#gotta get up early to drive to the ceremony as well!!!

[uniquesoulwinner]

My Queen

Leah Williamson x reader 

Idea that came to me after seeing Leah get her OBE today of a little surprise celebration with her girl who she didn’t think was even in the country! 

Hope you enjoy its not very good and the format isn’t working right so it might read funny but well it’s something 

Let me know what you think 

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Y/n pov

Getting off the plane in London brings nothing but butterflies to your stomach at the thought of the day ahead. You see given that I’ve been in New York for work for the past 9 long weeks I was not meant to be here today well at least that’s what Leah thinks, I however always knew I would be here! 

As soon as we got the date for Leah to get her long awaited OBE medal I was on the phone to Amanda to plan exactly what was going to happen today, this has lead to a lot of sneaky phone calls between me and my girlfriends mother, who I’m nearly sure is more excited about me being there to surprise Leah than I am.

Finding out that I was going to have to be in New York for 16 weeks for work was never part of the plan, being away from Leah for that long was a thought that made my whole body hurt before I even went, which is why I I have worked my ass off over the last 9 weeks so complete everything I needed to do to get home to my girlfriend of 4 years early which brings me back to walking though Heathrow Airport at 7:45am on a Wednesday morning counting down the minutes until I have her in my arms again. 

Just as I was getting into the taxi to take me to the hotel I had booked for myself and Leah for that night my phone rang and my smile got even bigger seeing it was Amanda!

Y/n: Hey perfect timing I’m just in the taxi

Amanda: ahh perfect I’m so excited, she’s getting ready already! I swear she takes forever.

Y/n: Worth every minute though; you find yourself say thing that out loud without ever realising until you hear Amanda aww on the other end of the phone which made you blush no end! Anyway how are we looking for timeline I’m just heading to the hotel now to get showered and ready! 

Amanda: so we should be wrapped up in Windsor by around 13:30pm at the latest and then she thinks we are just going for dinner and meeting holly and all that couldn’t come to the ceremony there. You can hear the excited little giggle coming from Amanda like she is on a secret spy mission which makes you laugh  

Y/n: ok good and she definitely doesn’t suspect a thing right you ask already knowing that she doesn’t considering you spent 2 hours in the phone to her last night with her upset and missing you as well as telling you how much she wished you where going to be there today which yes broke your heart in two , the only thing that you hoped was seeing her face today would make up for everything!

Amanda: nope not a thing, she is completely oblivious you hear that cheeky giggle again she is going to be so happy y/n, she has missed you so much you you 

Y/n: yeh I know I’ve missed her too more than words but not long now, god I’m nervous you laugh at the Ridiculousness of getting nervous over seeing the woman that has been the centre of your world for 4 years now 

Amanda: oh sweetie you no need to be nervous, the second that girl sees you everything will be worth it, you know …��Amanda suddenly stops talking only thing you can hear is some rustling and foot steps which your hoping isn’t Leah catching you both out 

Ok I gotta go she is wandering around now looking for her socks so I better help I’ll see you later ok text me when your there , ok bye bye bye and the phones goes dead leaving you laughing at the thought of your girl running around looking for socks which you know she will be treating like a Military mission in that room ! 

************************

Later on that day after checking in to the hotel and getting yourself ready , wearing a tight green dress that you knew drive Leah crazy with your hair down and curled and black heals, you where standing that the bar of the restaurant that had been booked out for today with holly catching up on every bit of gossip you had missed being away which was lot it seemed! 

Although after the 7th time checking the door you did catch holly giving you a very knowing smirk which made you laugh purely because you didn’t care how obvious you where being, ever since Amanda text to say they where 20 minutes away you could help but look out for them ! You wanted your girl and weren’t even sorry about it ! 

The restaurant was full of Leah’s close family and friends most of which were now laughing at the twitter comments over Leah being the queen of England now ! Lol 

You only snapped out of staring at the door when you heard Jen Leah’s teammate call you 

Jen: y/n how does it feel to have bagged England’s new queen  all you heard was laughter which then turned to cooing and awe’s when you replied saying y/n: she has always been my queen 

And right as you said that you seen her your queen walk past the window towards the door looking out of this world and every bit worthily of the title queen in your opinion but it was to time and time for you to hide in the crowd who had all turned to face the door waiting for her to come in, to which when she did come in she was meant by just noise of chatting and clapping but all you could hear was her laugh that beautiful laugh while she made her way around people still not spotting you ! 

Amanda however snuck around to hug you whispering how she couldn’t wait to see Leah’s face ! 

After around 5 minutes of her still not spotting you , you had enough of waiting so grabbed a glass of champagne and made your way up behind her as she spoke to Alex Scott and Kim little both of who started smiling the second they seen you approach! 

Y/n: would the new queen like a drink you said standing behind her and while you couldn’t see her face you could see her body freeze as she heard your voice which made your heart burst. Y/n you heard her whisper still not turning around which made you giggle given that all you wanted right now was to kiss her still though you stepped forward so you where right behind her meaning you could whisper in her ear hello baby, any chance I could get a hug now?  You didn’t even have a split second to react when her arms where around your neck with such force that if ever the sensible kimmy hadn’t if grabbed the champagne out if your hands it would have been all down the back of Leah’s very expensive looking suit ! 

Suddenly all the people in the room weren’t there anymore the only thing that you noticed was your girl finally in your arms after way to long and while pulling her impossibly closer to you , you just breathed her in every part of you and missed every part of her and now here you could never imagine being away from her again which made what you were about to do even more clear in your head, so while holding her as close as possible with one arm your eyes met Leah’s grandmas giving her a nod and hold out your hand , you watched as the whole room tried to contain themselves as she placed the black velvet box in your hand giving your hand a small squeeze as she did !

Focusing back on Leah who’s head was still buried in your neck, pulling back slightly so you could see her with a massive smile on your face that was thankfully matched by her, finally gave you the chance to look into those eyes that have had you weak for years. It’s only when you see her eyes flick down to your lips that you pull her in making sure she can’t feel the box behind her back, although all sense leaves your body the second her lips meet yours for the first time in over 2 months. Finally it feels like I’m home you think, kissing her is home , she is home and with that thought you remember what you have hidden behind her back so with one final kiss you pull back to be met with a pout from her. 

Leah: your here, your actually here 

Y/n: I’m here baby I would never miss this looking at the smile on her face makes all the sneaking around worth it 

Leah: please tell me I have you for more than one night baby before you go back the pout comes back to her face again as she speaks Giggling at her you step back completely! Here goes nothing you think as you look into her eyes again how about forever you whisper never breaking eye contact, seeing the confusion on her have made you smile as you looked down at the box in your hands which was now between you and Leah, flicking your eyes back up seeing that hers where now fixed on the box in your hands as well it was go time so slowly you lower down onto one knee and open the box , hearing the gasp come from her  gave you the confirmation that the band you had chosen was the right choice! 

Y/n : le there is nothing I could say right now that would be any different to anything I have told you every day for the past 4 years but what I will say is how proud I am to be yours baby, every day with you is the best day of my life letting out a shaky breath as you see the tears in her eyes before you carry on and I want that for the rest of our lives, so Leah Williamson OBE you give her a cheeky smirk as the room fills with laughter , will you do me the honour of marrying me? Holding your breath for the whole 0.2 of a second it takes before you hear her say yes yes a million times yes , smiling with the tears running down both your faces you pull the ring from the box and finally put it on her finger as she pulls you up into a bruising kiss. 

You hear the cheers in the room, the clapping and banging on tables but all you feel is her , your finance , your Leah , your home! It’s just you two in the bubble of whispered words between the two of you consisting of i love yous, don’t ever leave again and I can’t wait to make you my wife , everything in that moment is just perfect! 

**************************

Hours later after food , champagne, a lot of laughter and more love than you could imagine, you are standing back beside your finance at the side of the room arms wrapped around each other just watching your friends and family around you. Turning to Leah you decide to take the teasing that’s been going on between the two of you for over an hour now to the next level,

Y/n: I booked us into a hotel for the next 2 nights so I hope you have no plans for tomorrow you say while looking her up and down because I have no plans on leaving that hotel room tomorrow. Watching as her eyes darken on front of you you step a little closer to her so you can whisper in her ear and just so you know earlier wasn’t the only time I plan on dropping to my knees for you my queen 

And with that Leah walked away and started saying goodbye to everyone you giggling behind her especially with the knowing looks you got from some people in the room but to hell with it you hadn’t had your girl in 9 weeks so you where going to make the most of every minute if that night and every night for the rest of your life with your queen ! 

[clangenrising]

Month 17 - Greenleaf

Floating on adrenaline, Fogpaw trailed home after Floodstrike and Sparrowsway after a rousing bout of battle practice. She and Slatepaw had been thrilled at the opportunity to train with them, although Fogpaw wasn’t sure that they were excited for the same reason. Slatepaw had been acting strangely the whole time - staring distractedly, blushing and stuttering. Even now, she was sighing in a way that was distracting Fogpaw from the pleasant high she was trying to ride. 

“Thanks again for taking us out,” Slatepaw purred, hitching her step to catch up to the warriors. “I feel like I learn so much when we practice together.” 

Fogpaw, unsure why Slatepaw was acting that way, tried to keep up with the conversation regardless. “Yeah, you’re a really good teacher, Floodstrike!” Slatepaw glanced sideways at her with what seemed like a pout, if Fogpaw was reading it right, for what reason she had no idea.

“Hey, it was no problem,” Floodstrike said, grabbing her attention by flicking his tail at her nose. “You guys are really good students.”

“I bet you’ll have your warrior names in no time,” Sparrowsway added and Slatepaw grinned widely.

“You really think so?” 

He winced a bit and amended, “Well, I mean, you’ll have to wait until you’re twelve moons old, but I’m sure the time will fly.”  

“Oh, right,” Slatepaw blushed and looked at her paws. 

Fogpaw bumped shoulders with her and said, “I’m sure we’ll get them early. We just gotta do something big and brave!” 

“Yeah, good luck with that,” laughed Floodstrike. “I tried for moons to get mine and I still had to wait.” 

“And yet,” Sparrowsway said, trying to sound optimistic, “it still feels like no time has passed since we were apprenticed. You’ll blink and it’ll be your naming ceremony, just watch.” 

“I hope so,” Slatepaw sighed in that strange way again. Fogpaw shot her a weirded out glance but she was too busy looking at Sparrowsway to notice. She frowned. It was weird not to know what Slatepaw was thinking. 

They returned to camp as the morning was starting to fade into day. Songdust was sharing tongues with Russetfrond on top of the warriors’ den as Lakekit wrestled with Bluekit and Yellowkit in the grass nearby. Fogpaw noticed Goldenstar sitting with Scorchplume in the entrance to her den, talking softly. 

As they approached, Floodstrike called out, “Hey there, Kiddo! How’re ya doin?” 

Lakekit looked up and said, “Flood-Bud! I’m- ACK!” In her distraction, the kittens pounced, driving their needle teeth into her ear and leg respectively. She toppled underneath them and they laughed uproariously. Fogpaw smiled and watched as Floodstrike hurried over to rescue Lakekit from the vicious anklebiters. Sparrowsway gave them a nod goodbye and headed off to where Barleybee was picking through the fresh-kill pile but Fogpaw barely noticed, too busy chuckling at the way that Lakekit mimicked the defensive stance Floodstrike was demonstrating. 

Then Slatepaw sighed again, pulling her out of it. 

“Isn’t he so dreamy?” she said, staring after Sparrowsway. Fogpaw raised a brow and followed her gaze. 

“Dreamy?” she asked, not understanding what under the stars her sister meant. 

“Yeah,” Slatepaw grinned, leaning against her. “Like a cat from a story.” 

“He looks like a normal cat to me,” Fogpaw said, very confused. 

“I think I’m in love,” Slatepaw sighed again for emphasis. Fogpaw wrinkled her nose at that. 

“What, with him?” she asked. 

“Yes, with him,” huffed Slatepaw, puffing up as she turned to scowl at Fogpaw. “Don’t act like it’s ridiculous.” 

“I didn’t say that,” Fogpaw frowned. “I just don’t get it. He’s just… a guy.” 

“Well, maybe he’s just not your type,” preened Slatepaw. “You like Floodstrike a lot, don’t you think he’s dreamy?” 

“Ew, what?” Fogpaw was sure her face was comical in its disgust. “No way!” 

“Okay then, what about Barleybee? Or even Fishtrick or Boldmoth?” tried Slatepaw. “Maybe you just like girls.” 

“You’re crazy,” Fogpaw shook her head. “These are all just cats, none of them are dreamy. What are you even talking about?” 

“You’re the one who’s crazy,” Slatepaw pouted. Fogpaw managed to realize that she had been really hurt. “It’s like you don’t even have eyes.” 

“Whatever,” Fogpaw shook her whole body to get rid of the feeling of isolation that was settling into her fur. “Have fun with your dumb dreams or whatever.” She stomped off, guilt writhing in her belly from the expression she knew Slatepaw was shooting after her. She quickly realized that she didn’t know where she was going and decided to pivot towards where Scorchplume was talking with Goldenstar. 

She couldn’t stop thinking about Slatepaw though. Did her sister really believe that crowfood? Was this like with the effigy where she was the only one who didn’t understand? She felt sick to her stomach at the thought. She hoped Scorchplume would be able to make it all make sense. She always knew what the truth was and how to explain it. 

“-working with him,” Goldenstar was saying in a hushed tone. “He seems like he’s really trying, even if it’s hard for him. I think we shouldn’t take that for granted. Besides, Jagg is a quick study and she’s even been coming up with ideas for other ways he can help us.” 

“He’s not to be trusted,” Scorchplume hissed quietly. “I know him better than most and he’s a coward when it comes down to it. When you need him most, he’ll buckle.” Fogpaw slowed her steps to eavesdrop a bit before she made her presence known. 

“I know he’s hurt you in the past,” said Goldenstar gently, “but I think we should judge him based on what he’s doing now just as much, if not more than what he’s done.”

“Do what you want,” Scorchplume said in the tone of voice that meant she was angry but pretending not to be, “but mark my words: Ghost will betray your trust.” With that, Scorchplume got up and started heading off. 

“Scorch-” Goldenstar said, her voice catching in her throat with frustration. 

Fogpaw hesitated for a moment, then bounded quickly after her mentor. “Were you talking about my dad just now?”

Scorchplume bristled and pursed her lips as she turned to face Fogpaw. “That was a private conversation,” she said instead of answering. 

“Then you should have had it in private,” Fogpaw rolled her eyes. “Were you talking about my dad?” 

Scorch sighed in defeat. “I guess you’ve got me there.” She paused for a moment, still padding off towards the open fields. “Yes, we were.” 

“What did you mean when you said you knew him better than most?” Fogpaw pressed, keeping pace. 

Scorch huffed. “I need to stop teaching you to be so curious.” 

“Scorchplume, please,” she pleaded. 

“Fine,” said Scorchplume, tail twitching. “I used to be very close with your father. He wanted to be my mate for a while.” 

“Wait, really?” asked Fogpaw. “Did you want to be his mate too?” She couldn’t picture them together at all. She had trouble picturing things in general, but that was specifically hard to imagine. 

“No,” Scorch said in her teaching voice, “but I let him think I did.” 

“Why would you do that?” Fogpaw frowned. 

“Because he had something I wanted,” purred Scorchplume. “He could give me safety and power so I gave him what he wanted, which was thinking that I liked him back.” 

“Right,” Fogpaw hummed, sorting the thought into everything she knew about power and manipulation. “Why was that what he wanted though?” Slatepaw’s sighing was worming its way back to the front of her mind. 

“Because he’s a tom,” scoffed Scorchplume with a dismissive swish of her tail. Fogpaw’s face scrunched in confusion. When Scorchplume glanced back and spotted the expression, she sighed tiredly and said, “he wanted to have sex with me and to feel like he was desirable.” 

“And only toms want that?” Fogpaw frowned. 

“No,” Scorch sighed again. “Lots of she-cats want those things too. Toms just tend to fixate on them.” 

“Why?” 

“Because…” Scorchplume faltered, stopping as the crested the first hill outside of camp. She looked up at the sky as if she were searching for words. “Because they’re inclined to want those things. It’s just the way they’re built.” 

Fogpaw’s ears drooped at that but she nodded. “Okay.” After a moment, she added, “But so… You didn’t want to be his mate but you were anyway?” 

Scorchplume swallowed thickly. “No. I let him court me but it never went further than that.” 

“But so you let him court you even though you didn’t like him?” This was all so confusing. 

“Yes. Because doing so kept me safe.” Scorchplume’s voice was tense for some reason that was also confusing to Fogpaw. 

“That doesn’t seem…” Fogpaw searched for a word and only came away with, “healthy.” 

Scorch huffed a bitter laugh. “What was I supposed to do, not be safe?” 

“Well, couldn’t you have just asked him to keep you safe?” Fogpaw said. “Or found something else he wanted?” 

“No,” Scorch said firmly. “He wouldn’t have been persuaded by anything else I was able to give him.” 

“But that’s…” Fogpaw’s stomach was squirming uncomfortably. “Pantherhaze told us that when it comes to that kind of thing, wanting it is the most important part. If you didn’t like it you shouldn’t have pretended you did, you should have told him no.” 

Scorch looked at her and she couldn’t help but feel like Scorch was mad and she didn’t know why. Her mentor’s gaze was cold and distant, like the closeness between them had been withdrawn. She didn’t know what she had done to ruin it and it was terrifying. 

“And you should,” Scorchplume said, her voice strained. “Not everything I do is perfect.” There was bite on the end of the sentence that made Fogpaw’s ears wilt. 

“What did I do?” she asked. “Why are you mad at me?” 

Scorchplume closed her eyes and let out a slow breath through her nose. “I’m not mad at you, Fogpaw.” That only made her more frustrated. Why couldn’t she get it right?! 

Scorch continued, “I’m… The way things should be isn’t always the way they are. I’m glad you have the safety to speak your mind but I haven’t always had that. Speechcraft isn’t just something I enjoy learning, it was something I picked up because if I didn’t I would die. It was the same with Ghost. If I wanted to live I had to let him court me.” 

“Why though?” Fogpaw asked, ears pressed against her head. “Why wouldn’t he have helped you if you’d asked?” 

“Because,” Scorch said. “Because the world isn’t fair. Because he wanted something I had. Because he’s a selfish coward.” Her tail bristled as she spoke. The words sounded like she wanted to sink her teeth into them as they left her mouth. Fogpaw pursed her lips together. 

“I hate that,” she said. “I hate that he hurt you.” 

Scorchplume swallowed. There was silence. 

Fogpaw was starting to fume. How dare he hurt so many people who mattered to her? Tears starting to form in her eyes, she stepped forward and pressed her face into Scorchplume’s fur. The older cat stood still for a beat before carefully wrapping her tail over Fogpaw’s back. Fogpaw leaned into her and sniffled, claws kneading the earth. 

“I wish I could fix it,” she said into Scorch’s fur. “I’m not strong enough to fix it.” 

“No one is,” Scorchplume said hoarsely. “Everyone is hurting all the time and no one can fix it.” Fogpaw didn’t believe that - couldn’t believe that. She shook her head. 

“It’s alright,” Scorchplume soothed. “Don’t cry over me. I’m alright. You know I’m alright.” 

“Mhm,” said Fogpaw but she wasn’t sure that was true. After a few more long moments of taking solace in the darkness of her mentor’s fur, she sniffed loudly and pulled back to look up at Scorchplume’s face. Her mentor looked down at her with a smile that felt wrong, like her muscles hadn’t got the message that she was sad. 

Fogpaw cleared her throat and said, “I want to meet him.” 

“Oh, Fogpaw,” Scorchplume frowned, looking more like herself, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” 

“Why not?” Fogpaw furrowed her brow.

“Because,” said Scorchplume, “you can’t trust him.”

“Okay, so I won’t,” said Fogpaw. “I want to meet him though. I want to tell him how I feel.” 

“What will that accomplish?” Scorchplume asked, twitching her tail. “What will you gain?” 

“I’ll feel better,” Fogpaw said. “And maybe once he hears it, he’ll understand he has to change.” 

Scorchplume scoffed. “That’s not possible, dear. Cats like him don’t change.” 

“Nuh-uh,” Fogpaw shook her head. “My mama said that talking things through is the best way to change a situation. Maybe you’ve just never tried talking to cats like him.” 

“I haven’t had the luxury,” Scorchplume said sharply. 

“But I do,” said Fogpaw, standing her ground. “Maybe you can’t do it but I can. I want to do it.” 

Scorchplume took a deep breath, studying her, and eventually sighed, “Alright, fine. But I’ll be there with you.” 

“Alright,” Fogpaw nodded. “I’m okay with that.” Scorchplume sighed again. 

They went hunting after that, a lazy trip that didn’t bring back much prey, but Fogpaw was happy they did. By the time they got back to camp, Scorchplume didn’t seem so grumpy and that made her feel a lot better. She thought over the things she wanted to say to Ghost as she groomed herself and headed to bed, rehearsing different approaches and wondering how he would react to them. Her anger didn’t go away but it settled, at least for the moment, content to lie in waiting. 

She sat with it until she fell asleep, brought solace by its company.

[1moreoffkeyanthem]

(Yes I still got OrangeJuiceVerse Stan on the brain)

It is so important to me that OJV Stan is the most accident prone loser on the PLANET! Like other than Kenny, he’s cooonnnnstantly a disaster magnet also fucking South Park (Patrick Stump Voice: “STOP BY THIS DISASTER TOWN”) this man just forever is a victim of minor injuries. Ojverse Kyle may be the one with chronic pain, but Stan is out here getting hurt in the dumbest ways.

Like he’ll show up to school with one of those cvs finger splints and Kyle will go “dude how’d you break your finger, football?” And Stan is embarrassed as shit like “nah I uhhh opened the door wrong” “how the fuck do you open the door wrong” “idk I just did” smh loser dumbass.

Not to mention that he’s Tall and tall people are very at risk of hitting their heads on shit, he’s definitely *bonked* himself on cabinets and doorframes, also the amount of concussions this man sustained growing up it’s a wonder he has any brain cells left.

Thank GOD the fucker gets sober at 25 because he’s even clumsier when he’s drunk, there was this whole incident in college where he and Kenny, absolutely plastered, wandered over to a nearby park to do drunk parkour while dressed in their Halloween costumes (Kenny was dr frankenfurter and stan was eddie, they did Rocky Horror that year) (also this was referenced here) Kyle was PISSED bc Stan bruised the shit out of his back and yeah he and Ken were in Trouble for like two months.

This guy has totally burnt himself starting fires on camping trips, cut himself washing a knife, got too excited about the sword he bought for his wedding and fully put a hole in the wall slinging it around like stan you loser that thing is SHARP goddamn who let this man get a sword just so he could cut the cake with it (that thing (he definitely named it something stupid) was under Sharon’s protection right up until the ceremony bc my queen knows her fantasy dork son would probably slice his leg open if left unattended lmao)

Literally he’s also such a horrible patient when he gets hurt enough to actually affect his life, like he falls down the Widowmakers in the SP Survivor college house and totally should be wearing a neck brace for a little bit but he WONT bc “marj chill out the dr said it was just encouraged” bruh it literally took Cartman telling him he was a “goddamn hippie-hypocrite” bc everyone knows Stan’s overbearing as hell when anyone else is hurt or sick. When Stan broke his arm in high school he absolutely tried to get kenny to cut the cast off way too early bc it was itchy and stupid lmfao Kyle caught them with a pair of pliers down the plaster and almost lost his shit smh the Disaster Duo is the sole fuel to his high blood pressure hdasfjdhkl.

He really is such a hypocrite too, he’ll be out here running a high ass fever and ignoring it until he stands up and collapses and then he gets mad when someone else does the same shit. On god someone’ll trip and and skin their palms and Stan will be like “dude you gotta be CAREFUL when it’s icy outside” and then they’re just like “Stan I literally watched you eat shit in the parking lot racing Kenny to your truck like, yesterday.” Smh. Also this man does not remember to drink water ever he’s convinced any liquid counts and he SO fainted from dehydration at a student council blood drive in hs (Wendy was working the checkin station and got so mad at him lmfao he was like “wends pls don’t tell Kyle” and she told kyle and then the Red Cross worker is taping his stab hole closed while this boy she didn’t think would be a problem is getting chastised by both of them lmao. But of course he’s on Kenny’s ass to remember to hydrate. And lord during his stint as the school mascot for that one spring semester he’s out here at cheerleading practice reminding all the girlies to drink water and Bebe is like “pack it up Superman” (he totally looks like Superman) “did YOU drink water?” (This dumbass did not)

Anyway OJV Stan my sweet boy he’s well meaning but also accident prone and maybe a little adhd <3

[freudianslumber]

Today, Tomorrow and Forever

Summary:  Angel Elvis went through Hell when being falsely accused of betraying God.  Eventually found true love with LAPD narcotics officer B.B. King.

