#except i was not smirking nor finding it at all funny

[boytearscore]

his obsession, her control. — matthew sturniolo.

summary: because ever since he met his brothers' best friend, he hated her to the core by the way she dressed, talked and presented herself. he thought she was just an attention seeker while claiming to be the only immune guy to her dirty games. that is until the morning chris and nick decided to go out and get groceries by themselves, since matt himself refused to drive them to target, he was left all alone with her, unfortunately for the blue eyed boy, his strong belief of being an exception when it comes to fall for her dangerous charm was completely erroneous.

warnings: swearing, teasing/arguing (matt being a jerk mostly), enemies to lovers but sort of he hates her while she finds his tantrums amusing, smut, bratty!matt, blowjob, facefucking, foreplay, agressiveness and a lot of dirtytalk.

author’s note: before y’all start to hate me, i came home from work yesterday and had NO wifi nor data to post the chapter. still, i apologize for the delay. also, comment and tell me what you think about this new plot, the main character is gonna teach you that just because a girl is dominating, doesn’t mean she can’t play the submissive role to get her ways faster. ;)

chapter one.

the girl sighs slowly spreading her legs over the couch, it’s been only ten minutes since chris and nick left and she already felt like melting with boredom, not finding anything or anyone interesting to see or text on her phone.

her eyes shift slowly around the house, stopping right at the door slightly open of matthew’s room, her best friends’ annoying brother. it’s been years and she still didn’t believe they were triplets, how can matt be so awfully different from them? usually she doesn’t interact much with him except when he gives her disappointing and judging glares while they’re both in the same room. instead of angering her, she always finds it amusing and always provoke him until he’s red with anger.

that’s when the brilliant idea pops up in her pretty little head, what if she breaks into matt’s room to make him absolutely lose his shit? that’s enough to entertain her while her best friends are out for a couple hours, right?

while tiptoeing and holding a mischievous laugh, she peeks through the gap to study her target. matt is resting, laying on his bed with hair falling over his eyes and still wearing his pyjamas even though it was afternoon, his arm behind his neck making his muscles visibly flexed by the position, at the same time the other one is placed over his stomach, scrolling on his phone peacefully. 

she stares at his tattoos and the veins of his arm, it wasn’t a secret matt was attractive, in fact, she didn’t feel the need to say otherwise because one; hating him wasn’t a possibility, she couldn’t care less about his childish behavior, it was actually pretty funny and that gave her lots of opportunities to tease him. and two: nothing was more satisfying than seeing his jaw clenched and his bratty attitude rising when she provoked him.

“get out.” he says without looking at the door, being able to feel her presence due to her sweet and addicting scent.

she chuckles, entering and closing the door behind her calmly. “you know… i wasn’t gonna stay but now that you told me to get out...” her exposed legs by the black miniskirt make its way to his bed, sitting on the edge, her smooth skin complimenting the white sheets while her skirt molded perfectly her thighs.

matt rolls his eyes again “i don't care what you do, just don't bother me while i’m trying to relax.” he continues on his phone, not even glancing at the girl’s relaxed figure. “what do you want, anyway? nick and chris had enough of you and now you came here to annoy me? you’re really good at that, you know.“ he smirks sarcastically.

“oh, i’m very aware.” she crawls to the other edge of the bed close to the wall, leaning against it, her legs brushing against his feet slightly without her noticing.

matt, however, did notice it. in fact, his whole shivered body noticed it.

“and don’t pretend like you hate it when i’m here.”

the blue eyed boy scoffs and moves his feet away from her. “oh, i don’t have to pretend, i can barely stand being in the same room as you most of the time.” he sets his phone down and finally looks at her, giving her the a once-over with his typical critical eye, he stares at her tank top and then at her uncovered stomach and thighs. “what’s with the short skirt, huh? trying to impress someone? it’s not like anyone here would be interested in a girl like you, anyway.” matt smirks arrogantly. “especially not me. so you can stop trying so hard, it’s pathetic.”

“it’s fucking 95° degrees.” she replied with her usual nonchalant tone while grabbing her phone to check her lip gloss. “and i wouldn’t be so sure about that, your friends are more than interested. everytime they come here to hangout with you, they spend more time thirsting over me than talking to your boring ass.” she added, drawing her lips with a finger and laughing a little at her own comment at the same time. matt finds himself glazing at her lips, the way she draws her reddish glossy flesh with her finger without a worry, like her moves were calculated. to him, it seemed like she doesn’t feel anything, no matter what he says.

he snaps from the trance, shaking his head and frowning at her words.

his friends indeed spend more time eating her alive with their eyes than paying attention to him when she is around with nick and chris, which made matt crazy with rage. all of the groans and death glares he gives her every single time just proving her point without needing to add much.

matt finally narrows his eyes, anger building inside him little by little. “don’t even fucking start with them. they’re too good for your stupid annoying personality.” he leans back against his headboard, crossing his arms over his chest as he stares at the girl pointedly. “it doesnt matter, you’re just asking for attention dressed like that, regardless. typical slutty behavior from a girl like you.” the boy sneers derisively. “probably hoping one of us will bend you over and teach you a lesson, huh? too bad. i have standards, unlike my idiotic friends, apparently... they’ll fuck anything that moves. not me though. i need a real woman, not some immature whore.” he smirks cruelly. “unluckily for you, i’m not interested in sloppy seconds. or thirds.”

oh, the good and old fragile masculinity. the girl smirks, her eyes shifting to dark manner.

“is that so?” she leans over his legs, placing both hands on his tights covered by his grey sweatpants, her long black nails digging slightly into his skin while her penetrating gaze stares at his soul, the boy’s body tensed up and she scoffs. “what’s wrong? are you too insecure to handle a confident woman?” matt freezes for a second almost vocally responding to the sensation of her nails digging into his flesh, he swallows avoiding her eyes with a mix of rage and anticipation.

the girl studies his expression, feeling his tights tensing up more and more underneath her fingers. she bends back to her previous spot laughing quietly, her unbothered expression and nonchalant tone still not changing. “if you think that a piece of fabric defines a woman’s worth then you’re nothing but a virgin little boy who probably gets hard watching cartoons.” she gets up, walking towards the door, turning her head to face him before leaving. “you know… there’s a big difference between being an asshole and just a straight up sexist. i was wrong about you and sadly not in a good way.” she opens the door and closes it behind her, calmly walking to the living room and sitting on the huge white couch once again. the girl unlocks her phone, scrolling without paying attention to the screen. mentally, she was counting the seconds to see matthew’s figure bursting out of his room and scream at the top of his lungs. the corner of her mouth quirked up with excitement.

meanwhile, matthew stares blankly at her ghost in front of him, processing her words. he grits his teeth, face turning red with anger. 

the tall boy jumps up from the bed and storms out of the room after her, heading straight to the living room, her calm and collected mannerism making his neck vein pop up with annoyance. “fuck you! you don't know shit about me!” matt stands in front of the girl, hands on his hips as he glares down at where she sits on the couch. “i’m not insecure nor a virgin, you stupid cunt! and i’m not a little boy either! i’m a grown-ass man who knows what he wants! unlike you, who clearly has no self-respect dressing like a fucking hooker.” his voice is rising with each word, his temper flaring out of control. he takes a step closer, looming over her menacingly. 

she laughs amusedly, getting up from the couch without a hush, her eyes not backing down from his one second.

their faces are inches apart, his nostrils flare as she invades his personal space, his breath hitching slightly at how close she is. he can smell her scent again with the mix of her mint warm breath hitting his face and watch the flecks of pure darkness in her eyes. it makes him even angrier that she affects him this way.

“then why are you yelling and being so defensive?” she tilts her head, pursing her lips to mock him. “did i hit a nerve, little boy?”

matt laughs sarcastically, rubbing his face in frustration.

“i’m not defensive, you fucking psycho! i’m pissed off because you're a delusional bitch who thinks she can talk to people however she wants without consequences!” his voice drops to a low growl as he stares intensely into her eyes, his own blazing with fury and something else he refuses to acknowledge. “think you're so sly, so above everyone else, huh? sorry to break your little ‘i don’t care’ attitude but you're nothing special. just another dumb slut looking for a man to put you in your place.” matt reaches out and grips her chin roughly, forcing her to maintain eye contact with him. she gasps with his aggressiveness while smirking, still not being affected by his words. 

“oh, i don’t think i’m above anyone else.” she leads her hand to his chest, creeping up to the neck and he tightens the grip on her chin, his pulse racing beneath her fingers. “i just think i’m better than guys who judges people based on clothes. you know? the ones who probrably will stay alone and horny forever?” her challenge only fuels his anger further and he leans in even closer until their noses are nearly touching, making her smirk wider. ”guys like… you.” he groans, sliding his other hand up to wrap around her throat loosely, applying just enough pressure in an attempt to make her submit once and for all, but it was too late. she was getting inside his head without even trying too much and he had no idea. “see, you’re calling me a slut for the way i dress but i bet you can’t name one guy i’ve dated.’’

“you’re right, i don't know who you've fucked. but i know your type, always throwing yourself at guys, desperate for validation. you probably spread your legs for the first dick that shows interest, don't you?” he replies right away, his words heavy with irritation. “face it, sweetheart - you're a pathetic little tease who gets off on driving guys crazy. well, congratulations, mission accomplished. you’re driving ME crazy alright... but not in the way you wanted.”

the girl lets out a small giggle, ignoring all the offensive comments, her mind floating with the thought of all the words she’s gonna make him swallow later. this by itself was awfully turning her on, but she manages to hide it well by her unconcerned expression.

“it’s so funny the way you’re affected by my words while trying so hard not to show it.” the girl takes her hand away from his neck, crossing her arms. “and i didn’t even try anything. i just replied to your brainless incel comments and you got mad because you have nothing else to say besides calling me an attention seeker.” she shrugs, her gaze still on him while she feels his fingers flexing around her slender throat.

matt snorts derisively at her words, her neck veins pulsing underneath his digits. he knows she's affected by him too, no matter how much she tries to hide it.

‘’oh please, spare me the bullshit. you live for this kind of thing… pissing people off, pushing buttons until they snap. well, i’m not falling for your sick games.’’ he releases her abruptly and steps back, running a hand through his hair in frustration. his heart pounds wildly in his chest but he refuses to let it show on his face.“get the hell out of my sight before i do something we both regret. trust me, you don't want to test me right now. i’m not one of your little boy toys to play with whenever you feel bored.’’

the corner of her lips went up with a smirk, she quietly sneaks behind matt who is currently facing his door, trying to control the anger and arouse inside him.

the girl lifts her feet up a little to reach his ear. “and what exactly are we going to regret, matt?” she whispers, brushing her lips against his lobe.

matt freezes as he feels her warm breath ghosting over his ear, her lips barely grazing his skin. every muscle in his body tenses, his fists clenching at his sides as he fights the urge to grab her and throw her onto the nearest surface.

‘’fuck you, get off me!’’ he snaps, shrugging her off roughly and spinning around to face her. his eyes blaze with barely contained lust and fury as he backs her up against the wall, caging her in with his arms. ‘’fine. let's play this fucking game, but don’t fool yourself. this is MY game, not yours. see if you can handle the consequences.’’ matt leans in, capturing her mouth in a brutal kiss before biting at her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood, she moans with the mixture of pain and pleasure, the taste of blood only making her more aroused by second. 

her arms wrap around his neck, one hand reaches his hair, grabbing and pulling back in a sharp grip to make him face her. “is that all you can do?” she asks, gasping with her mouth slightly open, a little blood stain painting her swallowed lips red. “guess i was right about you just being a virgin little boy.” the girl smirks, tightening the grip on his hair more aggressively, a low growl rumbles in matt's chest, the sharp sting only serving to inflame his desire further. 

he presses himself fully on her, grinding his already hard cock against her hip as he grabs both wrists and pins them above her head roughly. ‘’you fucking tease, you have no idea what i’m capable of.’’ he rasps, trailing biting kisses along her jawline and down her neck, sucking hard enough to leave marks. “i could ruin you in ways you never imagined. make you beg while screaming my name to the whole fucking neighborhood to listen.’’ matt nips sharply at her collarbone before soothing the sting with his tongue, laving the abused flesh with long strokes. his free hand slides down to grope her breast roughly through the thin fabric of her top, tweaking her nipple between his fingers.

she gasps, lifting her leg up between his legs, her hands still pinned above her head. “you’re just talk.” she scoffs, brushing her knee against his hard cock and he tilts his head back, lips parted with a whimper before he turns back to her, closing the gap between their bodies even more while sliding up the grip on her wrists, making her moan with the pain of her muscles being stretched aggressively. “i dare you to destroy me, matthew. even though i know you won’t get even close.” she looks up at him with a burning gaze, a unreadable expression in her face.

his eyes darken with sadistic glee at her challenge, a wicked smirk twisting his lips. matt releases her wrists abruptly and grips the hem of her black tight top, tearing it open with one swift motion to expose her bra-clad breasts, she moans and whimpers against his mouth, finally feeling her arms free. the flimsy lace provides little barrier as he palms the soft mounds roughly, rolling her sensitive nipples between his fingers. ‘’want to be destroyed, you fucking slut? i’ll give you what you asking for.’’ he captures her mouth again in a searing kiss, all teeth and tongue as he plunders her depths ruthlessly. the blue eyed boy hands roam her body greedily, squeezing and caressing every curve as he grinds his aching erection against her hip bone.

she breaks the kiss with heavy breathing, her lips still brushing against his. “yet you seem more affected than me.” she leads a hand to his hard cock, caressing it, matt immediately lets out a strangled groan as she gropes his straining dick through the cotton fabric of the sweatpants, his hips jerking involuntarily into her touch. “so hard…” her hand squeezes the covered length ruthlessly, leaning to his neck and sucking his pale skin, she smiles noticing the instant harsh red hickeys. “it seems like you’re the slut.” she brings a hand to his face, slapping it slightly before grabbing his face and pulling closer to hers. “and you didn’t even need to dress like me to be one, did you?” she giggles, sucking his bottom lips before biting it without mercy to bruise him just like he did to her.

“shut your fucking mouth.” her teasing words send a fresh wave of fury crashing through him and he grabs a fistful of her hair, yanking her head back roughly to bare the column of her throat to his hungry mouth. “you have no idea what you're talking about.” he snarls against her skin before sinking his teeth into the tender flesh, marking her with his hatred and desire. the other hand slides under her skirt to cup her ass possessively, kneading the firm globe. “i’m gonna fuck that smart mouth of yours until you choke on my cock. show you what a real man can do.“

she chuckles, her eyes glaring at him with challenge. “a real man, huh?” she slowly drop to her knees, calmly tracing her fingers over his sweatpants and pulling down just enough, his hard cock jumps over her face and matt breath catches in his throat watching the scene before his eyes, her hot mouth hovering mere inches from his very erected member. “no underwear at home? how slutty of you.” she chuckles, leaning against his pink tip covered with precum and licking it while her lustful eyes gazed at his face. “let’s see if you’re just all talk or not.”

his lips turns from a gasp to a smirk with her words, he tangles his fingers in her hair, gripping tightly as he guides her face closer to his straining erection. “open wide, you whore. show me how good you can suck dick.” he demands gruffly, rubbing the leaking tip across her full lips. “if you do a decent job, maybe i’ll consider letting you ride my cock later. would you like that, princess? to have me splitting your cunt open with my cock?”

matt pushes past her lips without waiting for a response, sliding deep into the welcoming heat of her mouth with a guttural moan.

she begins to take him all inside her mouth, reaching the throat right away while sucking vigorously, her tongue twisting around his tip when reaching the top before sliding back down deep in her cavity. her eyes already flooding with tears thanks to the aggressive contact of his large dick hitting the back of her throat multiple times, she’s looking at him with siren eyes while her nails were scratching and digging on his thighs.

matt throws his head back with a loud groan as the girl takes him with all effort, her throat constricting deliciously around his sensitive cock. the tears finally stream down her flushed cheeks as she struggles to accommodate his size, but she doesn't pull away, instead doubling her efforts to please him. “just like that. take it all, you filthy little cockslut.” he praises roughly, holding her head steady as he begins to thrust shallowly into her mouth, fucking her face with increasing intensity. “your mouth was made for sucking my dick, wasn't it? bet you love having your throat used like this, being choked on my thick cock.”

he picks up speed, slamming into her mouth brutally as he chases his release.

meanwhile she sucks him more, putting more pressure and taking him even deeper, her tears continuously falling down her pink cheeks and her makeup all smudge over under eyes still glued to his.

that sight of her was way too much for him, matt smirks to himself. feeling proud of dominating the girl who never backs down to anyone. her tear-streaked face, the makeup running down her cheeks as she takes his cock like a submissive whore sends matt hurtling towards the edge. with a roar, he buries himself balls-deep in her throat and holds her there as he erupts, flooding her mouth with spurt after spurt of hot cum.

“swallow it all, don't you dare spill a single drop.” he growls, keeping her trapped on his twitching shaft as he rides out the waves of his intense orgasm. “fuck, such a good cumdump. you’ve earned yourself a reward. now get up and bend over the kitchen counter. it’s time for me to fuck your little wet pussy.”

the girl swallows everything slowly holding back a smirk while savoring the taste of winning against a fucking asshole, she already won and her game didn’t even start yet.

slowly, she gets up in front of him, wipping the saliva off her chin and the melted makeup under her eyes. her hair beautifully messy and her shining eyes by the tears giving matthew the brief satisfaction, but quickly he shifts his mocking smile to a frown when she smirks and get closer to him.

“you’re not gonna fuck me, matt.” she announces, placing a finger on his chin. “because all i needed to do was pretend to be submissive for a split second for you to think that i was playing your little game, but in reality, you were playing mine this whole time.” she chuckles, releasing his chin with a harsh push with her finger, his head turn to the side while his jaw clenched. “you said you’re not like the other guys but you fell for my tricks just like they do.” she fixes her clothes, walking to the couch and sitting there with her legs crossed, the wetness of her pussy making her a little uncomfortable, but she brushes it off continuing her line of thoughts. “i wouldn’t be mad though, i just gave you the best orgasm of your life, didn’t i?” she asks, tilting her head while smiling.

he stares at her with his mouth open as she saunters away, ignoring his demand to present herself for him to ravage. she was right, no girl ever made him feel that amount of pleasure in his life but of course he was not gonna tell her that.

matt sighs, anger and arousal war within him as he watches her swinging her feet on the couch as if nothing happened.

“the fuck do you think you're doing? come here and bend over your fucking ass so i can destroy your soaking wet cunt.” he warns darkly, stalking towards her with murderous intent in his eyes. “you don't get to tease me like that and then just walk away. this is not how this works, i will have you begging for my cock before we're done today, mark my words.“

reaching the couch, matt grabs the girl roughly by the arm and hauls her to her feet.

“you’re the one begging to fuck me, matt.” she says smirking, his tight grip on her arm making her feel the need to provoke him more. “i mean, if you’re right about me opening my legs to every guy, i guess you’re the only one not getting it. and yet you’re here, wanting so bad to feel my pussy around your dick.” she places a hand over his cheek, caressing it with a fake sense of care. “you’re pathetic…” her thumb slowly slides to his lips, drawing it slightly while the boy shivered, not knowing which emotion to focus, horniness or ego bruised. “but that’s okay, i love pathetic men, they stand exactly where i want.” she slowly inserts a finger inside his mouth and matt opens it without even noticing. “that’s it…” she whispers, pressing his tongue with enough pressure to make him groan.

he is paralyzed again, all this new sensations eating his masculinity and dominance alive, her mocking words stoking the flames of his fury higher but at the same time he wants to give him to the pleasure but quickly recovering to protect his pride.

he grabs her wrist in an iron grip, still feeling the taste of her thumb in his mouth while the other hand acts quickly, seizing her waist against his torso, trapping her between the hard surface nearest wall and his muscular body.

“listen here, you little brat.” he slides his hand under her skirt, using his finger to pull her panties to the side. matt grins, feeling her soaking wet pussy. “look at you, you’re dripping.” he chuckles sarcastically. “i’m going to fuck you and you’re gonna take my cock as the good slut you are. the only question is whether you're going to be able to sit comfortably tomorrow or not.” he threatens menacingly, grinding his already hardening cock against her lower stomach. “i suggest you start begging nicely for it like a good little bitch. maybe if you ask really sweetly, i’ll go easy on you... for the first round, anyway.”

suddenly the voices of chris and nick echoed through the front door. seems like they were back with the groceries. she smirks at matt. 

“nope, i’d rather leave you hard and dry in front of your brothers.” she winks at him smirking, taking his surprise as an advantage to break free from his body, heading to the the her previous spot calmly.

matt curses under his breath as he hears chris and nick approaching the stairs with loud laughter and chatting, knowing he won't have time to properly punish that menace for her insolence. not yet anyway. he shoots her a look filled with dark promise before quickly tucking himself back into his pants and adjusting his shirt.

“this isn't over.” he whispers harshly, jabbing a finger at her as he steps back and she smiles at him amused by his anger. with that ominous vow ringing in the air, matt turns to greet his brothers with a forced smile, praying they don't notice the prominent bulge tenting his sweatpants or the glazed look of frustrated lust in his eyes.

[dream-launch]

I really hate being at home it's driving me mad

[heeseungsnewwhore]

“Biting”

Kinktober Day 1

Consider this my first addition to kinktober. A little late but in time enough 🩸.

A/N: “This is a scene from a story you will find posted later this month on my AO3. Their are mentions of other members, so no need to be confused, it’s just a shortened piece from a larger series.”

❥ snippet

Pairing: Sunoo x fem!reader x Sunghoon

Rating: 18+, mdni, kinktober day 1

Genre: Just mild filth.

Warning/tags: mentions of blood, lots of blood, slight shaming, definitely degrading, biting kink, you know Diabolik lovers? Yeah, if you know you know, just derogatory vampy filth. 🩸

“Oh she’s been bitten more times than I can count, don’t let her fool you.” Sunoo says as a smirk gathers at his lips. His piercing red eyes rendering the thoughts in your head helpless. “She even likes it~! So we can eat whenever we want~!”

“So she’s one of those types…Kinda disappointing.” Sunghoon says simply as the other celebrates. He’s now hugging your body closer to his in his. Your back practically flush’s against his chest. Taking in your scent as he buries his face against your neck. You already knew well enough that a vampires lap was a dangerous place to be.

“L-Listen…You two- I need to get to Jay I was on my way to give him and Jake a blood sample. Can you at least wait?” You couldn’t help but let out an exhausted sigh. Not from all the traveling, but now that you were all the way back to where you were in the very beginning of this mess.

Stuck between two vampires that you didn’t even know. Except this time it wasn’t Seonghwa and San and you knew the two of them well enough by now.

