#happy early valentines day to us all look at this man!!!!

[likesummerrainn]

RAW | 02.13.23

[yuulettte]

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥

[𝐘𝐮𝐭𝐚 𝐎𝐤𝐤𝐨𝐭𝐬𝐮 𝐗 𝐅𝐞𝐦!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫] [𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲]

"In a world where I could lose you at any moment, I want to make tonight count. So please, give all of yourself to me. For I love you purely. My mind, my body, my soul. All of it belongs to you."

✰Rating: NSFW 18+ MDNI

✰Summary: It's Valentines Day, and your long term boyfriend Yuta Okkotsu would like to take you out on the best date of your life. Just what sort of surprises could he have in store for you?

✰W/C: 5.2k

✰C/W: Oral(Fem! Receiving), Hotel Sex, Teasing, Flower Language, Marriage Proposal, Mostly fluff with a small bit of smut + hurt/comfort at the end

✰A/N: Happy Valentines Day!!! Yuta is aged up to be in his early to mid 20's, sometime after High School. Now do enjoy Yuta being an absolute love sick fool of a boyfriend. Read the 'extra notes' at the end for flower meanings.

"That was so good~" you sighed, sinking into the passenger seat of the car your boyfriend had rented for the night.

In pure honesty, you didn't even know he could drive until earlier that evening. When he'd covered your eyes with both of his hands, your ears tingling at the sounds of his tiny giggles as he led you outside your shared apartment.

"Happy Valentine's Day, my love."

The phrase was said in the same gentle voice that you'd fallen for all those years ago when you were still a teenager. That same soft tone.

Your now unobstructed gaze fell onto him holding a bouquet of Red Tulips laced with Baby's Breath, a keychain dangling from his fingers. He handed the flowers to you sheepishly. Even after all this time of being together, Yuta's humble attitude never seemed to wane. He could buy you the world and still make a face that pleads, 'You deserve more'.

"I thought these would be more to your liking than red roses," he started to speak, reaching a delicate finger to trace along the petals of one of the vibrant flowers. "They have a similar meaning though." Tired eyes closed as a smile came to his features. Cheeks still dusted pink, he went to cup yours in his free hand. He'd done his research early into your relationship. What you liked, what you loved; even learning flower language for occasions like this. He spared no expense when it came to gifting you.

"They're perfect" came your response in the form of a hum, head tilting down to breathe in the pleasing aroma of the flowers. Only when you raised your face did you see the car parked behind him.

You had mentioned it about six months ago, how you'd love to go on long drives with him instead of using public transport.

"Sure, it's convenient enough.." You mumbled while you washed that night's dishes. "But imagine all the fun we could have if one of us owned a car! We could go out whenever we want, wherever we want. Like to the ocean!"

It was well known amongst all of your peers that you were rather spontaneous. Always groaning at the fact you had to ask permission before leaving campus. Even now that you were far more mature and grown, you still had that streak in you. Yuta, of course, adored it. Something that had intimidated him during your friendship had become refreshing as the years rolled by. Nothing was ever boring with you.

He followed the trail of your eyes behind him to the fancy looking vehicle. His hand went to the back of his neck as you squealed.

"You remembered!!!" Tears welled up in the corners of your eyes. Possibly from how wide you were smiling, or maybe it was excitement. But either way, your reaction was all the man needed to know he'd done his job.

"It's rented, but I figured it'd be fun?" He cocked his head to the side and you stood on your tippy toes to kiss his cheek. "It will be so. Fun." You emphasized your words with an exaggerated pause, and like the gentleman that he is, Yuta opened the passenger door for you to slide into the car.

The ride to your favorite restaurant was relaxing. Your fingers tapped at your phone screen to connect to the car’s bluetooth. Familiar music filled the small space as Yuta drove smoothly, causing you to smirk.

“How long have you even had your license for?” The question was playful but your boyfriend took it seriously, blinking a few times to think before replying.

“I got it right after my 18th birthday, Gojo said it would be useful in case I have more missions overseas.” He said while tapping his index finger on the steering wheel to the beat of one of the both of your favorite songs. “He actually gifted me a car that year too, but I returned it. How was I supposed to accept a present like that?”

The two of you laughed together at your teacher’s shenanigans. Though at times you wished Yuta to be a bit more selfish, you couldn’t deny this part of him was charming. You could vividly imagine him panicking at such an expensive gift, waving his hands and stuttering just like he would when you’d first met. The memory made warmth fill your chest as you watched him from your spot in the passenger seat.

During your first few months of knowing Yuta, the last thing you would’ve expected was for him to end up as your boyfriend of 5 years. He was timid and jumpy, but showed so much will to survive that it made you feel a bit overwhelmed. Maybe it’d started back then. The feeling in your stomach that slowly grew with time and eventually made its way to your heart. It was difficult to pinpoint when you’d fallen in love with him, but he spoke of it like it was the most grand realization.

“I woke up after Ieiri-san healed me from a difficult mission, and you were asleep sitting up, face down on the clinic bed by my legs.” He’d explained after confessing to you.

“I knew the moment you opened your eyes that I was in love with you.” He spoke that sentence without a single stutter. “I’ve.. probably felt this way for a long time before that though.” He smiled oh so gently, and then you knew you were a goner. Instantaneously, you felt yourself melt, and since that moment you’ve been his. In mind, body, and soul you became Yuta’s. Even the slightest touch now lingered, every breath he took became precious, and whatever words left his lips gained meaning. That sort of unbreakable connection; the bond that kept you up at night with both worry and excitement, made even the most hellish of missions bearable.

Because he’d be waiting for you afterwards.

The sound of his voice brought you back from your reminiscing, a smooth and clear chime you’d never grow tired of.

“We’re here, leave the flowers in the back and I’ll help you out.” With a click he pulled the keys from the ignition and got up from the front seat to open your door again for you. Hooking your arm in his, you laid your head on his shoulder for a moment. The familiar scent of his cologne on his shirt’s collar caused your skin to tingle as you walked arm in arm into the restaurant.

Once the two of you were seated you ran your hand across the velvety surface of the table cloth. Taking a moment to look down at the promise ring that decorated your left ring finger. Yuta’s gaze followed and a small smile came to his lips.

“I’ll give you an even better one someday soon, promise.” He mused before bringing your hand to his mouth to place a kiss upon your fingers.

“Womanizer~” You chided, earning a pout from him until you both started to giggle.