Chapter 9 A Twist of Fate

Pairing: B.B. King x Elvis Presley (m/m)

Word count:  2.4k

Warning:  18+.  Hospitalization, coma, gang violence, sexual and physical assault, blood and injury

Elvis was playing pick-up football for the first time since he had been cast out from Heaven.  He considered it to be a big personal triumph because he was itching to play contact sports again once Tina had given him the greenlight during his latest follow up visit a week ago.  B.B. had been wary of the idea, knowing Elvis never fully recovered his physical stamina or his range of motion in the right ankle.  In turn Elvis had assured B.B. he would take it slow and rest up frequently.  Now he felt elated that he was enjoying one of his favorite pastimes again, albeit in small doses with teenagers at the Y.  He knew soon he would return to full-on martial arts training as well, gunning for that next black belt. 

These days Elvis felt so alive and more importantly, loved.  He and B.B. had already started to plan for their wedding.  Although technically same-sex marriages had not been legalized yet, in California they were termed domestic partnerships, there was really no difference in the minds of these lovebirds.  Elvis and B.B. were getting hitched.  Tina volunteered to help out with the logistics.  Elvis envisioned the ceremony to be private and intimate, in a small white chapel decorated with fragrant flowers, complete with a preacher, exchange of wedding bands and vows, and of course a delicious multi-layered wedding cake…

Elvis’ daydreaming was interrupted by someone’s loud holler: “E.P., phone call for you!”.  He had been sitting on the sidelines resting while watching two groups of teenage boys come at one another on the mini football field.  He stood up grudgingly and went into the YMCA office, picking up the phone.  It was too early for B.B. to drive him home, and he never got calls from anyone else, who could it be?  “Is this Elvis?” The anxious-sounding voice on the other side sounded familiar though.  “This is Clay.  Can I come to pick you up right now?  Somethin’ bad happened to B.B.”  Elvis whole body tensed up suddenly, he felt his heart sink into his stomach: “Wha-what do ya mean?? What happened??” Clay sounded hesitant on the other end of the line, as if he was afraid to drop the news: “I don’t know the details.  He got off work early today and was on his own.  I was told he got ambushed and had a car crash on the freeway.  Now don’t panic Elvis, he’s alive but laid up in ER.”  Elvis couldn’t believe what he just heard, he almost threw away the phone, “What are you saying?  This can’t be real!  Take me there, I gotta see Gunnie now!”   

By the time Elvis and Clay rushed to the hospital, B.B. had been transferred to the ICU.  The critical care specialist informed them the officer suffered significant head trauma and contusion of internal organs secondary to his car flipping over following high-speed collision with the center divider.  He also sustained multiple rib fractures and a broken left arm but these were comparatively minor issues.  Due to his obtunded mental status on arrival, B.B. had to be intubated emergently to maintain his airways and breathing.  Blood transfusion was initiated for presumed internal bleeding, while IV medication was given to support his blood pressure.

Elvis’ vision was obscured by tears as he found B.B. motionless and bandaged up in the ICU bed, connected to cardiac monitors and a ventilator.  He wished this was a nightmare he could wake up from, but the frequent beeping of the medical equipment and the presence of the nursing staff kept reminding him cruelly that it wasn’t so.  He gently stroked and held up B.B.’s right hand, but it remained flaccid as the rest of his body.  Unperturbed, Elvis made a loose fist out of B.B.’s hand, put two of his own fingers inside, then spoke in a shaky and suppressed voice: “Gunnie, Gunnie!  Will ya wake up?  It’s me, Elvis!  If you can hear me, please give me a squeeze!”  Still, no response from B.B. could be detected.  Two lines of tears rolled down his cheeks, Elvis gave B.B. a little kiss on the forehead: “Don’t worry Gunnie, I know you will get better.  I’ll take good care of you.”   

Tina had to drag Elvis away from the bedside to buy him some food and have a talk with him.  She told him B.B. would not be happy if he knew Elvis was not feeding himself or resting because of him.  Elvis told Tina he intended to stay there in the hospital room for as long as he was allowed to do so.  He wanted to talk to B.B., keep him company, and help the nurses with turning him in bed and cleaning him.  Tina was moved by the devotion in those angel eyes, but stressed the necessity of taking a break and replenishing at home sometimes.  She told Elvis that B.B. was at least able to support his own blood pressure now, which was a step towards stabilization.  She then shoved some money into Elvis’ pocket because she suspected the angel did not pay attention to these practical matters such as if he had any cash to sustain himself without his fiancé.  Elvis couldn’t argue with Tina’s perfect logic, so he agreed to go home for the night but promised to return early next morning being more prepared for longer stays in the hospital.  Tina assured Elvis she would stay overnight and look after B.B. when he was away. 

Home was almost an hour away by car, and there was no convenient bus ride, so Elvis opted to wave down a taxi.  He was dead tired, with black circles around his eyes and a throbbing headache, having been awake and in emotional turmoil for more than a day.  Elvis slumped into the back of the cab, and gave the driver his home address.  He almost nodded off to sleep a few times during the ride, it didn’t help that it was getting dark outside with some streetlights being turned on.  Finally the cab got off the freeway and drove into a residential area, but the houses looked run-down and the neighborhood seemed unfamiliar.  “Are you sure this is the right way?” Elvis had to ask.  The cabdriver chuckled: “Of course it is! You are not from around here, are you?”  With this remark he quickly pulled over into a secluded parking lot.  The door on Elvis’ side swung wide open, a gun poked into his neck, as he was grabbed by multiple strong arms and dragged out onto the pavement. 

Evidently sensing danger too late, Elvis nonetheless tried to escape against the odds.  He threw a fast and well-placed elbow back at the man holding a gun to his head, took him by surprise and was able to break free out of the hold from behind.  Surrounded by nearly a dozen foes, he actually landed a daring kick on the gunman’s wrist and knocked his weapon away.  However, the ensuing attempt at breaking his encirclement was ill-fated.  As he tried to charge at one opponent with small build, another two or three thugs lunged at his back and tackled him to the ground.  A flurry of kicks and blows came down on him amidst shouts of profanities.  With his face pressed to the cement and two bulky guys piling on top of him, they tied him up behind his back.  As the goons lifted Elvis off the ground and forced him to kneel, the first guy retrieved his gun and gripped the angel by the jaw: “You think you can get away??” He was about to pistol-whip Elvis across the face when someone reminded him: “Hey don’t mess up his face too much, remember the orders?”  The guy was livid at that remark, cursed loudly but ended up punching Elvis in the stomach instead. 

Next, the gangsters confiscated the young man’s wallet and searched him up and down for weapons, their neck tattoos of “Reapers” now clearly visible to their captive.  Elvis discretely rotated his engagement ring to hide the sapphire and diamonds in his palm.  He grunted when one or two hands took advantage to grope him during the body search.  The group then pushed him into the abandoned warehouse which served as the Reapers’ secret headquarter.  “What took you guys so long??” Mad Mac sounded irritated as Elvis was thrown onto the ground in front of him.  “Sorry boss he was putting up a fight.” One voice responded.  “Oh?  You didn’t rough him up too much, did you?”  The gang leader rushed over and pulled Elvis’ head up by the hair, examining his face.  “Hmm, the Devil has good taste in choosing his slut.”  Mad Mac’s detestable face twisted into a malicious smile: “Darlin’ you are almost making me horny.”  “Get away from me, you thug!!” Elvis spat out.  “Boo hoo, I’m so afraid!” the gang leader mocked: “Where is your angel power?  Oh I forgot, you lost your wings and you are weaker than humans right now!  And your cop boyfriend can’t save you no more cause we made a little modification on his old Dodge!”  “You bastards!!!” Elvis screamed, blinding rage overtaking him.  Mad Mac laughed loudly, “Don’t worry, I hear Old Detective King will join you in hell soon!”  “Shut up you despicable crook, you will be brought to justice!” Elvis’ angry shouts turned into muffled sounds as he was gagged by one of Mad Mac’s lackeys.

“Okay enough of this nonsense now! Let’s take him to our special customer.   He has a little catching up to do with you, alone, Elvis.”  Mad Mac grinned while making a gesture to his subordinates. They promptly took him to what looked like a stockroom at the back of the building, shoved him down to the floor and locked the door.

The room was dimly lit with eerie red lighting.  There were some nondescript boxes lying around on dust covered shelves.  Elvis sat up from the concrete floor and scanned around to look for ways to escape.  The place was completely silent except for slight panting sounds from the gagged angel.  Abruptly, one pair of hands took an iron hold on his waist and in one powerful move picked him up from the ground and lifted him onto one of the empty shelves.  The owner of that pair of hands emerged from the darkness and stood close to his startled captive: “Here we are, angel boy, back to the beginning.”  The hideous face of Captain Odon had featured prominently in many of the angel’s nightmares, now inches away from Elvis’ face again, complete with the same old sadistic cackle: “Naughty boy, it took us a while to find you.  Lord of the Underworld is after you, and I’m here to bring your ass back where you belong”.  He encircled one of his freakishly large hands around Elvis’ neck, choking him with a tight grip.  With the other hand, he ripped out the angel’s shirt in one go.  His red eyes grew voracious with lust: “Mmm… I see you got stronger and even a little tanned.  This will be more fun than when you were listless and drugged up!”  Elvis’ throat made some gasping noises as his eyes started to roll up and his face turned purple.  At the last possible minute Odon finally let go of his neck and removed the gag from his mouth, enjoying the view as Elvis struggled to recover from his near asphyxia.  He put a box behind Elvis to prop him up, with legs dangling down the shelf a few inches from the ground.  He tore off the legs of the angel’s pants, exposing his toned and shapely thighs.  Elvis gasped out: “Don’t touch me, you fiend!  My heart belongs to Gunnie!”  The incubus was taken aback by this brave declaration at first, but not for long: “You and Gunnie, huh!  Did you realize you are bad luck to everyone you associate with?  Your parents got locked up because of you, Red and Sonny got executed by the Dark Lord cause they were suspects in helping you flee, your cop boyfriend is on his deathbed cause he was interfering with our plan to catch you…” “You liar!! Gunnie was gettin’ better!  He will be fine and we’ll get married!”  Odon burst into laughter at that last comeback from Elvis: “Keep dreaming!  You ain’t never going back to Heaven because you’re such a slut, you bring out the lust in everyone, and everyone’s got a piece of you!  Being the Devil’s boytoy is your destiny!  Your fiancé is never going to Heaven either for sleeping with you!”  The angel had no immediate rebuttal to Odon’s blatant slander, instead he looked devastated and started to tear up.  On the other hand, the incubus captain acted smug for breaking the spirit of his victim, his tail with its arrowhead shaped tip started to sway in self-congratulation.  He smacked his lips, took out his already-stiff cock, held it with one hand, and used the other hand to grab Elvis on the arm to flip him over. 

In a split second, a flash of white light made a brilliant arch through the darkness, accompanied by a primal scream from Elvis.  His left arm flew out from behind his back, led by a sharp blade projecting from his blue sapphire ring.  He had slowly untied himself by using the blade to cut the ropes in secret behind his back.  Odon howled in pain as the blade stabbed him deeply in the right eye in this surprise attack, with copious blood spurting out.  His hand went up by instinct to hold the wounded eye, but at the same time he lost his balance as the side of his head was kicked by the Karate black belt.  Seconds later, the incubus took another major blow as his other eye got stabbed as well.  Elvis got up via a sideways roll on the shelf, jumped off to the ground, then hid behind the boxes as the blinded incubus screamed in pain and anger.  The stockroom’s door was soon unlocked as two Reapers tried to come in and see what happened.  Both were quickly disarmed and disposed of by Elvis using the darkness and the element of surprise to his advantage.  He picked up one of the handguns and ran out to the open space. 

[elvesofnoldor]

anyways my undergrad convocation is tomorrow and um! its gonna be a shit show!!!

[hiinnys]

i buried a hatchet (it’s coming up lavender)

(hello! it’s been a minute! sorry, i’ve unfortunately been trapped under work’s capitalist foot!! but how are yall? MAJOR happy birthday to harry james! thank you for being my comfort character <3 anyways, hope you enjoy harry’s little 22nd party, which is also on ao3!) 

the planning starts in may. it’s nearly three months early, but may brings bad memories molly’s always tried to avoid. it’s a simple question about cake flavors pointed at harry and ginny, their birthdays always planned in tandem, but harry freezes nonetheless. it’s nothing anyone would notice, but ginny does because she’s ginny and harry’s always been what she’s good at. so when they’re alone later and she asks about it, he’s not surprised.

“it’s stupid,” he says, shaking his head in that way he does that makes him seem so small ginny’s heart aches.

“harry,” she pushes this one, feels like she has to.  

“it’s just…i’m twenty-two this year, aren’t i?”

“yeah?”

“i’m always gonna be older than them now,” he almost whispers, like it’s a crime to even speak aloud. he sits down on the bed just then. the bed in his flat that he’s been too scared to ask her to share with him. he wonders briefly if his dad was ever as scared to ask his mum something so easy; wonders if his dad ever got the chance to be, or if that was just another thing war took away from him.

“harry,” she sits next to him, body angled towards him so her legs are pushed up against his side. “talk to me.”

it’s a simple request; ginny’s like that, takes only the smallest pieces of him because she thinks everyone else takes too much. he wants to tell her that she can take as much as she wants, it’s all hers anyways, but he doesn’t know how, so he settles for giving her what she’s asked of him.

“it feels…wrong, i guess, to celebrate it,” he sighs, tries to quell the storm in his chest, in his head (doesn’t succeed). “it feels like i’m celebrating their deaths.”

she’s silent for a moment, like she’s thinking it all through, weighing the merits of what he’s said, and he can’t quite express how grateful he is that she gives him this - her respect, her thoughtfulness, her whole self, each and every time.

“i get it,” she finally says. “but you can’t live the rest of your life avoiding your birthday. i think you’ve already missed too many in your parents’ books.”

he knows she’s right, thinks about his years with the dursleys, about how he didn’t even know his birthday until he was five and a teacher at primary told him. he nods his head.

“but-,” he starts.

“just not this one,” she finishes. “yeah, i get it.”

the next time they’re at the burrow, ginny casually mentions that she’s actually surprised harry with a weekend trip for his birthday, seeing as he never takes time off otherwise, and if the family would like, they could do a joint cake at ginny’s birthday dinner.

***

she actually does surprise him with a trip, something that he wasn’t expecting, but she suggests they bring teddy along and harry reckons the kid’s due for a holiday. she doesn’t tell him where they’re going to start, just piles the three of them in harry’s car and tells him to drive (she’s yet to pass her driver’s test, but ginny’s one of the few people who genuinely enjoys the tube so she’s not in any rush).

it’s when they’re less than halfway there that harry realizes she has them set out for shell cottage.

“really? you thought bringing me to your brother’s place would be a nice birthday surprise?”

“first of all, you said yourself we aren’t celebrating your birthday, and, second, bill and fleur aren’t home. they’re in france, so i asked if we could borrow the place for the weekend and they said yes.”

“fair enough.”

***

teddy’s antsy for the water as soon as he sees it, so they only go as far as throwing their stuff in the sitting room before taking him down to the shoreline. he splashes happily through the calm water, and his clothes are soaked to the brim, but his laughter fills the air, so harry lets it be.

“harry!” the five year-old shouts, holding up a distinctly purple piece of coral. “look! pretty!”

“you wanna take it with you?”

“YES!” he screams, eyes wide with glee, and harry can’t help the rush of love for his godson. he exaggerates tucking the coral into his pocket when teddy hands it to him, just to affirm ted’s desire to keep it safe. when he turns around, ginny’s smiling at them from her place on a rock, jeans pushed up to her knees, feet in the water and red hair blowing in the wind, and harry finally feels peace settle into his heart.

***

the rest of the day passes rather quietly. when they finally make it in from the beach, the day catches up with teddy, leaving him exhausted and irate, so harry gives him a quick bath and settles the boy in for a small nap. when he gets back down, ginny’s changed and sits on a bar stool in the kitchen, picking at the last of the snack plate harry had made earlier in lieu of a proper lunch.

“hungry?” harry asks and, at her nod of affirmation, starts looking through the fridge to figure out what dinner can be. they sit in an easy silence for a bit, harry washing and cutting vegetables and ginny watching. over the years, he’s learned she likes to watch him cook, and though the reason for it doesn’t make too much sense to him, he likes having her there, so he’s never questioned it much.

“thank you for this,” he finally says.

“for what?”

“bringing us here. i’ve been in my head about it all too much, i think. the whole twenty-two thing. it’s nice to not have to think about it for a bit.”

she studies him for a minute, like she’s trying to look right at the core of him, so he puts down the knife he’s been using to chop the vegetables and gives her all of himself.

“you never have to thank me,” she says after a minute.

“i know.”

***

teddy “helps” harry clean up after dinner that night, which really just means that ted sits on the counter next to the kitchen sink and rattles on about something or the other while harry does the dishes. every now and then, harry blows some soap bubbles on the boy and basks in the glow of the laughter it brings out of him.

an hour later (and well past his bedtime), harry finally manages to get teddy to stay beneath the sheets, but it’s only when ginny reads him babbity rabbity twice and swears on her life that they’ll go back down to the water tomorrow that teddy settles in for the night.

“harry!” he whispers as harry’s switching off the light.

“yeah, mate,” harry stage-whispers back, his eyebrows raised for ginny’s amusement.

“happy birthday!” teddy murmurs tiredly.

“that’s tomorrow, mate.”

“still,” the boy whines.

“thanks, ted,” harry responds, gentle smile on his face.

when they finally make it into their room, harry places a quick silencing charm on the door. at ginny’s raised brow, he says, rather simply:

“for good measure.”

ginny snorts.

they’re silent as they get ready for bed, and harry lets himself sink deep into the warmth of it. they don’t get this too often, the pair of them; ginny’s spot in the harpies takes her across the world and, when harry’s not in some obscure town somewhere tracking some homicidal maniac or the other, kingsley has him on diplomatic missions across the continent. it grates at harry sometimes, how little he gets to be with his girlfriend, but ginny has games to play and championships to win and harry has people to catch and (every now and then) laws to change, and neither has any desire to stop anytime soon so they live with it. in his opinion, they’re pretty good at it. they know their limits. they carve time out for each other, always. harry makes it to all the big games, the ones she’s nervous about. ginny makes it to every stupid ceremony and the endless galas that make harry want to claw his eyes out. she keeps him going; he keeps her sane, and the rest they take as it comes, together. always together.

“harry,” her voice, light as the sun, breaks him out of his reverie. “where’d you go?”

“sorry,” he whispers back. “just in my head a bit.”

“that’s okay. it’s a nice head.”

“it’s a nice head?” he grins at her, knowing she’s caught. ginny rolls her eyes, but there’s a smile on her face, and when she’s done feigning her annoyance, she pulls him in for a kiss. it’s calm and confident and everything that is ginny and when they fuck, they look into each other’s eyes the entire time, and he’s reminded, with each thrust, of just how much he loves her.

***

when he wakes up, the room’s dark, the spot next to him is empty, and he can hear voices coming from below. his heart clenches for a minute, a piece of the war he’ll never be able to let go of, but it eases when he sees ginny’s wand, still on the table, still next to his.

he gets out of bed silently (mentally thanking his auror training) and makes the short walk down the hallway towards the stairs when he sees teddy’s door open too. before he has the chance to panic this time, though, he hears the boy’s laugh followed by ginny’s own giggle. there’s a smile on his face now that he knows ginny would tease him about if she could see it, but he honestly can’t help it. not when he’s in this house, full of a warmth that he’s finally, blessedly, allowed to be a part of. he spots them in the kitchen, but from their angle, he knows they can’t see him. ginny’s leaning against the counter, mixing something in a rather large bowl, while teddy’s sitting on the counter next to her, weirdly, waving a strawberry in the air.

“we gotta put it in!” he whispers, in the way five year-olds do, which isn’t much of a whisper at all. “harry loves strawberries!”

“strawberries in a birthday cake? i’m afraid you may be a genius, ted,” ginny announces in a quiet voice, while harry’s eyes fill with unshed tears. he stays glued to the spot for a bit longer, knowing somewhere in the back of his mind that he’s ruining their surprise, but not being able to turn away from his family. eventually though, he does. he climbs, silently, back up the stairs and slips back into his and ginny’s bed. when he falls back asleep, it’s with the ghost of a smile on his face and a feeling he doesn’t think he’s known until this moment.

***

he’s woken up in the morning by teddy trying to pull his arm off.

“wha-”

“come on,” the boy whines. “it’s breakfast!”

at that, harry wakes up instantly, feeling the guilt wash over him at the idea of leaving teddy without food. it’s only then that he smells the coffee in the air and realizes that ginny isn’t next to him. he breathes just then, quickly realizing that teddy isn’t hungry; he just wants harry awake.

“sorry, mate,” harry smiles at him guiltily, voice a bit rough with sleep. he lets ted drag him down stairs, the boy practically bouncing the entire way down. when they get to the kitchen, he’s met with ginny - long hair in a knot atop her head, eyes still a little sleep tired - grinning around a piece of toast.

“morning,” she smiles up at him and he gives her a lopsided grin in return.

“ginny, ginny, ginny,” teddy bounces next to her. “we’ve gotta do it now!” he whispers.

“we should probably let him eat first,” ginny whispers back.

“no! we gotta do it now!”

“alright, alright,” she responds. “harry,” she gestures to a seat, which harry takes, brows furrowed though he thinks he knows what’s coming. sure enough, ginny and teddy disappear for a few seconds, then come back with a slightly lopsided cake adorned in strawberries, a single candle lit in the middle. he beams the minute he sees them, which turns into an all out laugh the minute teddy starts up his rendition of ‘happy birthday’ which usually involves a lot of lyrics that never stay the same and none of them ever know. when ted’s done, ginny tells him to make a wish and harry asks teddy for help blowing out the candle.

they skip actual breakfast, choosing to tuck into the cake first. it’s sickly sweet and makes teddy smile from ear to ear, frosting covering his cheeks.

“like it, mate,” harry bemusedly asks. all teddy manages is a quick nod between bites, and harry knows he’ll regret letting the kid have two slices later on. but that’s later and this is right now and right now, he’s sat at a table with the two people he loves most in the world, eating a cake they made for him. right now, he’s celebrating - in his own, admittedly, small way -  a birthday his parents’ never got to. right now, he’s doing everything they wanted for themselves and him. right now (and everyday after), he’s their son, the same as he’s always been, keeping them alive with every breath he breathes, every birthday he celebrates. right now, he’s sat with the woman he loves, laughing as he watches his godson attempt to fit an entire strawberry in his mouth, so completely and ridiculously happy.

happy birthday, ginny mouths from over teddy’s head. harry smiles easily at her, love shining through his eyes, lighter than he’s ever been.

[shewillreadyou]

Haven’t met you yet

As always. I hope that you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing.

A/N: This is a TRR AU. Liam is already married, but see’s Riley and wants his cake. If the readers are receptive this might turn into more than a mini series.

Disclaimers: Most characters are property of Pixelberry

Warnings: NS*FW (+18) don’t read this fic if you’re a minor; period.

Word Count: 1887

Prompts: @wackydrabbles prompt #88 “I meant every word.” will appear in BOLD

Pairings: Drake & Riley

Song inspiration: Haven’t met you yet -Michael Buble

Be Kind: Hit the heart button, leave a comment or reblog. It makes a writer so so happy. 

A replay of the Royal wedding of King Liam and Queen Carsyn of Cordonia was playing in the background as she packed her clothes in the small carryon. She giggled when they kissed. Although it was rumored that the king was into black women, something seemed off when he kissed his bride. She had watched this wedding a half dozen times and still couldn’t really put her finger on it. She was headed to New York to stand up in the wedding of one of her sorority sisters. After landing her dream job in Dallas, Riley couldn’t wait to meet her sorors in New York to celebrate. After all, Norah was about to marry the man of her dreams and Riley was truly happy for them. 

There was currently no man in Riley’s life and no prospects. Maybe she’d meet someone in Dallas or maybe she was destined for the life of a career woman. Maybe there would be no happily ever after for her. She turned out the lights in her new downtown Dallas apartment, and grabbed her carry on dragging it to the door as she headed to the airport. 

She opened the door to see her latest amazon purchase on the door mat. She took a moment to retreat inside to open the box. She was hoping it was delivered before she had to head out. Her pink Bedroom Kandi toy was still packed away lost in the sea of boxes crammed into her guestroom. She knew that she would not survive this long weekend in NYC without some form of sexual entertainment. She was disappointed when she opened the box to find her new toy was smaller than the picture made it look. Her flight left in 2 hours and her uber was downstairs so she shoved the disappointing toy in the side of her bag and headed down.  

After the uneventful three hour flight, she finally landed at JFK. Mack was supposed to pick her up from the airport. She stood to the side as people herded to baggage claim to send a quick text. A group of men came from the opposite direction. One was this tall, very attractive Asian guy who looked alot like King Liam. He was with a few other men but there was one in particular who caught her eye. He was beautiful, he had dark hair and the most beautiful blue-grey eyes. The guy who bore resemblance to King Liam smiled and winked at her, while his brooding friend who definitely glanced at her, kept moving. She was snatched from her day dream when Mack texted to say she was outside. 

They checked into the Crown Plaza in Manhattan, freshened up and changed into their little black dresses before meeting the girls at a local rooftop lounge for appetizers and drinks before the bachelorette party. 

The sounds of Dua Lipa’s “Don’t start now” played in the background and encouraged a slightly inebriated Lauren to shake her body on the empty dance floor. Still licking the wounds behind a very fresh break up she intended to use this weekend to drink her troubles away and vowed to nail a stranger. 