Sunoo audibly scoffs before rolling his eyes. “She’s thinking about that other coven…I think we’re more handsome than them, thank you.” Sunoo says in a condescending tone, before turning away from you and Sunghoon. Seemingly uninterested.

“I don’t really care what she’s thinking about…I’m curious…” You hear Sunghoon’s words tickle against your ear before he’s baring his fangs. Slowly sinking them into your neck now.

“Shit-!“ You curse, gripping his knees as your body tensed. It usually didn’t hurt this much. But his fangs were huge. There was an ache starting to throb through your neck now and you couldn’t help but shift about in his lap, trying to find some kind of comfort. But this only makes him groan before he’s holding you back in place.

It’s then that Sunoo’s eyes are glancing back over to the scene. A slight glare even. No- It wasn’t even slightly. He was side-eye glaring you. Hard. Before his eyes are following the drool of crimson that begins to pool at your collarbone. Now crawling over to the two of you. Bracing a hand on your thigh, as he leans to collect the fluid with his tongue. Licking his lips with a curious hum.

“She does taste kind of funny, I guess…” He grumbled and you couldn’t help but furrow your brows at his words.

“W-well if it tastes so bad, then g-go back..”

Sunoo is glaring at you again. “You’re mouthy. I knew you’d be trouble.”

He’s suddenly moving down onto his knees, shoving your legs open with Sunghoon’s, not having much choice from the way you were sitting on his lap. Sunghoon looking down at the other concerned before he simply says,

“Keep eating.” He commands and Sunghoon hasn’t missed a beat in what he’s taking from you. “This is for her~ Apparently she likes fangs here too…” The younger vampire says smoothly, as he trails delicate fingers along the softness of your inner thighs, pushing your dress up as he does so.

You only clasped your eyes shut. You couldn’t help but end up feeding him more thoughts to read. The previous coven you had been with, Yunho and Wooyoung had favored feeding from your thighs. They were the first two to want to make it pleasure for you- And you couldn’t help but give in as they had done just that…So Sunoo wasn’t wrong.

“Slut.” He giggles, and you go to move to close your legs, but he’s not letting you. Nor is Sunghoon as he takes your arms, practically holding them behind your back.

“J-Jay’s going to be pissed-“

Sunoo rolls his eyes suddenly and before you know it, he’s abruptly sinking his fangs into your thigh. Cutting you off as he does so. Your words catching in your throat only to come out as a yelp. Like Sunghoon now, he’s contently feeding from your thigh. But more greedy. An ache tickling its way up your leg and to nether regions. It hurt but all at once…Well Sunoo knew the rest. Your body had liked it.

Not that you would’ve minded it- But these vampires were strangers to you despite Hongjoong agreeing that it was safer and best for you to move in with them for a while. That and they were of high council so there weren’t very many opposing parties that would try to bring trouble their way.

“We just want a taste before Jay just hogs you.” Sunoo grumbles against your thigh. “You think he’s all safe because he seems so cool, right? Like he and Jake really want to help?” Sunoo snickers. “Good luck if they’re waiting for you in that lab together…”

You strain your legs against his grip, grunting suddenly as Sunghoon is pulling you even more into him.

“Then Maybe I shouldn’t leave them waiting-?” You try to convince the other and he only shakes his head.

“It’ll be your problem, not ours.” Sunoo says simply before he’s sinking his fangs into you again. Deliberately making sure they go right back into the same holes.

And there you were. Gasping and straining- Trying to hold back all the little noises that were getting forced out of you. From Sunghoon’s hands constantly squeezing and wandering around your waist- Occasionally ghosting over your chest. To Sunoo’s trail of fang marks he wanted to leave along the inner flesh of your thighs. Greedily licking up the drools of blood before drinking from one of the areas again. His other hand playing dangerously higher under your dress…But you dare not move. Instead your legs welcomed the curious hand as you spread them. You suddenly feel Sunghoon’s fangs retract.

A strong hand in your hair now as he’s yanking your head back, causing you to gasp. “Now that’s just unbecoming for a lady, don’t you think?”

Before you could even begin to say whatever you thought was necessary- You feel those same delicate fingers, ghosting over your lips underneath the lace. Playing at the heat of your core and the dampness that was forming. A pathetic little whine escaping your lips, and the way Sunghoon smiles at that…

“Good thing she’s no lady~.” Sunoo is smirking against your thigh as he speaks.

“How does it feel, y/n?” The larger male speaks before he’s using his free hand to slip off the shoulder of your dress. Brushing his lips agaisnt the skin there before grazing it with his fangs. “Do you really like being fed off of?”

“Oh she loves it~” Sunoo says with a swipe of his tongue over the marks he’s left, before he’s moving to the other thigh. This time sinking his fangs into you so hard, you jump as you let out a yelp this time.

“S-Sunoo…If you take so much…p-please…”

“You’ll be forced to crawl like a dog all the way to them~ Already on all fours. Right? You seem like you might be used to that position.”

“Jake will love to see a dirty chalice~…We haven’t had fun with one in a while.” Sunghoon suddenly says and Sunoo is groaning softly as he takes more from you.

You didn’t exactly know what they meant, but you had a couple of ideas. Alas, you knew it was useless to inquire…The only thing you could do- Was let them finish. You did notice that one thing was all the same with every single one of these vampires and it was the mere fact they just loved to argue. So you were done arguing. You knew they were no real threat to, Jungwon made that clear, and they had all seemed to take his words seriously. Nevertheless- They were just as mischievous and devilish.

Before your thoughts can continue to reel on? Sunghoon is biting down into the other side of your neck. Keeping your head tilted back at the angle he wants. Fingers tangled in your hair, as the other hand moves to ghost over your chest again. Causing you to shiver and arch your back in the slightest. The smallest of an action, now has him taking that hand to one of your breasts. Roughly fondling you the dress and the moan that escapes your lips is only fueling them to become even bolder with you. Sunoo’s fangs are only inches shy of your clothed folds now and he has a thumb slowly making circles over your trapped clit.

Hands.

Their hands.

God.

Their hands were everywhere it felt like, and you were giving in with every passing second. The large empty room starting to echo softly with the sounds coming out of you, and the absolutely deliberate messy sounds they were making with their mouths. Followed but their groans, all as if they were getting some kind of high off you. One of your hands to rest over the larger one that was fondling your chest at this point, and the other going down to tangle in the softness of Sunoo’s hair. The vampires seemed to enjoy the touch, becoming more intense with their actions. You could feel your blood drooling from their mouths as they sank their fangs deeper.

“F-Feels good…I-it does…S-sun..” You choked out, Sunoo’s thumb moving even rougher against your clit, your thighs trembling as you whimper and you know your panties are soaked.

He pulls away with a breathy chuckle, head practically coming from under your dress from how close he was feeding near your cunt. Now shoving some of the bloody fabric back to reveal your stained thighs. Greedily licking away at the trails of bloods that was racing down your legs. Those piercing red hues staring up at you as he does so. You can’t exactly look down on him with the way Sunghoon has your head yanked back, but he’s enjoying the sight of the others greedy antics well enough.

“Mmm-…” Sunoo hums with a grin. “She’s having so much fun, forget making her crawl, let’s just do it until she passes out~…”

The other sounded way too cheerful despite the words that were coming out of his mouth. Yet…You had a feeling that he was going to commit to every word of it.

“Can we move to the couch?” Sunghoon finally speaks, letting your head go as he’s licking his lips. You finally having the freedom to breathe more properly and readjust yourself, but you’re practically limp in the others lap.

“That does sound better, my knees hurt.” Sunoo is pouting, rubbing over his legs. “But! I still want her on my lap this time. You should see her face Sunghoon~, so trade with me for a bit.”

The two were just casually planning on continuing to feed and toy with you as if it were simple dinner plans. The next thing you knew, your body was binging lifted up into Sunghoon’s arms, and the couch was getting was the next place you were.

Jay definitely wasn’t going to be happy when you finally saw him.

[suprababka]

"You're everything I could ever wish for"

Happy birthday to @zombiefox89 (@soulsheen)!🥳💝

I hope I didn't mess up with time zones and you receive my mini-surprise exactly on your birthday, not sooner nor later!

Dear Zombiefox, I highly hope you'll enjoy reading a small fanfiction I wrote for you (and for other Zombieman's stans too)💕

I know we got closer to each other only this summer, but I count you as my friend. Moreover, not just a friend, but my first online-friend from another country :D

I thank you with all my heart for every like and comment you leave under my post. Your support always means a lot, and I appreciate it!🤗

I wish you nothing but the best (as cheesy as it sounds), not to be overwhelmed by your work and to have more free time for your hobbies, to take nice fun walks with your dogs, to participate in exciting adventures with your friends in D&D world and, of course, to find and read new stories with your favourite man ;))))

Happy birthday!!!🙌🤗🫶✨💗🎉🎊

There are many things you love in your relationship with Zombieman (and about this man too). The way he looks, smiles, pays attention to every detail about you, supports you, surprises you with little gifts, gives you compliments... The way he loves and appreciates you.

He may come off as an emotionless person, but in reality, he cares a lot and is not ashamed of showing it. Though not anyone is "blessed" to see his affectionate side, only people who are close to him know how empathetic he is. For example, Child Emperor… and you. Especially you. The person who showed him he was able to love and, moreover, deserved to be loved.

That's something Zombieman will never take for granted. He cherishes every moment spent with you: watching a movie while cuddling on the sofa, running together under the rain, telling each other different stories before going to sleep, staring into your eyes and taking in all your beauty, cooking with you, or trying out different cafes. And today is no exception, as you're both sitting in the recently opened café.

"M-m, this looks amazing!" you exclaim vigorously, examining a large milkshake in front of you with whipped cream formed as a cat head.

Yes, you two decided to go to the cat-themed café. Usually Zombieman doesn't go to places like this since all he needs is a cup of coffee to go on with the life. But with you… something much more meaningful and energizing than coffee appears. It's your smile. The way the corners of your lips lift is a ticket straight to heaven for him. Really, he feels like nothing else matters. As long as you're happy, everything is fine. That's why the hero's main goal is to give you joy, to do anything in his power to make you laugh and beam.

While Zombieman is deep in his thoughts, you cheerfully tell him about your Friday and consume all of your drink in no time.

"Earth to my handsome boyfriend,"  you call out to him.

"Hm?"

"So you were not listening to me."

"Why? I was."

"Mm, sure. What was the last thing I said?"

"Well, 'What was the last thing I said', yeah?" he smirks, proud of his witty remark.

"Really funny and smart,"  you roll your eyes, making him chuckle and pat your head.

"I'm just messing with you, love. Though you're the one who does this in our relationship."

"Hehe, that's true. But I'm still waiting for your answer. Can't have my boyfriend slacking off now, can I?"

"Of course you can't. You were telling me about how hard your day was. I'm sorry everything went downhill, but what matters more is that you handled it. You did a great job, dear. I'm proud of you as always."

"Aw, thank you, honey! You're making me blush now."

"I wouldn't be a good boyfriend if I didn't flatter you, huh? But what I said was true."

"Of course it was,"  you kiss his cheek. "You know that I wouldn't want to be anywhere but with you right now."

"And that makes me happy. I feel the same way."

"Good, as you should do,"  you smirk. "Alright, let's get going, honey?"

"Yeah, let's head out."

It's already dark outside, and you two should probably go home, but you insist on taking a walk in the nearest park.

"There is a good spot to admire the sky,"  you reason, lifting up your finger and pointing to the appearing stars.

And of course Zombieman can't argue with you and accepts your offer, not that he minded it in the first place. Wrapping his arm around your shoulders, he begins walking with you. It doesn't take you long to reach the spot you were talking about. As both of you sit on the ground (the hero's arm is still wrapped around you to keep you warm), you notice that the sky is already full of different shining stars.

"Wow, so magnificent…" you comment; your voice sounds like you're hypnotized by the beauty of the view over you. That's quite understandable because Zombieman would act the same way as you do… if he wasn't already enamored by you, that is.

"Look! A falling star!" you suddenly exclaim, standing up and pointing at the sky. "Quick! Make a wish!"

Your boyfriend chuckles, amused by your enthusiasm, and stands up. He quickly glances at the star and returns his gaze back at you.

"You're everything I could ever wish for,"  the man says, patting your head. This makes you gasp and look at him with a flustered smile that Zombieman loves so much.

"B-baka! You can't just say things like that out of the blue!.."

"Oh, really? Didn't know there are specific circumstances to tell my girlfriend how I feel about her," as he finishes his words, you playfully jab his shoulder. "Ouch, what was that for?"

"For being a smartass. But just so you know… I feel the same way about you."

"And that makes the luckiest man in the world,"  he smiles, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you closer against his chest. "So, then what did you wish for?"

You place a finger on his lips, smirking, "I can't tell you. Otherwise it won't happen, you know?"

"Right, of course. Guess we will have to see, huh?" he smirks, tilting his head and capturing your lips in a passionate kiss. Little did both of you know that you made the same wish: to be together forever.

[captainlunaxmen]

Pastries

Charlie Weasley x reader

This is a repost since the old blog doesn't work anymore. 🥰Also if you want to be tagged in future Charlie's stories let me know❤️

Summary: the library is usually a peaceful and quiet place... sometimes it's not.

Warnings: non-con touching, heavy mention of rape, it might trigger someone, so don't read it unless you're sure about it.

The library has always been my favourite place here at Hogwarts. It's quiet and... magical. Quite a bold thing to say considering I'm living in a magical castle, a magical school that teaches us magic.

Regardless, the library has a different kind of magic. Different stories, different adventures and different people to "meet".

It's always been my favourite place, I prefer it to the ball after all...

It's not that I don't like balls... it's simply not my scene.

Charlie, my best friend and boyfriend, doesn't mind it. He knows I sometimes enjoy books more than people, he teases me about it but never makes me feel bad about it. He's more social than me, however, I think he's gonna join me soon.

I look for a book to read and when I find it I go sit down in one of the quieter spots in the library.

I start reading Frankenstein, one of my favourites and I just get lost in the pages as if it were the first time.

I get so lost that I couldn't hear someone enter the library, not until I heard footsteps getting closer.

"Charlie?" I call, but no answer. "Charlie? Is that you?"

"Someone way better, don't worry, babe"

Kyle. God... can't this guy take a hint?

He's been bothering me all year, even before I got with Charlie he constantly asked me out, tried to touch me whenever he could, always leaving notes here and there... some very explicit.

"What do you want?" I ask, trying to hide how nervous I am to be alone with him.

"A girl shouldn't be alone on a night like this, don't you think?" He asks back with a smirk.

"I'm very much okay on my own, thanks," I tell him dryly.

"Where's your little boyfriend? He should be with you" he looks at me up and down walking closer to me slowly "that's not very nice. Leaving you here... alone... anyone could come in here and just take advantage of you"

Realising his intention, I quickly stand up and just go to move away from him, but he quickly catches me and makes me walk backwards until he corners me against the wall, his face's too close to me and even though his hands are not touching me I feel completely stuck.

"This is not funny, Kyle. Let go" I say, even though it comes out shakier than I intended.

"Nor is teasing me as you do" he replies.

"What the-"

"Don't play with my emotions, sweetie. You're breaking my heart here." He pouts "I think you should apologise"

He moves his hands from the wall next to my head to my hips, squeezing.

"N... no... Kyle... please. Don't." I plead while I push his hands away from me, failing.

"Sh sh sh, we're just gonna have some fun, babe."

And with that, he leans down to kiss me and when I move my head to avoid him, his lips simply meet my neck.

I keep trying to push him off, but he doesn't let go.

He just keeps caging me.

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

Charlie's been dancing all night, trying to have fun with his friends, which he had of course, but there was one thing missing.

Her.

Y/n convinced him to stay and enjoy the ball, saying he could've joined her later. But Charlie can't seem to think of anything else except "I wish she was here"

"Go find her, mate," one of his friends tells him. "You've been miserable all night without her"

"I haven't" Charlie defends.

"Sure..." his friend replies with a laugh "go. You've waited long enough"

"Enjoy the rest of the night" he shouts at them as he rushes out of the Great Hall.

He knows exactly where his girl is.

Charlie decides to treat her a little bit, he rushes to the kitchen and asks the elves for some sweets.

"C'mon! You know those are her favourites!" Charlie tries to convince the cooks to let him take some pastries.

"You know you shouldn't be here" one of the Elves playfully scolds him.

"Yeah... but... but she deserves that. Right?" Charlie smirks. "I mean... you all went out of your way to make her that big... huge cake for her birthday. I'd say I'm not the only one caring for her"

"Fine! But only for her, Mr Weasley." The elf tells him to gather some of those delicious pastries she (and Charlie) loves so much. "Go now, before a professor sees you"

"Thanks!" Charlie grabs the food and rushes out, heading to the library.

'Can't wait to see her' he thinks.

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

I don't know how long had passed since Kyle ran away.

I just know I can't move, not because I'm tied up or anything... I just don't have the strength to do that.

He got what he wanted and left... but not without a threat.

"This isn't over." He said.

I try to stand up, everything hurt, but I manage to stand holding onto the desk next to me. My dress is ruined, torn apart by Kyle's disgusting hands.

I'm taking deep breaths to calm down when I hear a voice. I can't understand who that is or what they saying yet.

"Love? You in here?" I freeze when I realise it's Charlie's happy voice.

Shit.

He can't see me like this.

I don't have any time to think of a way to hide though, he immediately finds me.

"Love? I brought some...." he stops, and I can't even turn to look at him "love?"

I feel him walking close and I take a small step back, he stops.

"Y/n, what's wrong?" He asks getting worried.

"I... I was.." I shakily try to speak.

"Love, can I come closer? Is that okay? I won't touch you if you don't want me too, I promise" his sweet tone manages to comfort and calm me a little.

I nod slowly and he walks to me, putting down a small package on the desk.

I recognize it... it's from the kitchen.

Charlie...

"Can I do something? Tell me what I can do and I'll do it" he tells me. "Want me to go get someone?"

"No. Please... " I say looking up at him, at his worried face. "Just... hold me, please?"

He instantly wraps his arms around me careful not to cross any line.

I start to sob, turning around to hug him back and hid my face in his chest.

"I'm here, my love. You're okay." He whispers caressing my back.

"Kyle..." I start and I feel him tense.

Charlie lets me go and helps me sit down, him sitting in front of me holding my hands in his. His full attention is on me, and even though I know he's already furious his expression is still soft and loving.

"Kyle came looking for me here... started to say his usual nonsense." I take a shaky breath "saying things like how I shouldn't be alone on a night like this and that you weren't being a good boyfriend... That he was better."

Charlie gently kisses my hands, I notice his eyes slightly watering. From anger or sadness, I can't exactly tell... maybe from both.

"He then...he... he started touching me and... and then he... did that," I say in between sobs.

"Love..." he gently pulls me closer to him kissing my head reassuringly.

"I'm sorry.." I say.

"No." He pulls away to look me in the eyes "no. None of that. Okay? Nothing of this was your fault. Do you understand?"

I nod weakly.

"Please, say you understand. None. Of this. Was. Your. Fault. Okay?" He urges, still using a sweet tone.

"I... I understand" I say and he nods, kissing my head once again.

"Do you want to get out of here?"

"Please"

"Boathouse?"

I nod.

He gently helps me up and holds my hand ready to walk out.

We don't get too far before he suddenly stops.

"Almost forgot the pastries, love," he says taking a package he put on the desk.

"Are those...?"

"Yap," he says proudly popping the p.

"You didn't have to," I tell him, holding onto his arm.

"You know I like to treat my girl properly"

We walk to the entrance of the castle to get out and finally head to the boathouse, Charlie offered his jacket to help cover my body.

We're almost there when we hear another voice calling for us.

"Mr Weasley? Ms L/n?" Professor McGonagall catches our attention "shouldn't you be in bed by now?"

"I'm sorry, Professor... we're... Uhm..." Charlie starts to explain.

"What happened?" Her demeanour suddenly gets softer. "Ms L/n?"

I look up at her with tear-filled eyes I open my mouth to say something but no sound comes out.

"Want me to..?" Charlie softly asks and I nod. "Stay here, love."

Charlie walks to Professor McGonagall and starts to explain what I told him.

"Are you sure, Mr Weasley?"I hear her ask.

"Yes, ma'am. 100% sure. And it's not the first time he bothers her." Charlie says, getting angry.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" She asks again.

"Because we always thought he was just all talk. Also, she didn't want me to do anything, because I'm not gonna lie, professor, if I find him in front of me I wouldn't hold back" he firmly explains.

"I know, Mr Weasley. I wouldn't blame you. The only thing that prevents me from letting you is that you'd most likely get in more trouble than him." She tells him, and her words make me smile a little.

"Does that mean you're gonna do something about it?" Charlie asks hopefully.

"I will, Mr Weasley." Professor McGonagall walks close to me "I'm sorry, ms L/n. I promise you, I'll do anything in my power and make sure there will be consequences"

"Thank you, professor. Thank you" I say, smiling a little.

"Now..." she sighs "I haven't seen you sneaking out. Alright?"

Charlie just laughs and thanks professor McGonagall, who winks at him nodding for us to go quickly.

"Let's go, love"

We quickly walk outside to the boathouse.

Once we get there Charlie builds a sort of fort for us to sleep in.

"You okay?" He asks me while we both lay down.

"Yeah" I softly answered.

"Is... uhm... is it okay..?" Charlie's hesitant to ask, wanting to get closer to me and wrapping his arms around me like he always does when we sleep together.

"I always want you to hold me, Charlie." I get closer to him so he can put his arm around my middle "You're my safe place"

"I'm sorry I wasn't there... I should've-" he starts apologising but I turn around to face him.

"That wasn't your fault either. I don't blame you, I would never. The only one to blame is him" I say and then kiss his cheek.

"He's lucky professor McGonagall will take care of him. If it were for me.."

"Love... I think he would be luckier if you took care of him. I'm not sure you saw the look in her eyes" I chuckle.

"I guess you're right" he laughs "but still if I find him before them... he's done"

"My hero" I smile at him grabbing his hand and interlocking our fingers.

"I try" he smirks then turns more serious "I love you"

"I love you more. And thank you for the pastries."

He kisses my head and then we just lay there together enjoying each other's presence... and the pastries of course.

[luminouslywriting]

Chapter 20 (Mastermind)—MOTA Fic

A/n: So much fun here.....so much to say....so I'll just leave this here and eagerly await your thoughts haha!

February 14, 1943

Dearest darling heartbreaker Ruthie, 

You won’t believe this anymore than I can express it, but we’ve finally managed to oust Sobel from our ranks.  It took a whole mutiny from the NCO’s (which you most certainly would not have approved of), but he’s gone and that means that we finally have some decent leadership when it comes to the field.  And though I can’t spoil much, I can say that things are looking towards a horizon where action is coming.  And you’ll be proud to know that the NCO’s did this for our good friend, Dick.  

