about transform addict but...（ '▿ ' ）

*tw: graphic descriptions of violence ,character death mentioned

————previously: Tarn met Starscream

The corridor was empty, and not a single mech could be seen. It was said to be Starscream's residence , but it was actually the same place as the office building. Tarn stared at the number "75" on the display screen of the teleporter without authority for a while, and then chose to spray a can of polish onto the wall. He could have blasted a few holes, but unfortunately now those two fusion canons of his right arm were removed.

Except for the star lights on the ceiling and the decorations of several F15 models of different colors, and the bright wall decorations, the rest of the things in Starscream' s room were simply arranged, as if no one was living here. He dug out stacks of work records and data pads from the cabinet, as well as some high - end polishes and bottles of energon wine. Tarn drank at least a whole bottle.

Starscream couldn ' t be more wrong. He didn't know Tarn at all. Even if have no grudges, still have a urge to destroy somthing. Maybe it's his occupational disease. Has already walked around on this floor, and the exit is the terrace in the compartment besides the elevator. Tarn thought about the possibility of turning into a tank and driving down the terrace for a while. He had not been back to Cybertron for a long time and he had no idea about the situation outside. So what if he could escape from Starscream? That aircraft even removed his communication module. There was no chance to contact the remnants of DJD, let alone the suppression collar on the pipeline and the Autobots who were said to be eyeing him. The polished wall was shiny and smooth, and he could see the blurred purple color on his face from the small patch of metallic luster.

Tarn put the mask back on, again. Not wanting to think about why Starscream gave him such a mask, he just put it on his face almost instinctively. Maybe it was to cover his scarred face, even though it had been seen by Starscream; maybe it was to cover the roar that was almost pouring out of the spark. He had experienced resurrection from the dead so many times that it became like a joke. Among them, because of Megatron, he put on a mask for the first time and transformed into an outstanding representative of the Decepticons, which can also be said to be the representative of the Decepticon leader. Everything he did was dedicated to Megatron. Cybertron doesn' t pay attention to any beliefs, but he automatically regards Megatron as his savior and regards the path shown by Megatron as his path. Tarn once questioned whether he was just being used as a convenient weapon by the Emperor of Destruction, but he realized that what he was doing made him recognized, made him feel unprecedentedly satisfied. From Damus to Glitch to the Warden of the GrindCore prison to the leader of DJD, his powers have been tested on from inorganic metals to Cybertronians one after another. One day, between the annihilation of sparks and visions, he suddenly had value, and the recognition of value comes from the mech he has admired for a long time. Can he find any better gift from fate than this.

Of course not, because now it seems that this is just an endless disaster that severely damages his life. Now that his race is finished, and the faith he should keep has been abandoned by "God", Tarn will not admit in his spark that the fight is over, it's will never end. The history of Cybertron is the history of war. The powers and characteristics that all Cybertronians are born with and far exceed those of most races are almost created for it. They fight each other out of instinct. Tarn's brain module's underlying program had suppressed a thought command for a long time. He was indeed used as a weapon and then simply abandoned. All the recognition, the chilling fame, the wails and pleas for mercy he had received before had become instruments of torture that in turn tortured him. Megatron gave Tarn a chance to live, but then destroyed him with his own hands, causing him to fall into reality riddled with wounds. The reality is that he is a stepping stone for his instinct to be exploited, and he has never had the opportunity to fight side by side with Megatron. The reality is that, all this, this so-called "great cause" that Tarn has dedicated to for millions of years, only needs a few words from the leader it's became Worthless, including him. You have been deceived, the subconscious told him that the slogan of the original uprising was a death knell for himself.