The hostess seated a group of gentlemen at the table directly behind the ladies giving Riley, who never sat with her back to the door the best look at the group. It was them. The men from the airport. When they were settled, Riley’s eyes met with the Asian guy’s who was smiling and licking his lips. She rolled her eyes and turned to Kourtney. 

“So, how is Gabrielle, is she two now?” 

“Yes, she’s great. Busy, but great. That was real smooth. You have an admirer.”

“Ugh, I saw those guys in the airport when I landed. He smiled at me then too.”

“But now there are two of them looking at you like you’re a steak.”

Riley coyly glanced at the group again, this time noticing the dark haired man looking. She blushed and turned back to Kourtney right as the server approached with a whiskey sour, complete with a phone number written on the cocktail napkin. 

“How did he know what you drink?”

“Girl, I have no idea. Should I drink this?”

“Sure, they wouldn’t have served it if it had been tampered with. But the real question is are you going to call him?” 

“Me? Noooo. What would I say?” 

“What do you have to lose?”

“Wait, you have never dated a white guy before have you?” 

“Well, no. Not that they aren’t attractive. I just never had one interested. Not all of us find our Prince Harry.” 

“You do now. Besides, Chris is no Prince Harry, but he does treat me like a queen. I have always wondered if there are people who would rather be alone than to date outside of their race. Chris is the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“I definitely would date outside of my race if it were the right person. He is gorgeous, I’m still not calling this guy. He’s going to think i’m desperate.”

“You are!”

“I am not!”

“When was the last time you got laid? Mack told me about your toy.”

“Remind me to kill her later. It’s been 8 months, 3 weeks and 5 days. But who’s counting?”

“Exactly,” Kourtney cackled, drawing the attention of the men at the next table. 

Maroon 5’s, “Moves like Jagger” started to play as they continued to chat.

“May I have this dance?”

Riley was disappointed to find the King Liam look alike.

“Thanks, but my feet are killing me.”

“That’s too bad,” he said as he flashed her a sexy smile.

Just then she glanced across the rooftop to see him whisper something to his brooding friend. In an instant the guy with the beautiful eyes headed over and slipped the DJ a tip and whispered something in his ear before heading Riley’s way. 

“Kourt, shit! He’s coming over here what do I say?”

“Don’t. Let him do the talking.”

 He held out his hand and smiled at her and she was sure her panties were ruined.

“Hey, did I get your drink right?” he asked placing her hand in his.

“Actually, yeah you did. Impressive.”

Just then the DJ changed the song to Silk Sonic’s, “Leave the door open.”

The stranger pulled her to her feet.

“Let’s dance.”

His scent was intoxicating, his arms where strong and she could get lost in his eyes. He held her with a familiarity that made her feel at home in his arms.

“So are you going to tell me your name?”

“Drake. And you are?”

“Riley.” 

“We don’t have to talk right now. Let’s just dance. Just use my number when you’re ready.”  

“Their bodies swayed slowly to the song before her friends pulled her away to the next leg of their night.”

Two weeks later

After a very long weekend in New York, Riley was back in Dallas. She had been there for almost a month and hadn’t met anyone at all. Well, there was Will from work. But she doesn’t date co-workers and she is pretty sure he is gay. In her freetime she goes to the gym, and eats at new restaurants  a few times a week, which leads her back to the gym. After a particularly long work day, circuit training and an hour on the treadmill Riley came home and poured herself a very large glass of wine. She filled the tub, lit some jar candles and grabbed her toy and the romance novel that she was currently reading.

She was soaking in bubbles up to her neck when her phone rang, it was Kourtney. Out of all her friends she probably checked on Riley the most. She dried her hands and pressed the speakerphone button.

Hey Kourt,

Hey Ri, what’s new?

Not a thing, work, the gym, dinner, wine repeat.

That’s sad. No human interaction?

Not really. I’ve hung out with Mack and Ben twice but I always feel like a third wheel. 

Remember when I told you to call the guy from the rooftop?

Yeah. 

I meant every word.

I will think about it. I gotta go. Early morning. Love you.

Whatever, I know when I hit a nerve. I love you too.

Three days later

Riley was as lonely in Dallas as they come. She thought about online dating but wanted something more organic. Kourtney’s words lingered in the back of her mind. Maybe she was right. Riley had nothing to lose by reaching out to the handsome stranger who sent her the drink in NYC. She decided to take the plunge.

The next morning Riley sat on her balcony reading the paper and sipping amaretto flavored coffee when her phone rang.

Hey Mack! 

Hey, I am running into church and I know it’s short notice but Ben is out of town next weekend and my college roommate is getting married down in Waxahachie. Please tell me you don’t have plans and you’ll be my plus one.

I’ll have to check my planner. She laughed.

Who am I kidding? I don’t have plans. Free booze, food, and maybe a groomsmen to have a fling with. Count me in…

Yay! She squealed. I will pick you up Saturday morning and we can ride down to the ranch together.

Saturday

The doorbell rings and Riley grabs her clutch and the wedding card she got for the newlyweds before heading down to meet Mack. They catch up while they take the 30 minute drive out to the Walker Ranch where the ceremony is to be held. Mack talked about feeling like an after thought when it came to her boyfriend. Riley mentioned the need for human interaction, more specifically from a man and how the one man she met in New York lives in Europe. When they arrive Riley takes in the vast land and the beautiful event space. 

“Savannah’s family owns this ranch? Wow, it’s massive.”

“Yeah, I know at one time they were really struggling to keep things afloat. But it definitely looks like they are doing well for themselves now.”

“Right? I love when family businesses do well. It’s really a gorgeous day for an outside wedding. But we should probably take our seats. The ceremony will be starting soon.”

Mack led Riley to a couple seats on the bride's side. Before long a very serious looking groom and an officiant that Riley could only describe as a King Liam look-a-like stood under a wedding trellis decorated with blush colored blooms. The violinist started to play a beautiful arrangement as the attendants began to descend the aisle. 

“All rise and receive the bride.”

They guess all stood and turned to receive Savannah. She was a stunning bride. Then Riley laid eyes on those hypnotic blue-grey eyes. She instantly broke out into a sweat. She couldn’t ever mistake those eyes for someone else’s. He was as beautiful as the first tine she saw him. She swallowed hard and her mouth went dry. Her heart seemed to be pounding out of her chest, she was shaking when she gave Mack’s hand a firm squeeze. 

“What’s wrong Ri?”

Before she could answer, his eyes met hers, he bit his lip and her knees buckled. 

“Um Ri?”

“It’s Drake from the rooftop in New York..”

@txemrn​ @pixie88​ @secretaryunpaid​@khoicesbyk​ @blackkingliamstan​ @mom2000aggie​ @shannonwrote​ @hopelessromanticmonie​ @fanjessfic​ @rideordiechronicles​ @lucy-268​ @dcbbw​ @darley1101​ @maurine07​ @burnsoslow​ @sfb123​ @bbrandy2002​ @kingliam2019​ @schnitzelbutterfingers​ @lem-20​ @choicesficwriterscreations​​ @wackydrabbles​​

TRR: @twinkleallnight​  @bebepac​ @mainstreetreader​ @romereadingshop​ @romewritingshop​ @lem-20​ @texaskitten30​

[kickingitwithkirk]

Deuxième Omega: Part II

Summary: Jensen is not dealing well with his unexpected divorce and before the ink is even dry, he is pushed into another union with a complete stranger.

Pairing: Alpha!Jensen Ackles x Omega!OFC

Word Count: 2859

Warnings: A/B/O, angst, angry Jensen, cursing, illness, arranged marriage, divorces, talk of Alpha dominance over Omega, suspected eating disorder, past abuses, vehicle drama

A/N: Sorry this took so long to get this part out, my antique laptop decided to eat over 2,000 words and have had to piece back together from memory so hopefully it makes sense.

A/N II: There is no intentional hate or malevolence intended towards any of the Ackles family. This is a purely fictional piece containing real and created persons/names/events set in the fictional A/B/O verse. 

Part I

*Supernatural doesn’t end in season 15 and some dates/events have been altered to fit the story.

*no beta, all mistakes are mine

The Next Day

Jensen waves his hand around again at that buzzing insect driving him crazy. He’s finally conscious enough to recognize the sound, it wasn’t a bug but his phone vibrating incessantly. Picking his head up and instantly regretting it starts patting around the bed for his phone.

“lo...”

“Are you still drunk?” A deep, honey-whiskey and way too damn loud for the morning voice barked at him.

“Jared?”

“No, fucking Misha.”

“Too early for your shit Jay...”

“Dude, it’s three-thirty in the afternoon.”

“WHAT!” Jensen yells sitting up too fast, the pain ricocheting throughout his head sends him flying off the bed, barely making it to the toilet before regurgitating everything he ingested last night. The toilet automatically flushes as he sits back against the bathtub groaning like a dying water buffalo.

“Really wish you'd hung up before sharing that,” Jared quips in a queasy voice, “I’m gonna regret this but Face Time me.”

Jensen cracked his eyes open enough to locate the button and tapping it Jared appears dressed in his running gear with a bandana holding his hair back. “No offense but you look like hammered shit. I was gonna call earlier but Gen threatened to have my left nut if I did.”

Jensen grunts and closes his eyes against the bright outdoor light emanating from the phone.

“Are you…” Jensen tunes him out for a minute then,“ ‘cause there’s something you need to know about, it’s really bad.”

He opens his eyes and it’s worse than he could have imagined going by the expression on Jared’s face.

“One of your clan sold you out, got it all on cellphone video, social media’s blowing up. Hell, even Fox News Channel picked it up.”

Jensen listens to the description of his expressions at the surprise traditional ceremony, his drunken stumbling around the reception with his new wife submissively following, his scoffing at the speeches during the reception and ignoring his silent, veil wife sitting next to him.

“My favorite bit was Alan and Josh carrying you out of the can.”

Jared's expression turned serious, “People are talking, we can't cover for you anymore. I got a text from higher ups cause no one could get hold of you for obvious reasons. PR’s gotta get ahead of this.”

“I’m a fuckup.”

“Yeah but we still love you. So, what's her name?”

Jensen licked his lips, biting the bottom one.

“Please tell me you know her name.”

“I..I don't even know what she looks like Jay.”

Jared ran his hand over his mouth, “The first thing you do is get up, take a shower and brush your goddamn teeth. Then you apologize, fucking supplicate yourself, to your new wife..unless you’ve already decided to put her aside.”

Jensen's head snapped up unbelieving that his friend, the man who was his brother in every way except blood, could think that of him.

“You really believe I could do that?”

Jared smiled, “No, you're too good of a man, an Alpha, to do that. I want you to remember one thing, in all this, she’s not the one who screwed you over.”

***

Jensen stepped out the shower forgoing shaving since the show was on a short break. He wiped the steam from the mirror and stared at this haggard expression and developing beer gut. I’ve got to get back on my exercise routine. Makeup and wardrobe could only mask so much.

Reaching for his bath kit he knocked a hand towel off the counter. Bending over to retrieve it he noticed a shoe with netting in the wastebasket. Pulling it out he saw a brown smear inside one of the heels, remembering how much trouble she had with them last night and made a mental note to inquire about her feet.

Washing his hands and searching through his kit realizing he’d forgotten his toothbrush. Opening on the cabinets he located the complementary ones. As he’s brushing Jensen sees another brush sitting in a glass by the other sink with a neatly folded hand towel and hanging washcloth.

Huh, she must have forgotten hers too.

Tossing his kit bag in the suitcase he dressed in a pair of well worn jeans and a T-shirt. Quietly entering the common area the curtains set open just enough for him to see her curled up on the couch, still in her wedding dress, asleep. He walked over to check on her when a knock at the door made her bolt upright.

“It's room service, I asked them to text so not to wake you.” He answered the door and had a brief word with the waiter who apologized, the ticket didn’t say not to knock. They deposited a coffee decanter, several covered dishes, bottles of water and left taking the cart with them.

Jensen sat down and before he could ask how she took her coffee, his wife scrambled off the couch and was kneeling at his feet, head bowed and hands folded in her lap.

“What are you doing?” He asked incredulously, having never seen anyone do this before.

“Awaiting you instructions Alpha.”

“Instruc...get up!” He gripped her upper arm, shocked at how far his fingers wrapped around it and helped her to the other chair. Sitting back down Jensen got his first look at his new wife.

Sleep tousled, dark blonde hair frame cheekbones overly prominent for the shape of her face, wide set eyes a blue-grey color with amber rings around the pupils. Her lips were full, the bottom lip slightly off center. She was not the Hollywood standard of beauty he was used to, and if compared to them, she’d only be considered moderately pretty.

“I was only doing what is expected…”

“Kneeling at my feet like an obedient dog!” He barked as she said, “..of the Omega.”

“What’s expected?”

“In the book..”

“Please look at me when speaking.” She raises her eyes but doesn’t meet his, “..it states that the Omega is subservient and the act of humbling ourselves shows respect for the Alpha, as is their due.’

Jensen sat back shocked, running both of his hands through his still damp hair, making it stand up to resemble a hedgehog. He was in over his head and, for one of the few times in his life, didn’t know what to do and the first person he would have turned to for advice had banned all communication.

He took a deep breath to refocus and leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs to look her in the eye, “I need you to forget what I said last night. I..I’m angry, feels like I..we..were ambushed by this situation. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you, I’m sincerely sorry.”

“I don’t understand, are you apologizing to me?”

“It’s what people do when they’ve done something wrong and what I did was unforgivable. I want to make it up to you if you’ll let me and hopefully we can make a go of this.”

She looked at him dubiously but nodded once.

***

Jensen finished the last dregs of his coffee while packing, having decided to head back to Austin tonight. Clif had texted him he was ready whenever they were.

Sitting down on the bed he listened to the running shower and reaching his phone picked it up to start recording a video message.

He apologized for his atrocious behavior the last two years, asking the fans not to take it out on the show, this was all on him. To his coworkers for having to cover for him, they should have never been put in that position and if he had better character they wouldn’t have had too.

He next apologized to his family for his inexcusable behavior last night, which should have stayed private within their clan, and fully accepted his banishment by the clan leader, his father, for however long he deemed fit.

He lastly apologized to his new wife, they were irrecoverably tied together and he’d do whatever she demanded from him to make up for the horrendous treatment he’d shown her and hoped she’d give him a chance to make a go of their marriage.

He uploaded the video to his few online accounts and turned the phone off, wearily running a hand over his face. Getting up to take one last look he found his jacket from the wedding hanging in the closet.

Folding it he hears a crinkling noise and reaches into the inner pocket finding the marriage certificate. Tossing the jacket on the bed he unrolls the certificate reading his wife’s name Iseult.

“It’s pronounced Ee-sult Alpha.”

Jensen's head jerked up in surprise, “Hey, um, we're heading out as soon as you're ready.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll need you to button my dress Alpha.” She said repacking his bath kit she'd borrowed.

Jensen furrowed his brow, “Wouldn’t you be more comfortable in something else, I mean, I’m telling you what to wear but it’s a three hour drive to my..our home.”

Iseult looked down playing with one of the pearlescent buttons, “When I married my hus..ex husband, our prenup stated that I only got what I had in my possession at the time. Apparently, he disposed of my things at some point,” she fanned out the shirt, “this dress, shoes and veil, your mother purchased them otherwise the media would have had a lot more to exploit at my..our expense Alpha.”

“Let me give you something of mine.”

“Anything of yours will swallow me, you're much more solid. There is a Walmart on..” she abruptly stopped at Jensen's raised eyebrow, “I’m sorry Alpha, I overstepped my place.” She bowed her head and hunched her shoulders, exuding the scent of fear as if she is expecting punishment from him.

What had happened to this woman to make her believe she should cower and gravel? Jensen manages to keep his anger in check, not wanting her to be more scared of him than she was, thinking who the hell is her ex-husband and what had he done to make her like this?

Jensen slowly walked behind her and gripping the fabric was once again dismayed at how prominent her shoulder blades were, his gut telling him her slenderness wasn't something natural.

As he fastened the buttons he spoke in the gentle voice he used when Jared's daughter Odette was upset, “If you can survive till tomorrow I’ll take you to get whatever you need.” She nodded once.

“Can I make one request Alpha?”

“You don’t have to request anything, just ask.”

“I have a prescription I need refilled, there’s a pharmacy on Wilmont, it’s on the way.”

He plucked the jacket off the bed and held it open, “Please, it's getting chilly.” She slid her arms into the sleeves and Jensen saw she was right about being swallowed. He put on his ball cap and headed out.

When they got off the elevators Jensen went deeper into the hotel. He stopped at an employees only entrance off the kitchen and knocked twice. A double knock answered and he pushed it open to reveal a waiting SUV. He introduced Clif and handed him the bag, taking it to the vehicle's rear and loaded it before getting back in.

The wind had started picking up ahead of the late autumn thunderstorm. Iseult grabbed her whipping hair in one hand and her skirt in the other as Jensen opened the back door.

“Iseult?”

“I was waiting for you Alpha, its proper etiquette.”

“I was raised it’s proper for a lady to enter first, please,” he held his hand out to her.

Iseult released her hair and hesitantly took his hand. Jensen felt a skittering sensation go up his spin as Iseult quivered, staring into his eyes as a whirling wind intermingled their scents, enthralling them.

Clif politely coughed, “We need to go before the bottom falls out.”

A tremendous thunderclap sent them scrambling into the car as the heavens let loose.

***

The trip to Austin was darker than usual, the weather slowing the drive back and with the incident at the pharmacy, Jensen still couldn’t believe it, refusing the prescription now that she was married to an Alpha, needing his verbal consent.

Clif interceded before he went off about the subjugation of Omegas in modern society, reminding him they were in predominantly conservative Texas, where this thinking was considered normal, not California.

Jensen glanced over to see Iseult staring out the window when his phone vibrated. Picking it up from the cup holder he saw a text from Josh.

>Jenny, know I’m not supposed to be in touch but call me!!! Need to know the shit going down here.<

Josh picked up on the first ring, “Man, all hell breaking loose. Your wife's ex didn't notify his clan that he was divorcing or remarrying her and they’ve filed an appeal with the Pack council to get her back.”

“We were married in the Traditional...”

“The fuck Jenny, did living in La La land make you forget everything? Your the second son of a clan leader, you know Pack law supersedes all federal, state and religious laws. They’ve dug up some obscure sub-clause that states a clan has first right to remarry an Omega within the clan and if they don’t whoever takes them must pay settlements.”

“What are settlements?”

“Has your brain fallen out of your ass? The bride price.”

“Josh, that's insane, it's 2020....”

“No shit Sherlock, but this is Texas. Fuck, dads back already. I’m gonna leave my phone on, keep your goddamn mouth shut or it's gonna be my ass too!”

Jensen can’t make out anything then his mother clearly says, “..they are asking what for her?”

“Ten million.”

“Your shitting me!”

“Joshua, language young man.”

“Five of it’s compensation for damages done to the Omega.”

“What damages? Jenny’s got a temper, what Alpha doesn’t, but he wouldn’t hurt anyone unless he was forced to.”

Alan cleared his throat in the manner Jensen had come to know that something’s making him uncomfortable. “It seems the Omega was..unsullied when she married her ex-husband.”

“Holy shit! You mean she’s never been with an Alpha before Jensen?”

“Joshua, I will not tolerate that language and we will absolutely not discuss your brothers new wife’s...virtue.”

Jensen hears the tinkling of glass, “Donna, did you know about any of this?”

“Well..no, of course not.” Her answer wasn’t very convincing.

“Donna, what are you not saying?” Alan’s Alpha voice resonated, he only used it when his mate was being evasive about something she’d done.

“When Danneel wasn’t willing to reproduce for Jensen I put out some feelers about finding him an Omega…”

“Jesus Fucking Christ! Even if it is acceptable for Jensen to have a second wife with Danneel being a Beta, he would never agree to it.”

“I’m not telling you again about your language. I might have, at one of my appointments, casually indicated to Brent that I wanted an Omega like his.”

Who the hell is this Brent?

“Wait, Brent Worthington?!”

Jensen dropped his phone. It smacked against his other hand turning on the speaker allowing everyone in the car to hear.

“Donna, have you any idea what you’ve done?”

“I never thought he'd actually offer her, they always seemed so happy together.”

“He took your casual indication as an actual offer for his wife. You do understand that while we have to deal with each other they are still our rivals.”

The Ackles and Worthingtons were two of the original founding clans of the Dallas Pack, and rivals for centuries. Iseult had been married to the only Beta son of Abraham, the Clans Alpha, like Alan.

Josh’s voice shook as he spoke, “Mom, if the council decides to return her do you have any idea what they’ll do if Jensen’s already mated and claimed her?”

There’s a ringing phone and Alan answered, his voice loud then faint, apparently pacing around the room.

In the SUV dim interior Jensen could see Iseult shaking, awaiting the decision.

“The council sided with the Worthington's stating the law…”

Jensen’s inner Alpha raged, loosening a wrawl causing Clif to jerk the wheel, swerving across the wet lanes, throwing Jensen against the seat in front of him, landing on the floorboard before the vehicle was under control and stopped on the shoulder. Twisting around he sees Clif opening the back door checking on Iseult while Alan’s voice filled the otherwise silent SUV.

“...but taking into consideration today’s social climate they came back with the final decision since she remarried another clan leader's son her status is unchanged, so if we send her back there’s no penalty for damages. If we choose to keep her, it’s five million due to the Omegas age.”

“What did you tell them dad?”

“I told them we were keeping her, I won’t be the cause of anymore upheaval in my son's life. However,” Alan’s voice turned hard, “the council has ordered additional financial penalties set against both clan leaders for the transgressions committed by their families.”

“How much?”

“I paid twenty-five million for a Deuxième Omega.”

tbc

SPN: @donnaintx​​​​​​​

Dean/Jensen: @flamencodiva​​​​​​​

[carnationcreation]

Breathless (JATP Reggie x male!reader)

✌🏻Masterlist Taglist, and Works in progress!

Request: (Wattpad @ Calumm_310) dont know if youll take male reader (which is fine if you dont) but can you maybe write a oneshot about Reggie and the reader dating in secret and the boys and Julie catch them being loving or like fluff? (Reader is taller than Reggie) 

Prompt/summary:  Reggie and the reader are secretly dating and trying not to get caught by their friends.

Word Count: 1,435

Authors note: I haven’t written a male reader before so please don’t bully me, but I would love constructive comments cause I really don’t like the way I wrote this one. I just don’t know how I could make it better lol.

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

Never trust someone who’s smile takes your breath away. The person that can waltz into your life and suddenly you’ve truly fallen and you don’t know what happens.

Definitely never trust someone that you want so badly but can’t have.

He saw me in the crowd at one of his concerts. When they saw my instant attraction for the bassist my friends managed to get us invited to the band’s after party.The after party was small, outside on the shore of the LA beaches.

I looked out over the ocean, I’d lost track of most of my friends an hour ago so I decided to spend my time looking out towards the setting sun daydreaming to pass the time.

I felt someone sit down beside me. 

“Listen if you want someone to drive you home I’m waiting for 3 of my friends who are probably drunk off their asses now. Taxi’s are still running.”

“I can’t just sit and talk to you?” he said. 

I looked over at the boy, his black hair was slicked back and leather jacket wrapped around him. 

“I didn’t say you couldn’t, I was just telling you,” I said.

He laughed before moving to take his jacket off and laying it on the towel under us.

“So, where you from?” he asked.

“Here, you?”

“Here. What made you come tonight?” he said.

“My friends said they’d find a way to get me laid tonight if I drove them home,” I chuckled.

“Do you want that to happen?” he leaned back on his hands and stretched his legs out in front of him.

I scoffed, “Doubt it will.”

“You’re attractive, I doubt there isn’t a girl here who wouldn’t be excited to sneak out back with you,” he reached over to steal a strawberry off my plate.

“Not the kind of attention I’m looking for tonight,” I smacked his hand away from my plate but he triumphantly ate his loot. 

I shook my head to look back for my friends, unfortunately I realized how late it had gotten and knew it was time to go find my friends to make sure we get back before parents noticed we were gone. I turned back to the boy that had kept me company for part of the night, “Catch you later?”

“Sure,” he handed me a slip of paper, “call me.”

I smiled and led my very drunk friends to the car.

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

I didn’t get to call him the next day. That was something my friends kept bugging me about.

“You’re going to regret not calling him. A hot guy gave you his number and you’re just gonna pass on it?”

“Ally, he was probably drunk. And I’m sure he’s straight.”

Ally scoffed, “You don’t know that. He was practically hanging off you when we came back over.”

“Ally you were wasted. I’m sure he was just looking for someone to take up his time and talk to.”

Ally rolled her eyes, “Whatever, you should still call him. What’s the worse that could happen?”

“Lots of things,” I laughed.

“Just do it!” she said. I rolled my eyes but I still left her house debating on if I would or not.

I ended up calling him that night after much debate with my inner thoughts. He seemed shocked when I told him we met at the after party, he assumed I wasn’t gonna call.

“We should go on a date,” he said. He sounded so confident.

“Oh?”

“Give me your address, I’ll pick you up tomorrow. We can watch a movie then go get food,” he said.

 I smiled, “Sounds like you’ve already got all of this planned out.”

“Oh I was thinking about our marriage ceremony when I saw you at the beach.”

I laughed at his bold statement, but in the back of my mind I wondered what he would look like in a tux.