Your dinner was spent chatting about mundane things, mixed in with laughter and gazes that stuck for a bit too long. Yuta’s eyes always looked a tad tired. Even if you’d make him go to bed early, or bribe him into taking a nap with you, the dark circles that lined his lower lashes never diminished. Dark blue irises that occasionally almost showed black peered up at you while you ate your dish. Taking note of every tiny reaction with a sense of gratitude. How lucky he was to share moments like these with you. How blessed he was to be the man who had the honor of pampering you.

Teasing your boyfriend has been one of your favorite pastimes since high school. While thoughts of adoration and admiration filled his mind, yours was clouded with ideas on how to get him going during your dinner date. It was only fair. After all, your love was mutual. If he made your heart beat so fast with one upwards glance, then it was only right for you to give him the same treatment.

As the hour passed it was now time for dessert. Yuta wasn’t picky with food as long as it had a pleasing texture. Only learning to cook after the two of you moved in together so he could make your favorite meals. However you’d gotten him to take a liking to sweets by baking for him so often. He swears he’d have gained weight if it wasn’t for how physically demanding his work is.

So when the chocolate cake you ordered arrived, there were two slices instead of the usual one. Your eyes light up, because this was your shot. Full karmic payback.

Once the plates were set in front of the both of you, and Yuta had lifted his fork to take his first bite, you suddenly pulled the dish away with an innocent smile.

“I let you plan today completely on your own, so it’s my turn to spoil you a little in return.” You said sweetly, knowing there was no way he’d refuse. Yuta merely looked around the restaurant with a flushed face.

“Do you mean-” Cutting off his words, you lifted a forkful of cake up in front of his face and gestured for him to open his mouth.

“Just once? Please please please?” You dragged your words out to plead to him, his shoulders straightening at the sound of your voice before he let out a long sigh.

“Fine.. Just once” As he opened his mouth, you rejoiced in silent victory. His eyes closed, not having the gall to look at you during such an embarrassing exchange. It’d have been fine if you asked him to feed you, but this was.. Something he was not used to.

Sliding the dessert into his mouth you pulled the fork from his lips, watching intently as he chewed awkwardly. Satisfied with your payback, you licked the rest of the frosting from the back of the fork. The unintentionally erotic action earning an audible gulp from Yuta before you handed the utensil back to him.

He coughs a few times and reaches for his napkin, wiping the corners of his lips to get rid of the leftover chocolate. “Wasn’t so bad was it?” You said with a tilt of your head and a close eyed smile.

Now back in the car with your arms stretched upwards after humming your praise to the chef, you looked over to Yuta who adjusted his seatbelt a few times before checking yours as well.

“You don’t have to check me, you know” You sighed as he tugged at the belt, giving a satisfied hum after ensuring your safety. “I heard Utahime-Sensei say that improper car etiquette is just as dangerous as curses once though.” He mumbled through knitted brows. “I’m sure she just made that up..” And with that you began your drive home, or so you assumed.

After going past your apartment complex, you raised your eyebrows.

“Yuta, you missed our turn,” You began to say before he turned his head. Deep sea colored eyes that threatened to sink you met your own as he gave you a smile. “I know, just trust me” He spoke softly, reaching his right hand to grip your knee reassuringly.

And with a nod, you did. Watching as the city lights faded into the background of stars, Yuta rolled the windows down to let in the fresh nighttime air. You breathed in deeply and a familiar scent tickled your nose.

“The ocean..!” Your voice rose from the comfortable silence, eyes wide as you turned to stick your head out the window. And there it was, moonlight dancing off the top of the waves. “You seriously..” Swinging your head back around to look at him smiling stupidly, all you could do was laugh as you fully realized just how much this man loves you.

Your toes sunk into the cold sand after you tossed your dress shoes off to the side, your legs moving quickly to carry you to where the water kissed the land. Yuta followed after you, throwing his jacket onto the hood of the car to join you in dipping your toes into the cold winter water.

“It’s freezing!” You shivered and he laughed in response. “Of course it is, it’s February.”

Taking your hand in his, he walked with you along the shoreline. Thanking whatever God that’s out there for the weather being clear. The sea breeze blew his usually well kept raven hair to the side, offering a view you often only saw in the mornings. He was stunning.

Your body couldn’t seem to contain your affection, twisting to suddenly throw your arms over his shoulders and press your face into the side of his neck. “Thank you..” You mumbled the tiny phrase against his skin as he brought his hand to the small of your back.

“Anything for you.. If it was possible I’d find a way to gift you the sea” He spoke into your hair, breathing you in before reluctantly setting you down. “But there is something else I want to give you.”

He moved behind you, turning you to brush your hair away from your face, gently taking a swathe from both sides of your head. “I have more for you at home but I wanted to give this to you here..” Yuta clipped the two strands of your hair behind your head with a white bow, the sheer fabric decorated with pearls and lace.

“It fits you perfectly,” He hummed, pulling the dainty ribbon up by the end so you could see it from the corner of your eye. You weren’t able to speak. The red on your face must’ve been visible even in the moonlit lighting, because Yuta let out a chuckle while he ran his fingers through your hair.

The sound of his laughter sent electricity through you, forcing you to spin on your heel to face him. Your fists balled and you took a large breath in before shouting.

“Marry me!”

Shoulders raised to their highest point, gaze pinned directly onto him, you repeated your question that came out more as a demand.

“I don’t have a ring yet, and I know I’m not the one who is supposed to ask but..” Your eyes started to overflow, mimicking the movement of the seawater. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Yuta, please marry me!”

All he could do was open and close his mouth a few times. Eyes wide and watery just like yours. And then he reached into his pocket to pull out a small box.

“You beat me to it..” He laughed out through his tears. Opening the tiny box in his hand to reveal an elegant engagement ring. Slowly, he sunk down onto one knee and lifted it to you.

“I was so nervous.. I wanted to find the perfect timing but of course..” He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, his words stuttering. “Of course you’d ask before me”

“It’s only fair,” You sobbed out between giggles and sniffles. Reaching your hand down towards him so he could place his promise upon your finger, sliding the other ring you'd worn for the better of 4 years into his pocket. “You always go above and beyond.. I want to give it all back to you in return”

Your words weren’t helping his tears, his other knee giving out below him to fully kneel in front of you. “You don’t have to do anything, just stay by my side. I’ll give my everything to you.” Yuta pressed your knuckles to his lips to plant a kiss on each one. “My body, my mind, and my soul are yours. So I accept, let’s get married.”