What about the price paid over those millions of years? The newly replaced transformation cog began to heat up unnaturally as the thoughts were running. Tarn doesn't know where he started to become addicted to transformation. Perhaps it was during the countless times when he hunted traitors from tank form and then transformed into human form to capture them. He liked to see mechs smaller than him being covered by tall shadows that suddenly transformed. Those visions only opened in shock for a moment before shattering into scattered pieces of glass, mixed in with the screams of the broken sounder. Often when he feels noisy, Tarn will turn back into a tank and fire directly at the fugitives' spark. Sometimes he will pick up the opponents and throw them into the smelting pool of Helias or the iron twister of Tesarus. When he is in the best mood Tarn would sing to traitors and let them commit suicide while watching fireworks.

Transform and killing are closely connected. The smell of circulating fluid and the temperature of engine oil act like accelerants, detonating a certain part of his brain module. Transform is a necessity for work, and it has also become a source of joy. Even though they are a harsh sanctioned division, every member needs some diversion. For example, Helias likes to make trinkets out of molten metal. When Vos is quiet, he may hang on a beam reading ancient books. Tesarus cares about his blades in stomach. Kaon has his fox pet, and Tarn is into transforming, it's all the same. The bearings operated quickly, the armors unfolded to place, and the tracks rotated to the ground. Being close to the ground made him feel that he was relieved of some kind of human form. The excitement brought by running on the road was equivalent to crushing a fugitive in half. Even if during transform process, difficult to clean the energy fluid, circulating fluid and other stains that have been splashed in the armor gaps, or he sometimes even hear a crack sound from a certain bearing. It's not worth mentioning in front of the sense of control that comes from harvesting lives, it's not worth mentioning in front of removing all obstacles in the way of Megatron.

His urge to transform grew stronger and stronger, almost becoming an obsessive-compulsive disorder. The rest of the members in the Peaceful Tyranny knew that Tarn had started again as long as they heard long and loud noise from the leader's cabin. Occasionally during the shift, they could see a tank driving past the not-so-wide aisle and reminding is there anyone not hand over report or not finish a health check. Until one day, the transformation process got stuck without warning. Only then did Tarn realize that his cog was burning around the soft metal groove like a fireball, with white smoke was rising. He wanted to manually move the parts to transform, but the pain from the cog transmission penetrated directly into his brain module. The pain in the neural circuits was unbearable, and it hurt even to move his arms. Fortunately, in the cabin, this desolate appearance will not be seen by others for the time being. Tarn had no choice but to contact Pharma, asking him to find a transformation cog and send it over by any means. While waiting, he hummed a song to distract himself and relieve some of the pain. He likes to sing, especially incorporating Megatron's famous quotes and verses into melodies. He has written 499,502 bars, and his favorite passage is "Towards Peace" with The Empyrean Suite. The funeral song for fugitives are usually this one, and Tarn hopes that these are the last words that can be recorded before those brain modules undergo cluster explosions and meltdowns.

Things are different now. Tarn didn't want to recall a single word of it.

The transformation cog start turning on it own without control - he transforms into a tank. He wants to completely delete all relevant memory files. The cog works again - he takes human form, he crushes the empty bottle of polish. Don't think about it. Working again - that's a traitor. Working again - he punches the doorframe open. Working again - it's hot in here but nowhere near the antimatter burn. Working again - the sea-green spark stung when the chest armor split open, it hurts even to the point of light. Working again - what was the sound of notes in bar 179043. Working again - What was the sound of Vos, Helias and Tesarus screaming. Working again - he thought, he thought of pulling out someone's head sculpt, chopping up the servos, using his claws to tear off the circulation line one by one, removing the armor, twisting off each circuit board, and taking the brain module apart piece by piece, sending it to the fuel room and tearing it off, stab all the ventilation fan blades into the vision. The most important, to insert the fusion cannon into the groove of the brain and pull the trigger - working again.

After an unknown amount of transform, the cog came to an end. The sound was very familiar to Tarn, only a slight click, he couldn't move. The pain signal made his hard drive, which was filled with looping garbage instructions, wake up a little. Error windows were already all over his visions. He glanced down from the gaps, feeling almost ridiculous. He became stuck again, three tracks of four did not change back. As a result, the upper half of his body could only be shrunk, and one arm and leg were still in the state of a car. Very shameful. Tarn tried to move to the inside of the room. He did not forget that this was not the Peaceful Tyranny. There would be no team members who turned a blind eye to his weird appearance. There would only be Starscream who was furious at the destruction he had caused while mocking his appearance wantonly.