“Fine Reginald, pick me up at 7 tomorrow.”

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

The next night was amazing, and the next night after that was too. Before I knew it we had been dating for two weeks. Two amazing, breathtaking weeks. Running around together at night but pretending we barely knew each other during the day.

He ended up taking me back to the beach we originally met at. It had cooled off some and the tide was low. The setting sun made Reggie look like some sort of Greek god in the golden light.

‘‘You’re staring.”

I turned back to the sea, “Can’t help it.”

“I know, it’s almost impossible not to stare at my beauty when you’re with me,” he smirked.

I looked over at him laughing and shoved his shoulder, “Don’t give yourself too much credit.”

“What?” he said smoothing his hair back, “You don’t think I’m attractive?”

“Did I say that?” I giggled.

“Well- no but-”

“Then don’t make assumptions,” I laughed.

He laughed too. He paused after a while and stared deep into my eyes. My breath was caught in my throat. Before I could process what was happening he leaned forward and kissed me. It felt like the world stopped turning.

He pulled back and smiled at me. I smiled too. We walked home that night holding hands.

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

I never got to meet his friends.

It was something I never asked about, I knew he wasn’t out yet and I respected his wishes to keep things quiet for now until he was comfortable introducing me as his boyfriend. That didn’t mean that I didn’t feel like I was only a secret and nothing else though.

“When do I get to meet your friends?” I asked one day.

“I promise you will,” he sighed.

I bit my lip, “You’re not... embarrassed of me right?”

“What?” he said, he placed his hand gently on the side of my face, “You make me feel alive. Like I can breathe. For the first time in forever I feel normal. I could never be embarrassed of you babe.”

I smiled and placed my hand over his rubbing my thumb gently over it. He grinned and kissed my forehead.

“Hey guys- woah...”

We turned to see Julie standing in the doorway of the garage.

“Oh, uh, hey Julie... didn’t think you were gonna be back this early...” Reggie said, he stood up and placed his hands in his pocket. My hands dropped into my lap as I forced a smile through the embarrassment of getting caught like that.

“Who’s this Reg?” she asked.

“Well...” Reggie said turning to me.

“I’m his frien-” I spoke but Reggie cut me off.

“This is my boyfriend, (Y/n).”

I looked at him in shock before that quickly turned into a smile. 

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

Julie kept our secret. Reggie felt so much better after telling that one person, and I kept encouraging him to be comfortable and confident in himself. As time went on he did.

“We’re gonna get caught,” I giggled.

We were in the alleyway of one of the venues he was supposed to play at tonight. I trapped against him and the wall as he kissed down my neck and onto my shoulder.

He placed a kiss at the corner of my mouth, “Okay?”

I giggled and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into a deeper kiss.

“Reggie!” Luke said as him and Alex busted out of the stage door.

We quickly pulled away from each other and stared in surprise.

“Oh, uh, we go on in five. Let’s go dude,” Luke said.

“Wait a minute,” Alex said gently, pushing Luke out of the way and holding his hand out to me, “Hi, I’m Alex. I’m sure we would’ve met sooner if Reggie bothered to tell us anything!”

Reggie threw his hands up in defense, “We were gonna tell you soon!”

I giggled as the two bickered like siblings for a few seconds.

“Guys! We gotta go!” Julie said from the door, “Oh, hey (Y/n)!”

I waved as the other boys looked at Reggie in shock.

“She knew about you two but we didn’t? So much for best friends!” Luke yelled.

“Yeah,” Alex said, “You know what? I’m taking back our friendship bracelets.”

Reggie gasped.

“Guys! Show time. Now,” Julie snapped her fingers.

 The boys finally got the idea and moved to the door. Reggie quickly turned around and stood up on his toes to give me a quick kiss, “You got your ticket?”

I patted my pocket where the ticket stub for VIP sat.

“Good, I’ll see you after the show okay?”

“Okay,” I smiled.

He gave me one last kiss that took my breath away before running off to join the others.

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

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[thiswasinevitableid]

64. I didn’t know my ex moved so you find me curled up on the floor in front of your apartment door

Ot4, nsfw, please!

Here you go!

Duck didn’t mean to fall asleep in front of her cave. But there was no one home and the rock in front of it is just the right temperature to coax him down into a nap in the spring sunshine.

“Um, can I help you?”

His nose tells him the voice belongs to another dragonborn before he opens his eyes. It’s just not the one he’s hoping for. Instead of blue scales and muscle, he finds blue eyes staring down at him while black and white scales glint in the afternoon light.

“Uh, I, uh, do you know the dragon who lives here?” He didn’t think she’d move on that fast.

“I am the dragon who lives here.” The other male adjusts the satchels on his shoulders, one laden with food and the other with books, “I moved in a week ago.”

“Well...fuck.” Duck slides off the rock with a groan, “sorry, didn’t know the place changed hands. Didn’t mean to, uh, crash on your front porch.”

“It’s okay. I was hoping to meet more of our kind here.” He writes a glyph on the door and it opens, “do you want to come in? I got some nice wine from town and, um” he scratches at the stone, “no one to share it with.”

“Sure.” Duck follows him through the familiar front hall and into the kitchen. The furniture is different, all clean lines and polished wood, and there’s new art on the walls. He reads the spines on the stack of history books on the table while his host pours them each a glass of wine.

“Thanks” he takes the goblet, “I’m uh, I’m Duck by the way. It’s a nickname.”

“Joseph.” The other dragon sits across from him, “I take your...ex lived here?”

“Yeah” Duck scratches the back of his neck, “we end things a month ago but, uh, I was missin her and I, uh, I, I, fuck, nevermind.”

Joseph sniffs the air, “surprise heat?”

Duck nods, “I was kinda hopin for, uh, for a pity fuck or somethin. Fuck, that sounds pathetic.” He rests his head in his hands.

“There’s no shame in wanting intimacy.”

“Guess not. Uh, enough about me, how’d you end up here?” He prays Joseph takes the hint.

“I travel around studying humans, trying to bring a greater understanding of them to our kind. My hope is it’ll help keep the peace, since we’re less likely to fear or attack things we understand. Kepler might be the place I settle; the town is a great mixture of dragon and human cultures.”

“So you just...study everythin they do?”

“Right now I’m focusing on technology. Hence the, um, the scars.”

“Oh shit” the white zigzags and bursts that Duck assumed were simply markings are, in fact, scars, “what happened?”

“Mostly minor accidents, like you’d get cooking or gardening. This one” he gestures to the white on his cheek, “is embarrassing; I was so engrossed in my research I didn’t notice the experiment I was running was about to go haywire.”

“Ouch.” He hazards a joke, “hate to see what your hoard is like, probably, uh, shock me.”

Joseph smiles, “I don’t really have one, it’s a pain to move it every time.”

“Not even a little pile?” Duck raises a brow; there’s a magpie-ish quality to the other dragon that suggests there’s a collection hiding somewhere.

A faint dusting of gold on his cheeks, “I do have a, um, a small stack of books.”

“Can I see?”

“Of course. This way.” He leads them to the master bedroom. A wave of unwelcome nostalgia hits Duck as he enters, and he’s about to excuse himself back to the kitchen when a giggle climbs up his throat.

“A small stack, huh?”

Joseph settles on the cushions at the center of three towering bookcases, each crammed full, “I don’t have that many. I once met a wyvern who had whole hills of books. I like them like this so I can actually find things.”

“Hate to say it Joe, but this is an honest to gods hoard.” Duck kneels near him.

“Joe....huh, I like it when you call me that. Normally I hate it. And it’s a library, not a hoard.”

“If you say so. Uh huh, what’s this?” He crawls to where a pile of puzzles toys and games is hidden between the bookcases, “seems like the makings of another ho--oh hell yeah” he grabs a box, “Minotaurs Riddle, I fuckin love this game. Haven’t played it in years, lent mine to a trio of centaurs and never got it back.”

“Do you want to play a few rounds? I, um, I don’t have anything urgent tonight but if you have things to do-”

“Nah, got all my shit taken care of early in case...uh, well, you know.” Humiliation at his earlier desperation rears its head.

Joseph drags a low table over, “Then it sounds like we could both use a night off.”

Three hours and two bottles of wine later, they locked in a stalemate, Duck scanning his cards for a way to break it. He’s never had this intense an opponent before and it’s so fucking fun.

“I play the hero's spear BUT” he flips a card facedown, “on my own chariot, which opens up the way for my chimera to attack.”

Joe’s eyes flick between his hand and the board, pupils no more than slits as he concentrates. Then he sets his cards all facedown, “I don’t have a counter-move, so you win.” His grin is fairytale perfect, “that was great! And now I know your method of play so I can beat you next time.”

“You wish.” Duck doesn’t mean to growl as deeply as he does.

“It’s not a wish, it’s a promise.” Joe boxes up the game without ever taking his eyes off Duck.

“If you say so. But if you break it” he curls his tail around to stroke black scales, “think I oughta get a prize.”

Joe’s responding click-growl is unfamiliar, could be anything from agreement to “leave me the fuck alone.” He starts to retract his tail only for Joe to close his claws around it.

“I think you should get one for your win tonight, too. You did come here in a, um, a certain state.”

“Ain’t you the polite one.” Duck shoves the table aside and prowls across the pillows, “offerin that stylish tail up for meWHOAH, fuck.” He laughs as Joe, lightning quick, lunges forward and traps him on his back.

“Sorry, I’ve been wanting to get my hands on you since you got here. Gods” he undoes the wrap at Duck’s waist with a hungry growl, “do you have any idea how hard it is to think strategically with all of this” he runs his palms up Duck’s chest, “on display. Once I’m done give your body the attention it deserves, then I’ll put my ass in the air for you.”

“You drive a hard bargain Joe, but I’ll take it.” He grins as the other dragon gropes his thighs.

“Good. Besides, this is a proven way of getting over heartbreak.”

“Think that theory might need a little more testin. So get down here and kiss me.”

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

“Interesting.” Joe taps the bottle with a claw as he studies the ship inside it, “you really don’t know how they do it?”

“No fuckin clue. I can build model ships outside bottles, but this? This is wild to me.”

“I wonder if we-” Joe raises his head, inhales, and breaks into a dazzling smile, “dinner’s here! You can come in Barclay, we’re in the sunroom.”

Footsteps on stone announce the cook, who Duck usually sees at Amnesty Lodge down in Kepler.

“Didn’t know y’all did delivery.”

Barclay sets a bag crammed with tins and bottles onto the table, “We don’t usually, but Joseph’s a special case.”

Duck spots the blush on his friend’s cheek, “Oh yeah?”

“He, uh, he lets me test new recipes on him?” Two pink patches bloom under Barclays' beard, “there’s a berry custard tart in there today.”

“Sounds wonderful.” Joe’s tail is subtly twitching, “do you want to stay a bit and eat?”

“I’d love to, but I gotta get back before the dinner rush.”

“Right, right, of course, oh, right, your tip” the dragon darts into his study, returns a moment later with a small purse of coins, “here you go, thank you so much it, I’ll be ready for our cooking lesson on Tuesday and, um, it’s always nice to see you.”

Barclay pockets the money, smiles softly, “you too, Joseph. Bye Duck, see you in town.”

Joe watches him go long after he’s out of sight. When he turns around with a sigh, Duck smirks.

“You got it bad, Joe.”

“I know.” He slumps down in a chair, “I think he feels the same way but I don’t want to make him uncomfortable. Coming out to a dragon’s lair and getting hit on, all while you’re at work? It would stress me out if I was human.”

“You pay him for those cooking lessons?”

“No. I, um, I guess I could ask him then but dragon/human relations are understudied outside of things like midnight weddings. I’m not even sure how something like sex would work, if it would work at all. The books I have on it are out of date and, honestly, most likely written by dragonborns who never had firsthand experience.”

Duck stands, circles the table to drape his arms over Joe’s shoulders and nose his neck, “You could still just ask. Learn what he likes instead of fussin over research.”

“You’re right. I’ll ask. Eventually. Maybe.”

He chuckles and nips a sensitive patch of scales, “It’s a start.”

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

Duck’s busy in the back garden when the chanting starts. It sounds enough like an angry mob that he draws the thicket of brambles across the door to be safe before heading for the second floor and the window to the front yard.

The crowd isn’t from Kepler, people there know he isn’t much for offerings or other forms of intervention into human affairs. He inherited his position from a true dragon who was once considered a forest and weather god. It took years for humans who came to understand that while he could help them identify what was killing their orchards or blighting their fields, he couldn’t summon rain or quash frosts.

Not only do the humans out front seem unaware of those facts, they’re constructing a convoluted, cobbled-together, ceremony. There are offerings of food, but the chants have something to do with slaking his deep hunger. Which is weird, because when you offer food to a dragon it’s meant as a gesture of kinship, not fear. The music doesn’t match either of those dynamics, the robes on the elders are white, which indicates surrender in war, and the incense they’re lighting is too heady; if he eats with it in the air, all he’ll taste is myrrh.

Wait, those are the bundles of incense humans used to burn during weddings. No one’s held a midnight wedding in decades. And holding one when it’s not yet sunset is really baffling. He’s about to write it off as yet more cultural miscommunication when two men drag a bound figure, all dressed in black, out from the crowd and drop it near the door.

“Fuck.” He tromps down the stairs, peers through the thicket for a closer look. The figure is a young man, dirtied silver hair tangled across his face and shattered red spectacles on his nose. His ankles and wrists are tied, and when he tries to scoot back from the cave entrance the crowd jeers. The man looks sluggishly between the crowd and the cave. Resigned, he crawls Duck’s way.

The dragon sets a hand on the thicket to will it away and tell everyone to get lost when he scents blood beneath the incense. Members of the crowd are getting agitated, suggesting they light a pyre to hurry the process along. That’s not even remotely how a midnight wedding works, and were Duck a certain other dragon he might tell them that. Instead, he makes a gap at the bottom of the thicket, grabs an enchanted rope from his work closet, and whips it through the opening. Two seconds later he has a cheering crowd outside his house and a petrified sacrifice inside it.

He kneels, undoing his rope and the bonds. The humans brown eyes lock onto his claws.

“Please. Please just make it quick.” His voice is raw, his pleas continuous, but he doesn’t pull back when Duck cups his chin and touches his forehead.

“Fuck, you’re burnin up. Your eyes a pretty glassy too, wonder if-”

“Drugged. To keep me from running or fighting. Not like they needed to. They, they did enough before that.” He hiccups and Duck smells exactly what plants they put into the mixture. They’re meant to make the human body more pliant. More receptive.

Fuckers.

“Okay” Duck keeps his voice soft, “here’s what we’re gonna do. I’m gonna take you somewhere you can lie down and look you over. Once you’re patched up, you can rest.”

He nods as Duck scoops him into his arms, “Need my strength.”

“Yeah, but not for, uh, for what you think.” He nudges the light with his elbow, illuminating the rumpled green of his bed. When he sets the human down on it, he tucks his arms across his chest.

“Can you get your shirt off for me?”

The man reaches one skinny arm under his back, whaps it about, then shakes his head. Duck eases him upright, let’s him slump forward onto his shoulder why he undoes the eyehooks and buttons. The sight that awaits him is grim.

“Fuck, what’d they have against you?” He counts gashes from four different instruments intermingled with bruises in every color.

“Outsider. Came looking for work. Angered the wrong person.”

“They get you on your legs too?”

A weaks nod.

“I’m gonna have to slice the pants off; got a bad feelin I might re-open wounds if I try to pull ‘em free.” He runs a clawtip up the outside of one leg; the human grips him, afraid, though when he runs a thumb soothingly up a newly-bare spot, he sighs happily. Duck’s instinct is right; there are half-healed wounds now oozing blood thanks to the man being tossed about. He instructs the human to lay on his belly, fetches his bandages and disinfectant from the bathroom, and starts water for the tea that will clear the potion from his system.

When he starts on the wounds on his back the human whimpers, weakly clutching the blanket.

“Shhh, it’s okay sweet thing. Know it hurts, but you’ll feel better soon.” He runs the claws of his free hand through silver hair, undoing tangles as he goes. He is sweet; long legs and wiry arms, a face that’s odd but impossible to look away from. Duck wishes he were a worse dragon than he is; he could slip his threadbare underwear down and relieve the effects of the potion another way. Instead he patches and cleans, tips tea between parched lips, and finds one of his smaller robes to protect the skinny frame from falls oncoming chill. When he’s done, the young man is asleep. So he draws the blankets up and goes to sleep in the garden.

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

His body feels like it’s been through a wine press. No doubt a result of the dragon “marrying him.”

No, wait. He’d taken him to bed, run his claws tenderly through his hair, but then he’d tended his injuries and let him sleep unmolested. Indrid rubs his forehead, wishing his foresight hadn’t been so weakened by his weeks in jail; it would be nice to know if this is a sign the dragon is harmless or if he just prefers his food uninfected.

The bedroom door slides open and a scaly figure walks in, nose firmly in a book. It’s not the same dragon as yesterday; this one is sleek, with midnight scales and long, narrow horns. The one who tended him was bulkier, with scales like a forest viewed from above, dozens of greens and golds melding together. His horns were shorter, Indrid remembers because in his fevered state he wanted to rub them. They looked soothing to touch.

“Oh, good morning.” The dragon closes his book, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. I just came in for some scale oil and I’ll be out of your hair.” He grabs a purple bottle from a shelf.

“Wait, please.” Indrid struggles to sit up, “can, can you tell me what’s going on?”

“We were sort of hoping you could enlighten us. From Duck’s description, your delivery was so garbled he couldn’t figure out what they wanted. Or, um, it was clear what they wanted done to you, but not why it should be or why they chose him.”

Indrid’s about to answer when a second voice drawls, “Joe, you better not be pesterin our guest with questions.”

The black dragon looks over his shoulder into the hall with a sly grin, “He asked me first.”

“Uh huh, a likely story.” The green dragon, Duck, steps into the room, pausing to kiss Joseph’s cheek. Oh gods, Indrid understands now; he wasn’t fucked or eaten yesterday because Duck was waiting to share him.

“Since you’re up we can--whoa, whoa what’s wrong?” Duck kneels by the bed as Indrid tries to scramble backwards.

Joseph sets his book and bottle down, “You still think you’re dinner, don’t you?”

“Wh-why shouldn’t I?” Indrid pulls the blanket up to shield himself.

“For starters, we don’t eat humans. And we sure as hells don’t fuck ‘em without them bein’ real eager. Even then, some of us stall.” Duck gives Joe a pointed look, “beyond that, someone dropped you here after torturin you. You need lookin after more than anything.”

“We should get these fixed too” Joseph picks up his shattered glasses, “I might have what we need in my workshop, or we could go into Kepler-”

“We’re near Kepler? Thank the gods.” Indrid slumps against the wall, “It was the last place I stopped before things went south. I should have just stayed there. Instead I got it into my head to keep travelling, find an enchanter to train under and got...well, you saw.”

Duck carefully sits on the bed, as far from Indrid as possible, “Yeah, I did. I promise, nothin like that’s ever gonna happen to you again.”

“And if you’re interested in learning magic, most dragons have some. I’d be happy to share what I know if you’re willing to assist in my research.”

“That means makin sure he don’t fall asleep too close to his experiments.”

Indrid has no idea what those experiments might be, but he decides he’s very willing to find out.

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

Voices echo from the back garden, so Barclay curves left instead of going to the front of Duck’s home. Joseph asked him to bring his next few meals here since he’s helping Duck with an “unexpected house guest.”

He’s anticipating another dragon, almost drops his cargo when he sees how wrong he is.

“Indrid?”

“Barclay! I, when Joseph mentioned we were getting dinner from town I hoped it was the Lodge but seeing you is better still.” The other man is in a thick sweater and is wearing one of Duck’s wraps as a makeshift skirt, “I’d get up to hug you but I’m a bit weak at the moment.”

“I got you.” He sets the bags down and leans in for an embrace.

“I’m glad you fellas know each other.”

Barclay remembers burying his fingers in fine, silver hair while Indrid kissed him and worked his clever fingers inside him, promising he’d make him feel wonderful. He did. Every time.

“Yeah.” He blushes, spots Joseph registering this information and--knowing him--storing it away for later.

He was already making frequent trips to see the dragons, but as weeks give way to months he finds that whenever he’s not working, his feet ache to wander up into the hills.

Tonight, he and Joseph made dinner for the four of them (Indrid’s taken up residence in Duck’s home, and the dragon seems deeply uninterested in making him move). The dragons are on dish duty, so he and Indrid wander back to the library where Joseph has lit a fire.

“You really ought to tell him how you feel.”

“Is it that obvious?” Barclay fiddles with the bracelet on his wrist.

“Very. Then again, I know what desire looks like on you.” Indrid bumps their shoulders together playfully.

“But he’s, uh, he’s got Duck. He wouldn’t want a human, no matter how much we like each other.”

Indrid wordlessly moves to the bookshelves, smile widening as he finds a tome bound in blue leather and brings it back to the rug, “I found this when I was fetching books for him the other day.”

“Holy fuck” Barclay stares at the drawings, faded and labeled with draconic runes but undeniably that of a dragonborn fucking the living hells out of a very happy knight.

“I believe it tells the story of a knight who agrees to take a fair maiden's place as an offering and ends up enjoying his new station in life. It’s clearly been read often, though the anatomy is off in places.” He indicates a drawing in which it’s obvious the human doesn’t have balls to go with his enormous cock.

Barclay wants to say something witty, but all he can think about is gripping Joseph’s horns while he twines his tongue around Barclay’s cock.

“Yes, it’s giving me ideas too.” In the firelight, Indrid’s uncovered, brown eyes are almost red.

“Yeah?” Barclay sets a hand on his knee, “I’m no dragon but, uh-”

Indrid leans in, kissing him gently, “While dragons have their appeal, you are what I want right now.”

Barclay lets himself be pulled to the ground and is suddenly very glad dinner required so many dishes.

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

“I didn’t realize you’d be taking notes while you did this.” Indrid smiles, amused, as Joseph scribbles something at the top of a fresh page. They’re heading down the hall in Duck’s home, Indrid having agreed to be the subject of a very exciting day of research.

“I’m not. Not, not that I’m uninterested but, um, since I need to be able to observe everything, Duck will be the one actually fucking you.”

Indrid stops dead, heart fluttering in his chest, “He...is he just doing this as a favor to you?”

Joseph smiles, shakes his head, and Indrid understands that he was reading all the times Duck looked him over with those green eyes correctly.

They reach the bedroom and step across the threshold wearing twin expressions of confusion; Duck forgoes nesting in favor of a bed, but the mattress, a dozen blankets, and every pillow in the house are now on the floor, the dragon busily arranging and rearranging them. Then he sniffs the air and turns, pinning Indrid to the spot with a toothy grin.

“Why the nest?” Joseph drags a chair across the floor and positions it between the pillows and the fireplace.

“Dunno, ever since you told me that today was the day, I’ve had the itch to build one. Gotta make sure you’re comfortable, sweet thing.” Duck holds out his hand and Indrid reaches for it.

“Not yet. Indrid, please undress so I can make some notes.”

“You’re killin me here Joe.” Duck growls as Indrid moves towards the chair, peeling off layers until he’s naked. Joseph scribbles some notes. Indrid would feel like a scientific specimen were it not for the way the pupils in those blue eyes dilate each time he looks at him.

“I just need some measurements.” He pulls a ruler from the pocket of the notebook and kneels down, gingerly taking Indrid’s cock in his palm.

“I, I should mention that is generally frowned upon when it’s just humans.” Indrid squirms as hot breath skates up the sensitive skin.

“Humans are touchy about size.” Duck adds, settling his claws on Indrid’s hips from behind. He’s good foot and a half taller than the human, which always makes Indrid feels safe in his embrace; those have been more frequent these last few weeks, Indrid using the cold weather as an excuse to cuddle with the living furnace whose home he shares.

“Hmmm, if they have less genital variation than dragons, I could see how size would become the point of competition.”

“Variation?”

“Dragons got all kinds of set-ups” Duck grinds against Indrid’s ass, “Joe and I happen to have the same kind, where we can lay in someone and get, uh, laid in if we want.”

“Laying?” Indrid squeaks, “I, I’m not opposed but I’m not prepared either.”

“Nah, won’t do none of that today.” Duck blows hot breath down the back of his neck, “if you want, we can try some other time. Can even let Joe take notes. And if he’s good” Duck rests his chin atop Indrid’s head and looks down, “I’ll even save some for him.”

Joseph’s head snaps up, eyes wide, and for an instant Indrid expects to be sandwiched between two dragons, which sounds deliciously warm. Then Joseph collects himself, “Yes. I’d, um, I’d like that. But for now, I need one more measurement” his tongue flicks the air near the head of Indrid’s cock, “may I?”

“Please. Ohhhhhhhyes” He moans as Joseph licks his shaft, “that’s lovely, so veryOHgods” he bucks his hips as Duck digs his claws into the meat of his thighs.

“That’s very helpful, Duck, he’s getting wonderfully hard.”

“I aim to please. Now hurry up before I start fuckin him here and fuck up your data.”

“Just a second..there, done. Duck, please kneel, Indrid do the same but keep facing me.”

“Yessir.” Duck pulls them both to the floor. Claws spread his ass open and the tip of one pokes the base of the plug he put in earlier, “heh, you let Joe help you with this?”