With his declaration he stood, cupping both of your cheeks in shivering hands. He leaned down to kiss the side of your face, the corner of your eyes, the tip of your nose, and then finally your lips. It was soft, gentle, and passionate. It was Yuta.

“I’ll make tonight the best of your life, I swear to it” he muttered against your lips, his eyes looking at you with a sense of determination you’d only seen a couple of times.

The first was during the night parade of a hundred demons. The second was when you wished him luck before he left to train with Miguel. And the third was your first time. You felt your heartbeat quicken at record speed as he began to pull you back towards the car. Your pace lagged behind his, Yuta’s usual gentleness replaced with overwhelming desire as he swung you over his shoulder.

“W-Wait, Yuta!?” You squirmed around a bit to no avail, tilting down his back as he bent to pick up your shoes and his jacket that’d blown to the sand from the breeze. “Where are we going?? Don’t we have to go home?”

“I rented a hotel, it’s taken care of. Maki will get the mail for us in the morning” He spoke like he’d recited this conversation a million times in his own head. Placing you in your seat and buckling you in nicely. “Trust me.”

It was the same thing he’d told you before taking you here, but this time it was spoken with such an underlying tone of lust that it made you feel dizzy. The entire drive to the hotel was spent with your hand covering your mouth to stifle any noises while Yuta drew tight circles with his finger against your thigh.

“It’s beautiful..” You whispered, taking in the hotel room your now fiance had booked for the two of you. He put the flowers he’d bought you into a vase before setting down a bag he’d secretly packed and stowed in the back of the car.

“You really did plan everything out to perfection didn’t you?” He raised his head at your comment, giving you a shy smile. “This room was actually my second choice, the other one was fully booked” He sighed, unpacking a few items that you couldn’t see over the broadness of his shoulders.

“Hmm.. I’ll take a bath” Deciding it would be best to clean up while he was occupied, you began to walk towards the bathroom until you felt a pair of arms wrap around you from behind. “Wait..” His voice sounded small. “Let’s bathe together..”

There were moments when Yuta acted like his younger self, shy and unsure. The majority of those instances being with you. If you were upset with him, if he had to leave for a particularly long mission, if you were to take control in the bedroom. Or when he had a very specific want that he wasn’t 100% sure you’d like to fulfill. This time, it was bathing together.

“Ehhh? But shouldn’t we both get completely clean first?” You replied, trying to ignore the heat that began to pool between your thighs.

“I won’t try anything yet, I promise. I just don’t want to be apart from you” Yuta rested his chin on your shoulder, his words sincere enough to make you give in. You gave him the go ahead to run a warm bath, your hands going to start the long process that would be undressing yourself.

“Let me help with that too!” He called from the bathroom over the sound of running water, making you stifle a laugh. “Fine~”

You made your way to the tub, stopping beside Yuta who was kneeling in front of it to check the water temperature. “There, now stand still okay?” He told you with a smile, making away quickly with the distance between you.

Standing behind you, he slowly unzipped the back of your dress. The sound of the zipper making the tips of your ears turn red. One of his favorite parts about being intimate with you was the build up. You knew this very well. He’d take hours undressing you if you were patient enough. But he knew now wasn’t the time for that.

Letting you step out of the fabric that now pooled onto the bathroom tile, he reached his hand to undo the back of your bra in one swift motion. An impressive talent he’d acquired after years of experience with you. He placed the garment on the counter before moving on to the bow in your hair.

This was a new sensation, his fingers raking through your locks as he undid the bowl. You could hear his breath hitch, and immediately you knew it was going to be hard to hold back before getting out of the bath. A tiny giggle exited your lips, your hair now free from the confines of his gift.

“Ahh, it’s not fair..” Yuta groaned, tossing the ribbon to the side as he slid his hands down your body to find your panties. “Why do you have to be so..” Fingers hooking around the elastic of the waistband, he pulled them down your legs. “Enticing..?”

Now it was your turn to tremble. His words never failed to make a fire like pleasure burn deep within your core. A throbbing that only he could bring to your surface, as if he knew exactly what he was doing to you. It was possible that he did. He fought every urge within him to get back on the floor and worship your right then and there. Taking in a deep breath from between his teeth, he pulled his hands from your body and began to undress himself while you started to wet your hair.

You sat on the tiny stool in front of the shower head, humming the tune you’d listened to together earlier that night in the car.

“Stuck in your head?” He asked you, pulling up another seat from behind you as he started to aid in washing your hair. Nimble fingers massaging your scalp gently to lather you in suds before rinsing. “Mhm, it’s a good song after all”

Your voice shook at the end of your sentence, Yuta’s fingertips grazing along your spine and then back up to the nape of your neck. “Keep your word, Okkotsu” It was a stern warning. He let out a sigh in response, picking up a sponge to wash your back. “Thought I’d try my luck anyways”

It wasn’t long before the both of you were properly washed and submerged in the warmth of the bath water. Your head leaning back against his chest as you sat between his legs. The both of you were pressed quite tightly together, causing Yuta to let out a small whine at any movement. “I’m sorry..” He muttered when you shot him a look when he couldn’t help but grind into you. “It’s just.. A tight squeeze..”

“That’s why I told you to wait” You flicked his forehead softly which made him flinch. A tiny ping of guilt caused you to press a kiss to the spot, your hand running through his damp hair. “Shall we get out now?”

You swear to God you’ve never seen Yuta Okkotsu move faster in the entirety of the 6 years you’ve known him.

One of the benefits to dating someone as powerful as Yuta was his ability to learn and adapt quickly. He could easily memorize every movement, sound, and reaction he could elicit from you. The way you liked to be kissed, the places you enjoyed to be touched, and the manner of which you wanted him to please you all had their own separate dedicated category in his mind.

And it seemed he was using every last bit of it tonight as he pressed his naked form against yours. Hands gripping the sides of your hips while he moved his lips on your own. Tiny whimpers of his name leaving your mouth in between breaths, the feeling of complete and utter need within you was so strong that it made your eyes water.

“Please..” You breathed out against his kiss-swollen lips, “Touch me..”

“I’ve been wanting to since you pulled off that erotic stunt at dinner.” He groaned into your jaw before he kissed his way down your neck. The mention of your ‘revenge’ scheme caused you to flush from chest to ears, squirming as he planted his lips to your heartbeat.