He won’t admit it much, but I will—he misses you.  And frankly, so do I.  What does a man have to do to find some good humor here in England?  You’ll find it funny to know that I’m still hiding some Vat-69 in his locker, though I suspect he may know that and may have known for some time (Did you tell him?).   You should write to him again, I think he’s missing the backup and sensibility that you provide the whole company.  We did get your Christmas presents though, and it was awfully nice of you to send us a whole bunch of scarves.  Though with spring on the horizon, I can’t imagine we’d have much use for the scarves quite yet (we’d look like babushkas or something, you know?).  

In your last letter, you asked about things were going at home.  They’re the same as they were the last time you asked, which is to say that things are going poorly and I don’t think we’ll last the year.  It’s alright though—what’s a man to do when he’s thousands of miles from home and fighting a war, after all?  Anywho, I hope you’re keeping yourself busy with weeding out the weaklings in the army and having fun whilst doing so (with that little smirk of yours, you know the one).  I hope to hear from you soon—and that you can visit us sometime. 

Your friend, 

Lewis Nixon 

For a moment, Ruth just stared at the letter in front of her, a fond sort of smile on her face.  That daft man was always going to be one of her favorite people in the world—though her ever-sensible mother could never know that Ruth had spent the better part of a year with a half-drunk troublemaker such as Lewis Nixon.  

She supposed that her friendship with Nixon was somewhat akin to Bucky and Gale Cleven’s friendship in terms of being odd.  They were not an expectant pairing of friends, nor were they what people expected them to be when they were together. That was quite alright with her, even if she had no intention of visiting anytime soon.  That would be a distraction—though right now, a distraction might prove to be just what she needed. 

Things had just been plain strange around Thorpe Abbotts since her brother had so prolifically spread the rumor that she and Robby were dating.  And things had only continued to spiral into a sort of madness about the whole situation—their contract for such an event, in an effort to keep attention away from Abe and onto themselves—Harding’s feelings on the whole situation in order to discourage pregnancy amongst the women in the camp—yes, the whole situation was just odd. 

Then there was the fact that she had come back from London and the holiday season with a young teenage girl in her care, who didn’t want to be parted from her or travel to New York to be with Ruth’s family.  That left her with precious few options except to keep Liesel on the base with her—though she had fought Harding on the entire situation until he had relented.  Liesel attended the nearby school where the other children on the base went during the day and it seemed to be a good system that was working for them for now. 

Since coming to stay with Ruth, the girl hadn’t spoken more than a few words at a time.  Ruth was lucky when she got Liesel to say more than a few words and almost formed a full sentence.  It had only happened once or twice, not that Ruth entirely blamed the girl. 

Trauma tends to linger and steal ones’ voice, after all.  

It didn’t take long for Ruth to start the drive to the school, just a mile down the road from Thorpe Abbotts.  It was still chilly as she waited for the students to start pouring out of the school—and there were tufts of snow all over the ground, but nowhere covered completely.  Ruth kept a steady gaze on the school until the students began clambering outside.  Liesel clung to the back of the group, keeping to herself as she hurried down the steps and into Ruth’s waiting jeep. 

Sensing that the day had gone exactly how the previous few weeks had gone, Ruth just wordlessly pulled a chocolate bar from her bag and handed it to Liesel.  The girl just held it, a tentative gaze peering back at Ruth.  “Eat it.  You’ll feel better.  Chocolate always makes me feel better.” 

“No.” 

“What?” 

“You smoke to feel better,” Liesel said in a small voice. 

“Well you’ve got me there.  Vices and virtues and all that.  If chocolate and cigarettes are my virtues and vices, I think I’ll be fine.  Eat up,” Ruth gave a gentle encouragement towards the girl. 

It took a moment for Liesel to actually listen to her.  But once she started nibbling on the chocolate bar, a small smile appeared on her face.  It was a rare thing to see Liesel smile these days, not that Ruth blamed her for that either.  It was even harder to see her relax if any men were in the vicinity, though given the cruelty of the soldiers and the horrors Liesel had witnessed, that just made sense. 

“I—uh,” Ruth let out a shaky breath and gestured at her purse.  “I also got you something for today.  Being Valentine’s Day and all.” 

The look in Liesel’s eyes was one of suspicion as she dug through the purse, finding a satin blue hair tie inside.  “You—” 

“I remember being your age.  I liked things for my hair.  Thought you might like something nice too,” Ruth said. 

Two smiles in one day from her cousin Liesel was honestly all that Ruth needed to make February of 1944 a good month.  Ruth would have been perfectly content if that’s all she did for Valentine’s Day, but upon returning back to her office, Ruth found Abe sitting there and throwing a ball at the wall. 

“Did I miss something or are you going to the slammer?” 

“Funny, Ruthie,” Abe gave a roll of his eyes.  “No, I’m here to make sure that you actually make it to your date tonight.” 

“I don’t have a date.” 

“Yes you do.  Rosie’s been planning it for weeks.” 

“Well I don’t want to go.” 

“Oh come on, Ruthie!  It’s Valentine’s Day!” 

“Yes, and that doesn’t mean the war has halted.” 

“But Ruth, you told him you’d be there.” 

“I’m a chronic liar.” 

Abe just folded his arms and gave a huff.  “It will look odd if you don’t show up to the date that he’s been planning.” 

Ruth just let out a huff.  “Abe, I’ve been up since two this morning, my back is killing me, and all I want to do is take a long smoke and drink a bit of wine by myself in a bathtub which I clearly don’t have.” 

“A nice dinner could help?” Abe weakly offered. 

“It won’t,” Ruth pinched the brow of her nose.  “Fine, I will go.  If only to get little cretins like yourself off of my back and so I can get to bed earlier.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Red wasn’t a color that Ruth often found herself in, but going for a bold look was better in her opinion than not.  She wanted to intimidate people and wanted them to be afraid of approaching her in all regards.  It was the preferred method of avoiding unsavory conversations and setting expectations from the get-go. 

Ruth met Rosie in the officer’s club, finding him at a table and waiting for her.  Almost immediately, she charged ahead without waiting for him to say a word.  Taking a seat, she smugly noted the slight ajar look he held on his face.  Pulling out a cigarette from her bag and lighting it, she just gave him a look.  “Close your mouth, dear, you look like a fish.” 

“Uh—sorry,” Robby apologized quickly, shoving a rose in her direction. 

“Is that a play on words?” Ruth questioned, blowing smoke outwards in slight distaste. 

“Abe’s idea.” 

“You ever get the feeling that the little shit is having a little too much fun spreading outlandish rumors about us two?” 

“Yes.” 

At that, Ruth finally accepted the rose.  “Well thank you anyway.  I’d say that I’m sorry I’m late…but I truthfully didn’t want to come.” 

“Oh wow,” Robby mumbled into his hand.  “Honesty off the bat, that’s never a good sign from you.  Long day?” 

“Long day,” Ruth echoed.  “And yourself?” 

Robby gave a shrug and began slowly picking at his food. “Nothing too crazy.  Just a few practice drills.”

“Can I ask you something?” 

“You’re going to anyway, I’d wager,” Robby gave a slight grin in her direction. 

“Guilty as charged,” Ruth admitted, letting a small smile appear in the corner of her mouth.  “For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve never really had any serious girlfriends.  But you seem the type to want to settle down and—well you know, get married.  So what exactly is it that you’re looking for?” 

“Why?” Robby nearly choked the words out. 

“Because if I can find this little angel girl, I can have you out of my hair sooner,” Ruth said pointedly.  

“Okay well that’s only fair if I try to do the same for you.” 

At that, Ruth gave a wolfish smirk.  “Oh I don’t think so.  We both know that men don’t like me for very good reasons.” 

“I mean, yes,” Robby agreed, earning himself a sharp rap to his knuckles.  “But maybe we’ll find someone who actually likes the fact that you’re mean.” 

“Doubtful.  But you’re not mean.  There’s bound to be at least one daft girl that we can convince to like you,” Ruth retorted, taking a bite of her food. 

Robby just let out a sigh and gave a shrug.  “I don’t know—I like honesty.  I like—I like women who are passionate about something. And independent—they can think for themselves.  And they’re willing to work for what they want.”

“You drive a hard bargain.” 

“Why?  Because I have standards?” 

“Yes,” Ruth admitted. 

Robby leaned back in his seat, settling to look at Ruth properly.  “You wanna know what I think?” 

“No, but I’m sure you’ll tell me anyway.” 

“I think that you’re asking me all of this because you’re lonely.  But you want to get rid of me anyway.” 

Ruth stiffened in her seat. “Gather all of that from one conversation?  Absolutely brilliant, counselor,” she practically sneered the word at him.  “Maybe I prefer to work so that I don't have to have to be around people like you who so callously call people like me out.” 

“That’s just self-isolating behavior.” 

“Oh you’re a psychologist now?” 

“No, I just see you for who you are and I think that that scares you.” 

“You’re such an asshole,” Ruth scowled, grabbing her purse.  “Have fun at dinner.” With that, Ruth strode away before Robby could so much as apologize for the wording that he had failed so epically with.  

Rising from his seat, he followed where he thought she would head to—for surely she’d be heading to the barracks.  But she didn’t go there and instead stopped outside of the medical wing.  That was where Robby found Ruth, leaning against the wall with a pinched up expression on her face and scowling. 

Blinking open an eye, Ruth let out a huff.  “Can you kindly fu—” 

“Are you doin’ okay?” Robby blurted, hands falling in his pockets as he looked at her.  “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.  Sorry, I guess.” 

Ruth just stared at him for a long minute, as if trying to calculate what his play was here, what the ulterior motive for apologizing was.  “I’m fine.  It’s fine.” 

He gestured at the door with his head.  “Were you going in?” 

“Debating.” 

“So I reiterate.  Are you doin’ okay?” Robby questioned. 

Her hands strayed to her neck and she frowned.  “Just some neck and back pain, that’s all.” 

“Sleep on it wrong?” 

“That and well—” Ruth just cut herself off.  Kindly explaining that her breasts were large and caused immense amounts of back pain wasn’t the kind of conversation she needed or wanted to be having with Robert Rosenthal in any capacity. Nor did she care for explaining the lingering spinal damage that she had endured thanks to Timothy. “Yes, I slept on it wrong,” Ruth amended her previous statement.  

Robby rocked on his heels, eyes glancing up at the ceiling for a long moment.  “I could help.” 

“What was that?” 

“I mean—I could help with your neck, if you wanted.  I used to give my ma’ neck massages, that’s all,” Robby’s cheeks were a healthy tone of pink that Ruth was unaccustomed to seeing on him. 

“But why?” 

“Ruth?” 

“Yes?” 

“Just shut up and let me help you, please.  And we don’t have to mention it ever again, I promise.”  

Ruth was silent for a long second, piercing gaze burning holes into his very being.  Finally, her shoulders deflated and she just let out a small whimper.  “Oh alright,” Ruth breathed out.  “But just this once and don’t you dare get handsy or I swear—” 

“I know, I know,” Robby grinned.  “I’ll lose my hands.” 

The duo quietly slipped back to her office wherein Ruth sank into the chair, finding only slight relief in sitting down.  Robby seemed uncertain at the fact that he was actually going to be touching her and Ruth picked up on the way that he was lingering and unable to walk forward.  “You know I don’t bite,” Ruth stated dryly. 

“You and I both know that you do.” 

“I only bit you once,” Ruth amended.  “And it was when we were kids anyway!  Just let it go!” 

At that, he rolled his eyes and crossed over behind her chair.  He wondered if what he was about to do was going to fundamentally change things on a cellular level between the two of them—if this was a point where they could actually become real friends or something.  Or if this was all just to further the facade of their relationship.  

The minute that Robby’s hands touched her neck, Ruth almost hissed at the coldness.  “I’m sorry, I—” 

“Your hands are cold,” Ruth mumbled, finding herself incredibly tense with someone touching her neck.  She was never big on physical touch anyway and found herself having a hard time even letting family or boyfriends touch her.  It wasn’t something she particularly enjoyed. 

But oddly enough, under his slender and firm fingers, Ruth found herself entirely melting and turning to absolute jelly.  It was the strangest sensation, with his fingers gently rubbing into the knots and Ruth had to resist the urge to purr like a cat or something.  It was tantalizing and mind-numbingly relieving at the same time.

“Is this okay?” Robby’s voice was honestly so far away from where she was at the moment that Ruth almost felt like she was going to just collapse on the spot. 

“Y-yes,” Ruth mumbled out.  The heat that was spreading from his fingertips down to the very bottom curl of her toes was maddening and though it was heavenly, Ruth wanted it all to just stop.  If not for the fact that this was rather intimate, then certainly for the fact that she could feel herself dampening down below and that was alarming. How was this possibly a turn-on for her at a time like this? 

Forcing her knees together and plastering a smile onto her face, Ruth turned in her seat, nearly startling Robby.  “That was great, thank you.  I have work to do now, so you can go.” 

And as he left her office, Ruth just breathed out a sigh of pained relief and need.  He was actually going to be the death of her, wasn’t he? 

[yuckydraws]