“N-no” Indrid cranes his neck back for a kiss.

“I didn’t want to overstep.” Joseph replies matter-of-factly.

Indrid runs his mouth along Duck’s jaw, “next time I’ll make him warm me up with his tongue before putting it in.”

A moan from the chair as Duck rumbles, “good thinkin, he’s fuckin incredible with his tongue. But you better let me watch.”

“Of course.”

Fabric shifts behind him and then Duck’s wrap falls to the floor. The plug joins it and then a solid, ridged cock is teasing his cheeks.

“You ready, sweet thing?”

“Yes.” Indrid pushes his ass back, whines when only the first half-inch is pushed in.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get the whole thing. Just gotta go slow, don’t wanna hurt my mate.” Duck pauses, “huh, sorry, that just came out.”

“I don’t mind.” Indrid sets his hands on top of the dragon’s.

“Fascinating.” Joseph scribbles more notes.

“You like the idea of bein my mate?” The question is shy, Duck hiding his face in Indrid’s neck.

“So very much. You make me so happy, Duck, you take such good care of meEEEoh, oh I see.” He snickers as Duck thrusts shallowly and laps at his throat, “you like being a good mate, don’t you sweetheart?”

“Fuck yeah. Wanted to, to do this months ago, wanted, when they gave you to me I wanted to climb into bed with you, fuck you sweet and slow and tell you nothin was gonna hurt you now, that you were all mine, keep this cute little body safe under the covers. Under me.” He thrusts several inches at once and Indrid moans, bounces in his lap in search of more, Duck click-growling each time he pushes down.

“Please, please, I want it all, Duck, pleasepleaseAH, AHhnnnngods” he grabs Duck’s arms as they wrap around him, the dragon bottoming out with a groan.

“Holy shit.” Joseph stares at them, and Indrid follows his gaze down to his lower belly, where the outline of Duck’s cock is unmistakable.

“Oh I like that a great deal.” He whispers, biting his lip as the outline slowly moves.

“Me too. Fuck, fuckin love how small you are, you barely fit on my dick and you’re still beggin for it.”

“How could I not?” Indrid purrs, relaxing against Duck’s chest, “this is going to sound very silly, sweetheart, but please, please” he tips his head up to kiss Duck’s chin, “take me?”

A tender, deep purr, then “anythin’ you want, sugar.”

Indrid lets his mouth fall open, spilling moans across the floor as Duck fucks him with abandon. It’s so much, almost too much, but it’s all he wants, to be taken and cared for by the magnificent, loving creature behind him.

The stretch and drag of Duck inside him is so intense he barely registers his own orgasm, though he cums hard enough to splatter some on Joseph’s leg. Then he’s holding on and whimpering as Duck spills into him, hotter than a human and so plentiful it drips down his thighs before the dragon even pulls out.

“Got what you need?” Duck pants, still holding Indrid to him.

“Yes.” Joseph is purring, gaze drinking in the two of them.

“Good. C’mon, sweet thing, let’s do see how my nest holds up to me mating the fuck outta you.”

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

Duck said it was fine to use the glyph to come in without knocking, so that’s what Barclay does. He sets the cake he made in the kitchen, wanders down the hall in search of the others. They weren’t at Joseph’s, so odds are good they’re here. Muffled voices direct him towards the bedroom, but when he arrives his libido kicks all sensible thoughts from his mind.

There’s a giant mound of cushions on the floor, at the middle of which he can see Duck’s tail, the spines of his back and, occasionally, his head. Indrid’s feet and calves are just visible, so limp he’d worry he was asleep except for the little moans he knows quite well. And sitting by the fire, watching the scene with an obvious tent in his lap, is Joseph.

Two scales snouts snap up into the air. Duck notices him, whispers something to Indrid, who waves and then pulls the dragon back down. The same can not be said for Joseph, who is licking his lips like he’s just seen a gourmet meal.

Barclay smirks, moves to the chair but stays standing, stroking one horn as he does, “I’m not interrupting research, am I?”

“Um” Joseph’s cheeks go golden, “yes and no. I, I really was making notes at first but for the last hour it’s been, um, hard to focus.”

“Wonder why. Wait, holy fuck, they’ve been doing this for an hour?”

“One hour and twenty-four minutes.”

“Knew Indrid had stamina but that’s impressive. Uh” he trails a finger up Joseph’s leg, scales as smooth as he’d hoped, “how long have you been dealing with this?”

“Most of that time.” Joseph’s breath catches charmingly as Barclay straddles him.

“Babe” he kisses the warm column of his neck, stopping to pay special attention to each scar, “I know you’re dedicated to your work, but I’m pretty sure they’d let you join them.”

“I didn’t want to be rude.”

“My polite dragon” Barclay nuzzles his cheek, “you still deserve to be taken care of, you know that, right?”

Joseph nods, tips his head to the side so Barclay can nibble his throat while undoing his wrap. What he finds is spectacular; a pointed cock with circular ridges and, beneath it, a slit just begging for his tongue to tease it. But since he’s not done kissing him yet, he adjusts his balance so he can close one around the shaft and slide the fingers of the other into the slit.

The dragon makes a series of hurried clicks and growls, throwing his arms around him and kissing his face, “Barclay, you, you’re so wonderful, I never thought you’d want this, ohgoodgods.”

“I do, babe. I wanna know what my whip-smart, handsome dragon likes, wanna make you come apart” He squeezes lightly and Joseph growls.

“I did not wait this long to cum on you while you’re clothed.” Clawed hands grip his ass as Joseph stands and carries him to the nest on the floor, dropping him into it with uncharacteristic carelessness. Which he then remedies by methodically removing Barclays clothes and folding them into a pile.

“Mmmm, hello dearest.” Indrid turns his head to kiss him as Joseph rolls him to face the other two.

“Hey. Gotta say, you look really good like this.”

“Damn right he does.” Duck’s hips stutter and Indrid squirms happily, “heh, shoulda known Joe would pick that for you. He’s got a thing for thick thighs.”

“Huh? OH! Ohfuckyeah.” He moans as Joseph manhandles him to thrust his cock between his thighs. Teeth nip his neck as golden pre-cum streaks his skin. The scales of his cock rub wonderfully on the base of Barclays own, and soon he’s so hard he’s ready to promise Joseph anything he wants for the chance to cum.

Cool, human fingers encircle his shaft. Indrid grins, “I may not be able to move much, but Joseph seems to be more than capable of getting you to fuck my fist.”

Barclay dips his head forward with a groan to kiss his shoulder.

“You don’t gotta worry about movin’” Duck grunts, tongue darting out to Indrid’s cheek, “all you gotta do is lay here and take my cum like a good little mate whenever I say.”

“Yes, yes, oh goodness Duck please, take me, use meAHnnnnn” a whimper “so much.”

“Shhh, s’okay sweet thing, I’m almost done.”

Joseph purrs in his ear, “cum for me, big guy, cum for me while I coat your thighs and, gods, and Duck breeds your boyfriend into next week.”

“Fuuuuck.” Barclay spills helplessly into Indrid’s hand, holds tight to his shoulder and Joseph’s right arm as the dragon cums between his legs. There’s a muffled curse and an “eep” from beside him, then Duck rolls off Indrid and begins licking the humans cum from his stomach.

“I, I think you built a very sturdy nest.” Joseph curls his body around Barclay and drapes his tail over Indrid’s legs to brush Duck’s.

“Thanks, handsome.”

“I also think living with Indrid for months has made your mind assign him the position of partner, hence the nesting.”

“Makes sense.” Indrid murmurs.

“And--oh” Joseph sighs as Barclay kisses him.

“Promise you can share more theories later, babe. Right now, how about napping with your boyfriends?”

Joseph purrs deeper as they all cuddle closer, “I like the sound of that.”

[holylulusworld]

Consolation Bride

Request: Would you please write for Bucky & reader, wherein he’s in love with Natasha but is forced to marry reader, he’s never home ignores her even when she tries hard. She even has to work as a waitress for money, one-night Brock tries to rape her, Steve arrives just in time and saves her. They become good friends. It’s on you if you want her to stay with Bucky or get married to Steve. It could be an au where they are not Avengers.

Pairing: Mobster!Bucky x Reader, Mobster!Steve x Reader (platonic), Mobster!Bucky x Natasha (implied), Brock Rumlow, Sam Wilson, Pietro Maximoff

Warnings: angsts unrequited love, attempted rape, blood, scared reader, violence, characters death, cheating, Bucky being a douche, sad reader, comforting

The day your father agreed to the bond between his gang and Bucky’s you knew you have to marry the leader of the Barnes gang, but you didn’t mind. You always liked Bucky.

He is funny, strong and had the most beautiful blue eyes you ever saw. You didn’t mind marrying the man you secretly always had a thing for. 

During the ceremony, you smiled. Your heart was beating faster as he kissed you after he put the ring on your finger. It was all you wished for. A dream coming true.

Now four months later you know better. Bucky ignored you from day one. He gave you the smallest and shadiest room in the large Mansion he owns and the worst - he’s with someone else almost every night.

Natasha…his one and true love. You can’t compare with someone like her. She’s smart, sexy and deadly. All you are not. 

Your eyes stride toward the wardrobe. All you own is in there. Bucky refuses to buy you new clothes or even food. He eats the most delicious things and you, well you must work to feed your hunger.

Months ago you tried to talk to your father, to tell him about the way James is treating you but your father shook his head, ignoring your pleading to let you come back home.

You take a deep breath before you walk out of the room in your scratchy waitress uniform. The only job you were able to get was a job in a diner. At least the owner is nice and you get good tips. 

Most of the time Bruce hands you leftovers. He knows about your situation and tries to help you out in any way. 

Walking down the street you glance at your watch. You need to catch the bus to drive into town. Bucky insisted on getting rid of your car but now you must walk and take the bus anytime you have to go somewhere.

“Y/N!” Steve calls for you as you walk toward the bus station.” Hi, Steve. He’s not here.” You whisper walking past Bucky’s best friend.

“Uh—why are you wearing a waitress uniform? It’s June.” Steve jokes. “A bit too early for Halloween costumes.” Your eyes meet his ocean blue ones and you shrug. “I have to wear this for work, Steve. If you excuse me, I have to catch the bus to get to work.”

Steve grabs your upper arm, searching your face. “Wait, you are not joking? Do you have to work as a waitress? Is Bucky into trouble?” Steve gasps as you look away shaking your head.

“Girl gotta eat. I have to work for my food. Bucky doesn’t provide anything. I need new clothes and stuff so I have to earn money.” Your voice cracks as Steve’s eyes round and he looks at you with pity. “He never wanted me, Steve. Bucky wants Natasha. Please let me go now. I can’t lose my job.”

Shocked Steve let go of your arm, watching running toward the bus to drive to work. He can’t fight the knot forming into his stomach. How can Bucky treat you like this? Did his friend change that much?

—-

Days later you cooked dinner. Another try to make Bucky see you want to be his wife but he scoffed, telling you he won’t eat cheap food. He even tossed the plate against the wall.

Disappointed and hurt you cleaned the dining room before running toward your room. Maybe you can spare enough money to rent an apartment soon.

You barely buy anything only to spare money, so you already got 500 bucks hidden underneath your cheap mattress.

 —-

Another morning comes and you get ready for work as Steve walks into your room. Glancing at the cheap furniture and the small room you are living in, he shakes his head and the pit grows.

“Hey, Y/N.” Steve chirps but you only nod. Too tired you grab your purse and jacket, ready to go to work.

“He’s in his office with her. I got to go. Have a great day, Steve.” You mumble turning to leave the room, but Steve won’t budge. “Let me drive you, Y/N. It’s raining…”

“That’s kind of you but not needed. I can walk and take the bus. He wouldn’t like it. Last time Sam drove me home as he ate at the diner I’m working at Bucky yelled at him.” Your eyes fill with tears at the memory.

“Y/N, he can’t treat you like this…” Steve whispers as you look away, sniffling.

“I’m worthless to him, not even above a rat stealing his food…”

“Y/N…” Steve gasps. “Don’t tell me he told you so…”

“Not Bucky but Natasha…I’ll try to get out of here soon. I’m sparing money to find a payable apartment. He will get rid of me soon either way. I know Bucky hates me…” Your eyes sad, heartbroken you duck down Steve’s arm to walk toward the front door.

“Wait. I’ll drive you no matter what he says. I’m a gentleman and won’t let you walk in the middle of a thunderstorm.” Steve insists as you look at your shoes. “Steve…”

“No talking back. Come with me…” Steve mutters taking your hand in his to lead you out of the house. You give him a shy smile. It’s the first time you smile since you married Bucky.

Following Steve out of the Mansion, you can’t see Bucky standing on the top of the stairs clenching his jaw. You are his and Steve can’t have you…

—-

“We are closing.” You say looking at your last costumer. Bruce and Sharon had to leave earlier so you are alone.

The man smirks, licking his lips.

“What if I’m still hungry?” He almost growls as fear is spreading through your body. Taking a step back you glance at your phone, trying to grab it you get stopped by two strong hands pressing you against the wall.

“Let go of me!” You gasp as he moves one hand to your uniform, ripping it open. “Please…”

“You know, Barnes is an idiot, not tasting this ripe fruit. His loss, my win, doll. You will enjoy the ride for sure or not. I will send my old friend a message using his nice wife. She will be happy…” Brock grunts before he presses his lips to yours.

Disgusted you push against his chest, trying to break free. Slapping your face Brock glares at you before his hands move to your breasts. You start crying, knowing you can’t fight his strength but then he gets dragged off your body and hits the ground. 

The next moment you see Steve beating the man into a bloody pulp. Grabbing the gun out of his waistband he shoots the man’s chest, cursing.

“Y/N, are you okay?” Steve asks rushing to your side. He can see the fear all over your face as you try to cover your modesty. “Wait…” Steve strips his jacket off, covering you with it. “Sit over there, Sweetheart. I’ll call someone to clean this mess up.”

“No…please don’t go away…” You sniffle, grabbing his hand. “Shh…I’ll take care of you. I’ll go over there and lock the door and call the gang. Don’t worry. He’s dead…”

—-

Twenty minutes later Bucky, Sam, and five other men enter the diner. Steve explains the situation and Sam gulps hard, seeing your shaking form. Blood is seeping out of your lip as you tighten the grip at Steve’s jacket.

“Tell me what he said!” Bucky barks and you flinch, sobbing.

“Buck, give her a minute. Damn, she almost got raped but this disgusting bastard. Good thing I’m a gentleman and wanted to make sure she comes home safe.” Steve grunts.

“That’s my job!” Bucky talks back as more tears roll down your cheeks.

“Since when? For months she has to work in this diner. Lives in a shitty room and you let her drive home with the bus. Brock only had to wait for a chance to get hold of her or was this your plan – huh?” Steve spats and Bucky glares at his friend.

“I need to know what he said, Y/N.” Bucky insists.

You don’t meet his eyes, glancing at your shaking hands you try to find your voice. It takes minutes until you are finally able to bring some words out.

“He said you are an idiot, not tasting the ripe fruit. That I will enjoy the ride for sure or not.” Choking on your words you wipe away a few tears. “The man said he wants to send his old friend a message by using me.”

“That’s all?” Steve asks sitting next to you, slinging an arm around your shoulders.

“He said that she will be happy but he didn’t mention a name. That’s all I think.” You whisper leaning into Steve’s touch.

“Satisfied? Now let me bring her home…” Steve snarls narrowing his eyes as he helps you stand on wobbling legs.

Bucky can see the fear and tension in your body so he pushes his friend aside to grab your hand, leading you outside. “Did he tell you a name?” He asks as you wrap your arms around your trembling body.

“No.” You don’t say more, only staring into the darkness you decide to leave tonight. After what happened tonight you can’t stay close to Bucky.

“You sure?” Bucky asks once again and you look at him, shaking your head. “I don’t know. I was busy trying to not getting raped by this guy. If you want to know more ask someone else or have a look at the footage.” You yell and Bucky flinches hearing the pain in your voice. “Don’t act as you would care. This is all about this guy in there, not about me. You would’ve been happy to get rid of me, just like your affair. Don’t worry, the rat stealing your food will leave tonight.” 

“Rat?” Bucky asks but you walk away as Steve offers you his hand. “That’s what I am to you and your whore. Leave me alone, Barnes. I’m done pretending you will at least treat me like a human being. I’m just done…” You sniffle following Steve toward his car.

—-

“You sure I can leave? I can help you with…uh…anything.” Steve stammers. 

“Steve, your wife wouldn’t like you spending more time with me. I don’t want you to get into trouble.” You sniffle placing a suitcase onto your bed. “I will call Wanda. She will pick me up and I can sleep on her couch for a while.”

“Call me anytime, Y/N. I’m your friend.”

“I know Steve. You saved me tonight, thank you. Even if Bucky won’t be happy about it…”

Bucky stands in front of your room as Steve turns to leave giving his friend a warning glare. Your ‘husband’ walks toward your room, standing in the doorframe as he watches you packing your few belongings.

“You can’t just leave.” Bucky rumbles striding toward your bed to sit down. “Damn, that’s one hard mattress.” He curses realizing he gave you no comfort at all. “We need to find this woman.”

“Think hard Bucky and you'll know the answer. If you do not cheat on me with someone else only one woman is wanting to get rid of me. She made it, no need to hurt me. I will leave and beg my father I can get an annulment.” Your suggestion hits Bucky’s pride and he clenches his jaw.

“Annulment?” He gasps. “You are my wife…”

“I’m only a rat stealing your food. Not that you would’ve given me any food. I had to work or take the leftovers of the diner to feed my hunger. I didn’t get anything from you. No food, respect or love…nothing. I’ll set you free.” Your fingers are trembling when he gets up to grab your wrists pressing you to his chest.

“You believe it was Natasha?” Bucky asks as you struggle against his strength. “You’re my wife, she has to respect you.” 

“Like you did? I’m living in a storage room. I have to work as a waitress and instead of making sure I’m alright after this man tried to…” Now the dam breaks and you start crying. 

“Shhh, …he will never touch you again. No one will touch you…” Bucky mutters moving his arms around you. 

“Only as Steve saved me.” You sniffle adding another crack to Bucky’s pride. “He’s a good man, a gentleman. I wish I would’ve had the opportunity to marry someone like him. A husband loving me, respecting me and even more important - protecting me. I don’t have any of this and I’ll never have it.”

“I will talk to Natasha. Sam and Pietro are on their way to pick her up. If she’s behind this I’ll…” Bucky exhales tightening the grip on you. You refuse to lean into his touch, refuse to hide your face into his chest as you did with Steve.

“You will do nothing. She’s the one you want. Just let me go. I can sleep at a friend’s place for a while and ask dad for an annulment. You can be free. I’ll tell him I wasn’t good enough for you…” Your voice cracks at the words leaving your lips.

His lips press a soft kiss to your forehead as his hand combs through your hair. The tension in his body won’t fade as he feels your smaller frame starts shaking once again.

“I’ll kill her if she’s behind this, Y/N. Respect is the most important thing in our kind of business. I told her a marriage with her is out of the question. You are my wife…” Bucky mutters against your skin.

“Respect…huh…It would have been nice to have the respect of my husband. How pathetic you want someone else to respect me if you are not able to do so.” 

—-

Forced to sit on the couch while Bucky is circling Natasha, his lover, the woman he cheated on you with, you look away.

“I’ll ask you this once, Nat. Brock Rumlow tried to attack my wife tonight. Is it true this was your idea?” Bucky asks hoping you are wrong.

Natasha scoffs, smirking in your direction. “Thought she needs a good fuck. I know you never touched this little rat. I wanted to do her a favor.” Natasha chuckles and nausea wells up your stomach as Bucky’s fist collides with her face.

“I hate hurting women, but you will pay for disrespecting my wife and me. Even more important you betrayed me by working with Rumlow. Pietro get her out and take care of her. I want everyone to know the Romanoff’s are personas non grada from now on.” Bucky orders as you look out of the window.

“Boss. The final solution?” Pietro asks glancing at your swollen face. “Or a ban?”

James’ eyes drift toward your broken form. Tears slip down your cheeks as you hold a cool pack to your bruised face.

“Final solution.” Bucky chokes out. “Sweetheart, I want you to come with me.” You don’t recognize James meant you so you keep on staring out of the window. Watching a few leaves twirl in the wind. “Y/N, come with me.”

His hand takes your tiny one to lead you toward a room you never entered before. The room is huge. A new bed is standing in the middle. 

“I want you to have a relaxing bath and then we are going to have dinner. We need to talk about the future.” Bucky orders as you want to leave the room to walk back toward your room. “Where are you going, Y/N?”

Turning around you shrug. “My room, Bucky. You want me to take a bath, or rather a shower.” His eyes water as he watches you rushing out of the room.

“Wait, I meant you shall have a bath here…” Bucky runs after you, leading you back into the room. “Take a bath and I’ll bring your things here. You will sleep with me in this room from now on. You are my wife…”

“Why? As Natasha betrayed you?” Scoffing you want to walk out of the room once again but James is faster, pressing you into the wall. “I’m sorry for everything. I’m trying…okay. We can at least try to act like decent human beings from now on. I know I treated you badly. I had to watch you getting all cozy with Steve to realize I want you.” Bucky growls burying his face into your neck. “I hate seeing you with him.”

“Steve and I are friends. He’s married to a wonderful woman and he loves her.” You sniffle. “Not that someone like Steve or you would ever want me…”

“I want you. I can’t forget the moment Steve called me and told me about Brock’s attack. He wanted to touch you. No one can touch you but me.” Bucky’s lips nip at your neck as you push against his chest. “I’ll be patient. Please believe me I’m going to make it up to you. No other women…I swear.”

His eyes search your face as your lips start quivering. Bucky is unsure what to do so he does the only thing coming to his mind. He presses his plump lips to yours, taking your breath away.

“Steve can’t have what’s mine. I’ll treat you like a princess from no one. My princess.” Bucky whispers against your lips. “Don’t leave me.”

“He kissed me…” You choke out. “Touched my breasts. I didn’t want him to…”

“Shhh…Brock can’t hurt you ever again. From now on you won’t leave the house without someone protecting you. I’ll be a good husband. Now let’s get your cleaned and have dinner.”

—-

That night Bucky holds you tight while you cry into his chest. For the first time since he had to marry you, he feels his heart open up for you.

Warmth is creeping into his cheeks as you move closer to paw at his shirt. Your scent is intoxicating and the way you press your body against his, desperate, shaking brings out the protective man he always wanted to be.

“I’ll protect you from now on. Sleep now.” Bucky whispers as you hide your face into his chest.

His mind wanders to Steve who got divorced months ago. He can't let his best friend get too close to you. Bucky must make sure you will stay with him.

Marvel Tags

@stuckys-whore​, @notyourtypicalrose​, @voltage-my2dlove​, @thedoctorscamanion , @officialmarvelwhore​, @randomgirlkensy​, @juniorhuntersam​, @lumar014​, @doctorswife221b​, @badboysdoitbetter2​​, @sister-winchesters99​

All works Tags

@yolobloggers​, @meganywinchester​​, @shikshinkwon​​, @miraclesoflove​ ​, @mogaruke​, @shatteredabby​

[charlotteweekly]

The Day I Found Out Video Stores Were Not Dead.

I was wandering around Austin, Texas when I saw it: a video store. Located on Airport Blvd, it was waiting for me. I was overcome with euphoria and nostalgia. I felt like a kid at Toys “R” Us. 

I entered and there I was, transported back to the nineties, early 2000’s; where “Clerks” meets “Be Kind Rewind”. Joy. Happiness. The employee at the counter was the exact image I was picturing myself of someone working at a video store. He was a perfect cliché of the movie geek with a twist of a Gus Van Sant character. I wondered if they hired him by coincidence or if it was purely deliberate. I passed him and I started noticing every detail of the place from the old movie posters hanging on the wall, to every genre duly organized in sections. “Lord of the Rings” was playing on an old CRT television, full of chromatic aberrations, which was giving a green and purple complexion to Gandalf and Frodo.

I walked every aisle of the store to find some hidden gems here and there. There even was a section on Vampires, my favorite horror movies.

Then, I walked up the stairs, because, yes, there is a second floor where every movie is sorted by famous directors’ names and I strolled to the rich foreign films area filled with titles I’ve never even heard of. It was really a blast for a film buff like me. I sure have some knowledge but, still, they were able to surprise me.

I lost track of time but my rumbling tummy reminded me that it was time to go. I spent one hour and a half in this magical place without even realizing it.

Did I end up renting a DVD? Sure thing, I even rented three of them. My first pick was an animated series from the nineties created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss (best known from their work on “the Simpsons”) called “The Critic”. It follows Jay Sherman, a New York film critic, who dislikes almost every movie he is reviewing. Quite funny, an underrated cartoon that went under the radar.

Then “Eyes of Laura Mars”, a thriller from the seventies written by John Carpenter, a bit sluggish for my taste but it will meet De Palma’s fan club expectations (even if it’s not directed by De Palma).

And lastly: “Jaws”. It seemed an obvious choice for a movie night. I had the perfect trio. I always like having a comedy on hand to brighten the mood after I watched a horror movie.