Yuta’s hands came up from your hips to cup both of your breasts, gripping them firmly before rolling them in his palm. “I seriously can’t ever get enough of this” He sighed, taking his left hand away to replace it with his mouth. His tongue rolled against your freshly cleaned skin almost desperately. Flicking against your now hardened nipple with practiced expertise. He squeezed the other between his middle and forefinger to earn a high pitched moan from you. Your thighs pressed and rubbed together underneath him, head tilting back to serenade him in more of your praise.

“Ahhh.. Yuta.. Don’t stop, please? I love you.. I love you” You repeated those three words until your mind couldn’t string them together anymore. Hips rolling up to meet his abdomen with needy whines. His self restraint was crumbling with every mention of his name, gaze clouded over with an innate need to please you.

“I’m going to make you feel really good now, okay?” He raised his head to ask you for permission to go further, in which you quickly nodded. A smirk played across his lips as he kissed further down until you could feel his still slightly damp hair tickling your thighs.

“Fuck.. You’re so so beautiful, my love..” It was not often that Yuta cursed. The soothing tone of his voice mixed with the eroticism of his words made your hips twitch. “Every part of you.” He traced his finger up and down your damp slit, whining at the way you dripped and shivered under his touch.

Finally letting go of his last bit of self control, he dipped his head between your thighs to take a long lick from the bottom to the top of your pussy. Your all too familiar taste causing him to involuntarily moan against you. Immediately your hand reached down to curl your fingers in his dark hair, your hips moving to feel more of him.

He could tell that you weren’t in the mood to be teased tonight. And he wasn’t either. Here, and now, with your bare body and soul laid out before him, he wanted to bring you to the best peak you’d have yet to experience. Yuta pressed his face against you like a man who’d been starved, his nose bumping your clit as he slid his tongue to lap up and down your folds.

You wondered which one of you was making more noise. Your loud moaning or his lewd sounds of slurping mixed in with soft words of praise between moans? It was impossible to fully understand what he was saying verbally, but you could feel every bit of it. His fingers going to hold you open, wet muscle flicking softly against your clit before he took the sensitive pearl between his lips to gently suck on it.

“A-Ahh-! Wait, Yuta!” You squealed out, hips lifting off the bed to grind against his face while he rubbed his tongue against your most sensitive spot. The coil of pleasure in your lower stomach only seemed to tighten further as he looked up at you with half lidded eyes, groaning against your skin as if begging you to use him.

“Why are you, ahh~ so good at that?” You questioned with no reply, instead feeling the vibration of a chuckle on your cunt before he resumed his task of messily tonguing your pussy. Your eyes squeeze shut as you steadily felt yourself grow closer and closer to finish. Yuta swirled his tongue around inside of you before flicking it back out again to repeat the same motion on your clit. The action caused your thighs to shake, your head falling back on the pillow again as your hands tightened further in his hair.

“Here..?” He mumbled to himself, tilting his jaw to press the flat of his tongue against your clit to press down on it before giving you more soft kitten licks. Of course, all of his assumptions were proved correct. Your thighs pressed tightly to his cheeks, the sticky sounds from you juices coating his chin only getting louder as you whined and whimpered.

He took his hands to wrap around your thighs, holding you tightly against his tongue. “Look at me,” he said your name at the end of his command. Your head snapping forward instinctively. “Let it out, it’s okay” You almost finished right then and there, cursing him silently as you were unable to form any coherent words at the moment. To say such a thing, while doing such a thing, and holding eye contact. No one had guts like him.

“Make a mess of me, I’m yours.” And with that final sentence, and a hard suck to your clit you came undone under Yuta like you never had before. You felt your entire body tense before relaxing all at once as you spilled into his mouth and down his chin. Your thighs shook violently, the only sounds you could make were of his name mixed with breathy moans. Throbbing between his lips, he suckled on you gently to coax you through your orgasm, his hips moving into the bed in time with your movements. He swears he’s covered in pre.

Finally Yuta lets go of you with a pop from his lips, lapping up the remainder of your juices from your thighs in an attempt to clean you. He raises his head from between your legs to give you his classic shy smile, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and then proceeding to lick his fingers clean. “Was that okay?” He asked sheepishly, and all you could do was whimper in response.

“I swear to God, I’m going to get back at you for that tomorrow morning..” You mumbled out with your head laying on his chest, both of your body’s much too exhausted to continue any further for tonight. “You make it sound as though I did something wrong” He laughed, running his hand up and down your back in a soothing motion.

“You’ve grown so much.” A sudden wave of sentimentality washed over you as you brushed his hair away from his face with your fingers. “You’re speaking as if I’m a child” Yuta closed his eyes to lean into your touch, turning his head to place a kiss on your palm. “But you have too. We both have.”

The two of you laid in the soft comfort of the hotel bed, speaking of the future in a way you were both too timid to approach before. Words of a new home, a possible switch in professions, new pets, a happy life. “I really never imagined a day where I’d have this.” He said quietly, staring up at the ceiling with an expression of deep thought.

“I’m actually going to get married..” The sentence left his lips before his eyes went to a ring that didn’t belong to either of you, sitting on the living space table. “She’d be happy for you.”

Your voice came to him with words he needed more than oxygen itself.

“You’re right.” He whispered, a smile coming to his face as a few tears dripped down his cheek. “She would.”

Extra Notes: The meaning of the flowers written about are;

Red Tulips: Passion, love, and lust (yes, he was intentionally slick with this LMAO)

Baby's Breath: Sincerity, hope, and new beginnings (It is often used in wedding bouquets!)

[beyondspaceandstars]

valentine's day with matt

A/N: Happy Valentine's Day! This is a quick little headcanon/thoughts/scenario (?) I came up with. I’ve had a strong Daredevil fixation lately. But, anyway, this is just a silly little fun thing but I hope you enjoy it. I don’t know if it’s very good but it’s festive and sweet, I think :)

also apparently there is a limit to how many characters you can use in a bullet-point list so i apologize for the atrocious formatting, i can't figure out how to get around that dumbass rule with this text editor

There is no doubt in my mind that Matt is an absolute romantic when he’s in a real, stable relationship

He doesn’t let himself into them but when he finds a person and dedicates himself fully, there’s no holding him back from worshipping his partner

Matt met you in the late spring, way past Valentine’s Day for that year, and frankly, he wasn’t sure if you’d want to stick around past the summertime

He got nervous when you two started getting serious and when he eventually let you in on his nighttime activities he was sure you would run for the hills

But you hadn’t

And the next thing you both knew… it was the season of love. Valentine’s Day. Your first Valentine’s Day together was just around the corner.