Sleepless, Snowy Nights

Pairing: (Wine/reader)

~~~~~~~~~~~

You sigh as you watch the falling snow, your breath clouding around you for a moment, before dissipating. You have work in a few hours. You should at least try to get some sleep. Yet, your bare feet don’t move from the cold concrete of the back patio. The brisk chill of the winter air should feel frigid, but after the nightmare you just had, it grounds you. These past few days have been full of stressful, restless nights, and you’re starting to feel the effects.

The end of December, and the first snow of the season is finally here. Chunky, full flakes fall delicately on the grass, slowly yet surely covering up the green.

It’ll be a snow day tomorr- er, later today.

But for now? It’s just quiet. A quiet that only a good night-snow creates. Cars rarely fill up the roads, it’s too early for the plows to be out, and it almost seems as though everyone else in the world is peacefully asleep.

Except you.

“MY LOVE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE IN JUST YOUR PAJAMAS?” You hear your ‘mate’s voice call as the back door creaks open.

And Wine, apparently.

“Just watching the snow.” You answer softly, exhaustion creeping into your voice.

You turn your head to peek at him over your shoulder, to find him approaching you with a blanket. He drapes it over your shoulders, effectively covering most of your body, besides your feet. It doesn’t take him long to notice that, either, because just as he settles in, hugging you from behind, he lets out a small gasp and pauses in the kiss he was about to leave on your shoulder.

“STARS! NO SHOES EITHER? ARE YOU TRYING TO GET SICK?” He chastises, adjusting his hold so that he can instead scoop you off of your feet - holding you in a “princess” style. Once there, he uses his blue magic to tuck your toes under the blanket and cocoon you in. “THERE.” He smiles, satisfied with his work, only to falter when he meets your tired gaze.

“… WHAT’S GOING ON?”

That’s all it takes for your lip to start quivering, and your eyes to well up with tears.

“Oh Dear, Let’s Get You Inside, Hm?” You just bury your face into his chest to avoid answering.

You hate crying.

Shaking, whether from the cold or from the pure exhaustion you’re experiencing, you’re not entirely sure. Nor do you really care.

Wine squeezes you close to him, opening the door with his magic, and closing it behind him. You hadn’t realized just how cold you were until the warm air from your heated home engulfs you.

He doesn’t take you all the way to bed, like you were expecting him to. Instead, he beelines to the living room, carefully sitting on the couch, cradling you in his lap. You just let him adjust your body, too tired to bring your face from its hiding spot. His carefully manicured claws move to stroke your hair, and you feel his worried him reverberate through his ribcage from where your face his pressed against him.

He doesn’t push, or prod, or rush you, he simply lets you release a little bit of that stress into the embrace - and it doesn’t take long for your tears to slow to a stop.

Even crying seems to take up too much energy.

You risk peeking up at your ‘mate… only to find those knowing lights of his trained on your face.

There’s no hiding from Wine. Stars knows you’ve tried.

“IS THIS ABOUT YOUR DOG?”

“… kinda.”

“THE HARDEST PART IS OVER. HE’S OKAY. YOU’RE THE ONE WHO’S NOT OKAY. DON’T THINK I HAVEN’T NOTICED HOW YOU’VE BEEN SLIPPING AWAY FROM BED AFTER YOU THINK I’VE FALLEN ASLEEP.”

Busted.

“I-I just didn’t want to wake you. Just because I can’t sleep doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.”

“I BEG TO DIFFER, WE BOTH KNOW THAT I RUN JUST FINE ON A FEW HOURS OF SLEEP. YOU, HOWEVER, BECOME A WALKING ZOMBIE.”

You scoff.

“I do not.”

He deadpans.

“BUN, WHY ELSE WOULD I FIND YOU HALF NAKED OUTSIDE IN THE SNOW?”

“… I don’t find you funny.”

“THAT LITTLE SMILE YOU’RE TRYING TO HIDE SAYS OTHERWISE.”

“Wipe that smirk off your face.”

“NEVER.”

You grumble, knowing you’ve ‘lost’ this round. He is right, though, you can’t keep having sleepless nights… it’s really getting to you.

“WHY IS THIS HINDERING YOUR SLEEP? I KNOW YOU’RE WORRIED, BUT-”

“What if I wake up and he’s gone?” You interrupt, causing his jaw to click shut as his sockets widen ever so slightly. “A-and I would’ve had the chance to help but I was fucking sleeping, and he was just alone in the end?”

Oh, well, hello tears, nice of you to make another appearance.

“Oh, My Love… I Hadn’t Realized This Was Getting To You That Much. I Am So Sorry I Assumed You Were Okay.”

“‘s fine.” You croak, wiping at your face.

“It’s Not, Though, I Did Exactly What Those Assholes Used To Do To You.”

You bite your lip to hold back a rising sob, taking a deep breath, instead. Your next words need to be spoken with certainty, not shakiness.

“You’re not them. You couldn’t be, even if you tried. Despite not being a big fan of dogs, you’ve been loads more supportive than they ever were.”

“I Appreciate That, But I Should’ve Been More Mindful, I’m Sorry.”

In lieu of answering, you just reach up to flick his nasal cavity, causing him to scrunch his face up a bit.

“Stop apologizing for something that isn’t your fault.”

“OKAY, OKAY.” He cracks a smile at you. “BUT, YOU KNOW… YOU ARE SAFE TO SLEEP.”

“B-but-”

“HE’S OKAY. HE’S JUST RECOVERING AND HE NEEDS TIME. AND SLEEP. JUST LIKE YOU, BUN.”

“Okay, b-”

“AND, WE HAVE THE WORLD’S BEST ALARM SYSTEM, ON THE VERY UNLIKELY CHANCE SOMETHING DOES HAPPEN - HIS SISTER WON’T LET HIM MAKE A PEEP OF STRUGGLE WITHOUT ALERTING THE WHOLE HOUSE.”

You snort.

“… I guess you’re right.”

“I THINK YOU WILL FIND THAT I USUALLY AM.”

“Okay, mister, tone it down.”

“ONLY BECAUSE YOU’RE SO TIRED.”

“Lucky me.”

He just chuckles at your grumpiness, leaning down to press a skele-kiss to your temple. You can’t help but lean into the affection.

“MAY I BRING YOU BACK TO BED?”

“Are you coming on to me right now?” You tease, earning you a roll of his eye-lights. Your giggle turns into a squeak when he pinches your bum and all but tosses you over his shoulder as he stands up.

“ALWAYS, BUT WE BOTH KNOW YOU DON’T HAVE THAT ENERGY RIGHT NOW, SO HUSH UP.”

“Ppppprrt.” You blow a raspberry in response.

“MATURE.”

Your cackling takes on a little bit of a hysterical form, but it feels good to be laughing.

It’ll be okay.

[lunamadhatter99]

Pastries

Charlie Weasley x Fem!reader

So... here's a new Charlie fic for you, waiting for inspiration to "overwhelm me" so I can finish the third chapter of my Steddie fic😅 hope you like it❤️

@once-upon-an-imagine here's your tag.

If anyone else wants to be tagged in any Charlie Wealey/Harry Potter related fic tell me🥰

Summary: the library is usually a peaceful and quiet place... sometimes it's not.

Warnings: non-con touching, heavy mention of rape, it might trigger someone so don't read it unless you're sure about it.

The library has always been my favourite place here at Hogwarts. It's quiet and... magical. Quite a bold thing to say considering I'm living in a magical castle, a magical school that teaches us magic.

Regardless, the library has a different kind of magic. Different stories, different adventures and different people to "meet".

It's always been my favourite place, I prefer it to the ball after all...

It's not that I don't like balls... it's simply not my scene.

Charlie, my best friend and boyfriend, doesn't mind it. He knows I sometimes enjoy books more than people, he teases me about it but never makes me feel bad about it. He's more social than me, however, I think he's gonna join me soon.

I look for a book to read and when I find it I go sit down in one of the quieter spots in the library.

I start reading Frankenstein, one of my favourites and I just get lost in the pages as if it were the first time.

I get so lost that I couldn't hear someone enter the library, not until I heard footsteps getting closer.

"Charlie?" I call, but no answer. "Charlie? Is that you?"

"Someone way better, don't worry, babe"

Kyle. God... can't this guy take a hint?

He's been bothering me all year, even before I got with Charlie he constantly asked me out, tried to touch me whenever he could, always leaving notes here and there... some very explicit.

"What do you want?" I ask, trying to hide how nervous I am to be alone with him.

"A girl shouldn't be alone on a night like this, don't you think?" He asks back with a smirk.

"I'm very much okay on my own, thanks," I tell him dryly.

"Where's your little boyfriend? He should be with you" he looks at me up and down walking closer to me slowly "that's not very nice. Leaving you here... alone... anyone could come in here and just take advantage of you"

Realising his intention, I quickly stand up and just go to move away from him, but he quickly catches me and makes me walk backwards until he corners me against the wall, his face's too close to me and even though his hands are not touching me I feel completely stuck.

"This is not funny, Kyle. Let go" I say, even though it comes out shakier than I intended.

"Nor is teasing me as you do" he replies.

"What the-"

"Don't play with my emotions, sweetie. You're breaking my heart here." He pouts "I think you should apologise"

He moves his hands from the wall next to my head to my hips, squeezing.

"N... no... Kyle... please. Don't." I plead while I push his hands away from me, failing.

"Sh sh sh, we're just gonna have some fun, babe."

And with that, he leans down to kiss me and when I move my head to avoid him, his lips simply meet my neck.

I keep trying to push him off, but he doesn't let go.

He just keeps caging me.

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

Charlie's been dancing all night, trying to have fun with his friends, which he had of course, but there was one thing missing.

Her.

Y/n convinced him to stay and enjoy the ball, saying he could've joined her later. But Charlie can't seem to think of anything else except "I wish she was here"

"Go find her, mate," one of his friends tells him. "You've been miserable all night without her"

"I haven't" Charlie defends.

"Sure..." his friend replies with a laugh "go. You've waited long enough"

"Enjoy the rest of the night" he shouts at them as he rushes out of the Great Hall.

He knows exactly where his girl is.

Charlie decides to treat her a little bit, he rushes to the kitchen and asks the elves for some sweets.

"C'mon! You know those are her favourites!" Charlie tries to convince the cooks to let him take some pastries.

"You know you shouldn't be here" one of the Elves playfully scolds him.

"Yeah... but... but she deserves that. Right?" Charlie smirks. "I mean... you all went out of your way to make her that big... huge cake for her birthday. I'd say I'm not the only one caring for her"

"Fine! But only for her, Mr Weasley." The elf tells him to gather some of those delicious pastries she (and Charlie) loves so much. "Go now, before a professor sees you"

"Thanks!" Charlie grabs the food and rushes out, heading to the library.

'Can't wait to see her' he thinks.

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

I don't know how long had passed since Kyle ran away.

I just know I can't move, not because I'm tied up or anything... I just don't have the strength to do that.

He got what he wanted and left... but not without a threat.

"This isn't over." He said.

I try to stand up, everything hurt, but I manage to stand holding onto the desk next to me. My dress is ruined, torn apart by Kyle's disgusting hands.

I'm taking deep breaths to calm down when I hear a voice. I can't understand who that is or what they saying yet.

"Love? You in here?" I freeze when I realise it's Charlie's happy voice.

Shit.

He can't see me like this.

I don't have any time to think of a way to hide though, he immediately finds me.

"Love? I brought some...." he stops, and I can't even turn to look at him "love?"

I feel him walking close and I take a small step back, he stops.

"Y/n, what's wrong?" He asks getting worried.

"I... I was.." I shakily try to speak.

"Love, can I come closer? Is that okay? I won't touch you if you don't want me too, I promise" his sweet tone manages to comfort and calm me a little.

I nod slowly and he walks to me, putting down a small package on the desk.

I recognize it... it's from the kitchen.

Charlie...

"Can I do something? Tell me what I can do and I'll do it" he tells me. "Want me to go get someone?"

"No. Please... " I say looking up at him, at his worried face. "Just... hold me, please?"

He instantly wraps his arms around me careful not to cross any line.

I start to sob, turning around to hug him back and hid my face in his chest.

"I'm here, my love. You're okay." He whispers caressing my back.

"Kyle..." I start and I feel him tense.

Charlie lets me go and helps me sit down, him sitting in front of me holding my hands in his. His full attention is on me, and even though I know he's already furious his expression is still soft and loving.

"Kyle came looking for me here... started to say his usual nonsense." I take a shaky breath "saying things like how I shouldn't be alone on a night like this and that you weren't being a good boyfriend... That he was better."

Charlie gently kisses my hands, I notice his eyes slightly watering. From anger or sadness, I can't exactly tell... maybe from both.

"He then...he... he started touching me and... and then he... did that," I say in between sobs.

"Love..." he gently pulls me closer to him kissing my head reassuringly.

"I'm sorry.." I say.

"No." He pulls away to look me in the eyes "no. None of that. Okay? Nothing of this was your fault. Do you understand?"

I nod weakly.

"Please, say you understand. None. Of this. Was. Your. Fault. Okay?" He urges, still using a sweet tone.

"I... I understand" I say and he nods, kissing my head once again.

"Do you want to get out of here?"

"Please"

"Boathouse?"

I nod.

He gently helps me up and holds my hand ready to walk out.

We don't get too far before he suddenly stops.

"Almost forgot the pastries, love," he says taking a package he put on the desk.

"Are those...?"

"Yap," he says proudly popping the p.

"You didn't have to," I tell him, holding onto his arm.

"You know I like to treat my girl properly"

We walk to the entrance of the castle to get out and finally head to the boathouse, Charlie offered his jacket to help cover my body.

We're almost there when we hear another voice calling for us.

"Mr Weasley? Ms L/n?" Professor McGonagall catches our attention "shouldn't you be in bed by now?"

"I'm sorry, Professor... we're... Uhm..." Charlie starts to explain.

"What happened?" Her demeanour suddenly gets softer. "Ms L/n?"

I look up at her with tear-filled eyes I open my mouth to say something but no sound comes out.

"Want me to..?" Charlie softly asks and I nod. "Stay here, love."

Charlie walks to Professor McGonagall and starts to explain what I told him.

"Are you sure, Mr Weasley?"I hear her ask.

"Yes, ma'am. 100% sure. And it's not the first time he bothers her." Charlie says, getting angry.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" She asks again.

"Because we always thought he was just all talk. Also, she didn't want me to do anything, because I'm not gonna lie, professor, if I find him in front of me I wouldn't hold back" he firmly explains.

"I know, Mr Weasley. I wouldn't blame you. The only thing that prevents me from letting you is that you'd most likely get in more trouble than him." She tells him, and her words make me smile a little.

"Does that mean you're gonna do something about it?" Charlie asks hopefully.

"I will, Mr Weasley." Professor McGonagall walks close to me "I'm sorry, ms L/n. I promise you, I'll do anything in my power and make sure there will be consequences"

"Thank you, professor. Thank you" I say, smiling a little.

"Now..." she sighs "I haven't seen you sneaking out. Alright?"

Charlie just laughs and thanks professor McGonagall, who winks at him nodding for us to go quickly.

"Let's go, love"

We quickly walk outside to the boathouse.

Once we get there Charlie builds a sort of fort for us to sleep in.

"You okay?" He asks me while we both lay down.

"Yeah" I softly answered.

"Is... uhm... is it okay..?" Charlie's hesitant to ask, wanting to get closer to me and wrapping his arms around me like he always does when we sleep together.

"I always want you to hold me, Charlie." I get closer to him so he can put his arm around my middle "You're my safe place"

"I'm sorry I wasn't there... I should've-" he starts apologising but I turn around to face him.

"That wasn't your fault either. I don't blame you, I would never. The only one to blame is him" I say and then kiss his cheek.

"He's lucky professor McGonagall will take care of him. If it were for me.."

"Love... I think he would be luckier if you took care of him. I'm not sure you saw the look in her eyes" I chuckle.

"I guess you're right" he laughs "but still if I find him before them... he's done"

"My hero" I smile at him grabbing his hand and interlocking our fingers.

"I try" he smirks then turns more serious "I love you"

"I love you more. And thank you for the pastries."

He kisses my head and then we just lay there together enjoying each other's presence... and the pastries of course.

[bafflement]

About Those Fake Winters... [Deaged Oz AU]

Written for day 8 of the @remnants-of-rwby-events Vytal Festival. There may or may not be another submission later, we'll see...

This DOES serve as an introduction to a new OC, though. :D

AO3 Link:

Plain Text:

“There’s really been people claiming to be me?” Tip asked, sounding confused. “But… why?” He really couldn’t see any reason why anyone would want to do that, surely it would just be cruel? Besides, who’d go out of their way to be a missing child?

“Oh Winnie… money, of course. We’re not exactly poor…” Willow sounded slightly patronising, though her eyes were fond. Her little brother still seemed uncomfortable spending money, though they’d managed to argue that he needed fitting clothing f he wanted to be unobstructed when fighting. He’d been resistant to multiple sets, but they’d won there, too, eventually. So he had two sets of combat gear now. Both used identical patterns, only the colouring was different. Sapphire and silver for when he needed to look like a Schnee and his favoured emerald and gold for when he didn’t. They hadn’t told him that the shop in question had his measurements on file, nor about all the extra clothing they’d had commissioned. He’d find out eventually, but that he was so very against spending money at all didn’t really paint Vale in a very good light. But then, a lot of things didn’t.

Tip sighed, but he had to acknowledge the point. Everybody knew just how rich the Schnee’s were, it wasn’t beyond the realm of imagination that there could be money there for the claiming. The fact that there had been, not to mention exactly how much… he repressed the shiver. The money didn’t feel real yet, though he knew he could probably do a lot of good with it. He’d have to look into that, when things calmed down. That is, if they ever really did.

“What happened?” He asked, genuinely curious. He did hope that those pretending hadn’t suffered too much for it, there were likely very good reasons for them doing it. At least, he hoped there were. Pretending to be a missing child solely for monetary gain left a bad taste in his mouth, and would have done even if they hadn’t been pretending to be him.

Willow smirked, though her eyes were still rather sad. “Let me tell you the story of the fake Winters. There are reasons we never advertised your precise health issues… father was worried there might be imposters and, as always, he was right.” She sighed, thankful they were all sitting down, this was likely to take awhile.

“The first time someone claimed to be Winter Schnee you would have been, oh, fourteen or so? It took all of four years for someone to come forward, for the first try. Father was so hopeful, but… it was very obvious that they weren’t you.” There was laughter colouring her tone now and Tip raised one dark eyebrow, surprised. What had been so funny about someone trying to commit fraud? Ah well, he’d likely find out soon enough.

“As said, you would have been fourteen. The man who said he was you, well… wasn’t. Mid-twenties, maybe? Fully grown, with facial hair he hadn’t even bothered to dye… I give him props for the sheer audacity, but… you know he kept claiming to be you, even when it was so very obvious that he wasn’t? He claimed it was a semblance accident, seemed almost cruel to arrest him. I’m… not entirely sure what happened to him, actually. He was carted off and we just never heard from him again.”

Tip winced. While the story was very funny, he really did hope the man had gotten the help he obviously needed. He also hoped he hadn’t actually been locked up. Thankfully Fria had still been in charge, back then. She was usually a lot less controlling than James was, though he feared she might have made an exception for her nephew. That had been a shock, finding her name on the family tree. She’d gone out of her way to avoid admitting being a Schnee, but, well, there might have been reasons for that. He shook his head, the first imposter seemed pretty much harmless, though he doubted they’d stay that way.

“The second was… slightly more sinister. They’d used a semblance to appear to be you, were very much solely after the money. They seemed to assume that father’s colouring had been passed down to you, too, though. They’d done some research, but obviously not quite enough. White hair, blue eyes… they were so upset when they were arrested, though at least they admitted that they weren’t you easily enough. They wanted a reward for pointing out the supposed holes in our security.” She sighed again, still looking amused. “I was old enough to be directly involved, by then.”

“Did you? Give them money, I mean?” Tip asked, looking intrigued. He probably would have done in their place, since watching for semblances was really rather important.

“Once they got out of prison, they may or may not have been offered a job in security.” Willow said slowly. The look of appreciation on her brother’s face was slightly annoying, though they’d actually been a really good fit. Still were. They’d been down on their luck when they’d claimed to be Winter, had actually really needed the money, and had worked to achieve that. She actually called them a friend, now, or as much as she’d ever been allowed to call any employee such. Maybe she’d try to get closer to them, now Jacques was no longer an issue?

“Huh. I think I know who you mean…” Winter broke in, speaking for the first time since this had started. To her credit, she hadn’t known about either of these attempts, but… “Amaranth?” She asked, eyebrow raised in unconscious mimicry of Tip’s own a few minutes before. They really did look very alike, sometimes.

“Yes. I don’t think he really likes thinking about that episode very much. As said, he was desperate, but at least he actually had a good reason. The next claimant really didn’t. Oh, they wanted money, yes, but they weren’t in need of it. They were part of a criminal syndicate and… well, General Ironwood was rather less than impressed. It didn’t end well for them.”

“He was a general by then? Tip asked, knowing that had only happened in the last decade. How long had this been going on?

“Well, no. But he was on the rise in the military, and given his personal connections to the case, he got the go ahead to deal with things. At least, I assume that’s how it happened? Either way, he arrested the individual involved with a certain amount of prejudice. He’d written letters, you see… threats against out family.” Willow looked very serious now, meeting Tip’s suddenly horrified eyes. “That was the worst attempt. We got threats for, well, months after he was arrested. Then they stopped. The man was made an example of, nobody tried again until recently…”

“What happened to them?” Tip breathed, though he wasn’t sure he really wanted to know. He already knew more than enough about how James treated criminals, had never agreed with it. But surely before he was what he was now, he wouldn’t have had the power to do anything too bad?

“Nothing good. I’m not sure you really need to know the details and I’m almost certain they might have been exaggerated. Willow looked briefly apologetic as her brain caught up with what she’d just said, but it was so hard to think of her brother as an adult when he was this small, this young physically. When he still looked like Winter, instead of Ozpin. But it wasn’t something she could take back even as she hated herself for the flash of pain in her brother’s eyes.

“That’s alright… if I really want to know, I can just ask James, he’d probably know the details far more than you do anyway. I just… I don’t like the thought that whatever happened was so bad that it acted as that much of a deterrent. Don’t get me wrong, the idea that you had multiple people pretending to be me is ludicrous, but…” He trailed off, biting his lip in an action that was identical to the motion Winter had done when he was younger. Times like this, it was hard to believe that he really didn’t remember anything.

“Well. That one wasn’t particularly funny, but the next one really was. You were a teacher; did you ever have a problem with your students taking some very strange bets?”

Tip grinned, his entire face lighting up. This was more how he’d assumed this conversation was going to go. “Teenagers do tend to do some rather strange things, their brains aren’t fully developed and neither is their common sense.” He sent a playful look over to Weiss and Whitley, who rolled their eyes in unison. Both of them had heard this before, though it was still annoying heard from the mouth of what was for all intents and purposes an eleven-year-old. Neither one of them really bought Tip’s assurances that nothing had changed, though Weiss remembered certain things from Beacon and wondered, at times. Had Ozpin been like this too, just better at hiding it?

“Yes, well. The fourth attempt was the result of a bet. Not one in good taste, mind, and the students ended up in quite a bit of trouble over it, but… one of the students dyed their hair white, found contact lenses from somewhere and waltzed into the SDC lobby, claiming to be you. They were even limping, albeit on the wrong leg. Actually, they all were…”

The sparkle in Tip’s eyes dulled a bit at that. Why anyone would want to limp was beyond him, though he supposed it added validity to the attempt. He would have been furious with any of his students that had gone that far, though. There were limits to decency, though he might still have treated them better that James likely did. He wondered if they’d actually become a Huntsman at all… even if they’d been expelled, there were always other options. Contact lenses though, they were expensive. That they’d had access to them, well… that argues that whichever family they were from had been rather rich and to Atlas, sometimes, that mattered. Even James had to play politics.

“They copied the limp?” Weiss asked, sounding as disgusted as Tip felt. Obviously, that was a step too far for her, too. Winter and Whitley were scowling, so they obviously didn’t like that particular piece of information, either.

“They did. Not very well, nor for very long, but they did. I’m not certain why they thought we’d believe a twenty-year-old was somehow you, four years ago, but… well. Considering you are currently a child, maybe they knew something that we didn’t?” That was… actually a good point. There were prescient semblances and they tended to be incredibly useful for hunters, though if they could see the future, surely, they’d know the prank was a bad idea? Then again, they were still a student and even in Atlas’ more military environment that gave them at least some leeway. Oh, he hoped that it had. Pretending to be someone else was a criminal offence and he had the horrible feeling that things would only go worse for an Atlas cadet caught doing that.

“We found out it had been a prank rather quickly, considering. Nobody was massively impressed, but then they were just students.”

“They? There was more than one person involved at the time?” Tip had been almost certain that there would have been, though. It was rare for a student in heir later years of education to do things without at least nominal support from their team mates. But if a whole team had been involved, then that would have made it a lot easier just to expel them. He couldn’t help but wince at the thought, but again, it was unlikely that Willow would know what had happened to them. Winter might, but from her wince he really wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“That was rather a legend, amongst the military. It was definitely held up as an example of what not to do, though I wasn’t aware that it was specifically Uncle Winter that they had decided to impersonate. It might explain some of the anger, though.” Winter said, voice steady even as her eyes flashed. She was very unimpressed, that much was obvious, but at least if the story had spread then it would be very unlikely to be repeated any time soon. The students hadn’t even been expelled, though they’d all gained a black mark on their records. Some of that was to do with the families involved, but she suspected that her uncle might appreciate knowing that. Later, though. She was aware that there was still one imposter to go. She’d been directly involved in the last one, too.

“Hopefully they won’t do it again?” Tip said, though it was rather interesting to know that the incident had gotten that much traction. From his time at Beacon, he knew it was generally bad form to repeat a prank, for all he wasn’t certain he could really see the humour in that one. He might be too close to the problem, though.

“And then there was the last one. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it, though I can see the logic of you not being told. I’m relatively sure General Ironwood only wanted to protect you, but… the last one was three weeks ago.” Willow sounded furious now, all traces of laughter gone from her voice. Tip flinched; it had really happened that recently? Had the rumours of his survival really pushed someone to go that far? And had they really wanted to convince people they were him, or merely to discredit Tip himself? He knew what Atlas seemed to think of his family now, knew most of it was far from positive. What could they have tried, had they been desperate enough? And more importantly, why hadn’t James told him of the attempt? Surely his friend must have known that he’d want to be told? Or was this, again, more proof that James actually did view him as a child? If that was true, maybe he really did need to get out of Atlas sooner rather than later.

He’d be taking his family with him, though. Whatever had happened three weeks ago, he rather thought James deserved some consequences of his own. His semblance was so useful in pranks and if he really viewed him as a child? Well, let him rue that decision at his leisure. If he wanted to treat Tip as a little boy, then that meant he might be free to act like one for a few days. Not that that would work long term, but he fancied a few days would already be more than enough…

The vengeful look in his eyes had been noticed. Willow looked rather worried, though Weiss looked strangely gleeful, she obviously could tell just what Tip was thinking at. Winter was studiously staring at the floor, which was nice. He suspected she wasn’t going to say anything if and when he took his revenge, though he also knew she wasn’t going to help. She still respected James far too much for that, even if it seemed to have dimmed slightly recently. Maybe that was a good thing, too.

“The last attempt was an adult, he showed up at one of the border stations, claiming to be you. He wasn’t let through, obviously, though various people were informed. When we got there, he was throwing the mother of all temper tantrums. You’d have thought he was about five, though he calmed down rather, on noticing that I was a Schnee.” Winter was the one to tell this part, though since she’d obviously been there, that made sense. Willow still looked furious.

“He was… rather inappropriate. Kept calling himself uncle Winter, even tried to touch me. Not that Clover let him. I think he’s still locked up somewhere, if you wanted to know, though I doubt you’d be told just where. I think the General was worried that the fact that the man had overstepped his boundaries so might have meant you might have been tempted to do something you regretted. We’re still not fully sure just how many people he was working with, if any… and them knowing that you’re this young and vulnerable, well, it wouldn’t exactly end well.”

Tip scowled again, but Winter had a very good point. Okay, maybe he’d only prank James the once, though he still wished he’d been told,

At least most of the impostors had been funny?

What the hell was wrong with Atlas, anyway?

[candy-skullss]

Valentines Special! <3

Happy Valentines! Hope you all had a good day

here is Valentines with the full Villain house white elephant edition

DIO

Out of the hat, the name he drew was Valentine!

Now as we all know DIO likes to prove he is the best so he must be the best at gift giving

DIO would think long and hard (Not really) about what to get Valentine then it comes to him

A blanket

An American-flagged-themed blanket! He always sees Valentine wrapped in the flag he always carries around

so why not buy him one that is actually a blanket

Funny Valentine

*Drum roll* Pucci!

Okay so Valentine usually talks to Pucci in the morning while he is grabbing a cup of coffee or just having talks with him every so often

Maybe a coffee mug or something religious? But he worships Dio a lot but buying Dio merchandise doesn't sound like something he wants to do

Coffee mug it is! and perfect a prewrapped mug that already comes with chocolate (does Pucci even like chocolate- that is a worry he had)

Valentine was pretty happy with the mug not anything to flashy nor anything cheap (good job Mr. President)

Enrico Pucci

(Diffently not rigged) He got DIO

Ahh lord DIO Pucci knows exactly what to get him

A Nice fancy bottle of red wine and a new book

Any gift he gets DIO he is just happy DIO will receive (DIO will like the gift either way because Pucci is the only person there he is really friends with)

Diego

Diego of course got Kira (time to bully him)

God did he have plans to give Kira a gift he knew would piss him off

Diego finds an online store that does custom aprons and well it kinda clicked for him

Kira cooks and Cleans why not get him an apron

And well well customize the text (insert evil Diego smirk)

He gets an apron with the words "I like hands"

the most basic of writing but oh how fitting it was

Yosikage Kira

Kars! he looked at the paper with little to no ideas

What do to get for the ultimate lifeform that barely interacts with any of them

May as well just go with what he knows! A nail care set and some lotions

differently not the best gift to receive from Kira but eh what can you do

Kars

Doppio/Diavolo hmm one of the humans that interest him seems he is required to get two gifts (they both deserve gifts)

Kars has seen how Doppio likes frogs and once saw him use one as a phone soo might as well get him one

Kars gets a live frog for Doppio

And for Diavolo who usually shuts himself off in his room

A weighted blanket he saw Diavolo stare at one when an ad played for it

turns out Kars is a pretty good gift-giver he is very observant nothing less from the Ulitmate lifeform

Doppio/Diavolo

Diego! wow his friend Doppio was pretty happy Diavolo didn't really care

Doppio is the only one really putting effort into this (aka Diavolo is making him do all the work)

Doppio tries to encourage Diavolo to help come up with ideas "Boss come on at least try to help!" it didn't work

Doppio gets Diego a Dinosaur onesie!

It's cute and simple and he knows Diego loves dinos

Everyone seemed to of enjoyed their gifts! Except for Kira he was so pissed off at Diego. (RIP Diego) Everyone agreed that maybe this was something they could do again.

Thank you so much for reading I hope you enjoyed

I hope you all had a good Valentine's day and got something as well

[neverchecking]

(More Chain Era thoughts)

This just in: Sweetpea has absolute Ken Vibes. The Smartest Dumbass everyone knows. He's not 100% sure what's going on but he's just happy to be here. Except when people are trying to court his sister-in-law and his princess. That cuts into his Sidon and Yona time for two WILDLY different reasons.

While Sage is trying to murder his new counterparts and Sweetpea runs interference, I think Tia would be the one who's actually making sure Aaliyah's ok with her new admirers.

I see Wild and Cal being generally harmless smitten guys who are just trying to get a pretty lady's attention so they're not actively trying to separate Aaliyah from Sage, just trying to get her to look their way. Compliments, small gifts, showing off. Stuff like that.

But Tia knows that Aaliyah isn't a people person and even if these guys are essentially younger versions of Sage, that doesn't mean she's entirely cool with it. So Tia is touching base with Aaliyah and inviting her to tea, just to make sure everything's cool and that Tia doesn't have to step in. She knows Aaliyah can look after herself and she'll respect that, but there tends to be less blood and gore involved if Tia intervenes before it hits that point.

(Also Tia's nickname for Aaliyah is Petal. Because her hair is a lovely soft white like white rose petals. It's also at complete odds with her personality but Tia thinks it's funny. Sage's is Dumpling but only in private because they made dumplings together and Tia just came out with it. Sage didn't realise what she'd called him until it was too late and she'd latched onto it. Ariel's is Chook because of all the Cuccos she has.)

Aaliyah honestly could not give less of a shit about her two new ducklings, not when she needs to be grilling Tia about HER potential suitors. None of whom are good enough for her, despite the fact two of them fought a god and the third one killed two different kings. Let her bite them. She promises she won't leave scars. Even on the stuffy knight with the red scarf. What Tia sees in him, she has no idea.

Tia just sips her tea and hopes that she can get in at least a little conversation before Aaliyah makes good on her promise.

Sweetpea has since decided to impersonate a cat every time Tia has tea or even sits down in the vicinity of her suitors and drapes himself across her lap. Tia just lets him and pats his head while using his back as a table, occasionally pinching his ear when she notices him smirking at Warriors.

Tia and Twilight are absolutely bonding over herding Feral Hylians before he starts flustering her and Sage just like body checks him straight into the moat.

Buut also Cal being sneaky and like cautiously approaches Tia for advice. Because while she looks similar to Fauna, she acts very differently and maybe she can give him and Wild some actual information instead of dangling it like Sweetpea does. (Unfortunately, Tia's advice is basically 'Respect her Decision, Respect her Space and Respect the Fact Sage Will come First.' so if they want to woo the pretty feral sheikah, they're gonna need to at least get Sage to tolerate them first. (Good luck on that) Wild does find out Tia's favourite flower is Sundelions and passes that on to Tia's suitors which just causes absolute chaos.)

Sweetpea being ken has gotta be one of the funniest things we've come up with yet. Like they're all >:( and he's all :D, happy to be there. Maybe the girls are talking about some intricate and intense dealings with other realms and the merging of their own and he's nodding, blank faced because he has no clue what's going on. Sage at least admits he doesn't know, nor does he care, but Sweetpea pretends he both knows and cares.

He is smart enough to have red alarms going off though. Like that one tiktok audio when something goes down? He could be in between Yona and Sidon, having a peaceful snooze before snapping up like "Something just happened."

Sweetpea and Sage are such an interesting duo, especially when compared to the other two. Like, they are such good foils for each other that they work together well. Wild and Cal haven't spent nearly enough time to reach that same level those two have and it shows.

Just like Aaliyah and Tia are good foils to Flora and Fauna.

Tia being the lovable sister to Aaliyah just warms my heart <3 bc like i love them. They're dynamic is also something I wanna explore more bc it's the whole Golden Retriever and Black cat thing. Like Tia is all smiley and bright and kind, nothing but gentle touches and sweet words while Aaliyah is more the silent comfort; She's the person on the back wall, making sure she all has the information and brooding, letting you cry on her shoulder and never mentioning it ever again.

Like Batman and Superman now that I think about it.

Wild and Cal depend on which way we go here. If we go with the normal, not crazy chain then yea, they're just like love striken puppies. It's mostly infatuation that this is what they could've had and they just want to feel what it's like to have her attention on them for just a little while. Just to know what it's like for Sage the lucky bastard. But, if we go with the Yandere chain I write about on this blog it could be a completely different scenario. Because Aaliyah has scars. There's no shocker there. But to Wild and Cal? This is just confirmation to them that Sage can't protect her. Not in the way they can. So he obviously doesn't deserve her. They're train of thought is that he's manipulated her into staying with him and that just won't stand. So maybe they are trying to seperate them. But what they fail to realize is that as deep as Sage's claws are in the Sheikah, she has her own keeping him tethered to her just as tightly. So it won't be as easy as they're delusional minds think.

That won't stop them from trying however.

Tia being protective just warms my heart <333 Bc your right. Aaliyah isn't a people person, even with younger versions of Sage. That growth is what solidified that bridge between them as strong as it was. Tea time between the girls is SACRED. No one can get in between that. Especially if it means saving a bit of bloodshed and unstringing all the stress Aaliyah carries. She's an anxious person and when she's stressed, she snaps. So it's good that Tia can recognize that and help de-escalate.

(Petal is so cute I can't like nfogfb Like I imagine Tia and Sage, maybe Sweetpea, are the only ones allowed to touch Aaliyah's hair. Like...at all. Hair cuts are just winging it. And the contradiction to her personality is also so funny. Sage's being dumpling also kills me because he probably has to take a second to register his new nickname. But that second is what seals his fate and it's just law now. Sage and Tia cooking together is just FJFNFNF WARMS MY HEART BC LIKE THATS HIS SIL ( i imagine Sweetpea and Tia have a brother/sister relationship?) AND WE'VE SEEN THE OTHER HALF AND I JUST need this half okay? I'm so normal about this and-)

(Ariel is more dangerous than any of them bc of her Cuccos I don't make the rules)

Aaliyah is scary dog privileges personified. Just silently glowering in the back as if daring any of the Links to fuck around and find out. Especially that pompous fuck with the red scarf. Sure, Cal and Wild are trying to talk to her about her journeys and she's just >:( At First the WHOLE time. Talking about how many Lynels she's taken down or how often she eradicates monster camps. Tia is over her shit. When Aaliyah pulls out the puppy dog eyes, ears down and a small whine leaving her lips, Tia is just 'Are you seriously asking me to let you bite someone?' and Aaliyah is just 'Not really, I'm more-or-less asking for forgiveness when I inevitably do it."

Sweetpea being the clingiest out of all of them is just fnofnf because he's practically showing off his place. Like Sweetpea is looking at them like 'I have a garaunteed place in Tia's wedding. Do you?'

Wars is counting on Sweetpea's downfall. He's just >:( In his chair, arms crossed and a pout on his lips.

Twilight is in the clear for a while, talking about how he's reigned in Wild's own behaviour only to be faced with the worst of them all. Like, yes, Aaliyah will bite and snap and blow up a forest, she's still somewhat civil with the rest of them. While yes, Sweetpea is rubbing his place in Tia's life in War's face, he isn't biting them which is good. But Sage? Nah. Sage is the worst of the worst. He's attacking whenever he feels like it. And it could in the middle of the night? Maybe while they're walking? Twilight will never know.

Like, they're walking on a bridge and next thing he knows he's engulfed in orange and Sage is smirking at him before dropping him into the river below.

Cal is probably the smarter of the two by going to Tia. She's more likely to give them solid advice than Fungus over there. Is it very helpful? ...Not really BUT That just means they have an excuse to watch her every move. It's for science of course!

Wild probably plays up the friendly face if only to get information on Tia to give to the ones who want her own attention. In turn they give him anything they can get out of Aaliyah. Or maybe even Sage. Anything really.

(Lmao its a race for them to get sundelions but every time they spot one and they try to climb to get it, one of her guard dogs is already standing there with it plucked, in their hand and a smirk on their face. "Better luck next time~")

[scout-company]

Stellar Acclimation—Chapter 15: Armed

Scout bubbles a giggle when Semyon’s eyebrows shoot straight up into the rest of his curls. “He’s actually figured out how to make you a prosthetic?” he mutters as he studies the rotating mesh on the console screen. 

“Yep!” Scout declares, then adds with a demonstrative shrug of her left shoulder, “Since this won’t seal on its own an’ all that.

Adjusting his green goggles back to his forehead, Elliott pipes up, “The prosthetic is surprisingly simple, actually. Given what I do know about Novakid, ah, ‘biology,’ internal mechanisms aren’t even needed at all. Simply softer sections of the shell to allow for manipulation.”

Semyon glances over at Elliott during the scientist’s explanation and nods slowly—albeit with a really strange pinch in his eyebrows that crinkles the skin on the bridge of his nose a bit—before looking back at the monitor again with a curious frown. “Huh.”

“That being said, however,” Elliott notes, frowning at a small window in the corner of the screen that keeps rotating through a long list of words Scout can’t read, “This will require some carbon for the composite for the print and…I seem to be fresh out.” He taps the thick side of the console.

Scout tilts her head as she echoes, “Carbon…?” But then she perks as a thought hits her. “Ya mean like coal?”

Elliott absently nods, still frowning at the screen, “Coal is a source of carbon, yes. Ugh, I was quite optimistic that I wouldn’t need to—”

Scout interrupts him with a triumphant whistle as she pulls her miniature Matter Manipulator out of her pocket and says, “I found a lot o’ coal, earlier! Need any?”

Elliott’s expression starts idly curious as he glances over, but then he does a double-take at the Manipulator in her hand and it’s his turn for his eyebrows to shoot up into the rest of his fur. Except his fur is less curly and more long and messy, so his eyebrows disappear behind a longer fringe barely tamed by being tucked behind his ears. The scientist’s sudden astonishment makes Scout giggle proudly again and even makes Semyon snort. 

“You…where did you get a Matter Manipulator?” Elliott gawks, “Those are in short supply these days. Almost a collector’s item.”

“I made it!” she declares brightly, spinning her invention on a finger a few times before holding it properly again and swiping through its inventory screen with her thumb. Coal, coal, coal, where’d it get bookmarked…

While she’s thumbing through her Manipulator’ inventory, Elliott’s eyes grow even wider as he marvels, “You made a Matter Manipulator? How? Did you find a blueprint somewhere? Or take one apart?”

Scout shakes her head with a proud bubble and fizzes with a nod in Bronzemarch’s direction, “Nope! Jus’ saw ol’ Bronze-head’s and jerry-rigged one up with the ditties he had layin’ around.” Now where is that— “Ah hah!” she pops when she finds the coal finally. After a quick bit of fiddling with the buttons on the side, she figures out how to project a lump of coal over Elliott’s hovering hand. 

Elliott makes a funny grunt sound when the coal materializes over his pointing hand, fumbling the lump and barely managing to not drop it. Again Semyon snorts at the scientist from behind Scout’ shoulder; Scout just fizzes, barely not laughing out loud. Scout shoots Semyon a glance over her shoulder, which he meets with a tilted smirk and a shrug.

But once Elliott finally has a grip on the lump of coal, his eyes widen again with a blink, and he adjusts his goggles’ position on his forehead again. He blinks a few more times at the coal, almost as if triple-checking it’s actually in his hands, blinks once back up at Scout, then finally huffs to himself, “Fascinating! I’d heard Novakid are prodigious engineers, but to replicate a Matter Manipulator…not even the Miniknog leftovers have managed that. Nor Letheia, for that matter.”

Scout tilts her head at the new names. “Letheia? Miniknog?” she fizzles. For some reason, Semyon flinches every time the word Miniknog is said. Scout glances at him curiously, and his mostly neutral face is twitching a bit; the fur on the back of his neck is poofed up like he just got zapped by static from the wires laying about.

Even the fur on the back of Elliott’s neck fluffs slightly when Scout echoes that name, but he quickly shakes his head in such a way that his neck fur readjusts and he dismisses, “It’s nothing.” Then he lightly bounces the coal lump in his hand and continues, “But this sample of coal should have enough carbon for our needs. Just need to…” He drifts off a bit as he opens a panel on the side of the console and sets the coal inside—when Scout peeks over his shoulder she recognizes some of the components of a matter converter just as the lump flashes into light and Elliott closes the panel.

A few more button presses later, and the console gives a confident beep and thrum. Elliott brushes his hands together proudly as he announces, “And there we go! Your prosthetic is printing now; should be done in a few minutes.”

Scout can’t sit still to save her life in those next several minutes. Despite remaining mostly at the console after an initial whoop, she keeps bouncing on her feet, sometimes shifting between them to skip in place, sometimes bouncing on both like the floor’s a trampoline of excitement. She’s going to have an arm back! Despite adjusting fairly well to operating single-handedly these past few weeks, and despite not remembering how she may have operated before, Scout is certain she had a left arm before. Now she’s going to have one again! 

So she watches the console’s progress vigilantly despite her bouncing. A number displays in the corner of the screen, next to a progress bar; she can’t read the words nor the numbers on the screen—and attempting to just makes the whole screen unfocus—but she can read a progress bar. Halfway done…three quarters…seven eighths…

Done! 

Elliott takes the result out of a hatch in the front of the console, beneath the keyboard. What he takes out is an almost perfectly clear composite shell of an arm, with the areas near the joints only slightly foggier than the rest. Scout nearly tries snatching it from him in her excitement, but he holds it just out of her immediate reach as he summarizes how it’s supposed to work:

“Now, I’m no expert in Novakid physiology, but I do know that your external shell is semi magnetic,” he begins, quirking an eyebrow in amusement at Scout’s failed snatching, “Correct?”

“Yeah,” she absently fizzles, the majority of her attention just focused on the prosthetic, on how the LEDs from the console shine through the composite, only barely distorted and blurred. 

Elliott nods, exchanges the prosthetic shell to his other hand, and continues, “Over time, I expect this material—” he demonstratively pinches the end of the prosthetic sleeve— “To bond with your shell thanks to that magnetism. But I don’t know how long that’ll take.”

“Clinical. So we’ll have to seal it ourselves to prevent you from venting out in the meantime,” Bronzemarch concludes, finally piping up and walking over to join the rest of them in front of the console.

“That would be ideal, yes,” Elliott agrees. Then he hands the prosthetic arm over to Bronzemarch—who still keeps it just out of Scout’s snatching range.

She flares with a crackle when her hand grabs empty air again. “Aw c’mon! Can’t I hold it?”

Bronzemarch chuckles and quirks an eye at her, even as he holds the prosthetic shell in both hands to inspect it. “Amused. You’ll be holding it in due time. Practical. Let’s get this on you first.”

Bronzemarch escorts Scout to a side room just outside the lab—for “decency” he claims, even though Scout thinks it’s mostly just to keep from spooking the random folk in the Outpost when some of her plasma does inevitably vent from her shoulder—so he can undo the bandaging enough to put the prosthetic’s sleeve over the gap in her shell. It doesn’t take that long to secure the prosthetic and put her shirt back on, but it does take Scout a minute to adjust from the sudden burst of plasma loss and the equally sudden shift in her center of gravity.

It’s a fascinating sensation that dominates Scout’s attention, even as Bronzemarch escorts her back out of the room with a hand to her back: her plasma fills the prosthetic shell slowly at first, but soon enough it churns within like it was always supposed to. The sleeve makes her shoulder feel thick at first, and it takes her some time to feel out her new arm enough to try moving it. 

Bronzemarch and Semyon help her out with that part, gently helping her lift her new arm and rotate her shoulder until she manages to do it on her own. It still feels like moving through molasses.

But soon enough she manages to get the fingers to wiggle. To grab. Once she manages that she tries holding her Manipulator in her new hand. 

Victoriously she whoops, “I’m doin’ it! Look, look, look!” to Bronzemarch and Semyon as she triumphantly holds the Manipulator in front of her, over her head. Then she tries spinning it on a finger like she’s gotten deft at doing with her right hand. 

But she fumbles it and it goes flying into the nearest wall, bouncing off the concrete and onto the steel floor with a clunk. “Whoops.”

Semyon laughs and notes, “That might take a bit of practice.” Then he starts to move to pick the Manipulator up for her, but Scout starts moving first.

“I got it,” she cuts in, squatting quickly to pick her invention up from the floor and pocket it. But in the process her dagger slips from her pocket, hitting the steel with a thud and that faint, odd echo. The resonance it sends through her plasma seems slightly dulled by the prosthetic shell, but she still feels it in her left arm as she picks the dagger up. She’s used to that resonance in her right arm, but feeling it in her new left arm reminds her of the stars in her mind all over again.

Slowly she stands back up with the dagger in hand. Now with two hands, she holds the dagger at both ends, slowly twirling it and watching the reflections of the Outpost’s cold blue lights and her own orange light reflect off the blade. Eventually she looks back up at Semyon, who frowns lightly at the blade, then at her. “Something wrong with it?” he asks.

Scout shakes her head, looking back down at the blade for a moment before turning to glance back at the lab doors. Then she glances at Semyon and Bronzemarch and muses, “Reckon that scientist feller will know what this is?” with a nod towards the lab.

Semyon shrugs and casts a glance at Bronzemarch himself.

After a moment of thoughtful silence, with his LED eyes flickering a bit as if scrolling through unseen options, Bronzemarch simply says, “Curious. Only one way to find out.”