Just wait. He closed windows one by one, what he was waiting for was not Pharma giving him a new transformation cog, but reliving the feeling of being humiliated a long time ago. What else could this mean to a lake that had dried up? The tank subconsciously hummed a song again, the pure melody of The Empyrean Suite. Years of professional experience did not allow him to relax, but he experienced an attack not long after he survived. The system with insufficient energon was difficult to maintain, and he had to enter hibernation with extreme reluctance.

The heavy strike to one side of the armor almost made Tarn jump up and grab the opponent's throat as a reflex. In reality, the track on his right side only bounced violently and he couldn't even stretch out his hand. The scrapped cog dutifully gave off a burnt smell. In the somewhat dim light, he faced Starscream's shining vision.

Starscream stared motionless for a few seconds, then kicked him again. "Huh, addicted to transformation, right? I don't have ready-made transformation cog here. Can't believe that you even mumbling something while you are sleeping. Thought you were a polite guest, I misjudged."

Tarn didn't reply. Starscream moved closer, and the two pairs of scarlet visions reflected each other. Being too short a distance gave him the uncomfortable feeling that the other person was trying to take off his mask.

Now look at this, there's nothing to hide anymore, is it?

"I'm actually very glad to see you like this. I wouldn't give you cogs if I had one." Starscream spoke again, he raised suddenly and waved his arms. "Rolling down my wall full of wheel marks. You deserve it."

Even if Tarn wanted to at least tear off a piece of wings of the aircraft that flapped twice, he couldn't move. "Then why don't you arrange for me to be where the fugitives should be? Does the kind Lord Starscream treat every prisoner like this? It seems that the rule of this place is over."

"It's not your turn to tell me how to rule." He saw the fiercely glaring aircraft rushing towards again. "Use your unburnt brain to think about the reason why they haven't gathered in my place yet to throw you - and maybe me as well - into prison."

"…They don't even know I'm not dead."

"Except me and Arachnid." Starscream snorted, circled around him and leaned against one side of table. "You're right about one thing, just think of me as a good person."

"Disgusting."

"I haven't said that you disgust me yet, still mumbling "Toward Peace" even after closing your vision. How ominous."

Turns out you know what is that. Tarn glanced at Starscream and found that the aircraft was not facing this way, but was staring at a certain point in the air. However, Starscream turned his head as soon as he felt Tarn's gaze. "What? When you were still reading that bad calligraphy, I had already watched several duels."

"If you ask me, don't be both a pioneer of ideas and a fighter. That bucket head was not good at either of these at all. Except for being an Autobot lackey. Of course I am much better than him. I am, at least better than him in every aspects. Thinking ten thousand steps ahead, fighting and killing on the battlefield." Starscream's dim vision seemed to be staring at him, but it didn't seem to be the case.

"You also know when to retreat and retreat." Tarn said this without any other meaning. Starscream knew what was best for him. Every Decepticon should know it, but only he did it the most thoroughly and decisively. He knew this when he saw Starscream driving and suddenly stretched out his null laser and shot at Megatron and was beaten, then knelt down and begged for mercy without hesitation.

Tarn actually doesn't understand Starscream either. Starscream believes in himself the most, no one he has ever tried to believe will end well. He was inspired by the indignation and ambition between those words and tried to integrate into it; he had days when he looked up to Megatron, but more than four million years of war could not have no impact on him. Starscream used more and more extreme methods to prove himself, but in return he was severely suppressed and suffered various failures. What is he proving, ownership of a position, a moment, or a gaze? The price of this everlasting struggle is immeasurable. His city was buried in gunpowder. Seekers could not form a few combat boxes. Circulating fluid and engine oil were often spilled in the corridors of the ship. Almost every part had been replaced , fixed Starscream is actually no longer the coldforged he was before, he gradually figured it out one thing. This is probably the biggest scam in the interstellar world. Peace does not come through tyranny, and peace does not belong to Cybertron at all. They are all mixed up in the mistakes of history and fighting against invisible things, with no results.