You truly didn’t expect much. Maybe a nice dinner and flowers—the expectation of flowers would even be pushing it. In your past relationships, Valentine’s Day hadn’t been anything. You’d try to get your partners to do thing, go out on dates with you, but no one ever seemed very interested in it all.

“It’s a holiday to sell things,” your last boyfriend had said to you when you’d asked him if he wanted to have a nice dinner at your favorite steakhouse. It was then that you had simply assumed men just didn’t do Valentine’s Day.

Matt, on the other hand, was stressing—seriously stressing—over February 14th.

The man would be practically making himself sick trying to plan out the day. But he was very good at hiding his stress. At least, from you. Foggy wasn’t spared from witnessing Matt’s panic.

"What about that new Italian place around the corner? Does it look nice?"

"Matt, do you think you’re maybe overthinking all of it?"

Matt would never admit if he was but…yes, he was.

You were unaware of it all and tried not to think too hard about the holiday. You had gotten Matt a small gift and were going to suggest having a night in with a nice dinner and a bottle or two of wine…

But then he caught you off guard.

You were out for lunch with him the day before Valentine’s Day. You two didn’t work too far from one another and so lunch dates (depending on your schedules, of course) had become a pretty regular part of your weekly routine.

It was about halfway through your lunchtime when, out of nowhere, completely unprompted, Matt said, "I made us reservations for tomorrow night at an Italian restaurant not too far from here."

Your jaw went slack and your heartbeat shot up. The concern that fell on Matt’s face told you he noticed.

"If… If that’s okay with you," he stammered, trying to walk back on his words. "If you don’t want to do anything for Valentine’s Day, I understand, I’m sure I can cancel—,"

"No!" Your outburst took both of you by surprise. You almost start laughing out of nervousness. "I mean, I’d love to. It sounds amazing, I was just…surprised. No guy I’ve been with has ever really wanted to do anything on Valentine’s Day."

Matt frowned. A deep, serious frown. "You’ve never gone out for Valentine’s Day?"

"Not really." You felt your cheeks go warm. "I’m very excited." Your heartbeat hadn’t settled since he mentioned dinner plans.

The next day, you were giddy. You had stayed over at Matt’s place and decided to wake up early to make him a nice breakfast. He was speechless. You two would exchange "Happy Valentine’s Day" before swapping sweet kisses and going your separate ways for the day.

You’d assume you wouldn’t hear from Matt again until dinner time but then a giant — giant — bouquet of roses was delivered to your office. You were stunned. As were your coworkers. And then the flowers made you hopelessly tear up.

It was already the best Valentine’s Day you’ve ever had and you still had dinner to look forward to.

After work, you returned to your apartment and freshened up.

You were quite nervous for some reason. It didn’t make sense. You’d been going out with Matt for almost a year. You two had been on numerous dates. Hell — you two slept together regularly. But this? Valentine’s Day dinner? This was what was making you all jittery?

It was a mix between never really knowing what to expect for Valentine’s Day and wanting everything to go perfectly.

Matt was patiently waiting for you outside the restaurant when you arrived. You saw a smirk creep its way onto his lips, no doubt sensing your presence.

"Hi, honey," you said as you approached and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You made quite the ruckus at my office today with that garden of flowers you sent."

Matt chuckled. "Were they okay? I kind of had to trust the florist’s opinion and he could’ve scammed me for all I know."

You laughed. "They’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen."

"You clearly haven’t looked in the mirror lately."

"Matthew Murdock, you’re silly."

The restaurant he had chosen was stunning. Very fancy, very chic. A nice modern, clearly high-end, Italian restaurant. You gasped when you saw the array of artistic decor. It was just all so…romantic.

"Is it… Do you like it? Is this okay? I also had to trust Foggy for advice on this place—,"

"It’s wonderful, Matt. Everything is so wonderful."

He took your elbow and gave it a squeeze.

The hostess then escorted you two to your table, Matt continued holding onto your elbow and you had to keep yourself from laughing. No doubt he had already mapped out the place in his head.

Your table was in the back of the establishment, kind of hidden and private. You wondered if Matt had dropped some extra money to get something so intimate. You were tearing up at the thought.

"Are you okay?" Matt asked after you two took your seats.

"You make me feel so special."

Wordlessly, Matt found your hand and kissed the back of it. It was almost silly but it made your heart skip a beat. Seriously, you felt like a teenager on a first date.

You diverted your attention to the menu. You quickly realized Matt had the same one as you — a.k.a. a menu he couldn’t exactly read. It looked like Matt came to the same realization as you when he picked it up.

"Oh, should I see if they—,"

Matt shook his head. "Read it to me?" He leaned back in his seat, waiting, a little cocky or proud of himself.

You blushed. "Sure, I think I can manage that."

Dinner went by very nicely. You raved about the food and Matt looked relieved that you enjoyed it. You two even split a dessert. Matt "accidentally" got whipped cream on your cheek, which he just had to clean up himself. You teased him it was just a ploy to get close to you and he didn’t deny it.

Afterward, you two walked arm and arm back to his place. The night was peaceful and lovely and…perfect.

"I have a gift to give you later," you said, breaking the silence.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Mhm," you sighed. "Well, maybe I have a couple of gifts."

"Oh?" Matt smirked.

"I gotta thank my lovely boyfriend properly. This was the best Valentine’s Day," you admitted.

Matt stopped on the sidewalk. The streets were quiet and empty. His arm untangled from yours, his hands grinding your waist with ease. "It’s not over yet," Matt said in a hushed tone. "Besides, I might have a couple of gifts for you as well."

And then he kissed you deeply. The world around you felt like it had stopped.

"Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetheart."

"Happy Valentine’s Day, honey."

[mayullla]

Hiya, hope your doing well. I’m respecting Yandere Thoma 🦋 🌺 for the event please and thank you.

Title: Chocolate favors

Character(s): Thoma (Genshin Impact) Summary: Ayato asked a little favor from you to make chocolate cookies with Thoma. Warnings/tags: Yandere themes, fem!reader, power dynamics, 1.5k words

[ - A little present~! Event - Closed - ]

"Ayaka complimented the cookies you made a while ago. I was wondering if you could do me a favor and make those cookies again," the sharp-eyed man who was your boss asked. "Valentine's Day is coming soon, and I was hoping to give the workers something special. You will be paid extra for your troubles, and I will prepare all the equipment and ingredients necessary."

Lies your mind told you as you looked at the head of the Kamisato clan. The sly smile on his lips and the sharpness in his eyes told you that this was not what he truly wanted.