~~~~~

<< Previous || Next >>

[the-thieves-gambit]

"It's better to bat my eyelashes and ask for forgiveness than ask for permission and be told no." She shrugged as if it was a good answer. Knowing how many times that option got her out of trouble in the past. It was also a good way of claiming any deniability, asking permission, being told no and still doing it was a fine way of being in double the trouble. "I think it's funny that you think I'd listen to the messages after not answering." Small smirk on her face as she rebutted. "Me jealous? Not at all, You do know that bats use their voices for echolocation since they can't see, is that why you talk so much ?" There was a small nugget of truth that she had come to listening to his voice.To his small random facts, his need to fill the silence that would sometimes fill the moments where they had nothing to talk about. It kept her mind from wandering sometimes.

"Oh," she laughed. "I think demoness might have been my favorite but I'd rather not get into the things I've been called." The nickname made her smile and feel happy in a way that she didn't know how to properly define but blamed it on his warm palm against hers and the comfortable hoodie. "I guess not," the words were soft as she took in that a dream was not childish, mostly because of how passionate he seemed about it. The way he said her dream was important to him just because it was important to her, it felt strange. It was something indescribable. Reeling herself in, she stared straight ahead instead. "Thanks but like I said all lighthouses are automated these days so," shrugged. "Guess I got to find a different dream." Snapping her fingers, she laughed. "Damn, and here I thought I could finally rid of you with your preference for bark."

The salt air and crashing waves had memories creeping in. Her first night out on the water, the inky darkness of it all that ate and swallowed everything. "When you're not used to the dark, or perhaps scared of the dark, it can seem scary. You literally can't see anything. Just complete and utter darkness except whatever light your boat has. One wrong move and you can find yourself overboard. It's oddly, peaceful. Reminds you just how small you are in the world."

"Hmm." Her head leaned back against the lighthouse as it tilted slightly so she could look over at him. "I never pegged you for someone scared of something, especially in your line of work. Did something happen on one?" It wasn't said in a playful way or a teasing way, it was an honest caring tone. Having learned something about him, something in her wanted to share something back. It was only fair right? "I hate rain, not like small rain but storms and small spaces. Like really small spaces, like cave exploring. Who the hell does that for fun? Squeezing into the smallest holes in the world and getting stuck or unable to breathe. How is that fun?" Both fears had come directly from her care under Jennifer, but that was neither here nor there. Glancing over at him, she saw his hair covering his eye and couldn't help but let a small chuckle out. "You look like those kids who say their life is miserable but live with mom and dad and listen to those bands that scream a lot. Here." She reached over and let her fingers take the hair and pull it gently back. "There. I never realized how long your hair actually is. Aren't there regulations about that?"

Settling with her back against the lighthouse again, she decided there was no harm in telling him. It was a good story, perhaps the only good story in her life. "I needed a break," the word was emphasized in a way that said it meant more but that wasn't going to be something that was going to be shared. "Charlie knew someone who knew someone who knew someone, as he usually does. And there was this fisherman, Michael. He had a small family fishery he had inherited from his parents. The thing is, he was deaf and his partner had left the business. He thought it would be no issue, but ended up being fined by the Coast Guard when he went out on his own and didn't heed their calls. He needed someone who was hearing on board to go back out, so he agreed to take me on for a while even if I couldn't help with the catches, in the beginning anyway. My sign language wasn't that great but good enough. Ended up staying on for a year until he found someone else to take over. I learned more sign language and a lot more about fishes and shellfish than I ever thought I would learn in life. Did you know that lobsters can live up to 140 years? Also when you go somewhere that sells cod, you are most likely eating pollock? Tastes just like it but cod is so regulated, they have to be a certain size and weight, and blah blah blah. Pollock is the better way to go. No limit on those bad boys. "

An amused smile overtook his features as she had a point. "It's like ask for forgiveness not permission sort of thing." He rolled his eyes and laughed, he set himself up for that one. "If you don't answer I'll still leave voicemails and you know I can ramble like no other about different topics. So choices for you are answer the call or be prepared to have a hundred voice mails all talking about different things." There was not going to be a day where he wouldn't enjoy annoying her just to get a reaction from her. Of course now it wasn't as bad as when they first started talking but still fun. That giggle was quickly becoming one of his favorite sounds. His heart picked up at having her so close but kept his composure. Being in a lions den with people who wouldn't hesitate to kill him if they knew his actual job was nothing compared to the way she made him feel. "Now you're taking a shot at my eyesight. Two for two. You're on a roll." That smile still plastered on his face as he said that. "Sounds like you're just jealous of my bat eyesight."

"You say that but I don't know there might be some part of you that likes hearing me talk. Especially when you've got random questions that aren't so random. I have a feeling you like my voice." She gave him food for thought. It would be funny to pull a prank on him for the fun of it. He hadn't pulled those types of shenanigans in a few years. More like a few months since he and his brother in law's would always one up the other. "A degree is just a piece of paper in the grand scheme of things. It just means that tasks were completed. Doesn't measure how smart you actually are."

"Oh okay. Now you got me curious to know what else you've been called. How imaginative these jerks have been." He could tell there wouldn't be words that would affect her the way people intended it to. That alone made him smirk. "Whatever you say, lila. Just know I'll still think you have the weirdest analogies. You can't stop me," he smiled as a soft chuckle escaped him.

"It's not childish to have a dream," he expressed. "Everyone has them. Adults and kids alike. Even animals. Whoever says that dreams are childish clearly don't understand what they actually represent. I don't know about others in life but I'm not one to squash dreams no matter how childish," he threw her words back. "They may seem to others. If it's important to you then its important to me."

The question made him think for a brief moment then grinned. "Well, milk chocolate can actually kill me so that one is out. I like both white and dark chocolate but have a preference for dark chocolate. The Godiva ones are so good. But all time favorite are the ones my sister makes. Regardless of your answer you can't get rid of me."

That elicited a laugh from him as he still stood his ground. "And you accuse me of being blind? I wore polka dots bracelets just like week. Also I do have a polka dot tie." It was the one his niece gifted him for his birthday and one he cherished as much as he did the small child. "Now hang on a moment. Why do you think a cat is scary, wouldn't you smile if you saw a friendly lighthouse instead of a boring one? Ones every other sailor has seen before?" Now he was just being difficult to be difficult. He loved when he ignited that small little fire in her when she couldn't help but contradict him.