It's like Starscream followed Megatron up the stairs and reached the last step. He was eager to know what was behind the door. Megatron blocked him tightly and said, "You are not qualified." He was dragged away when he wanted to fly. Being grabbed the wing and threw down. He walked again, not following Megatron, because Megatron was waiting for him at the top of the stairs. This time the wing was ripped off, the next time one arm was broken off, the next time the sound generator was chopped off, and the next time the spark module was broken into half. When Starscream went online and looked at the familiar ceiling stripes of the medical department, a command was secretly running. He had deceived himself for too long, why he was still so enthusiastic about all this? It was clearly past the time when he could fly back and forth with excitement just hearing the words like "big plans and great undertakings".

But before Starscream could use the power he had earned to plan a dramatic way to tell Megatron, "You're wrong" , all of Cybertron knew something else: Bumblebee was dead, and Megatron surrendered to the Autobots.

Well, at least he could go to the door at the end of the stairs and see what was that.

A mirror, in the mirror is his nightmare, which runs through every single day and night for millions of years.

He can still often think of the temperature of the purple flash that cannot be erased charging in front of him.

Starscream was silent. Something was wrong. From Tarn's perspective, the seeker was looking back at him, but the focusing iris was completely absent. Tarn felt familiar with this state. Even though most of his abilities were suppressed, the abnormal vibration frequency of spark seemed familiar, glamorous Starscream was also trapped in something and unable to get out. At the beginning of being a team , the DJD members would occasionally fall into silence after completing a certain cleanse. On a whim, Tarn turned on the ship-wide communication broadcast and sang a few songs. In the next mission reports handed in, work efficiency improved 17% higher, so this small in-ship activity was preserved silently. Later, it was discovered that his voice record could easily extinguish the traitor's spark, which was an unexpected gain.

So Tarn now wanted to use the same method to silence the spark that is vibrating in an extremely disturbing way. After all, he still needed a transformation cog. Instead of The Empyrean Suite, he thought of another one.

After hearing the prelude, Starscream's trembling wings suddenly rose up, the reflection on the surface flickered over. He sang along for a moment, then stopped before the note got caught in the defective sounder. "You actually know this, haven't heard it for a long time." Tarn didn't want to tell Starscream for the time being that he had collected classical music data strips in his spare time, and among them was this minuet in the ancient Cybertronian language of Vos. The aircraft stood motionless for a while. In the middle of the song, he suddenly said that he would go to the technical department tomorrow.

And there are no uncertainties. The room fell silent again, melody flowing through it. Starscream knocked on the table and thought for a moment, gave him a charging berth connection device, then lay down on the berth.

You little glitch, am I an asmr player device? Tarn thought and opened a memory file to write down have a score to settle with Starscream. Then he also shut his vision, the ending faded out. For the first time he felt a little relief entering the darkness.

-

Thanks for reading this long stuff.😌 there are few ridiculous headcanons: Why is it an unexpected gain to discover that recordings are also effective? One day Tarn discovered that a vehicon was not paying attention during a meeting, used his powers to feel that vehicon was actually listening to his singing recording. Inspiration suddenly came to him, Tarn adjusted the audio and replaced the original file. The next day, he heard that several soldiers died mysteriously on the ship and said nothing, but only added to the battle damage report.

Voice is really a convenient thing. The holographic video opened, and it turned out to be a self-interfacing video of the DJD leader Tarn. Everyone was in a state of excitement and joy. At the end of the video, among the chaotic and confused processors, they could only hear Tarn saying "[Now dedicate your spark to me]". something came out, it was cerebrospinal fluid.