It was obvious what he wanted, what he wanted to happen with this.

"Of course, making something for so many people would be difficult to do alone. I will also send Thoma to help you."

You stifled all your feelings as you bit the inside of your mouth when you heard that name come from his lips. The name of the person you wanted in your heart to avoid at all costs. You didn't show your boss your feelings; his eyes were cold, unlike his smile, as if telling you to try. You gulped all your feelings down and nodded. "Yes, sir, I will do as you ask."

Was it a sort of amusement to the Kamisato clan? You were never sure. For the longest time, you always tried to avoid him, using every excuse and idea you had to keep him far away. Ever since you took care of him of his injuries when Ayato brought him to the house, stating that he would be working here. The man was weak, with injuries and a heavy fever. You were the one who took care of him, getting him back to health.

Maybe it started around then? You remembered the awkward man who stumbled with his words when he looked at you. A small little crush he had. It was cute back then, his flustered self as he could not handle even you touching his arm when you were patching him up.

When did he become so twisted? How did he fall to become so obsessed with you like this? You didn't want this at all; if anything, you were disgusted, yet at the same time terrified.

Not when you knew that the boss and his sister supported this behavior. A long time ago, you tried to tell them, tried to tell them that his little obsession at that time could be controlled and stopped, yet they pushed all your worries aside, telling you that you were worrying too much. They treasured him, they treasured him a lot, to the point that they would be willing to give him what he wanted.

The smile on his face as he looked at you hopefully when you arrived in the kitchen the next day. The cheerful greeting felt almost fake, genuine yet at the same time, you were sure of the darkness that was swirling inside him. "You are here. I am glad... The young master had told me that I would be helping you today to make cookies for Valentine's Day to give to the servants and workers."

His words were innocent, yet almost hoping. You nodded at his words as his smile became wider; he looked very happy, even more so when your eyes continued to look at him. "Please take care of me. I will try my best to follow you," Thoma laughed.

You didn't really have to do much when it comes to instructing him what to do; he was too talented in many things, and that included the kitchen but also baking. "Got it," Thoma replied as you told him to stir the batter. As you continued to prepare the other ingredients, you could feel his stare behind your back. You acted busy, concentrating on your work to make it more difficult to open a conversation.

You learned how to handle Thoma a bit, in a way that would go unnoticed. You realized early on that it wasn't only Thoma who would be saddened if you just outright ignored him, but also your boss and his sister would be rather unhappy with your actions. You learned a long while ago how to ignore his stares, and even if it took a while, you learned how to ignore him when he appeared a little too often around your vision, yet at the same time act like it was the first time you saw him that day when he approached you.

It was only recently that you figured out that Thoma actually knew all that. At first, you panicked, but then you realized that Thoma wouldn't do anything. His stalking, his obsession, his love, his lust that was so obvious would not tell a word to the siblings of your actions. It had become a game between the two of you, and for him, he could not be any happier that he even had a special connection with you, no matter how twisted it got.

"Hey.... Hey, are you okay?" You were pulled out of your thoughts when a hand touched your shoulder. Startled, you turned your head only for your cheek and lips to be smeared with melted chocolate, startling both you and Thoma.

"!?" "!!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" Thoma placed the bowl on the table as he grabbed a towel, while on his other hand, the one that tapped you, had the wooden spoon he was using to mix the chocolate in the bowl that had gotten smeared on your face. "You weren't answering my calls, and I got worried."

You watched him use the towel to clean your face, rubbing firmly yet not enough to hurt you or cause too much discomfort. He was careful while removing the chocolate from your face. "No, it was my fault," you told him after some time, quietly while he was cleaning your face. His face was red as you continued to stare at his face while he was doing so, watching him, yet you could see the excitement in his eyes, unable to be hidden from his shyness. "Sorry for worrying you. I was thinking for a moment there."

Thoma blinked and then smiled at you, nodding at your words, immediately believing them. Well, it wasn't like you were lying. "You must have been thinking really hard about it." Thoma peeked at your eyes as he removed the last remaining chocolate on your face. You thought for a moment what you should say here before answering, "I was thinking about the past, I guess."

"Oh?" Thoma tilted his head at your words as he pulled away from your face. You thought a bit more, choosing your words. "I was thinking about that time when you first arrived at the Kamisato estate. I remember you were hurt and sick back then, and I had to take care of you."

You watched as his face became redder. If it was long ago, you would have teased him that he looked like a tomato right now. "Ah- haha," he laughed awkwardly, reminded of the awkward past, yet there was also a hint of affection towards it. You knew that he treated that memory like a treasure. "What is the matter? Your face is red like a tomato right now," you teased him like you did in the past.

"Please don't tease me like that," Thoma tried to hide his face with his hand, and the towel that he used now forgotten on the kitchen counter. You laughed at his face, how easily he becomes affected by your words. "If you react like that, it would be difficult not to."

Thoma called out your name in a whine, as his face became even more red. He was trying to hide his face, but you could see how red his ears were. You smiled at him and then looked at the cookie mix and melted chocolate. "Well, that is enough playing," you told him in a light voice, a smile on your lips. Thoma seemed to want to stay in this atmosphere a little more and tried to look for an excuse, but you ignored him.

This much was enough.

This was enough for now. You had given him enough to keep him satisfied, as well as the two siblings. It would be a cycle for how long you could push it. The next moment, it would return to the obsession that you could feel burning in your body. He would watch your every movement and follow you, while you would give him small moments that would keep him somewhat satisfied.

"Oh dear, sorry, I think I missed a little bit again." You felt two hands touch your cheeks, pulling you to look away from the cookie batter. Your eyes met green ones, ones that were desperate, insane, lustful, yet at the same time delighted. A thumb touched your lips, rubbing them a little before releasing you. Looking at his thumb, you saw a smudge of chocolate on it. "There you go." His voice was loud in the quiet house as his hand moved from your cheeks to your arm, wrist, then your hand. He lingered a little while there before intertwining his fingers with yours.

You looked at his hand, surprised at his action, as it was too sudden, and looked up at him. You saw his smile, so full of love for you, so much that you could drown in it.

You could only push it for so long.

[nicestgirlonline]

sneaky

Pairing: Bucky x Reader 

Warnings: None! Just fluff!