He laughed as his brain zeroed in on how perfectly their hands fit together. Almost like they were meant to fit together. This was going to be the thing he'd get hung up on he just knew it. A startled chuckle escaped him as he followed behind her, eyes sparking with amusement at her head start. The fancy free manner in which he saw her let go if only slightly made his heart constrict in that way that Liz could make happen. Oh was he in trouble. He caught up to her and saw her sit down with her hands in his hoodie and he knew right then and there if he would have no problem being swallowed up by the ocean if the sight in front of him was the last thing he saw. He took a seat beside her and leaned his elbows over his knees as he tore his gaze away from her and focused on the water. It was serene, something shared between the two. "No," he whispered as he shook his head, letting his longer part of his hair cover one eye as he did so. "I've always wanted to. Though I may have a tiny fear of boats. Unsure though." It was a real fact he hadn't let anyone know about. He wasn't one who visibly showed his vulnerabilities easily. He kept things close to the chest most times and if it wasn't necessary to say then he wouldn't.

[jungk0oksthighs]

Stay With Me | Forgotten Memories

exhusband!jungkook, singledad!jungkook, E2L, angst, smut, fluff

Word count: 3.2k

Two years after your divorce you still struggle with the realities of co-parenting. Warnings: Swearing, angst, mentions of divorce & relationship breakdown

MINIERIES COLLECTION

The drive to your ex-husband’s new apartment is always something you dread. Jungkook lives almost forty minutes away by car, you’re a little over halfway now and thankfully your son Seol is far too invested in something on his phone to notice your distain. 

Jeon Jungkook, where do you even begin?

It was a classic tale of love at first sight, except the two of you were actually dating other people when you met. Jungkook had been with his girlfriend Pearl for almost three years at that point, they were high school sweethearts who moved in together for college. But it wasn’t all sunshine and romance, in fact, Pearl had been cheating on him throughout the course of their relationship with almost all of his ‘friends’ he played football with. He didn’t know that the night you met though, nor did you.

As for you, that fateful night you were in your first year of college – two years younger than Jungkook. You were shy and quiet, still adjusting to the lifestyle being a student had to offer. It didn’t help that your boyfriend Yoongi went to a different college, more than six thousand miles away from your new life. In a dark yet comedic twist of fate it turned out that Yoongi had also been unfaithful, but again, you weren’t aware of that when you initially met Kook, nor was he.

The memory of your first encounter with Jungkook still plays clearly in your head, even after all these years. You were in the library one Wednesday night trying to find a book from your reading list, you can’t even remember which class it was for now. There you were, skimming the shelves with brows pinched together in concentration until you found it, the large leather bound book dusty beneath your fingertips when you gripped it. Except you weren’t the only one hoping to check out that book.

From the other side of the shelf Jungkook looked for the biggest, heaviest looking book he could find, one that looked old and dusty so he could be certain nobody would want to check it out any time soon. He needed a new spider killer, giving that he’d lost the previous book he used. It’s funny really, how a man so muscular and fierce looking could be absolutely terrified of spiders. But he was, he still is. His method of getting rid of them is a little unorthodox, throwing the heaviest, biggest non-breakable object he can at them and praying it crushes them so he doesn’t have to deal with it at a close range. Hence the desire to take the enormous, heavy duty looking book you already had your hands on.

“Oh-,” You remember his surprise to find someone wanting the same reading material as him, “I’m sorry this ones taken...” He’d said with the faintest smirk, you could barely see him through the row of books but you sure do recall those big, chocolate doe-eyes trying to catch a glimpse of the person he’d labelled as the book thief. A nick name that stuck throughout your fifteen year relationship, twelve of which being married.

“I’m sorry… I need this for my assignment. It’s due next Friday, can I have it until then?” You were so painfully shy back then, hands growing clammy at the prospect of being a burden to someone, “I can give you it when I’ve finished my paper… I won’t need it for long. Just a couple days.”

It was like time itself stopped, the world stood still and the faint voices of other students became nothing more than white noise. Your heart hammered inside your chest, breath hitching in your throat when the owner of the voice made his way round the shelf with big, tattooed arms folded over his chest.

“You promise? Just a couple of days?” His voice was honeyed, there was something about his demeanour that softened as soon as he looked at you. He was stunning. At the time you felt guilty for finding another man attractive, giving you had a boyfriend, but Jungkook was… Something else. His hair was long enough to tickle his hooded eyelids, his big body towered over yours but in a non-threatening way, and his face and muscles looked as though they were carved by horny angels.

“Promise.” You nodded with a coy smile that made the man weak at the knees.

He smiled, a breath taking, panty-dropping gorgeous smile, “What’s your name? I don’t think I’ve seen you in here before.”

“Y/N… I’m a first year so I haven’t been here long…” A bashful chuckle escaped your lips, “What’s your name?”

“Jungkook. I’m a third year... So what’s your major?”

The day before your wedding Jungkook had sent you a video of himself, kind of like a vlog but not in an obnoxious ‘hi guys welcome back to my channel’ way. He was sitting in his college apartment, one you recognised straight away. It was recorded barely an hour after your first interaction with him. The final year student was tipsy, flashing his signature bunny-like grin to the camera wearing khaki pyjamas that were almost sheer.

“Hi Jungkook,” He nodded with confidence toward the camera, proceeding to tell the time and date, “I know this is crazy, but I just bumped into this girl… She was…” He sighed with an open smile, shaking his head in disbelief, “She was amazing. A little shy but I’m sure her and I are going to become good friends one day… I can’t explain it, ahh. She was like… I don’t know. All I do know is that I feel drawn to her, yknow? Not like that I would never cheat on Pearl… Well, maybe like that? She was beautiful. I mean she is beautiful, unless she died in the last hour… I don’t know why I said was. Y/N is beautiful. Y/N... Maybe I’m just lonely and overthinking things since Pearl and I aren’t in a good place right now. I’m drunk, I’m not sure why I’m even filming this… I just know that I wanted to,... But Jungkook listen to me, this is serious. That girl is going to be special to you one day, I just know it.”

And special you were, because the day after you watched that very video you officially became Mrs Jeon.

And now, after the hardest heartbreak you’ve ever faced – Mrs Jeon is no longer who you are.

“Are you coming inside?” Seol asks innocently when you pull up to Jungkook’s apartment complex, dragging you back to the present, “My bag is kinda heavy since I brought my Playstation.”

You stop yourself from rolling your eyes with a small smile, Seol is always trying to get you and his father in the same room together one way or another, “Okay I’ll carry your bag up for you.”

“Yesss!” He grinned, clambering outside the car with a little too much enthusiasm.

Every other week you and Jungkook swap parental responsibility. Even after two years of co-parenting, it’s still painful. You hate being away from Seol, and Jungkook presumably feels the same way when Seol is with you… But this is the new normal, whether you want it to be or not. Two years since the divorce and yet when he swings his front door open wearing a plain black t shirt and jeans of the same colour, everything comes rushing back. The laughs, the cries, the love, the hurt. Everything.

“Y/N…?” Jungkook grins, quickly clearing his throat in an attempt to hide the pleasant surprise washing his features, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

You inhale, lifting the large bag Seol has packed for the week, “Playstation’s heavy.”

“Oh here I’ll take that.” Your ex-husband pries the weekend case from your grip, “You want a coffee? Or a green tea? …Or any drink?” He’s frowning, awkwardly biting down on his lip, clearly embarrassed of his attempt to lure you inside.

“Please mom?” Seol slips past you, the pair of them grinning widely at you with identical expressions – like they’ve been copied and pasted.

“I should really be heading back… I’ve got—” You cut your sentence short with an apologetic smile, truth is you have a date this evening and need to start getting ready as soon as you can. But you don’t have the heart to mention that in front of your son, or your ex-husband. “You know what, sure, I’ll have a quick drink.”

“Okay!” Kook ushers you quickly into his home, and you’re sure it’s so you can’t change your mind.

You’ve only been inside his apartment a handful of times, usually during the pick-up/drop-off hand over of your son. The last time you were here was Seol’s birthday. Every year since he was a little boy you and Kook made him funfetti pancakes for breakfast on his birthday, and despite the divorce that’s one tradition you’ve at least manage to keep. The apartment it small, two bedrooms – his and Seol’s. It’s mostly open planned but compared to your big beautiful home it feels… lonely.

“So do you have plans for this weekend?” Jungkook asks when you perch yourself on a stool in front of the breakfast bar. Seol has already ran off to his bedroom, presumably to unpack for the week.

Nodding slowly you meet Kook’s gaze, he’s looking at you intently as though there’s a million things on his mind, “Same old really…” You lie, twiddling your thumbs. It’s not that you feel guilty for dating, you’ve been divorced for two years now – but he doesn’t need to know. If he were to openly discuss his personal and sex life with you it would make you feel awkward, and so you treat him how you expect to be treated and keep him in the dark, “Nothing much, how about you guys?”

“One of those Tiktoker’s he watches is doing a meet and greet tomorrow, I’m being forced to take him.” He chuckles, folding strong, heavily tattooed arms over his chest.

“Rather you than me.” You laugh, thinking fuck that.

“So I’ve got coffee, green tea or coke.”

“Any diet coke?”

“Why would I buy diet? Tastes like shit. Still don’t understand how you can drink it.”

You roll your eyes jokingly, “Green tea it is then.”

Once you have the steaming mug of tea in hand Jungkook sits next to you, nursing a coffee. Black of course, you’re smiling – some things never change, even down to the way he likes his drinks.

“So—”

“How have—”

You both apologise for speaking over the other with a breathy laugh, and he insists that you go first, his chocolate doe-eyes trained to your face.

“How have you been? How’s work?”

At this your ex-husband nods, taking a sip of his coffee, “Good yeah, everything’s good… You know me, always plodding along. How’re things with you?”

“Good thanks… Things are good.” You mirror his movements, the herbal tea is warm and you realise he’s used the fancy teabags you like.

“Have you met someone?” His question catches you off-guard, especially since he asks it so casually as though he’s speaking about the weather.

There’s a lump in your throat all of a sudden, perhaps it’s guilt, maybe even a little sadness. Truthfully tonight is only the third date you’ve been on since the divorce. But you’re finally in a place where you feel ready enough to move on with your life and meet someone new to share it with. 

It’s not that you divorced Jungkook because you fell out of love with him, hell when you admire the features on his chiselled face there’s a part of you that still loves him even now. But marriages need more than just love to work; they need support, mutual understanding and even compromises. All the things your marriage lacked, and ultimately the reason you filed for divorce.

You swallow, choosing your next words oh so very carefully, “Not quite… I am going on a date with someone from work though so, yknow maybe.”

“I see…” You don’t miss the flash of disappointment in his eyes, the way his Adam’s apple bobs in his throat, or the way his jaw tenses in discomfort.

“How about you—”

“Nah,” He sighs, almost sounding in pain, “Still gotta work on myself before I even consider getting back out there.”

You tense, knowing exactly what he’s referring to, “I see…”

Jungkook is many things but he’s not the ideal husband or father. He can be selfish, very much so. He’s spoiled and argumentative when he doesn’t get his  way. And you disagree on the way you think your son should be raised, that being the biggest contributor to the end of your marriage. Sure he’s the most handsome man you’ve ever known. He can be romantic, he’s sexy, sophisticated and funny… Any woman would be lucky to have him, as soon as he’s finished ironing out his flaws.

“Mom!” Seol unintentionally breaks the tension by jogging into the kitchen somewhat out of breath, much to your relief.

“What’s up?” You turn to him with loving eyes, admiring his cute little face which is only growing more and more handsome by the day. He looks so much like Jungkook sometimes it catches you off guard, especially when his round eyes crinkle from his bright smile. He’s his father’s double.

“Okay, so my friends are all going to the beach and hopefully staying there overnight next weekend for the carnival and I want to go with—”

“Oh do you now? Whose parents are taking you?” You don’t mean to sound blunt, it’s just that there’s only a handful of his friends’ parents that you trust. And something tells you he’s not going to be chaperoned by them, rather the ones you don’t trust.

“Well…”

“Seol?” Jungkook tongues his cheek, clearly sharing your same fear.

“…Actually I was going to ask if you could take us all.” Seol looks between you and his father with eyes swimming in hope, shifting his weight between his feet while waiting for an response.

“Mmm…” Your lips purse, “How many of your friends are planning to go on this mini vacation you’ve planned?”

“Well there’s me plus five of my friends…”

“I can’t possibly keep an eye on six of you Seol… It’s a bit much.” You hate disappointing him, and you despise the disheartened huff that draws from his chest, but there’s no way you can chaperone six children at a carnival. For starters you won’t fit them all in the car, “If you can make it you and three friends I’ll take you and we’ll get a hotel. Is that fair?”

Compromise. Parenting is all about compromise and respect.

“But mooooom!” Another dramatic sigh comes from your son, “We all want to go, please please please?”

You shake your head gently, finishing your green tea, “I can only fit four of you in the car, I’m really sorry… Maybe one of your friend’s moms can take the other two? Actually it would be nice to have some adult company if I’m taking you guys to—”

“I can come with you.” Jungkook interjects, surprising both you and Seol who wear the same dumbfounded expression, “We can pack up the Mercedes, it’s big enough for the six of them in the back and you can ride up front with me.”

“Oh my god! Oh my god!” Seol’s jumping up and down on the spot, his Iron Man socks nearly causing him the slip on the floor tiles, “Mom please can dad take us?!”

“Only if your mom comes with us,” Kook reiterates with a chuckle, rubbing his big bicep with inked fingers, “I can’t possibly watch six of them, like you said… It’s a bit much.”

“Mom! Pleeeaaaase?!”

“Or I can ask my brother to come with me if you’d feel uncomfortable. That’s the last thing I’d want to make you feel.” Jungkook notices your internal struggle before it happens, but you find yourself speaking before you really have time to process what you’re agreeing to.

“No it’s okay I’ll come with you,” You offer your ex a warm smile, a smile he reciprocates and if you didn’t know any better you’d say he looks almost excited by your words, “But I’ll need to speak with everyone’s parents first. Deal?”

“Deal!!!!” Seol dashes off into the corridor, so fast that he almost slips on the floor again.

Kook notices this too, adding “Go careful! Watch where you’re going!” As your son disappears into his bedroom.

“...I should really get going now, thanks for the tea.”

“Right… Big date and all that.” He’s tonguing his cheek again, gazing in a different direction.

You frown, “I never said it was tonight…” It is, but you know that you didn’t tell him that.

“Sorry I just assumed,” He gestures to your body with his fingers, eyes lingering on the bend of your waist in your shirt dress before they finally settle on your face, “You look…”

Standing, you clear your throat before an awkward snigger bubbles your chest, “Well I hope the end of that sentence is good at least.”

Jungkook’s smile reaches his eyes before it tugs his lips, and for a split second you forget how to breathe. After saying goodbye to Seol Kook walks you to the door, opening it for you but you can see there’s a part of him that doesn’t want you to leave. It’s always like this. Tense, a little awkward, so many unspoken truths clouding the air between you. The memories of his lips on yours always fight their way to the front of your mind, especially when his tongue darts out to wet them when he says goodbye.

“I’ll see you next weekend then?” You reach for your car keys, giving him a small wave.

“Beautiful.” Jungkook leans against the doorframe, looking obscenely large against the entrance to his home.

You can’t hide your surprise, brows raised with a cocktail of equal parts confusion and shock when you fiddle with your keys. His eyes bore into your soul, reaching depths inside you that are long forgotten about. Parts of you that ignite for him, and only him.

“You look beautiful.”

x

[jahayla-parker]

For our favorite bastard, Kaz Brekker.

A reader with a touch aversion of her own, Kaz is just fascinated and is slowly falling for her, however, he tries to hide it but everyone sees except the reader.

Emotional Intimacy: Kaz Brekker x Reader

Description: 9.7k wc, y/n and Kaz both have touch aversions, meanwhile they’re pinning for each other

Warnings: SoC typical triggers/topics, PTSD, touch aversion, violence

“Jesper don’t get distracted by the tables” Kaz warned after giving Jesper his assignment for the upcoming heist.

Jesper sighed but rolled his eyes, “I can control myself”.

“That is up to interpretation” Kaz remarked, causing y/n to bite her lip as a small squeak of a giggle escaped her mouth.

Kaz looked her way and nodded once, “moving on, y/n you will be handling Dante Winslow. Keep him distracted and away from Jesper, Inej, and Nina while they locate the chest.”

Once y/n nods her head in understanding, Kaz faces the others.

“How are you going to distract Winslow hmm?” Jesper teases, earning a glare from Kaz at the distraction.

Y/n shakes her head and laughs quietly, understanding his weak innuendo but still finding humor in the wiggling of his eyebrows.

However as Jesper keeps making remarks under his breath, the girl forces the laughter in a nervous manner.

She no longer found it funny, in fact she was worried that Kaz’s plan would rely on something related to Jesper’s jokes.

How was she to distract this man?

Surely she’d have to at least touch him.

The thought made her chest cave in towards her spine, her gloved hands gripping the chair.

“Enough of that Jesper” Kaz says, making Jesper’s eyebrows immediately stop moving as if Kaz’s voice had the power to stop them itself.

Jesper smirked at Kaz’s protective and jealous response.

“The rest of you will be with me at his daughter Constiana’s house, where the jewels should be” Kaz notes, watching their reactions closely as he always does.

“Wylan will get us in. Time is crucial on this, we won’t waste it picking the lock” Kaz explained, although no one was sure why.

Kaz never explained anything, so why now?

The hesitant look on the other crows’ faces suggested they wondered the same thing.

“Matthias, you’re in charge of moving her bed out of the way. The latch to the basement, where the jewels are, is said to be under the bed” Kaz says, rolling his eyes as Nina smirks and whispers something in his ear.

He assumes he does not want, nor need, to hear what the comment was.

“And Ms. Winslow won’t hear my explosives as we enter?” Wylan asks once he notices Kaz has finished assignments.

“Constiana herself should be at the party in her fathers manor, and so long as her father doesn’t see anything as being off, we’ll be fine” Kaz says, facing y/n.

Y/n sinks lower in her seat unconsciously.

To be fair, it was a minimal slouch, not easily perceivable to anyone other than Kaz.

Kaz raises an eyebrow as he watches her closely, “y/n? Are you paying attention?”

Y/n swallows and nods an excessive amount of times, only making Kaz’s eyebrow arch closer to his hairline.

“Relax y/n/n, you’ve got this!” Jesper smirks, “just a little suggestive hand holding or running your hands down his chest and with how hot you are, he’s bound to forget any worries”.

She knows he’s trying to help and is giving her a compliment but all she can do is nod.

No one is quite sure if the nod is in response to Jesper’s suggestion or Kaz’s question, having come too delayed to respond to either in a normal manner.

“Are we done?” Y/n asks.

Kaz’s eyes leave her frame for a split second as he reviews his notes and blueprints.

“Yes, we’re done. Go to your rooms, we leave at two bells after” he commands, watching as his crows stand.

He notices the way in which y/n is not only the first to stand, but also the first to leave, being in such a haste that she beats Jesper.

Kaz registers that as both impressive and odd.

Especially given Jesper had been given a credit for the tables tonight to ensure he got it out of his system prior to the heist.

He’s not sure why he grabs his cane and exits his room behind the crows.

He’s already completed his rounds for the night, established and notified the chain of command for when he’s gone for this heist, and just finished explaining the plan to those involved.

So, the entire walk down the hall, he questions why he has this feeling like there’s something he still has to do.

It’s not until he reaches y/n’s door, his fist already mere inches from touching it to knock, when he notices where he was heading and what he was doing.

If he’s at y/n’s door, it must mean the concerns he had during the meeting weren’t as pushed out of his mind as he thought.

Which must mean he’s either there to check on her or to ensure she’s not going to ruin his plan.

Surely it must be the second one, Kaz concludes.

He knocks on the door, heading a scoff and groan come from the other side.

“I figured you’d be here to yell at me. About time” y/n complained, opening the door to let him in.

“How did you know it was me?” Kaz asks.

She raises her eyebrows at him, nodding towards his cane, “it has a very unique sound Kaz. You know that”.

He nodded, “does it scare you?”

She laughs sarcastically, walking to sit on her bed, “no, why would it? Are you planning on beating me with it over me finding Jesper humorous earlier?”

Kaz glares at her as his heart spasms for a reason he cannot determine, “no. Why would you think I would? Is it me?”

Y/n pulls her hair back into a tight ponytail, ensuring she’s got each wisp tucked neatly away.

A method of feeling in control of her body.

“I don’t Kaz, it was a joke. That would have been a bit of an overreaction no? And, is what you?” She asks, her gloved hands dropping to her lap.

Kaz takes a hesitant step forward, uncertain how she’ll respond.

“What you’re afraid of” Kaz says, “is it me?”

Y/n pauses for a moment, Kaz taking it as his signal to stop approaching her.

“No Kaz, it’s not you” she says quietly.

She watches as Kaz stares at her silently, as if trying to analyze if she is being truthful or not.

“No need to think so highly of yourself Kaz” she scoffs, “besides, such abuse won’t work on me”.

Kaz nods, “I know. I’ve seen you willingly be around Jesper when he was trying out his back up revolvers. Unlike the other crows, you hadn’tstepped away to increase your distance from him”.

While at first she’s surprised he noticed something like that, she quickly reminds herself that it’s his job to do so.

“If I recall, you were with the others yourself Kaz” y/n smirked, changing the subject.

“Clearly you’re not afraid of sharp objects given your specialty” Kaz continues, slowly getting closer again, “I’ve also seen how you have no problem helping Wylan assemble his explosives”.

Y/n nodded once and shrugged, “your point?”

Sighing, Kaz allowed himself to sit in the chair several feet from her bed, “everyone is scared by something”.

“And you Kaz?” She argued, “if you so desperately need to know mine, I demand to know your’s”.

Although, she has a feeling she knew.

She felt she knew as soon as she met him and saw his gloved hands and the way he suddenly began sweating when a man (she later learned was a guard for the crows’ mark on that mission) he’d struck grabbed at Kaz’s neck as he stumbled to the ground.

Kaz glared at her from his spot on her chair, “I don’t take orders”.

“That’s fine, but neither do I. I am here on the basis that while I trust your plans, I will not be controlled by anyone. If that arrangement has changed or is no longer an option, I’d advise you let me know” y/n defends, her argumentative and self-protective traits increasing in her attempt to defend herself from his questioning and the panic over the idea of being under someone’s control again.

“It has not” Kaz answers, resting his cane across his lap.

“Good. However, that begs the question… I don’t recall asking you to question me on my fears, nor part of our partnership of me being one of your crows, making answering such questions a requirement” She retorts, standing up to walk to her dresser to begin getting ready.

“I never said it was” he sighs.

“So what? You just expected me to blurt it out to you if you asked?” Y/n laughed.

And while the laughter was directed at him, and the angst that came with her insinuation that she considered that idea ludicrous, he couldn’t help but feel more tranquil.