That done, I ended up paying quite a bunch of money though totally worth it. I’ve been missing this experience and adventure a lot since streaming platforms have come to light. I understand that for the same price as a Netflix subscription you only get three DVD’s and you gotta move your ass and drive but to get things straight, if I told you I had two tickets for a baseball game would you chose to watch it on your TV screen? Maybe… but it wouldn’t bring the same thing.

Video stores remind me of my childhood when, every weekend, I went out with my parents to pick and discovered some amazing movies I will never forget. It’s like going to the movies, it’s a whole ceremonial, buying your tickets, eating your bucket of popcorn and drinking Coke while enjoying the first minutes of legendary jingles from movie Majors, being completely caught in this big rectangle, surrounded by nothing else but this dark room (and, sometimes, annoying chewing noises). Online streaming on my couch will never bring that same sentiment. Even if I enjoy it too, it is not thrilling. I also noticed that, most of the time, when watching Netflix and whatnot, I end up tired of scrolling and I always select something out of spite.

Well, anyway, on my way back home, I noticed at the corner of the street, a little donut shop called “Mrs. Johnson’s Bakery”. Homemade donuts, everyday, since 1948. The perfect time to stop by is at the opening, seven thirty p.m. (yes, it’s quite peculiar), when the donuts are warm and soft. I bought a few of them and I was packed for the perfect evening!

[whumphoarder]

Long Distance Dadding

Summary: Peter gets sick while babysitting Morgan at the lake house and Tony is a Worried Dad™ about it.

Word count: 5,172

Genre: Sickfic, whump, hurt/comfort, fluff & angst

A/N: Mega thanks to @xxx-cat-xxx and @sallyidss or beta reading and ideas <3

(This story is set about a year and a half after the snap's reversal. Peter is 18 and in college and Morgan is 6)

Link to read on Ao3

The trouble with saving the world from the largest global disaster to date, Tony finds, is that no one ever shuts up about it.

“Okay, not to sound like an ass or anything...” Tony begins, already eliciting an eye-roll from his wife, “but I’ve already been given a Nobel Peace Prize, the Congressional Medal of Honor, three Victoria Crosses—British, Australian, and Canadian—a Russian Gold Star, a Chinese Hero's Medal, the Gold Cross of Zimbabwe, and about twelve other various countries’ awards. Why do I need to go to Morocco of all places now?”

“Because they built you a monument, Tony,” Pepper explains for the third time, her tone a bit exasperated. “There’s a two-hundred foot tall statue of you in their capital city, waiting to be ceremoniously revealed.”

Raising his hands to chest height, Tony wiggles his fingers—both the flesh and prosthetic ones—in a jazz hand gesture. “Oooh...a statue,” he mocks. “I’m titillated.”

Pepper snorts. “You’d better have mustered up some titillation by the time you shake hands with the Moroccan Prime Minister this weekend.”

“This weekend?” Tony balks. “We can’t go this weekend. Morgan’s got her… uh…”—he flaps his hand, trying to recall just what tedious elementary school obligation the first-grader has coming up next—“her snowman... ball… thingy.”

Pepper raises an eyebrow in amusement. “You mean the ‘Seasonal Snowflake Sing-along’?”

His face lights up and he snaps his fingers in recognition. “That’s the one!”

“Well, you’re in luck,” she laughs sardonically. “Earlier today, Morgan’s teacher called to let me know that our daughter has flat-out refused to participate this year. Something about itchy costumes, boring songs, and ‘child talent exploitation’—did you teach her that term by the way? Because I certainly didn’t and Ms. Sanchez was pretty ruffled about it.”

Tony has to bite the inside of his mouth to keep the grin from spreading across his lips. He shrugs innocently. “You know, it’s important to start building a child’s vocabulary as early as possible. All the experts agree.”

Pepper heaves out a deep sigh, but Tony can see the smile in her eyes. She leans in and pecks his cheek with a kiss. “Go pack for Morocco, Tony. Peter already agreed to babysit. And besides”—she whispers the next part in his ear, her fingers trailing over the collar of his shirt—“I don’t know about you, but I think we could do with a weekend to ourselves…”

“Well…” Tony clears his throat, feeling himself melting under her touch. “You always did know how to make a compelling argument, Ms. Potts.”

X

“So, Morocco, huh?” Peter says with a grin as he loads his duffle bag into the backseat of the car. Tony’s parked in the loading zone just outside of Peter’s residence hall at MIT that Thursday evening. “What’s going on over there?”

“Just another stupid award ceremony,” Tony grumbles. He moves back around to the driver’s side. “Gonna cut a big red ribbon, shake metal hands with some dignitaries, attend a couple of fancy banquets, yada yada…”

Breathing out a short laugh, Peter plops down into the passenger seat. He looks a bit haggard, though Tony can’t blame him; the first semester of college is always rough. Hopefully the long-weekend away will help.

Throughout the four-hour drive to the lake house, they chat about Peter’s classes (“You know, they told us in high school that college was going to be so much stricter, Mr. Stark, but there was literally a kid in my English class who started making grilled cheese sandwiches on a hotplate and selling them during the lecture and the professor bought one”), the new people he’s been meeting (“Pretty sure my roommate is in a cult, actually...”), and extracurricular activities (“Did you know if you take fencing, archery, pistol shooting, and sailing, you can become a certified pirate?”). Eventually, they run out of things to catch up on and Peter starts looking drowsy, so Tony turns on the radio for some background music and they continue on like that for a while.

Three hours in, Tony’s forced to stop for gas. Peter is sleeping soundly, curled up in his hoodie for the whole time it takes to fill the car. For a moment, Tony’s tempted to just let him be, but given that this will likely be their last opportunity for a break until they’re home he ultimately decides against it.

“Hey Pete?” Tony says, shaking the kid’s shoulder a bit to rouse him. “Did you wanna stretch your legs or anything?”

Peter blinks awake and shifts to sit up straighter with a small groan. “How far are we?” he mutters.

“Another hour at least, but I thought we might get some late dinner too,” Tony replies. “There’s an Arby’s right across the street.”

Peter’s face screws up into a grimace. “Ugh, Arby’s is the worst. It’s like, a wad of salty meat on a bun.”

“But with sauce,” Tony points out. Seeing Peter’s expression doesn’t change, he amends, “Alright no Arby’s. McDonald’s? They’ve got a new McFlurry flavor for the holidays I think.”

Peter gives a tired shrug, then curls back up against the window. “You can just get something for yourself. I’m not very hungry.”

Tony eyes him suspiciously. “Who are you and what have you done to Peter?”

“Hilarious, Mr. Stark,” Peter deadpans. Then, after a moment, he admits, “My stomach’s kinda hurting.”

Tony’s brow furrows. “Yeah?”

Rubbing at his gut one-handedly, Peter nods. “Yeah, since lunch. Probably shouldn’t have tried convenience store sushi...”

Tony snorts a bit. “Well, they do say a key part of college is experimentation and learning from your mistakes.”

Peter huffs out a laugh. “Awesome. Maybe I’ll join Martin’s cult next.”

X

They make it the rest of the way to the lake house without incident. Morgan’s already asleep, so Peter hangs out in the kitchen chatting with Tony and Pepper for a bit before turning in to the guest bedroom for the night.

Peter seems fine the next morning, if a little groggy. Their flight to Morocco leaves at 6:30, but both kids are up at stupid o’clock in the morning to send them off.

“You’re sure you don’t wanna go to your concert thing tonight?” Tony tries one last time as he encircles Morgan in both his flesh and prosthetic arms for a goodbye hug.

She shakes her head firmly. “Every time we practice Jingle Bells, Keegan makes farting noises with his mouth and the vein in Ms. Sanchez’s neck gets really big and red,” she says. “Peter’s more fun.”

“Yeah, probably,” Tony agrees. He pecks her on the cheek before turning to Peter, who’s blinking tiredly and sipping at a mug of coffee as he leans against the kitchen island. “Now, are you sure you’re up for a whole weekend of this?” He gestures to the energetic six-year-old in front of him.

“I think we’ll manage,” Peter says with a small smile. “If she gets too crazy, I’ll just web her to the wall.”

“Hey!” Morgan complains, and Peter sticks his tongue out at her in return.

Tony chuckles. “Sure, do what you gotta do,” he allows. “Just don’t get it in her hair—hate to have to cut it off. The Valentine’s Day sing-along is up next.”

“Uuuuggghh,” Morgan groans dramatically.

X

Despite all of Tony’s protests, he has to admit that Morocco is pretty gorgeous. There are definitely worse places to be honored with a gigantic statue.

“I’m just saying, I think the chin was too big,” Tony complains as they make their way back to their hotel room following the ceremony that evening.

Huffing out a little laugh, Pepper shakes her head. “I’m sure they did their best, Tony.”

“But of all the things to get wrong, why’d it have to be the chin?” he goes on, though there’s no real heat there. “I mean, c’mon, this whole thing is about the defeat of Mr. Purple Ballsack Face—they could have a bit more sensitivity…”

While Pepper heads off to the shower, Tony glances at his watch. It’s just after one a.m. Moroccan time, meaning Peter and Morgan are probably finishing up dinner back at home. He figures that’s as good a time as any to check in, so he calls Peter’s phone.

Four rings later, a small voice that definitely doesn’t belong to the teenager answers the call. “Hello?”

Tony frowns. “Morgan?”

“Oh! Hi Daddy,” Morgan greets, her tone going much brighter. “How’s your trip going? Do you like maracas?”

Tony chuckles a bit. “Sweetheart, I keep telling you, Mommy and I are in Morocco. A maraca is a musical instrument that you shake to make noise.”

“Can you buy me one?”

“One of what?”

She giggles. “A maraca!”

“No, honey, listen to me.” Tony runs a hand over his face. Maybe Pepper was right about the whole needing a vacation thing after all. “Maracas are not Moroccan. They don’t make them here. It’s a totally different thing.”

“Oh.” There’s a beat. “Can you buy me one anyway?”

“I don’t know—we’ll see,” Tony says, shaking his head slowly. “Hey, can I talk to Peter for a sec?”

“Uh…” Morgan hesitates. “Peter can’t come to the phone right now.”

Tony frowns. “Why’s that?”

“He’s throwing up,” she says simply.

“Morgan!” he hears Peter groan irritably in the background.

“What?” she demands, speaking away from the phone now. “You told me to talk to him for you, so I am.”

“But you weren’t supposed to tell—” Peter’s voice is cut off by the sound of retching, followed by the faint sound of liquid splashing.

Tony pinches the bridge of his nose. “Why is Peter throwing up?”

“He’s sick,” Morgan reports. “We were playing before, but then he said he didn’t feel good and his stomach hurt so we were just watching Wreck-It Ralph for a while. Then I said I wanted taquitos for dinner and he threw up on my Elsa blanket. It was really gross. But he said he was sorry, so I told him it was okay.” She pauses her rambling for a second. “We can wash it, right Daddy? Like that time I spilled all the yogurt on it?”

“Yeah, I’m sure the blanket will be fine,” Tony says absently. He’s already scrolling through his calendar app to figure out just how many Moroccan obligations they have left to attend. “Can you give the phone to Peter now, please?” he requests. “And then go to the kitchen and see if you can find him a can of Sprite, okay? Maybe some crackers too.”

“Yeah, okay,” Morgan agrees.

He hears shuffling over the line, which he assumes is the phone being passed between them, immediately followed by the sound of Morgan’s footsteps hurrying out of the room. A second later, Peter’s voice croaks, “Sorry, ’m fine, Mr. Stark. And Morgan was watching another movie. Got everything…“—he swallows hard—“handled.”

Tony rolls his eyes. “Very convincing. I’m sure Elsa agrees.”

“Elsa had it coming, honestly,” Peter grouses. “Those songs always get stuck... stuck in my—” He burps sickly, and then Tony hears the phone clatter onto the tile followed by more muffled retching and splashing noises.

Tony sighs deeply, running a hand over his face. So much for vacation. He fires off a quick text to Happy: Hey, you busy tonight?

As Peter continues to retch, three dots appear on the screen indicating Happy is typing. Are you in a foreign prison again?

For the last time, Slovakia was not my fault, Tony retorts.

A second later Happy texts: Keep telling yourself that.

Tony hears the toilet flush and the sound of the phone being picked up again. Peter’s voice, shakier now, comes back over the line, “Uh… you still there?”

“Of course. Wouldn’t miss it,” Tony says briskly. “Bathrooms have the best acoustics, you know.”

“That’s really gross...” Peter mutters.

“I don’t think you’re in a position to talk about gross right now, puke-boy,” Tony retorts as he fires off another text to Happy: Got a situation. How soon can you get to the lake house?

Happy’s reply comes a few seconds later: I’m watching Iron Chef America and doing laundry, Tony. It’s my day off.

Tony counters with, The kids are home alone and Peter just decided to reenact The Exorcist

The three dots appear, then disappear. Then they appear again a moment later, followed by a message: I can be there in 2 hours

You’re the best, boo <3, Tony shoots back. To Peter he informs, “Happy’s on his way.”

“He doesn’t have to,” Peter protests. “It’s just food poisoning or something…”

Tony scoffs. “Well, either way, someone who isn’t busy puking should probably be keeping an eye on the little troublemaker.” He pauses for a beat. “And Morgan too.”

Peter just groans.

In the background, Tony hears the telltale pattering of small feet on the tile. “I couldn’t reach the crackers, so I got you Doritos!” she announces.

Peter’s voice is hesitant. “Oh. Uh… thanks.”

There’s the sound of a crinkling bag moving closer to the phone. “They’re Cool Ranch flavor!”

Immediately, Peter starts gagging again.

Tony heaves out a sigh. It’s gonna be a long night.

X

After filling his wife in on the developments back on the home front (and being assured by Happy that he was keeping tabs on the situation as he made his way to the lake house), both Tony and Pepper decide they should try to get some shut-eye before their packed day tomorrow.

Pepper falls asleep straight away, clearly exhausted from their full day of travel and social obligations, but Tony finds himself tossing and turning on the overly-soft hotel mattress. It’s not until Happy texts that he’s safely arrived at the lake house to assume his uncle duties that Tony finally manages to drift off.

It doesn’t last long.

It’s barely 4:30 in the morning when Tony’s roused from his sleep by his phone vibrating under the pillow. He pulls the device out to see a message from Happy:

Kid’s had his appendix out already, right?

Being mindful of his sleeping wife beside him, Tony holds the phone just inside the duvet to shield the glowing screen from waking her. Yeah, before the snap, when he was 16, he replies, his mind going back to Halloween night seven years ago. A frantic and babbling Ned somehow managed to hack into Karen’s communication systems to inform Tony that Peter was more or less dying on the bathroom floor. An emergency surgery later, Peter’s been one appendix lighter ever since.

Why? Tony adds. Is it that bad?

Nah, just checking, Happy says. He says he’s alright but he’s running a fever and his stomach’s hurting a lot

Tony frowns. How high’s the fever?

Not very high. 100.9. It’s probably just a bug then

Yeah, probably, Tony agrees, despite the nagging worry in his gut. How’s Morgan taking it?

Just put her to bed, Happy reports. She kept trying to bring Peter juice pops until he finally ate one. Puked it up again ten minutes later. Don’t think nursing is her calling in life

Tony huffs out a short laugh as he types: Nope

Happy follows up with: Alright, I think I’ll try to get Sir Barfs-a-lot to bed now

Godspeed, Hap, Tony replies.

Then he slides the phone back under his pillow, pulls the covers up around his chin, and doesn’t sleep a wink.

X

“Look, I don’t like this situation any more than you do, but we can’t just bail on six dignitaries, Tony,” Pepper says in exasperation. She’s standing in front of the bathroom vanity, door ajar as she finishes straightening her hair. “We have two meetings this morning and a luncheon scheduled with the royal family at two.”

Tony runs a hand through his hair. “I know, I know…” he sighs. “I’m probably overreacting, it’s just…” he trails off.

It’s eight o’clock now, meaning the time is currently two a.m. back in New York. According to Happy’s last text, Peter managed to make it to bed around midnight and though he was still in a fair amount of pain, he hadn’t vomited for a few hours. Objectively, Happy did seem to have everything pretty well handled, but Tony still can’t shake the feeling that this might be something more than a virus.

Returning the sigh, Pepper unplugs the flat iron and sets it on the counter before walking over. “It’s just that your kid is sick, so you’re gonna be a worried dad about it anyway,” she concludes for him. “Am I right?”

“Guilty.” Tony gives her a sheepish smile. “Guess I’m getting soft in my old age...”

Pepper wraps her arms around him, pulling him close, and plants a gentle kiss to his lips. “Yeah, you are,” she agrees. “But don’t change. It’s a good look on you.”

They kiss for another few seconds before Pepper pulls back. “Well, the good news is, I’ve gotten quite good over the years at attending social obligations in your stead.” She gives his shoulders a squeeze. “You go do what you gotta do.”

X

With Pepper’s blessing, Tony leaves the jet and most of his luggage at the hotel with her, opting to just fly home in the Iron Man suit instead. It’s partly to ensure Pepper has a ride home in place, and partly so that he can shave an hour or two off the flight time. Even then, it’ll be a good five hours before he’s back, which gives him more than enough time to stress.

Sometime around the half-way point, Tony is soaring over the Atlantic when FRIDAY interrupts his thoughts. “Boss, you have an incoming call from Happy Hogan.”

“Put him through,” Tony says immediately.

A second later, Happy’s gruff voice comes over the speakers. “Got any extra sheets somewhere?” he says by way of greeting.

Tony grimaces. “So it’s one of those nights, huh?”

“Oh yeah, we’re having a blast,” Happy grumbles tiredly. His voice has a slight echo to it, indicating he’s in the bathroom. “Kid’s also wearing a pair of your pajamas now—hope you’re not too attached because the way this night’s been going, I foresee more casualties.”

Worriedly, Tony diverts more power to his thrusters. “The linen closet is in the hall by the master bedroom—should be some extra sheets in there,” he informs. “How’s his fever?”

“Holding steady around 101. He looks pretty miserable though.”

“Can I talk to him?”

“Hang on.”

There’s some movement and a few muffled words from Happy’s end before Peter’s voice rasps out a very pathetic sounding, “Yeah?”

Tony winces in sympathy. “Yikes, kid...” he says as lightly as he can manage.

“I threw up in bed,” Peter admits, his voice thick. “’m really sorry. I was tryin’ to get up, but moving made my stomach hurt more and then I just…” He trials off, sniffling slightly. “And now Happy says you’re flying home early and, and... I’m just really, really sorry.”

“Hey, hey,” Tony interrupts over the kid’s emotional rambling. “It happens, no big deal, okay? And honestly, Pepper’s much better at the whole decorum thing than I am, so the Moroccan royal family is better off with her anyway.”

A small, dismayed noise issues from Peter’s throat. “The royal family?” he whines. “Mr. Stark…”

“It’s just fancy tea with old people,” Tony assures. “Boring as hell, I promise. You’re doing me a favor.”

“God. I’ve gotta be the worst babysitter ever,” Peter moans sadly. “Zero stars on Yelp. You should give Happy my fifteen bucks an hour...”

Tony huffs out a single laugh. “Don’t worry, we’ll get him a nice fruit basket when this is over. Chocolate covered strawberries and all that.”

Over the line, Tony can hear heavy footsteps on the tile. “Sheets are changed,” Happy says, his voice muffled.

“Thanks,” Peter croaks back. Into the phone, he says, “Um, I’m gonna go back to bed now.”

Tony hums in affirmation. “That’s good. Try and sleep, alright?”

“‘Kay,” Peter says. Then, in a very small voice, he adds, “Uh...I’m really glad you’re coming home, Mr. Stark.”

Tony’s heart aches. “Yeah. I am too, kid,” he says softly.

X

By the time Tony’s boots touch down in the yard, the sun has just come up over the lake house, clearing the early morning fog. He retracts his armor and heads into the house, legs wobbly from the lengthy flight.

He finds Morgan and Happy sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast. The six-year-old immediately jumps up to greet him.

“Daddy!” she exclaims, racing over. Tony stoops down and wraps his arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

“Hey pumpkin,” he greets, planting a kiss on her forehead. “You’re up early.”

She shrugs. “I didn’t wanna sleep anymore. I wanted to see if Peter was better.”

“Is he?” Tony asks.

Morgan shrugs again. “I dunno, he was sleeping and Uncle Happy said I couldn’t wake him up ‘cus he’s sick. So we were gonna make pancakes, but Uncle Happy couldn’t find the pancake flipper,” she says with a pout. “So he was gonna use a fork. But then he dropped the eggs on the floor and they got broken and he said a bad word and now we’re eating cereal instead.”

His eyes flick up to Happy, who’s finishing off a bowl of raisin bran and looking at least as exhausted as Tony feels.

Since Peter is still sleeping, Happy and Morgan head out to feed Gerald and run some errands while Tony heads to his own room for a quick shower and change of clothes. Once he’s done, he pours himself a cup of coffee and heads to the guest room where he finds Peter curled up in bed, a lined trash can beside him.

“Aw, kid…” Tony breathes out as he approaches the bed. Even in his sleep, Peter’s brow is beaded with sweat and his face is pinched in pain.

He straightens out the kid’s covers and watches him for a few moments, taking in the rise and fall of his chest and his fever-flushed cheeks before sinking down into an armchair beside the bed.

Only a few minutes into his silent vigil, the combination of jet lag and sleepless nights catches up with him and Tony finds himself nodding off.

X

It’s the sound of whimpering that pulls Tony from his sleep thirty minutes later. His eyelids flutter open to see Peter curled up on the bed, arms circled around his stomach and eyes red and wet with tears.

“Whoa, whoa, hey,” Tony says in alarm. He quickly moves over to sit on the edge of Peter’s mattress, a hand on the kid’s shoulder, but the movement of the bed only makes Peter moan. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Stomach r-really hurts,” Peter manages to choke out. “‘S like, stabbing me.”

A fresh wave of worry washes over Tony. “Where does it hurt?” he asks. Cautiously, Peter hovers a hand over his lower right side, causing Tony’s eyes to widen. “Kid...” he begins.

“But-But it can’t be that!” Peter protests. “I already had it out. It’s gone, it’s—” He cuts himself off with a groan, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Does it feel like it though?” Tony presses. “Like your appendix did?”

Without opening his eyes, Peter nods hesitantly. “Yeah, exactly like that. But it can’t be,” he insists, sounding like he’s trying to convince himself as much as his mentor. “It’s gone.”

“True, but you’ve got plenty of other organs in there that could be going haywire,” Tony points out. He makes a beckoning gesture at Peter’s stomach. “Let me see.”

Reluctantly, Peter lifts the hem of his shirt up to expose his abdomen. His lower belly appears slightly swollen and the skin is flushed a light pink. As carefully as he can manage, Tony presses his fingertips to a spot about four inches down diagonally to the right of the kid’s navel.

Peter instantly gasps. He clamps a hand around Tony’s wrist, startling him. “Stop, stop, please,” he begs.

“Okay, okay,” Tony says, quickly releasing the pressure. But rather than relieving the pain, Peter cries out and curls even more into himself.

“That’s it—we’re going to the hospital,” Tony decides, already pulling out his phone to fire off a text to Happy. “Appendix or not, this is obviously something.”

Tellingly, Peter doesn’t argue. He just squeezes his eyes shut and gives a teary nod.

It takes a few minutes just to get the kid to uncurl enough to sit up, and then once he is up, he’s so nauseous that it’s another several minutes of hanging over the trash can and swallowing convulsively before he manages to get to his feet. The walk to the car is slow and shaky, with Tony bearing most of his weight. Thankfully, they’re less than half an hour from the lake house to the nearest SHIELD base, and they are equipped with a full Medical facility—something that definitely factored into Tony’s decision to purchase this particular property.

(Retired or not, he’s still a goddamn worrywart.)

Peter is lying curled up in the backseat, and Tony keeps stealing glances at him through the rearview mirror. The kid whimpers quietly with each bump in the road and every turn elicits a low moan.

“Almost there, kiddo,” Tony promises him. “Just fifteen more minutes.”

But only three minutes later, he hears Peter inhale a sharp breath, then suddenly go quiet.

“Pete? Still with me?” Tony asks worriedly, glancing up at the mirror. He’s half-expecting to see that the kid’s passed out, but instead finds Peter looking infinitely less tense than he did a moment ago.

“Yeah,” Peter breathes out. “It just hurt really bad for a second, but then it stopped hurting? Not all the way, but it’s a lot better now. Like, a lot better.”

Tony’s heart drops as one thought screams in his mind: something fucking ruptured.  

“That’s, uh… that’s good Peter,” he says shakily as he presses the gas pedal to the floor. “Just hang in there, okay?”

X

A gurney is waiting for Peter outside when they pull into the SHIELD base and he is immediately rushed to an examination room. But when the test results are inconclusive and his fever spikes to nearly 104, the doctors decide that exploratory surgery is their best bet to figure out what’s going on.

Tony spends most of the next three hours in the waiting room on his phone. First, he manages to get a hold of May in the middle of her shift. He gives her the lowdown while simultaneously sending a wildly expensive Uber to pick her up and drive her to the base.

Next, he calls Happy, who is currently at an indoor butterfly farm with his awe-struck niece. “Fucking knew something was wrong,” Happy sighs in response when Tony tells him.

Morgan talks to him for a few minutes, expressing both her heartfelt concern for Peter and the overwhelming joy she experienced when a very pretty purple butterfly landed on her arm a few minutes ago.