Summary: You and Bucky decide to keep your new relationship a secret with somewhat disastrous results…

Word Count: 3.7k 

A/N: Here’s my entry for @the-slumberparty week 2 challenge blast from the past! I don’t really have an old WIPs, I was trying to jumpstart my writing again with this sleepover. So here’s a little sequel to dumb dumb, since you guys really really seemed to like that one! Hope you enjoy! Feedback is always welcome! <3 

part 1

That Valentine's Day was possibly the best night of Bucky’s life. He had finally gotten to express everything he had been feeling for you. Friday night bled into Saturday morning, neither of you getting much sleep. The months of yearning and pining all finally erupted into passion, lust and love.

Saturday morning quickly became Saturday afternoon, with lots of pillow talk, telling each other little secrets about yourselves, sharing childhood stories. A simple Postmates order and quick text to Steve meant no one to bother you, and no reason for you to leave his bed. 

Saturday night, or what Bucky was calling round two became Sunday morning and that brought about a little thing called the Sunday Scaries.  

Amidst the bliss and happiness there was a lingering thought that kept bothering you. The two of you lounged in his bed, enjoying each other's quiet company, the moonlight of the early morning making the room glow blue. 

You bit your lip. Time to rip the bandaid off. Real life was going to be starting too soon again. 

“Bucky I’ve been thinking…about us.”  

“Really? Me too.” He started to pepper your face with kisses. “I’ve been thinking about all the ways I can have fun with my girlfriend.” You giggled as he started to tickle your sides. You wiggled your way out of his grasp. You propped yourself up on your forearms and did your best to put on your serious face. Which was very hard when Bucky was being so cute. 

“I mean it! I’ve been thinking, maybe we should keep this private? For a while?” You tried your best to keep your voice soft, the face Bucky made broke your heart, which was what you were afraid of. He looked extremely scared. 

“What’s wrong, what’d I do? Was girlfriend too soon? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, ” He wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close against him. 

“No, no, you’re my boyfriend now.” You assured him. You took his face in your hands and he leaned into your palm in relief.  “I am really excited to be with you but we do work together. And there’s HR and office gossip and I don’t want that to affect us when we are still figuring out us. I guess I’ve never really thought about the power imbalance between us.” 

Bucky nodded albeit a bit reluctantly.  He untangled his arms around you so you were both lying on your side looking at each other. 

“I mean…I understand. You know I don’t really think of myself as a big superhero or something, but it is a ‘power imbalance’. Does it…bother you?” He asked scratching his face to avoid eye contact. You sat up, suddenly very confused. 

“What are you talking about, I’m the scientist who’s studying you? I’m the one abusing my authority here. It's all very unethical!” You exclaimed. 

“I don’t feel taken advantage of here, Doll. If anything, people are going to think I’m taking advantage of you.” Bucky chuckled. 

“Why?”

“I’m a bit older than you. I’m sort of famous for not so great reasons. I’m also literally more powerful than you?” He held up his left arm as if to show you proof. You dismissed it with a hand wave. 

“You don’t know that you’re more famous than me. I’ve been published in many academic journals.” You pointed out. Bucky shook his head. Gosh he liked you so much. He couldn’t even believe this was really happening to him half the time.  

“There were weeks of press coverage for my trial.”  You just rolled your eyes at that. Bucky was always so afraid that everyone saw him as a villain, but you’d never once felt any sort of danger from this sweet man. 

“Well, agree to disagree. But I still think maybe for the first two months we should just keep it quiet. So we don’t have to worry about anyone but each other. Just lowkey.” He pressed a kiss on the top of your head. 

“Yeah. You’re right, you’re totally right. We will keep things low key.” 

X

“Hey Steve, uhhh we’ve got a problem.” Bucky rushed into the breakfast room, thankful that Steve was the only one there. Steve queried his eyebrow at his panic stricken best friend. 

“What’s up Buck?” He asked. Bucky, seemingly slightly out of breath grabbed the side of the cabinets, he closed his eyes to try and get his 

“So you know how I told you about…on Valentines Day…and then we…so the weekend was…” He waved his hand to emphasis his pauses and Steve nodded along.  

“Of course,  I’m happy for you two, Bucky!” He said brightly, of course this must be some sort of post confession bliss the two of them were in making his friend act so strange.

“Well that's just the thing. Did you��tell anybody else about it?” He asked, his voice a bit strangled and his tone grim. 

“Uhhh was I not supposed to?” Steve asked, his face falling immediately. 

“Can you answer my question?”

“I told Sam about it. The two of you have been dancing around it for so long that we’re all just a little excited for you.” Steve started to explain but he could practically see the fury radiating off of Bucky in waves. His signature death stare was fixed on him. 

“Look, I really appreciate the um, support for my relationship. But here’s the thing, she doesn’t want anyone to know we’re dating.” He ground out, his teeth still clenched. “So we are going to be low. key.” 

“Look who it is. We were about to put out a missing person alert .” Natasha had slunk her way into the breakfast room, her voice dripping with self satisfied condescension.  “Getting provisions for the love nest?”

“God damn it, you told her too?”  He cried out. She shrugged, innocently looking away. Bucky grabbed his head, he was going to throttle Steve. 

“Oh come on, Y/N loves Nat. I figured she already knew.” Steve held his hands up in surrender, the captain certainly hadn't thought this was how his morning was going to go. Bucky turned his attention back to the super spy who was a bit too pleased with the unfolding drama. 

“Nat, did you tell anyone about this?” 

“Please, I’m a spy. I don’t just go around giving out important gossip with nothing to gain.”

“That doesn’t really answer my question, Romanoff!” He snapped back. 

“I’m still a bit confused why she doesn’t want anybody to know? Is that a modern dating thing, not telling people you’re dating?” Steve asked. It didn’t make much sense to him, what exactly did she think was going to happen if people found out? 

“She just doesn’t want the gossip and the pressure of everyone knowing about us to color the beginning of our relationship.” Bucky explained but his tone belated his true feelings. He absolutely did not want to keep this a secret. “So I told her I wasn’t going to tell anybody but I forgot I already told the biggest blabbermouth on the team.”  He quickly turned back to anger at his teammates. 

“I’m not the biggest blabbermouth…hm crap wait I forgot, Clint knows too.” Steve closed his eyes, wincing, ready for the smack upside the head he sorely deserved. 

“Loose lips sink ships asshole! ” Bucky was exasperated. 

“I didn’t know this was top secret information!” Steve countered. 

Nat stayed at the breakfast bar watching the two super soldiers argue, it was amusing but she had her limits. She had to intervene before Bucky had an aneurysm. 

“It's not so bad, we can do damage control. Tell Sam and Clint to keep quiet about it.” Nat said before taking a sip of her coffee. “And Wanda.”