Her genuine laughter had always been a source of calm for Kaz, and it seemed this was no different.

Although, her smile, not the forced one she often had to use, or the faint one she offered her friends that Kaz assumed to be sincere but still didn’t touch her eyes, was also a source of calm for him.

And he’d much rather her smile than laugh at him, especially over his hope that she’d open up to him.

After all, that’s what it was, right?

He knew she wouldn’t answer, in fact he was pleased she didn’t.

While he wouldn’t, others certainly would love to use that fear to their advantage.

But that didn’t mean he hadn’t hoped she’d tell him. Maybe he could help.

Instead of thinking about and analyzing why exactly he wanted to help, he opted for the first believable explanation he could think of, it was important to the succession of their heist.

If he could help with her fear, there’d be less barriers or risks for their heists.

However, what that explanation failed to account for was that neither y/n nor her secret fear(s) had ever jeopardized a mission in a way Kaz found distinguishable from that of general bad luck.

Yet, he chose to go with that explanation while also ignoring her question.

“You said the reason you accepted becoming a crow was because you trusted my plans” Kaz points out.

“I did. It is” she said, laughing softly, “no, my fear is not that I made the wrong choice or that I suddenly fear you cannot for a good plan Kaz”.

He nodded calmly, “pleased to hear that. Nevertheless, you questioned my plan today”.

“I do not recall doing so. Perhaps I need sleep if I can’t even remember doing that” she laughed weakly, Kaz noting how fake and forced it was, “if you’re so worried I am doubting you, maybe it is best I stay here and sleep. Letting inej take my place”.

Kaz opened his mouth to argue but noticed how her hands shook as she removed her gloves and attempted to switch earrings to the ones they got for today.

He understood the need to remove the gloves she always wore, he himself had to remove them occasionally as it made it hard for him to manage tiny objects.

However, he wasn’t sure why her hands shook.

Maybe she wasn’t eating enough, or was really tired after all.

As she switched to the other ear, concern overtook Kaz’s mind once again.

For, he realized the shaking didn’t start until she touched her earlobe.

In fact, she barely brushed her fingertip over it as she pushed the earring in, her hand flinching away right after.

He might’ve normally brushed it off as odd but not noteworthy had he not been as concerned as he was tonight.

The concern heightened his attention to detail and allowed him to see how controlled she was.

She even had her flinching hidden decently, and should someone not be paying as close attention as he was tonight, or not have understood what it was like to not hate the feeling of skin on skin contact, they likely wouldn’t have noticed.

He knew it meant she’d been facing this burden for awhile.

He so desperately wanted to push these thoughts away.

The feelings of concern for her, even before understanding what was going on.

The fact his concern only grew when he did.

The fact he wished he could fix it for.

The voice that reminded him how idiotic that was since he too was broken.

How could he help her if he couldn’t help himself?

And why did he want to?

The earlier explanation, or rather excuse as he now realized it to be, no longer was reasonable to him.

It couldn’t be about the heists or the crows’ success.

If it was, he wouldn’t have been as successful this entire time himself.

Plus, he was a prime example of how little it mattered when one could simply apply gloves and cover every inch of their body so it wasn’t possible to be triggered.

“Is that what you would like?” He asked, offering a minuscule curl of his lips to reassure her when she widened her eyes and spun to face him.

“Would you like to stay behind tonight and have Inej take your position?” Kaz elaborated to clarify his question.

“Nina would likely be a better replacement in that department” y/n said, her voice showing her appreciation despite her best attempts to sound strong and unaffected.

Kaz nodded and stood, placing the bottom of his cane back on her floor.

“Nina it is” Kaz stated, turning to exit.

“Wait, Kaz?” Y/n asked, hating herself seconds later.

He turned and nodded, signaling her to continue.

She hated the look in his eyes, feeling it suggested she was weak.

So instead of thanking him as she planned, she pointed to her ears.

“Won’t she need these?” Y/n asked.

Kaz seemed to scowl at the idea and shook his head, “she’ll manage”.

“But weren’t they purchased for the sake of tonight?” She pressed, hoping it covered her hesitation to remove them for fear of having to again touch her own skin without gloves.

“That is irrelevant. Do with them as you wish “ he advised.

She slowly nodded, “okay”.

“Is that all?” He asked.

She knew she should still thank him, even if he pitied her.

His pity seemed ironic since she was sure he had the same struggle.

But thanking him for this act or calling him out on why he of all people shouldn’t pity her meant she’d be exposing her fear.

She couldn’t do that.

She knew it could easily be manipulated, which in some way was an even bigger fear.

She doubted Kaz would do that, especially as at least some part of him had to understand how cruel that would be.

Plus, despite her best attempts not to, she often found herself realizing ways in which Kaz was not as harsh and unkind as people made him out to be.

However much he tried to make himself out to be.

But she couldn’t risk him knowing her fear and how much it impacted her.

He was too confident in himself but untrusting of others.

So while he may deal with the same problem, it seemed plausible he’d see her as a liability about to explode like one of Wylan’s explosives while not seeing himself in the same light.

Knowing she had not said anything to answer him, she spoke up, “and you want me to stay behind?”

“Is that not what you requested?” He asked, tilting his head to the left slightly as he watched her, “to stay behind in order to catch up on sleep?”

She was glad to not have the role she earlier had, but she also didn’t want him to see her as weak even if she’d been the one to suggest she needed sleep.

Plus, she didn’t want to miss out just because she couldn’t physically touch the person.

She bit her lip, “I mean, I’m strong, I can push through”.

She failed to come up with an excuse as to why she could and should still go but in a different way.

“I never said you weren’t y/n” he remarks, “I know you can. I wouldn’t have offered to have you become a crow if I thought otherwise”.

She smiles a small but genuine smile upon concluding he was being honest.

“Is this your way of stating you intend to still attend the heist?” Kaz asks.

“Am I allowed to?” She responds quietly.

Kaz smirks and raises his eyebrow at her, “allowed? I recall our, partnership as you put it, prohibiting such”.

She laughed and shook her head as Kaz’s lips curled slightly, “I suppose I’m used to you disregarding anyone’s suggestions towards your plans”.

Kaz raised his eyebrow again, “I’ve done that to you, have I?”

Y/n paused for a moment before shaking her head, “my apologies Kaz”.

Kaz offered her a teasing yet, somewhat soft, smirk, “I wasn’t asking for an apology y/n. I simply needed to ensure you were aware I would not do that”.

Her lips part ever so slightly as she takes in a deeper than normal breath of air in shock at his statement.

“I…” y/n clears her throat, “In that case, yes. But I still believe it would be best for Nina to attend in my place”.

If she hadn’t known him long enough, y/n would’ve thought Kaz’s smirk was nearly turning into a smile.

He nods once at her before again turning to leave.

She knows she should leave it at that, after all she got what she wanted.

And, he swore he hadn’t thought she was being weak even if she’d wanted to stay behind.

So, she wasn’t sure why she spoke up before he could exit the room, but she did.

“Kaz” she said, waiting until he paused his departure for her to continue.

“It’s just that… well Nina is better at the whole distraction by flirting thing” y/n says, sliding her gloves back on, “and, I… think… while I can push through without compromising the plan, I’m not a great dancer as is and … while being tired I might trip up even more and irritate Winslow”.

It was a blatant lie, an attempt to cover up her fear, and Kaz knew that.

Yet, he nodded as if he believed her, “I understand. I too think it would be better this way”.

With that he left and went to gather the others to explain the change in plans, his mind already having concocted a back up option that ensured y/N’s touch aversion wouldn’t be triggered.

Y/n turned to her dresser, sliding her fingers back into the gloves before tugging the earrings out.

It was a lot easier to remove them than to put them in.

She normally had either no earrings or these plain ones that were rather easy to put in with gloves on, but she didn’t bother to put them back on.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t touch anywhere on her own body, just certain areas.

The face, and namely her neck, was a large trigger for her when it came to bare skin contact.

So much so that she’d sleep with the gloves on, tired of waking up to an anxiety attack from her bare hand accidentally brushing against her bare neck when tossing in the middle of the night.

Opting to not push her already high anxiety by putting other earrings turned out to be a good plan because it was mere seconds before Jesper was banging on her door, yelling that Kaz was holding a meeting.

Great, she hadn’t even considered him needing to explain the change of plans to everyone.

She took a deep breath, wrapped her signature scarf back around her neck and joined Jesper in the hall.

She listened silently as he muttered all the way to Kaz’s door about being taken from the gambling tables with a few kruge left.

“You could save it you know” y/n laughed as she opened the door.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Jesper sighed, popping down in a spare seat.

“In what?” Kaz asked sharply, glancing from Jesper to y/n, something akin to concern lingering behind his glaring eyes.

“Saving his remaining kruge” y/n explained, offering Kaz a kind smile although she hated the idea he was trying to protect her.

She didn’t need to be protected, especially from Jesper.

Maybe she should’ve just gone with his original plan, even if it caused her to want to scratch her way out of her mind and then curl into a ball until she was so small if she wanted to she could crawl inside of herself and sit in the very lungs that left her feeling like she was being burned and then buried alive.

Kaz’s glare fell and formed into a look of annoyance and judgment instead, something y/n was much more comfortable with.

Especially as she knew both were directly as Jesper, respectfully.

She knew it was only because while he’d never admit it, Kaz actually cared about Jesper and his gambling issues.

It was one of the things she admired about him.

She mentally shook her head, admired? She didn’t admire Kaz, right? Okay, maybe she admired things about him but not him, right? Certainly that was it she thought.

Besides, they were both averted by touch, it wouldn’t matter if she had admired him in that way.

“Anyways” Kaz’s voice boomed, quieting the side conversations among the crows.

“There’s been a change of plans” He stated simply.

Y/n wanted to slide down, out of her seat, and onto the floor, melting into the floorboards under his desk.

She was the cause for this, and they’d all see through the excuse she gave Kaz.

The girls had always been able to tell if she’d fallen behind on sleep.

When she’d miss some sleep, Nina could feel it and y/n wasn’t sure if Inej spied on her sleeping or could just see some change in y/n the others couldn’t.

The guys might not see through it as much, but it was still possible.

Especially because such a large deviation from the original plan usually required a more problematic concern that needed correcting.

Kaz noticed y/N’s stiffness in her seat as the crows started asking questions and he sighed.

Did she really think he’d just blurt out her fear?

Or that he’d not try and cover it better than she did tonight?

He knew what it was like to not want people to know, he would absolutely not be the one to expose her’s.

As such he’d already composed a lie to cover up the reason for the change.

He knew the lie would prompt teasing from Jesper and Nina later, but that was a burden he was willing to accept.

He wouldn’t accept y/n feeling out of place with the crows or otherwise fearful or triggered.

“Enough” he said, his gloved open hand slamming into the table making it echo.

“This change was vital” he said truthfully, “Nina, you will be the distraction tonight”.

As Nina’s eyes turned to y/n in question, before the others could also look at her, Kaz spoke up “no questions are allowed”.

“I’ve made this decision as y/n pointed out that Nina here is far more experienced in this task” He argued, “something I should’ve considered”.

In all honesty, he had considered it.

But he also considered the position to be the best for y/n prior to his knowledge of her touch aversion.

While he knew she was far more than capable of handling herself in nearly every situation that might arise.

So putting her with their biggest concern of the night made sense.

Another consideration was that while he knew this, he still had this desire to ensure her safety as much as he could.

He knew it was stupid to care so he often suppressed it as much as he could, but it showed itself, just in indirect ways.

Such as the plan had shown tonight.

He’d also wanted y/n with Winslow because he knew she was able to slash his throat in a split second if needed but she’d also be surrounded by guests.

Many of whom would have a problem with Winslow laying a hand on a girl.

So, if he’d suspected anything, not only could she defend herself if needed, but the crowd would serve as a deterrent, a safety measure as Kaz saw it, against Winslow retaliating on the culprit closest to him.

“As such, Nina can likely manage a longer distraction as well” he noted, “allowing y/n, Matthias and I to break into his daughter’s house unannounced”.

If he was being honest, this had been the original plan.

He’d only deviated for concern over y/N’s safety, hence why he wanted to have Wylan blow through the door rather than have y/n around Winslow long enough for Kaz to pick it.

“This will possibly grant us the chance to return for more items later if we’re lucky and all get away undetected” Kaz added, pleased with the grins he saw around the group.

He wasn’t lying about that, their hidden entrance and departure from the girl’s house and Winslow’s manor would leave them off anyone’s radar and allow them more opportunities later, and therefore more kruge .

Something he’d given up in his need to keep y/n in the safer spot for the night.

“Why wasn’t this the plan to start with?” Wylan bravely asked as Kaz waited for y/N’s face to show some kind of reaction to what he’d been saying.

“As I said, y/n pointed out some things tonight that made it more clear as to why this would be better” Kaz said, willingly accepting the fact that his crows might now have slightly less confidence in him.

Y/n tried to hide it but Kaz saw her eyes widen as she looked at him in shock before she gave him a grateful look and a small smile as to not have anyone notice their silent exchange.

Kaz pursed his lips and nodded before tilting the left corner of his lips upwards, “thank you y/n”.

She wasn’t sure what he was truly thanking her for.

She knew his thank you was genuine.

But while she wasn’t sure why he’d done it, she knew he hadn’t changed the whole plan so willingly just because she asked, right?

This was Kaz after all.

So that left the possibility of the thank you being for trusting him enough to show vulnerability even if she’d lied about the true cause of her vulnerability.

Or the possibility he was thanking her for telling him her fear despite her attempts not to.

She truly hopped it was anything but the second.

In reality, it was both, he’d appreciated her being vulnerable enough to admit she couldn’t do the role he assigned but he also now understood her fear which meant he could shield her from triggers now.

“Kaz?” y/n asked as they waited for Matthias to finish his lengthy goodbye sentiments with Nina before the group parted ways for the night.

“Yes y/n?” He asked, turning to look at her.

“Thank you. You didn’t need to cover for me” She said, shuffling her boots over the dirty ground.

“I know, but there was no need to tell them “ he said quietly.

She nodded and smiled at him, “okay. Thank you again”, feeling she’d uncovered another softer side to Kaz.

One that cared for her, and while she still resisted the feelings she felt towards him, she couldn’t help but smile at the implications of his concern.

“Y/n, you don’t need to thank me,” Kaz sighed, “not for doing my job”.

She sighed and nodded, her smile leaving her face.

She should’ve known, of course that was all it was to him.

She’d thought maybe he’d returned her feelings towards film, likely as reluctant as she was.

But she should’ve realized it was merely a measure to ensure the job went well.

That’s all she was to him, a tool he needed to ensure worked properly.

What she read as concern and care for her bad simply been Kaz performing maintenance on said tool.

“I don’t get a goodbye?” Jesper teased just as Kaz opened his mouth to respond upon seeing her smile fall due to his comment.

“Shut up Jes “ y/n laughed.

“Nope, come here” Jesper argued, going to pull her in for a hug.

Kaz’s cane struck down harshly between them, “get moving Jesper”.

Jesper rolled his eyes, “It’s just one hug”.

Kaz glared pointedly at him, “You’re already behind schedule”.

Jesper groaned and waved, shouting “no mourners” as he ran to his group.

“No funerals” y/n called back, earning a sly wink from him.

Did Kaz know?

He had to, why else would he have been so rash with Jesper like that?

“Kaz, we’re not behind schedule” y/n pointed out, looking at clock tower.

While she pleased to not have to fight her nausea and breathlessness again tonight, she needed to know if he had figured it out.

“We would have been” he remarked, starting to walk to their destination.

It was a lie, they both knew it, but neither said anything else.

——

“Did we account for this?” Y/n asks, noticing the neighbors of their target were spread throughout the street.

“They were to be at the party “ Kaz mumbled, his eyes staring into space as he breaks down each plan mentally to find the next best option given the changes today.

“What was plan b?” She asks, having a gut feeling she now knows why Nina was in this position.

“Does not matter” he remarks, earning a groan from Matthias.

“The hell it does, if we enter now as is we will be spotted and arrested or killed. Clearly you had a plan B what was it?” Matthias asks.

“A distraction” Kaz explains, glancing up at y/n when he feels her eyes burning into him.

She swallows thickly and nods, making Kaz’s eyes focus towards the center instead of his distant stare moments ago, as he silently questions what she’s doing.

“So plan b it is, what does that entail?” Wylan responds, looking around.

“Nina” y/n chokes out despite trying to sound self assure, “either another plague or other false panic I assume “.

Kaz nods his head once, looking around as he still calculates their next best steps.

“I could make a distraction a few stress over and meet you back at the slat “ Wylan suggests.

Kaz seems to ponder that thought but it’s clear it’s not the best option, and y/n knows why.

Especially if there should be some barrier to the jewels that requires an explosive force to penetrate or if they end up leaving something that poses a risk of being discovered -where Wylan’s skills would cover it as a fire rather than any trace tying the crows to the scene.

“No” y/n speaks up, causing Kaz’s eyes to snap to her with deep confusion and something akin to frustration or anger.

She realizes she’s the reason they’re in this situation, if Nina and her hadn’t switched they would’ve proceeded with plan b.

“I agree with y/n” Matthias says, “she and Nina changed, so since the demjin always has another plan, it would make sense to have y/n cause the distraction here”.

“Absolutely not” Kaz growled, glaring at him.

“I do not want to hear it Fjerdan” he adds when Matthias raises his eyebrow at him and began to argue.

“Y/n can handle it, right?” Matthias asked, raising his to pat her back.

"If you so much as lay a finger on her, I will break each finger, before dislocating them and then have Inej remove them effortlessly, so that you will never be able to again" Kaz threatened.

“He’s right” She spoke, voice shaking slightly.

Both Kaz and Matthias stopped their exchange of glares to face her, unsure who she was agreeing with.

“Who?” Wylan asks with a faint laugh, when neither guy responds and y/n hasn’t answered their unspoken question.

She swallows the bile in her chest and throat at the thought, “Matthias. It needs to be me. I -“.

“No” Kaz barked, glaring at her with one eyebrow raised in question.

“Kaz, I’m th-“ she argued, but her nerves were evident to him.

“I said no” Kaz responded, giving her an intense look that said he was not up for discussion, “we will not be doing that “.

She realized he had to know, why else was he doing this?

“Demjin” Matthias muttered under his breath.

Y/n glanced at Kaz in question but he simply shook his head and pursed his lips.

“So now what?” Wylan cuts in.

Y/n looks to Kaz who is still processing what to do.

He always had back up plans, but things had changed so much and gone against his plan that he was now trying to think of a course in which he not y/n had to touch anyone.

Y/n looked over to the neighbors as they’d gathered to discuss something as they stood around in a circle.

She took a deep but shaky breath and walked in that direction.

“Y/n” Kaz hissed, hoping to stop her verbally.

He was in his gloves as always but he didn’t know if that changed anything for her.

She shook her head, not looking back, “just be quick Kaz”.

—-

She walked to the closest man, tapping his shoulder as she pretended her legs were wobbly.

Fortunately she had her hands gloved as well, but that would only get her so far.

The man turned and smiled at her until he saw her fake swaying.

“Oh here ma’am, let me help you” he offered, causing the group to turn and face her.

She closed her eyes to try and ignore the revolting nausea and anxiety his grip on her arm caused.

She chanced a gaze to Kaz to signal now was the time and she noticed he already had the door open and unlocked, the others inside as he watched and waited for her.

She let out a sigh and stood up, parting herself from the man, “much better now. Thank you sir “.

“Perhaps I could-“ he began, putting his hand back on her arm but she shook her head to stop him from talking and tried to remove his hand.

“That won’t be necessary” Kaz’s voice boomed, suddenly next to her, “sir. Now I ask you remove your hand from my partner’s arm yes?”

Everyone knew Kaz was not asking.

But his choice of wording was interesting.

They were partners but not the way Kaz was trying to make it seem.

The man nodded once and promptly withdrew his arm.

Y/n nearly collapsed in relief.

Kaz nodded his head in their opposite direction, sending the guy off.

He turned to look at y/n, his eyes filled with concern and frustration.

“Thank you. Let’s continue shall we?“ she asked, not wanting him to read into the behavior.

——

“It’s a trap” y/n gasped, as they read over the notes they found in the daughter’s house.

Kaz muttered something, nearly crumpling the paper in his hand.

Even he hadn’t planned for this.

One of his dregs was involved with the daughter unbeknownst to any of them.

“Go” Kaz muttered, glaring at the notes.

“What?” Y/n asked quietly but the other two already left, obeying orders.

Kaz glanced over at her, “why are you staying?”

“I could ask you the same Kaz. I’m not leaving until you are” she argues.

Kaz groans, “I’m fine with -“

“With yourself getting hurt but not others, even if you pretend not to care. I know, now shut up and tell me what it is that is keeping us here still” y/n declares.

Kaz stares at her for a few seconds before smirking and nodding twice, “fine, very well. We cannot take the letter without leaving a trace. Do you see anything suggesting which dreg it is?”

He grabs one of the letters and reads it over, but the sender didn’t sign it; smart.

“Let me see it” y/n says, her gloved hands briefly touching his but neither pull back.

Kaz sees her tense slightly, as he himself does at the same time. But the gloves are enough for them both.

He watches as her eyes narrow at the paper and she clenches her teeth.

“It was Timo” she tells him, pointing to a line on the letter.

“He’s the only one who always messes up this euphemism” she sighs, “and he’s been talking to Liv about some girl lately.”

Kaz watches her, intrigued by how attentive she’s been.

He nods, “let’s go”.

She agrees and puts the letter back where it was before following him out.

“We have to let the others know” y/n says, keeping pace with Kaz’s hasty walk.

“I will, you go back to the slat and keep an eye on Timo to ensure he doesn’t flee” Kaz says but y/n can tell that’s not why he is giving her this order.

“I’m not going to babysit him. If he leaves, you’ll find him; we both know that. Why are you being such an ass and pushing me away tonight?“ she asks, still headed the same direction.

Kaz glances at her from the corner of his eye and shakes his head, “why are you being so noncompliant?”

She laughs, “need I remind you of our deal?”

“We did not make a deal for you to be this frustrating” Kaz groans, turning the corner to an alleyway.

“You would’ve spent who knows how long in there looking over that letter if it wasn’t for me so answer my question” she demands.

“I do not know what this will entail” he admits, looking over at her as they continue their journey to the other crows.

“I don’t need you to protect me Kaz, if that’s what you’re trying to get at” she states.

“I’m aware that I don’t” he says resentfully.

“Th-“ she begins but stops suddenly making Kaz turn to her.

She holds up one finger, tilting her head to the side towards another street just ahead of them.

Now that he’s not focused on hating himself for wanting to protect her, he is able to hear very faint footsteps from the other street.