Tony can’t help but love her for it. Morgan might come across calloused or unfazed at times, but between the blip’s reversal, the defeat of Thanos, and seeing her dad’s long and arduous recovery process following the loss of his arm, she’s lived through more trauma in her six years than most people do in several decades. He’s glad that she’s usually able to find happiness regardless.

It’s around that time that Tony’s adrenaline fades enough for him to realize just how much his wrist is aching from where Peter grabbed it and rolls up his sleeve to reveal purple bruises. He’s pretty sure nothing is broken, but quietly gets an ice pack from the nurse anyway to press to the injury, sick at the thought of how much Peter had to be hurting to do that.

Tony calls Pepper—who has just finished up her royal luncheon—and finally lets himself fluster out properly.

She manages to talk him down from the panic attack that’s threatening to overtake him just in time for the doors leading back into the OR to swing open and Bruce to emerge.

“I’ll call you back, Pep,” Tony ends the call abruptly. Then hurries over to his friend, stomach in knots. “How’d it go? Is he alright?” he asks anxiously.

Holding up a hand, Bruce clears his throat, a little awkwardly. “Okay, first of all, I’d just like to say that the surgeons are just finishing up and Peter is, for the most part, fine.”

Tony instantly breathes out a huge sigh of relief. “Thank god…”

“But, uh, for the second thing...” Bruce goes on, gesturing to one of the waiting room chairs. “You might want to sit down.”

X

“It grew back?!” Peter balks at them.

It’s been about five hours since his surgery now and the kid is finally lucid enough to take part in the absurd medical conversation surrounding his unprecedented case. Bruce, Tony, and May attempted to explain the situation earlier, but Peter hadn’t been able to keep up and ended up nodding off straight into his jello cup, so they’re on round two now.

“Well… sort of,” Bruce explains, adjusting his glasses. “When you got un-blipped, your cells were reconstructed, same as everyone else who came back. But since your mutated DNA regenerates your cells at an expedited rate, they somehow took that process a step further and managed to restore your body to, uh…” He flaps a hand, searching for the correct term.

“...to factory settings,” Tony finishes for him. He huffs humorously. “Congrats, kid. You’ve gotta be the only person in history to have their appendix burst twice.”

Peter groans. “Awesome. Parker Luck strikes again...”

May tuts and hits his shoulder playfully.

“You’ll be on heavy antibiotics for a while,” Bruce continues. “Luckily, the rupture occurred very close to the time of your surgery, so peritonitis didn’t have time to set in yet. The surgeons flushed out your abdominal cavity as best they could and hopefully the combination of the medication and your enhanced healing will be enough to prevent another infection.”

“So don’t jinx it,” May concludes firmly. She ruffles her nephew’s curls.

Morgan and Happy appear in the doorway a few moments later. Tony gets up, ready to remind the little girl that she needs to be gentle with Peter since he’s still recovering, but it seems as though Happy’s already given her that talk because rather than bounding over, she tiptoes into the room, arms held behind her back.

“Hi Peter,” Morgan greets. “Does your tummy feel better now?”

“Yeah, a lot,” Peter assures her with a small smile. “Thanks.”

“Good.” From behind her back, she produces a colorful wooden instrument and shakes it. “Uncle Happy and I bought you a Morocco!”

Running a hand over his face, Tony lets out a long sigh.

God, he loves these kids.

Link to all my fics!

If you're interested in reading the full story of the first time Peter's appendix ruptured, check out my previous work: Ned the Dumbwaiter

Or, for more sick Peter at the lake house with Tony and Morgan, try: Dad Level: 3000

Comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated <33

[cilliansaccent]

The Peaky Designer - Cillian Fanfic, Chapter 24

Hello, welcome back. Below is the next instalment of my fanfiction!

Leave a like or a comment if you liked it, or if I can do anything better! Please, it would mean the world and to understand if anyone is enjoying my writing. Also, sharing/reblogging would be even better.

PLEASE READ:

I will not be including Cillian’s family as it’s kinda weird since he has children lmao. Just a mention of his parents and a previous lover.

I will indicate in a chapter if there is smut in the beginning and before the actual scene!!

I will add trigger warnings if there is any!!

There is a variety of levels of swearing during a chapter, I will not hold back, everyone swears.

The timestamp for the Fic is now 2016 and onwards!!

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Background: Gabrijela Babic is a Croatian girl from Sydney, Australia. She is born in the year 1991 on the 24th of December. She studies a Fashion degree in a University with a major in Game Design as well. Her teacher in the fashion designer class managed to nail an Internship on the set of Peaky Blinders with the shows very own Costume Designer, Allison McCosh. There, she travels to London for under a year to learn how to be one, working alongside the actors as well the man she admires, Cillian Murphy. But, her platonic feelings for the man begins to grow into something more, and she wonders whether she should pursue them or let him go for fear of her strict parents and her three older brothers…

Characters:

Swantje Paulina as Gabrijela Babic (swalina on Instagram)

Cillian Murphy

Word Count: 5,235

!!Warnings!!: Mention of abortion near the end

Date: February 2017

Chapter Name: Maya’s Wedding Day

Brief Chapter Outline: The pair attend’s Maya’s wedding, it’s all nice and happy until Lucia ruins the surprise for Gabrijela. It ends with the following day after-party at Maya’s parents house. 

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It was an early start for Gabrijela and Cillian. They took another shower, Gab going first since she had to be ready quicker and she took her time when it came to doing her hair and make-up.

"You look fine without all of that on." Cillian mused.

She huffed, "Yes. You've told me many times. But it's only for these special occasions I'll go full out. Or if I'm streaming a game." She was combing her wet hair once she was out of the shower.

"I have yet to see you do a stream," Cillian said.

"Well, I do plan on a stream next weekend. You can watch." She giggled.

"Sounds like a good idea." He nodded and went into the shower.

Gabrijela dried her hair and worked on it. It was a half up half down style with a braid, the loose ends were in soft waves as her hair was like that naturally. She cleaned up her jewellery next, she had found some earrings that could match her necklace, they were simple gold sunbursts with a little opal in the middle. She still had that Claddagh ring on and admired it. She truly loved it. She popped on their shared music playlist as she set on her make-up. She kept it quite natural, when she would come back she would add more to match her evening dress. Her dress for the church was an off the shoulder, white top section with the skirt a rose gold with four big white flowers. She wore flats with a small heel.

Cillian was ready in his suit, he was fixing up his collar as Gabrijela came over and did his tie, "You look dashing, babe." She adjusted his tie and collar and rubbed down his jacket.

"And you look stunning." He held her forearms gently.

"Thank you. Can I take a photo?" She grinned.

"Okay." He chuckled and they posed before the mirror as she snapped a pic. "Oh, we look good."

"We do. A perfect couple." She leaned up and kissed his cheek gently.

They pulled away and she grabbed her bag, checked for anything she was missing and off they went. Her family were finishing up and the kids mucked around near the parking lot. They all greeted each other before they all got into their own cars. Her parents would join in her car, she would lead her family to the church.

Once everyone got to the church, they mingled with the rest of the guests and Gabrijela found her group of friends. They all greeted each other.

"How was the drive?" Elijah asked.

"Good. I'm tired since we left right after I finished work." Gabrijela laughed. "Don't give me that look you kinky asshat. No. I'm not tired because of that." She punched his shoulder.

He grinned, "Sure thing. Hey, I gotta tell you something though."

"Oh? What is it?" Gab asked.

"Before we all knew what Lucia had done to you and the shit she caused us, she is still coming to the wedding. Maya wanted to tell her not to come but she felt way to bad. You know how she is." Elijah said.

Gab sighed heavily, "Thanks for telling me. I'll make sure I keep away from her."

"No problemo. I think she's just coming to the reception so you got time to get yourself ready if she ever tries to face off with you." Elijah patted her shoulder.

"Yeah. Again, thanks." She smiled.

It was time to head into the church and she took Cillian's hand. Together they sat near the front with her family and friends. Ben was standing up at the front with his mates, looking very nervous. Twenty minutes passed before the bride had arrived. The guests all stood as the little flower girls, both Maya's and Ben's, walked down the aisle, throwing flowers along the way but were giggling and kept getting distracted. Then it was the ring boys who were close to the girl's ages, followed by the three bridesmaids. The music began as Maya and her father walked together down the aisle. She had a beautiful lace dress which had a Queen Anne collar and short flowing sleeves. The bodice was hand made and had little crystals sewn in the middle of the flower designs. She looked absolutely stunning and very happy.

The ceremony continued on, it was seriously perfect. Their vows were their own and it brought tears to both their eyes. Gab felt Cillian slip his hand in hers and squeeze gently. She looked up and he smiled at her, she returned it. She looked back when they exchanged rings... She wondered if she was ever going to get married.

Once the ceremony ended, the Croatian band started and played music as they walked out followed by the bridal party then soon after the guests. Everyone gathered in front of the church and took a photo, then a big circle was formed and the bride and groom danced to the music. People clapped and cheered, more photos taken and people congratulated them. The bride and groom eventually left to go have their photos taken, some people headed back to their hotel rooms or straight to the reception that was being held at the Hunter Valley Gardens.

Gab and Cillian headed back to their hotel with her parents in tow. They all relaxed in the garden as it was cooler, Leo had brought drinks and they had some. Gab stuck with her lemon lime and bitters. Music played from the boom box she brought along, the kids asleep, the air warm but not to much to cause you to sweat. Then it was time to get ready, Gabrijela changing into her other dress, Cillian helping with the lace back. She laughed when he gripped her hips and pulled her close, kissing her shoulder then to her neck. She tangled her fingers in his hair, "Don't, babe. You know what will happen."

"Just don't think about it." He said, coming to her jaw.

"Bastard." She was turned around to face him and she planted her hands on his chest. "I. Love. You."

"And I. Love. You. Too." He leaned in and kissed her softly, "You look really beautiful."

"Thank you. You look really handsome." She smiled and fixed his hair.

He took her face in his hands gently and he smiled, "Shall we go?"

"We shall." They kissed and pulled away and headed out and soon left to go to the gardens. It was done outside with a huge marquis that was decked out in a very boho, natural theme. Pretty lightbulbs hung from the beams above (which looked like branches), the poles were designed to look like tree trunks with curling flowering vines. The tables had three types of designs, one had the red wattle, yellow kangaroo paws and the eucalyptus flower with leaves sprinkled on the tables. The bridal table was similar but much more extravagant with flowers draped at the front with fairy lights woven between them and as the backdrop to.

Gabrijela took the stem of rosemary from the basket, it had a red, blue and white ribbon at the end and she pinned it to Cillian's jacket lapel.

"What is this for?" Cillian asked.

"All Croatian weddings have this. Each guest gets it. Tradition says it wards off evil spirits and that guests then give money." She pointed to the box. "Though, you would give a card instead of just dumping it in." She held the card up and grinned before she put it in the box. "I already bought her a gift, a Smeg Toaster that will match her other Smeg items in their new house."

Cillian chuckled, "Nice." He took her hand as they walked to their table. They were seated with her friends, Elijah at her side.

"Please tell me she won't be on our table?" Gab asked Elijah.

"Sadly she will be, but don't you worry. We got you." He hugged her a little and squeezed her shoulder. "Also you look fantastic. You both do."

"Thanks, Eli." Gab smiled a little before she sighed. "Ah fuck." Gab cursed when she saw Lucia walk in what looked like a much older man.

"Now that is a first," Karsyn said with a raised brow, he was seated beside Cillian.

"What the hell." Gab groaned.

"It's going to be okay." Cillian gripped her hand, touching her face, "I love you."

Gab smiled and touched his hand as Lucia beamed, "Hi guys! Good to see you all." She exclaimed.

"Nice to see you too," Elijah said with a tight smile.

Karsyn only ignored her and talked to his fiancee.

"Well, this is David. My boyfriend." She introduced the sketchy looking dude. Lucia told him each of their names before they sat down. The vibe on the table was weird since no one was really talking to Lucia. Gab kept her attention on Cillian, showing him something on her phone.

"So! Gab-gab, how have you been?" Lucia chimed in, beaming.

Gab looked up, "It's Gabrijela. I've been fine." She leaned into Cillian's side, gripping his thigh.

David seemed intrigued but he didn't talk, keeping mostly to himself.

"That's good. You like my handsome boyfriend? He's super sweet. He's also from Ireland to. We both have guys who got in common. Should hang out." Lucia nodded.

Gabrijela bit her bottom lip and took a quick glance at her friends who also seemed like 'WTF'. "Uh, don't know. I'm quite busy."

"I'm sure we will find a day! I'll message you. Did you change your number? Been trying to get back to you." Lucia frowned.

"Uh. Yeah-"

"Oh then please, give it to me. I want to organise a day-" Lucia started.

"No. I will not. I'm busy, Lucia. I have no time to meet up with you." Gabrijela already felt annoyed and she felt embarrassed for her boyfriend who was trying to tell Lucia to stop.

"Why not? I want to see you again." She pouted, tears in her eyes. "I miss you!" She cried. David grabbed her and hushed her, whispering fast to her and she was whimpering.

"Jesus." Gabrijela turned away from her, shaking her head. "I'm already fucking sick of her." Gabrijela felt that second-hand embarrassment.

"It's okay. I'm here for you." Cillian rubbed her arms gently then took her hands and brought them to his lips. He looked at Lucia who was staring at him with clear vile anger. He only looked back to his love and kissed her forehead.

No one talked to Lucia despite she was trying to chat up the ladies on the table. Very light conversation before she finally got the gist of it.

Eventually, the bride and groom had arrived. The bridal party went first in, each couple had their own song they danced to as they entered followed by Ben and Maya. They picked a lovely Croatian song and they danced together in the middle of the dance floor. Then they parted after it was done and took their spots on the table.

Their MC, Maya's cousin, welcomed everyone and complimented the bridal party and the couple before he sneaked in some jokes before he departed. The first-course meal was then brought out soon after, people were chatting, music was playing. There was going to be a live band, she could see it. She loved live Croatian bands, and these guys were good.

Lucia got up to go talk to some people she saw, leaving poor David alone.

"Hey mate." Elijah spoke up, smiling at the man, "I gotta ask, what are you doing with her?"

"With Lucia? Like anyone else, dating her." David sat a little straighter.

"Right. Right." Elijah sat back.

"I'd like to ask why you all gave her such a cold greeting. Are you not her closest friends? Especially you?" David looked at Gab.

"Was. She's no longer our friend." Gabrijela said. She wondered if Lucia had even told David why they never spoke. It looked like he was quite confused.

"That doesn't mean you should give her the cold shoulder." David frowned, "She's proven to be an actual lovely girl."

"Oh? So you know what she did?" Gabrijela asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Yes. She told me she made a mistake with sleeping with your now ex. She truly wants to make it up to you." David replied.

"Yeah. No. She did not make that mistake. She wanted it." Gabrijela scoffed, shaking her head. Cillian gripped her thigh, squeezing to remind her to stay calm.

"Have you ever spoken to her about it? She said you just dropped her." David cocked an eyebrow.

"Of course. I won't be dealing with people who cheat. I've dealt with people like that, don't need it in my life." Gab replied smoothly.

"But you should-" David began.

"Listen, mate. She said she doesn't want to be friends with her. Drop it. Besides, how long have you been dating Lucia?" Elijah cut him off.

"Three months," David said.

"Right. And you understand that she was causing some shit with us, as well?"

"Yes but-"

"No buts here. Just understand that she's cut deep wounds with us all and we aren't the type to just happily oblige her just because she throws a tantrum. You just saw it yourself." Elijah said, his eyes hard.

David frowned and glanced at Gabrijela and her man then sighed and sat back, arms crossed.

Gabrijela looked away and saw Maya looking at them, she gave her a smile of reassurance and a promise they would talk later.

It wasn't long when it came to the first dance. Gabrijela explained to Cillian the meaning behind the song and how much it meant to Maya and Ben. He found it quite romantic as they watched the pair dance. The rest of the bridal party danced until anyone else may come up.

"Shall we?" Gabrijela turned to Cillian.

"Dance?" He asked.

"Yeah. Come on, my love." She said as she stood up and took his hands. They walked to the dance floor and he spun her before he pulled her close. They swayed to the music, her head resting on his chest. She imagined them on their wedding day like this.

"You make me so unbelievably happy, Cillian." She said, her eyes shut.

His lips brushed her forehead, his thumb ran over her knuckles slowly, "I can say the same for you. You are truly a woman I love."

She loved that word in his accent, it made her shiver, "My Cillian." She looked up at him and leaned up to kiss him softly.

He smiled and they pressed foreheads. Maya made an 'aw' sound as they came close.

"You two are so cute!" She beamed and broke away from Ben to hug Gabrijela.

Gab laughed as she hugged her friend back as Cillian shook hands with Ben, "Congrats. You look so good! Ugh!"

"Thanks. Oh my god. I love this dress. It suits you so well!" Maya beamed. The girls gushed over each other before they danced, their men stood off to the side to talk.

"I have something really important to tell you and the gang," Gab said to Maya as they twirled.

"Oh? How important?" Maya asked with a smile.

"Very. After all the formalities are done we all meet under the willow tree." Gab giggled.

"Oooh, secrets. I love secrets." Maya mused.

They parted as the dance ended and they all took their seats once more. It was time to do the speeches, which were very sweet, a lot of tears from both Maya, Ben and Maya's dad and Ben's best man. The speeches really tugged at the heartstrings. Even for Gabrijela. Then it was time to cut the cake, which of course almost turned out into a food fight but Maya wasn't having it. Once the cake was taken away and people calmed down it was time to throw the bouquet and Gabrijela was up on her feet.

"Hey! You aren't single!" Elijah shouted.

"Don't care!" Gab stuck her tongue out as all the girls gathered. Music played as Maya swayed and messed around... Then threw the flowers. The girls cried out and reached for it... Gab caught it as she tittered to the side and fell down as she laughed.

"Woo!" She yelled as Cillian rushed to her side.

"You okay my love?" He asked, eyes wide.

"I am. I am." She giggled and kissed him as he helped her to her feet. "Now it's your turn." She said as Maya came over.

"You good? Holy crap you were determined." Maya laughed.

"Yep! I was!" She nodded as they took a picture together.

"What do you mean it's my turn?" Cillian asked as they pulled away.

"You'll see." Gabbie pulled him back to the table as it was now Ben's turn.

Ben had done a whole 'Magic Mike' kinda dance for Maya who was red as a tomato. He stripped and paraded around her before he got to his knees and went under her skirts. She laughed and giggled as he finally took out the garter.

"Up you go, babe. Go catch it." Gab whispered to him.

"Oh, God." He laughed and stood to join the boys.

"Don't you hurt him!" Gab yelled, pointing at Ben's brothers and cousins.

Ben also did the teasing before he threw it. Gab gasped as the group surged forward... Cillian came out victorious! He laughed as he was bear-hugged by the group and Gabrijela was called up. They took photos together then with the bride and groom before Cillian and Gabrijela began to dance. It was an old tradition that they would do this. They did a bit of a jig together and laughed and mucked around, people cheering and clapping.

It was time to sit down as dessert came out, chocolate fudge cake. Gabrijela groaned as the dish was set before her, Cillian getting some type of ice-cream and some other cake. "Let's share," Gab said and they did, going half and half with their dishes.

Gab waited when Lucia decided to leave and she whispered to Elijah and Karsyn to follow her. They all got up, including the wives as they walked out to the willow tree. Gab waited back as her friends had all gathered there and looked up at Cillian, "You still okay with me telling them?" She asked him. They had discussed on the drive that Gabrijela would tell her friends about her being pregnant. They both agreed they would do it tonight.

"I'm perfectly fine with this. I swear it. Your friends deserve to know and I am more than happy to tell them." He squeezed her hands.

Gabbie beamed and together they went to their group of friends.

"Spill it, girlie." Maya grinned.

"Well..." Gabbie glanced at Cillian then back at her friends. "I'm pregnant!"

There was a moment and Maya was the one who gasped, "Really? Oh my god!"

"Yep! I am!" Gabrijela laughed as she was crushed against her friend's body in a tight hug.

"Congratulations!" Karsyn and Elijah said as they all hugged each other.

"When are you due?" Maya asked.

"Don't know. Maybe October or November if my calculations are right." Gabrijela giggled as Cillian pulled her close.

"Are you excited?" Ben asked Cillian.

"Oh very much so. I can't wait." Cillian grinned and looked down at Gabrijela.

There was excited chatter among her friends, and they eventually found out they were all first to know before her family. That was another obstacle to get across.

"What's all this excitement?" Lucia had wandered over and looked at everyone, "And why was I left out of it?"

Everyone turned to look at her, "None of your business." Elijah smiled.

"Is someone pregnant?" Lucia continued, "Who? C'mon, tell me." She crossed her arms.

"None. Of. Your. Business." Elijah said again, "No one needs to tell you anything."

"I wasn't asking you." She snapped at Elijah. "Ladies? Someone gonna tell me?"

"No." Gabrijela frowned, "Elijah is right. We don't need to tell you shit." She said, "Come on, let's go back inside." Gab said and walked with Cillian, holding his hand.

Everyone followed inside, leaving Lucia alone.

The night continued with more dancing and taking silly photos in the photo booth. Gabrijela and Cillian headed into the garden again where they kissed under a tree for some time where things began to grow hotter until Elijah, Karsyn and Ben ruined the fun. Gab was happy her friends were super supportive of their relationship, the boys loved Cillian, they acted mature but also had heaps of fun.

Gab couldn't get her eyes off Cillian the whole time, and Maya kept teasing her about it.

"Shut up." Gab rolled her eyes, shoving her friend a little.

"Nah. Not when you got googly eyes and drooling all over yourself." Maya laughed.

"Sorry, can't help that my boyfriend is a total snack." Gabbie mused.

"And cheers to that!" Maya beamed and they clinked glasses.

The girls chatted with each other before Gab spotted her parents looking around before their gazes fell on to Gab and wandered over.

"Gab, we need to chat." Her father said with a firm tone. "Alone."

Gabrijela frowned but her friends all got up and left, Maya mouthing 'Come to me if you need it' and turned to go.

"Okay... What's up?" Gab was confused as to why her father looked so grim. And angry.

"Well, is there something you'd like to tell us?" Her father stared at her, his scowl was clear.

"Tell you... What?" Gabrijela seemed more confused than anything.

"Gabrijela, don't play dumb. We know you are pregnant." Her father snapped.

Gab winced and her eyes widened, "What?" She had no words.

"Lucia told us. You told your friends first without consulting with us." Her father continued.

"You should have told us so we can discuss whether you will be keeping it or not." Her mother added.

"Well, I was planning to." Gab restrained her anger, "But I wasn't going to tell you yet. I wanted to make it a surprise. But it seems you both are not happy I am pregnant, am I correct?"

"Of course not. I've never been happy with this relationship either, I do not see a good future with this man at all. Why couldn't you be with someone closer to your age? Why must you waste away your life-"

"First of all," Gab cut her father off, glaring at him, "It is none of your damn business on who I date. I love Cillian, for who he is. Not because he is an older man. I never cared about it, I care about how he treats me and how we are together. You should be happy he makes me happy." She said with a clear, hard voice. No way would she let her parents trample over her like this.

"And does he know about you being pregnant?" Her mother scoffed a little.

"Of course. And we have a plan about when I am due, he will spend the few weeks here with me. Supporting me." Gab straightened her shoulders. She wouldn't let them shit on Cillian either.

Her parents let out a sigh, "And through it? How will he support you here when he isn't here?" Her father asked.

"Of course he can't come with me to the appointments so I have Maya to help me with it. Why does it matter? He is dedicated to me and with this baby, he will do whatever he can to help me." Gabrijela said.

But the next words that came from her mother hurt the most, "Darling, I do not think this is a good idea. How will your child grow up with an old man who won't be able to keep up? I know this is hard but we can talk to a doctor about-"

Gabrijela stood, tears forming in her eyes, "How dare you! Don't you talk to me about aborting my child! Of all the people, I thought you'd be happy or at least kind about this! I cannot believe you'd think I'd choose to rid my child."

"Baby, what's going on?" Cillian had rushed over when he heard her raised voice and had seen the trio interact.

"I just- God! You are unbelievably cruel!" She was crying now, tears streaming down her face.

"Damnit Gabrijela, you are ruining your life! This whole thing is a mistake, why couldn't you just behave yourself?" Her father stood, "I do not accept what you have with this man, or what you are carrying. You are no daughter to me."

The words speared her heart, "I HATE YOU! FUCK YOU!" Gabrijela screamed and turned and ran off.

Cillian turned to her father, having had enough of this, "How could you say that to your own daughter?" Fuck being nice. This was his love and future mother to his child. "What a terrible thing to say, you should be comforting her and aiding her. Not turn her away." He shook his head, "I love her, I love our child. There is nothing you can do about it. I'd like you to reconsider your words to her and make peace if you have the heart to do so." Cillian turned and ran after Gabrijela.

Her parents were in shock but had not said anything else after him.

Gabrijela was in the bathroom, crying in one of the stalls. Maya was there, trying to comfort her and hold her. Cillian didn't care and came in, "Gabbie? My love?" He came to the closed door, he could see Maya's white dress underneath it.

Maya opened the door and let Cillian in, who gathered Gab into his arms.

"I hate them," She cried into his chest, "I can't believe they even had the guts to say such cruel things."