He nods and copies her as they lean against the far wall, hoping their black attire will help them blend in.

Fortunately, it seems something spooked the person as they begin running and don’t bother checking their surroundings.

Kaz and y/n make eye contact to check on the other before they pick up their pace to make up the time lost.

—

Y/n gasps and stumbles as her feet slide to a stop before the scene.

It was a trap in deed.

Jesper had his hands tied behind him, but seemingly hasn’t stopped trying to flirt his way out of it.

Inej isn’t visible but likely nearby.

Nina hasn’t gotten caught yet somehow, and has his arm around her still as he shakes his head at the scene.

Kaz and y/n change a glance before sighing.

Kaz lifts his cane slightly as he prepares to use it as a weapon rather than for support.

Y/n takes a deep breath and grabs her weapon before rushing closer to the scene.

Inej takes this as her sign to begin, promptly throwing a knife into the guard holding Jesper.

Y/n removes his rope and runs to the next guard.

—-

“Kaz!” Y/n calls, taking out the man approaching Kaz from behind as he dealt with another.

Kaz nods at her with a thankful glance before resuming fighting.

“Nina, you okay?” Y/n asks, happy she’s away from now.

She nods, “how can I help?”.

“Run, join the others, make sure they’re okay. We’ll meet you soon” y/n advises.

——

“Come on” Jesper frowns as another set of guards come near their group.

“Just keep fighting Jesper “ Kaz orders.

“No really? I was going to sit down and surrender” Jesper says sarcasm and rolls his eyes.

Y/n ignores their bickering and heads up the staircase to see where all these new groups of guards are coming from.

“You don’t belong here miss” a man says as she rounds the corner at the top of the staircase.

She nearly jumps from being startled but y/n manages to stay calm.

Before she can come up with a lie, another guard must have overhead as he now shouts “she is one of them!”

Y/n pivots and sprints down the stairs back to the other three.

“Y/n watch-“ Jesper yells, firing his pistol at someone behind her.

But it was too late, before his bullet struck the guards chasing her, one managed to let out a shot and struck her side.

She sucks in a desperate breath of air, trying to ignore the pain for now.

——

The fighting was still going on when Jesper made his way back to Kaz to tell him about y/n.

“What?!” Kaz barked, “where is she?”.

Jesper watched as Kaz’s eyes became frantic and his head moved around so fast it gave Jesper secondhand whiplash.

“There” Jesper pointed to where inej was putting pressure on y/N’s side.

Kaz noticed the fear and nausea on her features as she tried to push away Inej’s hand.

Inej clearly assumed it was due to being groggy and in pain not a touch aversion as she refused and kept putting pressure on it.

“Don’t touch her” Kaz demanded, stepping next to inej.

“Bu-“ she began but y/n nodded.

“Please, I can bandage it enough” y/n offered.

Inej sighed, “okaaayy… just hurry we need to get out of here”.

The guards may have been dead or incapacitated for now, but they didn’t know how long that would last.

Y/n ripped her sleeve and tightly knotted it around her waist, grimacing at the pressure.

“Good?” Kaz asked, staring down at her.

She nodded, pushing up from the ground, “good. Let’s go”.

The four of them rapidly made their way to the exit, scanning for trouble as they went.

——

“Split!” Kaz shouted as more guards rushed towards them.

All four went different directions, requiring the guards to break apart as well.

Y/n gritted her teeth as she pushed herself forwards despite the throbbing pain in her side.

She knew the second she split from the others that it wasn’t a good idea; she should’ve stayed with one of them in case the pain slowed her down too much.

But she was trying to be less of a burden on Kaz tonight.

Kaz seemed to have agreed as suddenly he was at her side, “I didn’t mean you”.

“In my defense, you’ve been wanting me to split all night” y/n remarks.

“You’ve been shot” he mutter angrily.

“Oh wow, hadn’t noticed” she rolls her eyes.

“I shouldn’t h-“ he began but another large explosion went off only a few feet from them.

Kaz moaned loudly as he used his upper body strength to push himself off the hard ground against the wall he’d been flung into.

He had to keep moving, but more pressingly he needed to find y/n.

“Y/n?!” Kaz yelled, his head ringing.

Panic and bile rose when he didn’t hear a response.

Fortunately as he steadied his legs he found his cane, immediately grabbing it for support.

He then began stomping through the crumbled remains of what had been a store.

“Y/n?!” Kaz called again, the panic making his voice shake.

He heard some quiet coughing from his left.

“Y/n” he panicked, seeing her covered in more blood than before, barely keeping her eyes open.

He used his cane to push off of to get closer to her as fast as possible.

She coughed, her heavy eyes lazily looking up at him, “Kaz, I-“.

He shook his head, “don’t speak. You need your energy”.

She nodded once, her eyes closing more as she did.

“If you don’t keep your eyes open I-“ he began, voice tense.

“You’ll, what-“ she coughed when trying to give him a weak laugh, “kill me? They may beat-“.

“Do not finish that sentence. I will not hear it. You will be fine, we just need Nina” he argued, his eyes glaring at her for even suggesting it.

“She-“ y/n coughed, “need to-“.

Kaz clenched his jaw and nodded, “I know. We’ll figure that out when we get there”.

Y/n reluctantly nodded, attempting to push herself off the ground, but her side wound pierced her in the movement making her flinch and her legs gave out under her.

“Y/n, come on” Kaz ordered weakly, “now”.

She took a shallow breath, her lungs already hurting.

“Okay Kaz” she agreed, her voice cracking.

She managed to take a few seconds before her legs seemed to give out again.

Most people would have stuck their arms out until they grabbed her and kept her from falling, but Kaz wasn’t most people.

Most people don’t have a touch aversion; let alone one as severe as his.

He paused and watched as she collapsed to the cold ground, his heart plummeting with her.

Kaz scolded himself for not having caught her, held her up, or otherwise assisted her in getting home.

He kept mentally yelling at himself that he was weak and had to get over this fear.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed before he knelt next to her, his hands visibly tremoring as he went to pick her up.

The water in his chest was at full force already given how cold he knew she’d be, the thought of carrying her for blocks, and looking at her pale and bloody body collapsed on the ground; all taking him back to being unable to help those he loved and watching them die before him.

The bile in his throat threatened to burn its way out but he suppressed it as he decided this was the one chance he had to actually help her.

However, just as his gloved hand went to cup her side and the other to her leg, he froze again.

He wasn’t the only one here with a touch aversion.

While she hadn’t officially told him she had one, he knew.

It may have been a recent realization for him, but it was already engrained in his mind.

It was something he never planned on violating.

This whole time he’d been mad at himself for not being able to get over himself and his fear to help her when he was worried about her.

Yet, he hadn’t considered what she would want.

He hated the idea of violating her boundaries, but he also could not live with himself if he didn’t try to help her live.

Kaz sighed as he decided he’d have to possibly violate her trust and touch her.

While not ideal, he could live with her hating him, being scared of or not trusting him, etc.

But he couldn’t, wouldn’t, live with her dying; especially if he could do something about it.

Kaz slid one hand around her waist only for it to slip away.

Not from the water beating his chest or the burning acid in his throat.

Rather, she was bleeding too much and it made her clothes slick

Combine that with his leather gloves and you get a disaster.

He swallowed thickly as he fought his PTSD in order to try and touch her without his gloves.

——

“Saints!” Jesper shouted, suddenly in the same alley.

He ran over to y/n, immediately grabbing hold of her.

“Don’t touch her” Kaz grumbled.

“Kaz, she’s dying. Get over your jealousy!” Jesper scolded, scooping y/n into his arms.

“I’m not jealous Jesper” Kaz glares, but perhaps he was.

While y/n and Jesper may only be friends, and Kaz may or may not want more than that with her, he knew there was something Jesper could offer he couldn’t.

Sure she may not, and likely wouldn’t, accept an offer of physical contact; but Kaz couldn’t even offer it.

More frustratingly though was he couldn’t efficiently help her in a situation like this and Jesper could.

Kaz wanted to be the one who could help her.

——

When they got back, Kaz busted through the doors loudly, Jesper following closely.

Kaz drug his arm over the bar top, knocking glasses, bottles, alcohol, etc. all over the floor, shattering most items.

Jesper set y/N’s body down on the counter and looked at Kaz for suggestions.

“Where is Nina?!” Kaz demanded, but Jesper heard the fear lacing his sharp tone.

Jesper shrugged, “I only knew you guys were there because of the explosion”.

Kaz’s lips twitched as he fought to keep his calm.

He walked over to y/n and looked down at her, his right hand held inches over her body.

What were they going to do?

Even if they found Nina, she’d have to touch y/n.

And if y/n woke up during that, she’d have to deal with the panic and painful symptoms she and Kaz knew too well.

She may even push Nina away.

Normally she was good at masking her aversion, but given the blood loss it wouldn’t surprise him to see her react more defensively.

“What happened?!” Inej interrupted, running over to apply pressure to y/N’s side.

Again, Kaz reacted instinctively to the threat of someone crossing y/n’s unspoken boundaries.

“Inej, do not touch her” he ordered, his cane raising between the Suli girl and y/n.

“She’s bleeding!” Inej remarked, glaring at kaz.

“I said Do. Not. Touch. Her.” Kaz snapped, his anxiety, nausea, fear for y/n, and stress in full swing.

“Whatever your problem is with her Kaz, deal with it later, she’s bleeding and isn’t even awake!” Inej said.

“She is awake, just not responsive” Jesper clarified, pointing to y/N’s eyes that opened part of the way through their trip back.

Kaz bit the inside of his lower lip.

“Saints what is wrong with you two?!” Inej asked, pushing the cane aside.

“She tensed when I carried her” Jesper admitted, answering the question Kaz had been wondering as well.

“Because she’s wounded!” Inej explained.

“I don’t want to make it worse!” Jesper defended, his bloody hands in the air.

“You are both weak” Inej glared, tearing the fabric around y/n’s wound to see it better.

Kaz wanted to be mad but she was right; he was weak, too weak to help y/n.

Kaz watched as y/N’s head rolled to the side facing him just as he went to leave; unable to see her like this.

His concerned eyes caught her scared ones and he wanted to have the ability to comfort her somehow.

Just as Inej’s hand touched y/n, not even where the wound was, but instead to steady them both before she began, y/n stiffened and Kaz saw her stare become distant, a panicked watery look starting.

“Remove your hands from her right now or I will break every single finger” Kaz threatened, hating the pained and fearful look y/n had.

“I don’t know why you hate her so much, but if I don’t-“ Inej complained, not looking up at him.

Kaz’s gloved hand pulled her’s away.

“I don’t hate her Inej” he glared, his voice frail as he contemplated his next step.

What she was about to say was right, someone had to apply pressure for her to stay alive until Nina arrived.

But no one else had gloves on, or understood what she was dealing with.

Kaz hoped the gloves would help her accept what he was going to do.

“Back up, now” he ordered, Inej only moving away when Jesper nodded at her.

Kaz leaned closer to her, his voice so low it was almost nonexistent, “I’m sorry, I have to”.

He took one of the scraps of her clothing Inej tore and placed it over her wound, adding another barrier in hopes it would make it less difficult for her.

He then pressed his firm hand down onto her wound, his fingers stiff inside the gloves as he fought his own aversion.

Kaz paced back and forth in his room, his mind spinning.

Nina finally made it back to the slat and while she wasn’t sure why, not believing kaz’s argument that it was to prevent infection, she accepted his gloves and worked on y/n through the leather material.

She promised Kaz and the others that y/n would be fine, she just needed rest.

Kaz couldn’t help but feel guilty and stressed.

He felt responsible for the way it turned out, so he stayed distanced from her sleeping frame and the comparison to jordie.

He also wanted to be there for her, to make sure she did in fact wake up and was okay like Nina swore.

Hence why he was here, pacing towards the door only to change his mind and pace the other way; repeating over and over.

He swung the door to his room open milliseconds after someone knocked, having been pacing towards it at the time.

“She’s awake” Jesper smiled, giving Kaz a wink before sprinting back to y/N’s room.

Kaz let out a sigh and stepped into the hall.

“Hi Kaz “ y/n greets, making Kaz almost smile.

“Y/n” he greets, standing next to her bed.

“Nina why don’t we-“ Inej whispered, Nina nodding and following her out.

“I’m okay, you know” y/n promised, sensing his emotions.

He slowly nodded, “good”.

“Thank you” she said softly.

“For?” Kaz asked confused, sitting down on the chair next to her bed.

“I couldn’t speak or move, but you could tell what I was thinking and tried to help” she blushed, looking away.

Kaz is silent so she looks back at him and he offers her a half smile and a nod, making her smile.

“You know, don’t you?” She asked softly.

“I do” he admits, “they don’t.”

She nods, “thank you”.

He shakes his head, “it is not their business “.

She laughs softly, releasing some tension in Kaz’s chest, “still, thank you Kaz. And… I don’t know how to…”

Kaz raises and eyebrow at her and waits for her to continue.

“How to… ever thank you.. for what you did… I can’t imagine how-… I’m sorry…” she began, guilt showing in her tone.

Kaz sighed, the last thing he wanted was her feeling guilty for a choice he made for himself, and one he wished he’d chosen earlier.

“You do not need to thank me or apologize y/n” he says, trying to make his voice soft but it just comes out as more of a whisper in his normal tone.

“And yes you can imagine. You do it nearly daily. You see everyone’s needs and even when hard you do what you need to do to help them” he remarks, looking into the distance.

“If Jesper needs a hug to keep being his normal irritating self, if Wylan needs a comforting shoulder to rest his head on while he vents about Jesper, if Nina needs someone to try new hairstyles on so she can still have a normal hobby, if Inej needs a hug after a triggering event, the list goes on. You put others’ needs over your fear routinely y/n” Kaz notes.

Y/N’s eyes water as she listens to how closely he has been paying attention to her, seeing and memorizing things not required or related to either one’s job.

She smiles, maybe her feelings are returned after all.

She nods and smiles at him as a thank you for his reminder.

“You would have done the same thing if the roles were reversed” Kaz summarizes, “do not thank me”.

“And if I do?” She teases, tensely sitting up.

“I will begin taxing you” Kaz smirks but his eyes are focused on how stiff she is.

Y/n snorts, “taxing me?! That’s a bit rude Kaz”.

Kaz shrugs with a faint smirk on his lips.

“How much is the tax?” She asks, pouting.

Kaz shakes his head, “I’ll compromise. I will accept one, and only one, thank you. In exchange for you answering a question I have”.

“You already know my fear kaz” she responds.

He nods, “that’s not the question”.

“Okay, fine. Thank you Kaz, truly, I appreciate it even if you want to minimize the action” y/n says, adding as many words as she can since she’ll only get this one time to thank him.

Kaz’s pale skin over his cheeks seem to flush slightly as he nods, “now my question”.

“Shoul-… if something like this happens again, how do you want it handled?” He asks.

“You mean if I’m shot again and bleeding out?”She clarifies.

Kaz swallows the knot in his throat, “hurt. In general”.

“Hmm” she nods slowly, “I think I need to have you answer that for yourself as well”.

“That wasn’t the deal” Kaz groans.

“So maybe we need a new deal” y/n laughs.

Kaz suppresses a small grin and nods, “so be it. You answer and I’ll answer”.

By the end of their discussion, they’d decided that should it be a minor injury or something not time sensitive that they’d prefer to still avoid physical contact.

They’d also agreed that should the matter be life threatening or severe, physical contact from the other or another crow would be acceptable.

Kaz wasn’t a big fan of the last note but agreed after y/n pleaded him that she wanted to ensure someone could help him.

They also talked about trying to be more open to each other.

They were the only two who really understood what the other was dealing with and the limitations of that.

Kaz didn’t admit his feelings at this time, not wanting her to assume he only felt that way now that he knew they had the problem in common.

He knew if he was being honest, the situation intrigued him but he was interested in her before any signs of this shared aversion.

She deserved to know someone was with her for her not because they shared something like this.

He accepted to focus on his intrigue over the situation and try to help each other for now.

In other words, they found they may not be able to touch each other but they could still have emotional intimacy and grow together.

Kaz Brekker Navigation/Masterlist

Six of Crows Navigation/Masterlist

Main Navigation/Masterlist (all my works)

Kaz Brekker Tag List (comment here to added): @directioner5life @ell0ra-br3kk3r @b3kk3r-by-br3kk3r

[hellfirexhoe]

I had a request for an Eddie Munson edit where you go to Eddie's and maybe he's been avoiding you or acting weird so you pay him an unexpected visit & hear/peek to see him masturbating to the one thing on his mind you. The smutiest smut would be great 😭😩❤ thank youuuu 😌

Smut fairy is here too make all of your dreams come true (Also this is my 3rd post in like 36 hours, I need to touch some grass.)

Minors DNI, the content below is not for you.

Warnings: unprotected sex, p in v intercourse, friends being friendly friends with no funny business at all, reader is 18+

It had been something you two had joked about many times, matching tattoos. Eddie had never thought you’d do it, but here you are, sitting in his van, hiking up your skirt to show him the bats, identical to his except they adorn your thigh.

He gulps a few times, and you raise an eyebrow, a little irritated by his lack of response, not that you’d need his approval, it's just, it would be nice.

“They, uh, they look very nice.” Eddie fixes his gaze to the windscreen, knuckles white as he grips the steering wheel. He hasn’t even started the engine, when you point this out he becomes more flustered, starting the van and driving at his usual manic pace.

The rest of the day at school you don’t see hide nor hair of Eddie. Usually he’s always appearing in your line of sight so this is out of character. At lunch, you take your usual seat opposite him and he immediately drops his gaze from your face, suddenly invested in the bag of pretzels before him. 

The ride home is silent too. Eddie parks up outside his trailer as yours is only a 2 minute walk away. He offers you a small, tight lipped smile before spinning on his heel and slamming the door behind him, frantic to get inside. You feel a little wounded, was he mad that you’d copied him? You’d meant it to be a flattering gesture, not offensive. You make it to your home, feeling a little dejected.

Eddie meanwhile is certain that if he doesn't get out of his jeans he’s going to die. Avoiding you for most of the day had worked to keep his cool but seeing the black ink peeking out from skirt the whole drive home had driven him wild. He’d contemplated pulling over and laying his cards out on the table, well, console of his van. But that comes with the risk that you don’t feel the same way, don’t want him the same way, so he settles for this, the only way he thinks he can have you.

He’s stroking himself, eyes half closed, head only filled with thoughts of you, the way you smell, the way you giggle. He imagines himself hovering over you, planting a kiss on each of those sore bats, kissing a trail to your center, nipping at the skin of your thighs, hearing you gasp with anticipation, seeing the stain at the center of your underwear get darker the more he teases. He’s so caught up in this fantasy he doesn’t hear you stomping up the steps of the trailer, getting ready to confront him for being so weird with you today. The door is always left unlocked when Eddie’s home so you step in but find his bedroom door shut. You hear a low groan and then curse words framing your name.

“Eddie?” You approach the door,

“SHIT! Fuck, uh, give me a second!” You hear scrambling around and pause outside the door, fairly sure you know what you’ve just walked in on.

“Um, come in?” Eddie’s voice is an octave higher than usual, you open the door slowly, finding Eddie sitting at the foot of his bed, cheeks blazing red, a blanket thrown so haphazardly over him that you can still see that he is naked from the waist down.

You lean against the door frame unable to hide the smirk on your face, “So, anything interesting happening in here?”

“Fuck you.” You approach him, standing between his legs,

“Only if you ask nicely, Eddie.” Eddie contemplates this for a second, trying to assess if you’re joking or not. He settles for a game of chicken, assuming you’ll back down long before he does. He grabs the backs of your thighs and pulls you so you’re sitting on his lap, blanket still between you, you squeal as you are pulled into his lap.

“We can stop whenever you want, just say the word.” with this, Eddie holds your face and kisses you, soft and sweet at first but intensifying as his arousal takes over. You come away, both of you breathing hard, Eddie is expecting you to recoil at this point, but instead you come back for more, pushing him back onto his bed, only coming away from his lips to kiss his neck, he hisses at the feeling of teeth and instinctively grabs onto your ass, rocking you down onto his erection, the moan that escapes your lips is downright pornographic, 

“Shit, you really want to do this?” Eddie’s panting, still rocking you, relishing the sounds you’re making. You nod frantically, grinding down on him, desperate to increase the friction, your hands working overtime to tear your top off and undo your bra.

Eddie’s lips are at your chest before your bra even hits in the floor, kissing, biting, licking, hands grabbing roughly, your hands find themselves winding in his hair, holding him to your chest while your hips keep rocking on him, the blanket slipping away from between you with every rock of your hips until Eddie comes away from your nipple with a groan as he feels his bare cock touching the wet spot of your underwear.

“Please.” Eddie’s panting, looking up at you with pleading eyes, you respond by pulling your panties to the side and taking him slowly, sliding down at an agonizing pace until he’s bottomed out in you and you feel full to the brim of him.

“Oh shit, oh fuck.” Eddie whimpers as if he’s scared to make a loud noise, as if you’d disappear if he did. You set the pace, slow and steady, Eddie clutching you close to him, rough fingertips pressing hard enough to leave bruises on your hips. With his guidance your rhythm picks up, until he’s bucking his hips underneath you, meeting you halfway with every thrust, you can’t help but blush slightly at the sounds emanating from that spot where you join, Eddie notices this and grabs you by the back your neck, pulling you down for another lip numbing kiss.

“So fuckin’ wet for me aren’t you?” The sounds of skin hitting skin gets louder and faster, Eddie growing in confidence the more undone you become in his arms,

“Pretty girl needs to cum around me before I lose my fucking mind.” Eddie’s mouth is back at your chest, sucking on your nipples harshly, sparking delicious pain that breaks your resolve, your walls tighten all around him and you swear you hear him growl as he feels your climax around him, spurring him on to his own finish. 

He’s getting breathless, “You’re gonna need to stop, or I cant pull out.” Eddie pants in your ears, words seemingly timed perfectly with every slap of his skin against yours,

“So don’t pull out.” You purr back, kissing his neck, leaving telltale marks on his skin, you hear him gasp and feel the change in his pacing, desperately chasing his own high, fucking up into you like his life depends on it, hands gripping your ass so tight you sure you’ll have handprints for days. You kiss up to his ear and whisper terrible, filthy things in his ear, making him whimper, its the last one that seems to strike a cord with him, “Eddie, baby, I want your cum inside me, want to feel it running down my legs as I’m walking home.” with loud groans he’s cumming inside you, holding your body flush to his, letting you feel every twitch of himself as he unloads.

Eddie collapses back with you still straddling him, he grabs your hand and carefully pulls you down so your head is on his chest, listening to his erratic heartbeat.

“So you do like the tattoo then?”

“Shut up.” Eddie wraps his arms around you as you giggle at him.