"Shh, I'm here now. I'm not going anywhere." He stroked her hair gently, rocking her a little.

They spent like that for a bit before he managed to walk her out, they headed out of the venue where he cleaned her face up, Maya and the rest of her friends there with her.

Though, Elijah was inside with his fiancée who was trying to calm him down and not go after Lucia who was smirking like a cat. But he didn't need to as Maya came over with her husband and told Lucia to leave.

The girl made a huge deal and a tantrum, her boyfriend super embarrassed as he had to literally lift her and carry her out of the place.  

When Gab seemed to recover, Cillian held her hand as he sat beside her, his jacket around her shoulders. "I love you." He said softly, cupping her cheek and turning to face him.

She smiled a little, "I know. I love you too." She rested her head on his shoulder and he kissed her head.

"Nothing will stop me from loving you. Or our child." His hand slid over her stomach.

"You are perfect, Cillian. You really are." She looked up at him, "My handsome love." She kissed him deeply.

His arms slid around her and they kissed passionately, "When we head home, I'll make you a fantastic bath." He murmured against her lips.

"Yeah? Will you be in there, a bow on your head?" She giggled softly.

"Sure, if we have one." He pecked her lips.

She was feeling a little better but she was still hurting, "Well, long as you are there, that matters most."

"Mmm, yeah." He leaned back in and kissed her again.

"Hey, come on you two. We're going to say good-bye to Maya and Ben." Elijah broke them up.

The pair stood and walked back in, hand in hand. Everyone stood in a circle as the newlywed couple went around to each person to say good-bye. Her brothers had already left earlier because of the kids and they had a long drive home tomorrow.

Eventually, they had left after another dance and the party continued on.

Gab danced with Cillian and her other friends, not meeting her parent's eyes. By midnight the party finished and Maya's remaining family cleaned up, as well as Gab and Cillian and her parents. Once that was over they drove back to the motel in total silence. Cillian took to the wheel despite Gabrijela telling him not to.

Now at the motel, Gabrijela didn't say goodnight to her parents and simply went to her room with Cillian. She undressed as he prepared a bath, cleaned her face and combed her hair before tying it up in a bun.

Cillian had finished with the bath and she wandered over, he was undressing as well and she couldn't help but watch him. "Sexy." She purred.

He laughed, facing her full-on, "That's you. Come on, let's get in." He said and helped her in before he slid behind her. He set up some music for them to listen to as they relaxed in silence. Cillian could feel Gab falling asleep and woke her up before he washed her. He got out with her and dried her and dressed her in one of his shirts and boxers.

Together they slipped into bed, him being the big spoon.

"I love you." She murmured softly.

"I love you too." He replied gently, kissing the back of her neck.

They both eventually fell asleep.

 The Next Day...

 Gab was glad her parents weren't coming in the same car to Maya's after-party at her parent's house. Cillian had agreed as well as they packed the car. Soon they were on the road to the country house where they were able to stay the night as well.

The party was only close friends and family, it was a clear but hot day. It was all outside but undercover thankfully. A Croatian band was playing and a little dance floor was set out.

It was nice, Gab thought. She loved weddings and always dreamed of being married to someone she loved, and she gazed at Cillian once more with that cute, small smile.

"What?" He asked as he looked at her, they were dancing.

"Nothin'. Just admiring you." She said. She wore a short yellow summer dress with white polka dots. She still had his necklace he gave her all those months ago.

"Uh-huh." He said and kissed her softly as they swayed.

The afternoon continued on with plenty of laughter, food, dancing, singing and drinking. The majority had gone home by four, but the party kept going well into the night.

Gab had fallen asleep in the egg chair as her friends chatted around her, and Cillian had come over to pick her up and take her up to the spare bedroom. He undressed her and went back down to say goodnight to everyone before he joined his love in bed.

She had rolled and snuggled close to his side, mumbling something but kept on sleeping.

He stayed awake a little, watching her peaceful state. He let his mind think and wonder, feeling totally blessed to have her with him. Tomorrow, he thought, he needed to go out to the shops and buy a few things before they left to go to their camping trip on Wednesday.

He knew what he had to do and he was nervous about it.

[xmalereader]

Javier Pena X Assassin! Male Reader

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|| Masterlist ||

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Summary: After Javier resigns from the DEA In Colombia he moves to New York and joins the FBI where they are looking for a trained assassin that has been killing off important people, it’s been taking them years to search for him but what Javier doesn’t know is that this person is a lot closer than he thought.

Warnings: Blood, Langauge, Slight Nsfw, kissing, assassination, husbands, angst, dancing, angst.

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“You know you don’t have to resign, after what you did.”

“I know, but I want too.”

Javier had left Colombia and had returned back to Texas with his family. It’s been a few days since he’s left the DEA, resigning his position and allowing the others deal with other cases that didn’t involve him. He spent months working on the Cali cartal and trying to find The Godfather’s, once he succeed he made sure to resign before anything else could happen.

They tried to convince him to stay but he just couldn’t, he’d rather be home helping his father and of course his husband, oh didn’t you know? Javier has A husband, who’s living in New York for awhile. The two have kept their relationship on the down low when it came to Javiers job at the DEA, he didn’t want anyone to know that he was married since it would only bring attention to the topic.

He got married awhile back, once he met y/n he stopped his one night stands with strange women and tried to keep his flirting in control when he was around others. He expected himself to fail at the relationship, knowing hismelf to well he would freak out and run away from his problems. But y/n wasn’t any ordinary person. When he heard about javiers last he made sure to keep him in check and if he ever tried to run away from his problems again then y/n wouldn’t hesitate to hunt him down and drag him back home.

Their relationship started off a little rough but once they properly set out the ground rules as set up dates they slowly started to fall for each other, causing Javier to propose on their fourth anniversary. He expected hismelf to run away from this too but somehow he stayed and was actually able to get through the whole ceremony without any doubts. The two have been married for a couple of years now and they haven’t seen each other in awhile since Javier was concentrated on his work and y/n in his own.

Now that he had resigned he was free to go to New York and see his lovely husband.

—

“You gonna keep staring at the phone or are you going to help me?”

Javier is pulled out of his thoughts by his father, looking up from his phone he puts it away and sighs. “Sorry, papá.” He says and gets back to helping him with the fence for the horses. “He hasn’t called has he?” His father suddenly asks as he glanced at his own son. Javier frowns and adjusts his sunglasses, “You know he’s busy.”

“He missed you, he actually visited me a few times. Nice young man you picked, not gonna lie.” His father grunts as he fixed up a wooden stake and held his hammer. “Amazing cook too.” He chuckled out as Javier rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well I remember you hating him the first few times he visited. Suddenly you two are friends?”

“He found ways to convince me that he was a young fine men for my son.” His father grins and finished stapling up one side of the fence. Javier was working on the other side, sweating from the heating sunlight. “Oh yeah?” He held up the hammer and hammers down the wooden stake intro he ground, making sure it was sturdy enough for the next storm.

“He was actually pissed at you.”

This causes Javier to look up at his father with a worried look on his face. His father opens up a can of beer and sighs, “He says that you two usually called each other once a week but somehow you haven’t been answering his calls. He’s pissed and thinks that your dead or something.”

“I tried to call him several times once I came back home but he didn’t answer.”

“Paybacks a bitch son.” His father said and sets down his cam of beer.

Javiers father wasn’t wrong, y/n could be stubborn sometimes and when the two would get into a fight over something small they would avoid each other for a short period of time before making up with some sex. But today it’s different, javiers called several times and not a single answer. He’ll be leaving to New York very soon to see y/n and about a new job in the city as an FBI Agent, a much bigger title in America.

“He’ll get over it.”

—

Javier spent the last day with his small family before packing up his things and leaving to New York where his husband was currently at. The plane ride took a couple of hours before he lands, taking his bag as he calls for a taxi and drives back home. They live away from the city since y/n doesn’t seem to like crowded places.

Arriving at his apartment building he makes sure to pay the cab driver. Holding onto his bag as he makes his way inside and up to the top floor where their apartment was located at. He was fidgeting with the house keys as he feels the elevator approaching his floor, a sudden anxiety was rising up inside him not knowing if he should turn back and spend another day back in Texas or face his husband.

Hearing the elevator doors open he steps out and lets out a defeated sigh. Deciding to face his husband as he walks towards his door and unlocks it, pushing the door open he steps inside and looks around the apartment. It was clean as usual and quiet a bit too quiet. “Y/n?” He calls out and drops his bag on the couch, tossing his keys on the coffee table as he continues to look around the apartment. “Y/n.” He calls out again but gets no response. Maybe he was still working and hasn’t been home yet.

Javier shrugs off his jacket and makes his way towards their bedroom, before he could open the door he hears groaning from the other side. Causing him to freeze in place as he hears the groaning get louder.

A sudden thought reached his mind, panicking as he hopes that what he sees next isn’t true.

As he pushed the door open and looks inside to sees his husband struggling with a large box, he was trying to move it inside the closet but of course it was way to heavy for him. He was grumbling angrily and kicks the box, “stupid thing.” He hears him mumble out which causes Javier to chuckle.

“For a second there I thought you were fucking someone.”

Y/n screams and tossed the nearest thing to him at the sudden voice. Of course that thing has to be a lamp which Javier was able to block without getting hurt.

“Jesus javi!! Don’t scare me like that.” Y/n breaths out and placed a hand over his beating heart as he rubs his face. “Wait, what are you doing home early?”

Javier raised a brow. “I called you several times.”

Y/n gasps. “Right I forgot, I may or may not have dropped my phone down the drain and had possibly broken it?” He explains with a small Shy and embarrassed smile. Javier can’t help but sigh in relief, so his husband wasn’t pissed with him.

“Anyways, you’re back!!” Y/n throws his arms around Javi and pulls him into a hug. Smiling widely, glad that his husband was back safetly. “I missed you.” Javier sighs out and leans back to pull his husband into a deep kiss. Y/n chuckled against his lips and moves his arms to wrap them around his neck. “I missed you too.” He says back and pulls javi towards their bed, his legs bumping against the bed as he falls back and laughs.

Javier ignores his husbands laughter and began to pepper his neck with long and hard kisses which caused y/n to moan in pleasure and grip his hair. “Javi...” he whines out and leans his head back to allow him more access.

Javi works fast to undress his husband, earning laughter from the other as the two are tangled up in each other’s arms. Y/n keeps his legs wrapped around javiers lower back, bucking his hips forward as he grinds down against him and pulls him into another kiss. The two moan in pleasure as javi suddenly brings him close and grips him between his legs causing y/n to gasp.

“Javi...” he breaths out, feeling the other stroke him as he whines and bites his lip. Gripping his husbands back, he allows Javier to have his way with him. The two haven’t seen each other in months so now was a good time to let it all out.

—

“You resigned?” Y/n asks, lying down next to Javier as the two are naked under the bed sheet covers, Javi’s arms are wrapped around his waist as the two spoke to each other. “They were going to fire me anyway.” He mumbled out and kissed his cheek, “besides I took another job here in New York, as an FBI Agent.” He explains to his husband who chuckled. “Oh an FBI Agent huh? Sounds sexy.” He purrs out and leans up to kiss his neck and nuzzle his chest. Javier smiles and yawns, keeping his arms wrapped around y/n as he tiredly speaks to him. “Got a call from them saying that they needed help with a crime case or something.”

“Yeah?”

“Something about an assassination crime?”

Y/n stiffens at the sudden topic. “I—I heard about it.” He whispers out. Javiers brows knit together as he pulls back to stare at him. “What do you mean you know?”

“What do you mean ‘how do I know?’ Javi it’s all over the news, some assassin is roaming the city of New York killing innocent people. Some people say their a professional killer who only kill for money or something.” He shrugs and sits up to run his eyes and fix his hair, he leans back against the bed frame and sighs.

“How long has it been happening?” Javi asks as he takes out a cigerette from his pants pocket that was lying on the floor. He lights up the cigerette and faces y/n. “A couple of years now, really. The recent ones happened a few weeks back but people don’t know if it’s the same person as four years ago.” He explains and takes the cigerette away from javi and puts it out in a small ashtray that he had on their nightstand. “You know I hate it when you smoke.” He reminds him

Javier sighs. “I remember.” He lies back down and pinched the bridge of his nose before checking the time. It was only the afternoon, he still had time before he starts his new job. “I’ve gotta get going.”

“No don’t leave you just got back home.” Y/n whines out and takes a hold of javi’s hand and tries to pull him back into bed. “Just a little longer, please? I want to spend time with my husband.” He pouts out. Javier groans and leans down to kiss him again. “You know I can’t be late.” Y/n groans again and lets him go. “Fine.” He sighs out and falls back into bed. “Don’t come late or else you won’t be getting any dinner from me.”

“I don’t need dinner, I can just have you.” He flirts back with a wink. Y/n blushes and throws a pillow at his direction. He quickly dodged it and chuckled, “One of these days you will end up hitting me with whatever you throw at me.” He zips up his pants and adjusts his belt, he grabs a clean shirt and slips it on.

He walks over to the bed to see a Mop of messy hair sticking out from under the covers. Rolling his eyes he pulls the covers down to reveal his husbands face. “I’ll be back early I promise.” He whispered and leaves a kiss on his head which y/n gladly accepts and sighs. “Just be careful.” He adds and watched Javier leve the bedroom, it doesn’t take long for him to hear the front door close causing y/n to sit up and get out of bed, grabbing some fresh new clothes. He walks over to the bedroom window and looks outside to see Javier down below calling out for a taxi, once his ride arrived he got in and left. Y/n took this as his que to get ready.

—

Arriving to headquarters was an easy task but starting out as a newbie was a difficult task for Javier. He never thought that he would experience the same thing that Steve Murphy has gone through on his first days working at the DEA, now he knows why he was so nervous. It’s a whole new atmosphere and a whole different system as well, Americans handled their own work differently.

“You must be new here.” One of the agents says once he spots Javier.

Javi nods and leans forward to shake his hand. “Heard a lot about you, lot of shit must’ve happened in Colombia to bring you all the way up here, huh?” The man asks with a chuckle as javi clears his throat. “Something like that but mainly marriage wise.”

“Ah, understandable.” He guides Javier around the large office and shows him to his own office. It was small but also big enough to have his own privacy. “My office is just down the hall in case you need anything, also a meeting starts in a few minutes.” He tells javi before leaving him on his own.

Javier sighs in relief once he’s left alone, so far he’s doing just fine. Just give it a few days before he starts to lose his shit on the people he’ll be working around with.

He looks around his cubicle and sees a few files sitting on top of his desk, they were case files of the newly assassin that had suddenly appeared in New York. Awhile back he felt relieved to have finished his chase after The Godfather’s but once he moves back to New York with his husband, life suddenly couldn’t help itself but throw more trouble into javiers way. Endangering the lives of others and his husbands life if he may add, he’s gonna be working for these people and if he makes anymore mistakes it could lead to someone’s death.

“Ready?” Javier turns around to see the same man standing by the entrance of his office. With a grin on his face, “time to meet up with the others and see if you can help us catch this guy.” Javier sets his coat down on his chair and follows the man out. Heading towards the meeting room that was full of other officers and agents, they were all seated on chairs as the chief stands in front of everyone and begins to explain the murder cases.

“Five people were killed in the last two weeks, now these weren’t just any random people but very important ones.” He man in charge began to explain as Javier examines the board that was full of pictures and evidence of the crime scenes, he didn’t recognize any of them but he knows that they are important since some own businesses and private properties around the City. Some have also dealt with drug trafficking which didn’t surprise Javier at all, but that didn’t really explain why they were killed. Some of these people were innocent and others not so much, owning a big company and keeping all of their money stored away from their employees and paying them half of what they earned? Some were even drug traffickers which Javi despised, knowing that he had to deal with them for years.

“We haven’t gotten a single trace of this assassin but we do know that they know more than us and whoever they are could be watching us or even hearing us.”

Javiers attention goes back to the chief, growing at his words. If they were being watched then that makes them all a target, including him.

Javi groans to hismelf and sighs, it was Colombia all over again.

—

Javier spent the entire day working in headquarters, he’s tried to come up with a way to figure out who the assasin was with all of the evidence that they’ve gotten but he hasn’t gotten anything, their weren’t connections to the kills they were all random. Being stressed out from the whole situation he decides to retire for the night and head back home, hopping that y/n has gotten something ready to eat or at least have a drink with his husband or two.

Unlocking his front door he makes his way though and is able to smell the food that was being cooked, smiling to himself he makes his way through the kitchen. “I’m back.”

Y/n was standing by the sink with his back to him, “Oh, welcome back.” He replies back and winced as he washed his hand. Javier raised a brow in worry and makes his way over to see y/n’s hands covered in blood. “Jesus y/n what happened?” He questions and grabs his hands. “Don’t worry I accidentally cut myself.” He shows Javi the gash that trailed down his palm, it was deep enough to release a lot of blood. “What were you cutting?” He guides his husband towards the living room and grabs assume bandages and alcohol from the medical kit they had. “Just...Cutting up some chicken.” He mumbled out shyly.

Javier didn’t believe him but decides to let it slide for once, he cleans his cut and makes sure that its wrapped up well. “You should go to a hospital to get it checked properly.”

“No, I’m fine really, I’ve been through worse.” Y/n explains and sighs, checking his bandaged up hand and uses his other hand to rub his eyes. “I made some chicken soup since I wasn’t in the mood to cook properly today.” He tells him and stands up from sitting on the couch and leans down to kiss Javier on the cheek. “How was your first day?”

Javier scoffs. “Don’t even ask, its like the same back in Colombia.”

“that bad, huh?”

Javier answers with a nod and puts away the medical kit and follows y/n back into the kitchen to see him staring up the pot, humming to himself. “Don’t worry, it’ll get better, I hope.” He turns around and grabs a glass cup, making sure to get the whiskey as he pours Javier a drink. Passing it to him with a smile, “you always say that.” Javi mumbled out and accepts the drink, downing it all in one big gulp.

“I’m your husband, I know when something good happens.” He smirks at Javier and puts away the bottle and makes sure to turn off the stove. He pulls up a chair and sits across from him. “I know something is bother you so just tell me.” He finally spits out. After dating for years he’s grown to know Javier better than anyone else.

Javier slowly sets down the empty glass cup on the counter top , sighing through his nose as he rubs his face and temples. “I feel like I’m back in Colombia, having to deal with all of the dirty shit,” he finally begins to speak. “I feel like this problem is going to last longer than usual and its going to stress me out. I wont have enough time to spend with you and I hated that. Being far away from you when I thought it was only going to be a few weeks but instead it lasted for months and I—“ he shakes his head in frustration.

Y/n leans over to take his hand into his, calming him down as he listens to him explain. “Javi, listen to me. Sooner or later this is going to end, its only your first day so dont get too frustrated and just concentrate on teh evidence that you have and not on wanting to catch the person immediately. This is going to take time and I know that bad stuff will happen because it always does, but promise me something—“ he used his free hand and brush it up against javiers cheek as he slowly smiles. “Promise me that you won’t do anything stupid.”

Javier chuckled and nods, he pulls him into a kiss as the other male laughs against his lips. “Javi—“

“I promise.” He says once he hears his husband whine at him.

Before anything else can happen he hears his own phone go off, causing him to groan. He tries to ignore it but it continued to ring. “Dammit just answer the phone.” Y/n grumbled out as he pulls away form his grip and sighs, leaning his head on his shoulder as Javi answers the phone call.

“This is Javier Pena speaking, what do you want?” He says coldly which amuses y/n and laughs quietly.

“This is Agent Hill, we met during one of the meetings?” Javier frowns and sits up. “Yeah I remember.”

The agent on the line shuffles around with some papers as he sighs. “We need your help, we just got reports of another assassination.”

This caused Javi to pull away from y/n, puttin ghis full attention on the phone call. He notices a worried look on y/n’s face and mouths, ‘what’s wrong?’, But Javier ignores him. “What is it this time?”

“Most victims are killed with guns or snipers but this one was stabbed multiple times. We examined the body and turns out that it was found in an alleyway, its been their for a couple of hours maybe even before the day even started.” The agent explains.

Javier curses under his breath. “Ill be their soon.” With that he hangs up and turns to y/n. “I have to go.”

“Another murder?” He asks and held Javi put his jacket on and makes sure that he has his keys and wallet. “Yeah, I’m sorry I just got here and now they need me and I—“

“It’s okay this is your job, go do what you have to do ill be here when you get back.” y/n stands on his toes to kiss his husband, Javier wraps his arms around the other and kisses him back before pulling away and leaving.

Y/n stares at the closed door and sighs, he lifts up his bandaged up hand and undid the bandages. Frowning at the deep cut, “Shit I really need to be careful everytime I work.” He mumbles to himself and makes sure to lock the door before heading towards his room. He grabs his backpack and enters his and javi’s small office. He opens the closet and grabs a chair, standing on it he moves some clothes around to see a small trapdoor that was big enough to fit some boxes.

Once he’s moved everything aside he bends down to pick up his backpakc and unzips it to reveal several stacks of cash, he empties out his bag and hides it behind the closet, me makes sure that its locked up well and that he hides it behind some boxes so that Javier wouldn’t notice.

[denerims-archive]

claire and joel for the otp asks! <3333

For @solasan​ too! Thank you guys 🥺💕

General:

Rate the Ship -   Awful | Ew | No pics pls | I’m not comfortable | Alright | I like it! | Got Pics? | Let’s do it! | Why is this not getting more attention?! | The OTP to rule all other OTPs

How long will they last? - Hopefully, till one of them kicks the bucket!

How quickly did/will they fall in love? - Sloooowly! It took them maybe a year to confess but they fell for each other in the first few months of knowing each other.

How was their first kiss? - a long time coming, very sweet and tender / a little hesitant...the kisses after that were...not so hesitant

Wedding:

Who proposed? - Joel!

Who is the best man/men? - Tommy!

Who is the bride’s maid(s)? - Ellie! And they had to be convinced to let even the two of them be part of the wedding party lmao. They just wanted something simple but those two are so important that they were like yeah okay...they gotta be up there too. (Jenny and Peggy were very offended but also know Claire so they were like ‘that makes sense’)

Who did the most planning? - Dina....lmao....

Who stressed the most? - Joel! He wants it to go well and wants to make sure that Claire feels good about what they’re doing just because she was so hesitant to get married in the first place (due to past traumas not any lack of feelings for Joel obviously).

How fancy was the ceremony? - Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big.

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? - Despite Joel and Claire’s protests, all of Jackson was invited to the wedding pft.

Sex:

Who is on top? - Joel but they also fucks heavily with some cowgirl.

Who is the one to instigate things? - Claire!

How healthy is their sex life? - Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now

How kinky are they? - Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

How long do they normally last? - Maybe twenty on the regular when they’re all settled? Joel’s old and Claire is worried he’ll blow his back out (again). Joel gets second winds esp in the beginning of their relationship so there are usually two rounds. Claire’s also usually pretty easy to get going.

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? - They aren’t really fussed about counting! As long as they both come once each and are enjoying themselves Claire especially tries not to put pressure on it (which in turn helps her come more tbh). Joel is annoying about making her come a bunch esp eating her out.

How rough are they in bed? - Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it.

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? - No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 (but blink and you’ll miss it PDA) | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? - None!

How many children will they adopt? - Just one - Ellie! (technically...sort of)

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? - I’m def filling these out for them taking care of Mr. JJ. Joel always get stuck with the diapers somehow.

Who is the stricter parent? - Joel! Claire is a softy with kids.

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - JOEL...well he tries.

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? - Claire!

Who is the more loved parent? - Oof...JJ loves his Grandpa Joel...and Ellie loves him the most so def Joel.

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? - Claire!

Who cried the most at graduation? - Claire~

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? - dkgslkg CLAIRE. Joel’s Angry Forehead Vein comes out.

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? - Claire!

Who is the most picky in their food choice? - Not really picky, they unlearned that a long time ago but I think Joel has more favorites/things he misses from pre-Outbreak.

Who does the grocery shopping? - Claire! She’s the one who usually handles the caravans and trades game/furs for food.

How often do they bake desserts? - Pretty often! Claire has a lot of free time on her hands and it drives her nuts so....lots of muffins.

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? - Joel likes salads (but a HEARTY salad) and Claire loves some good wings or ribs.

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - Joel 🤧

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - Joel!

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidently while cooking? - Claire! Mostly because Joel is distracting~ her.

Chores:

Who cleans the room? - Joel!

Who is really against chores? - Neither of them. They both pull their weight.

Who cleans up after the pets? - Claire!

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - Joel but the bar is low.

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - Claire! Mostly because it’s Joel’s family and she wants them to like her even though they’ve known her for years lmao.

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? - Claire. She gives it to Joel and winks at him like, “Go get yourself something pretty, baby.” 

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - Joel loves a good shower/bath. 

Who takes the dog out for a walk? - Claire! It’s her baby but Joel likes to come along with them.

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? - Claire! But not at first. Honestly, the better her mental health state gets the more she finds boxes of decorations in the attic and is like...huh we should put these up for JJ.

What are their goals for the relationship? - To be loved and kept safe!!! They don’t know it but their relationship is a supportive framework for them doing a lot of healing from their respective traumas.

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? - Neither of them. Both of them are early risers usually!

Who plays the most pranks? - Claire at the egging of Ellie lmao.