“AND WANDA--” Steve looped an arm around Bucky’s waist before he could lunge at Natasha. 

x

Bucky Barnes: Hello Sam,  I am texting to inform you that Y/N and I are NOT DATING and please disbelieve the rumors to the contrary. Yours, Bucky Barnes

Sam Wilson: please learn to text like a normal person

Sam Wilson: You know I saw you making out with her in the elevator on Friday right? 

Bucky Barnes is typing…

Bucky Barnes: Sam, please disregard my previous message and meet me in the training gym on level 5 ASAP. Yours, Bucky Barnes

Sam Wilson: You don't have to sign your name I know it's you 

Sam Wilson: forget it

Sam Wilson: yeah I’ll be there

X Something wasn’t quite right. Your love life had never been better, Bucky was an amazing boyfriend, it was all you could do to not spend all of your time with him. The two of you would meet up after work hours and spend blissful hours back in Bucky’s apartment. But the rest of your work life, well it was starting to feel like people were avoiding you. 

Like the other day at lunch, you were sitting across from Bucky which wasn’t too unusual, you had been friends before you were seeing each other. The very tips of your shoes were touching, a special little secret way of holding hands. The two of you were discussing movies that were coming out, a totally neutral non flirty conversation. But then Steve walked in, looked at you then immediately spun on his heel and walked away. You furrowed your brow. That was a bit weird.

Or when you had bumped into Bucky at the gym on level 5. It had actually been a happy coincidence, you decided to do some yoga as you sorely needed to stretch your body out after being hunched over a microscope all day.  Bucky had been working out with Sam, Bucky lifting weights with Sam on the treadmill. You waved to the two of them and made your way over to say hi and Sam without saying a word jumped off the treadmill and started to jog out of the gym. 

Even Nat, which hurt the most, flaked on the movie night you’d wanted to have in the TV room. Then it was the domino effect, Steve dropped out then  Wanda and Vis dropped out too and soon it was just You and Bucky. 

“Oh nooo. What are we gonna do, watch the movie by ourselves? Just the two of us?” Bucky whispered in your ear as you were pouring popcorn into a large bowl. He grabbed you by the hips and waggled his eyebrows at you. You let out a little sigh and snatched the bowl before heading to the TV room.  You weren’t in the mood to flirt with him. The tv room was ready for what you had thought would be a big group. The lights were already dimmed and there were plenty of blankets and pillows around. 

You and Bucky settled next to each other on the couch. He grabbed a big fuzzy blue blanket and draped it over the two of your legs. He gave your leg a little squeeze beneath the blanket and winked. You just let out a sigh and grabbed the remote to fire up the Roku. Bucky frowned, this was certainly not what he thought their movie night would be like!

“What’s wrong Bambi? You seem down.” He asked, concerned. He wrapped his arm around your shoulder and pulled you into his body. You let him cuddle you, resting your head on his chest 

“It just feels like all of our friends are avoiding me. I mean I thought we were friends. Co-workers I guess, you know I’m not great at reading people.” You sighed and buried your face in his chest. Had you grown more annoying these past few weeks ? He grabbed your chin and tilted your head up so you were looking up at him. 

“Honey, you’re great at reading people, don’t let your insecurity tell you otherwise. I’m not really a people person anyway so I was excited that it was going to be just us. Nobody’s avoiding you I promise. Want to just reschedule this night?” He offered. 

You shook your head. Rescheduling wouldn’t make you feel any better. Besides it was nice to be able to spend time with Bucky out in the open like this.  You still felt like your friends were all acting weird, but you trusted Bucky enough that you decided to let it go. 

“Well since it’s just you and me, we still have to watch The Princess Bride.” You relaxed into the couch, already pulling it up on the screen. 

“Sounds perfect.” 

X

You were working away in the lab, it was a little past lunch time but you simply couldn’t stop in the middle of your project. You could push yourself just a little bit and finish this in time to actually leave at a normal time tonight. You had a date tonight. You smiled to yourself. A secret date.

You were deep in the process, so much so that you didn’t even notice the secret date, arriving hours early in the lab. He gave your sides a squeeze making you yelp. You spun around to see your smirking boyfriend. 

“Bucky! Um, what are you doing here!” you asked, trying not to sound too excited. 

“I'm here to help you out with those samples you had requested from me.” He projected his voice around the lab. But it was for the benefit of no one, you were the only two there. You smiled, happily playing along. 

“Oh right! Those samples I requested.” 

“Those spit samples.” He grabbed the back of your head and crushed his lips to yours in a sloppy wet kiss. You slapped his chest as you pulled away from him giggling.

“Ew! Bucky, that's so gross, why would you say it like that!” But you couldn’t stop giggling. He smiled, clearly feeding off the laughter. 

“You’re the one who wants us to have this clandestine affair, I’m just trying to keep up appearances.” 

“"Why are you even here? You’re a little early.”

“It's my lunch break and I wanted to say hi and give you a kiss.” He took  one of your hands in his. You reached out and grabbed his vibranium hand as well so you were holding both. It made his heart flutter, how unperturbed by his arm you were. When he was with you it was like he was just a normal guy.

“Hi.” He murmured, rubbing his nose against yours. 

“Hi.” you breathed back. This time when your lips met it was sweet and soft. He slowly moved his lips against yours, you opened your mouth just slightly enough that his tongue could slip inside and ---

“So I’m pretty sure the Erskine notes were in here.” It was Bruce! Bucky felt a sudden rush of fear. Bruce wasn’t one of the inner circle who would just pretend not to notice their closeness. They could actually get caught!  

You quickly as hard as you could pushed Bucky away and he clamored backwards. You wiped your mouth, hoping somehow that would disguise yourself. Bruce poked his head in.

“Just looking for the Erskine notes. Uh, everything ok in here?” He took stock of each of you, freshly shoved apart. 

“Yeah, just leaving!” Bucky cried as he raced out of the lab. 

“I’m indifferent to him leaving! I’ll go grab the notes for you Dr. Banner!” You raced to the file cabinet not looking at anything but the ground. 

Bruce cocked his head at the strange interaction he just encountered. 

X

“Good morning Bucky!” You greeted cheerfully as he entered the breakfast room in the morning, Steve and Sam in tow. “Morning Steve! Morning Sam!” You quickly added as they filed in. As not to raise suspicion. 

“I get a good morning? Wow. Don’t I feel special.” Sam said with a smirk. 

“I say good morning to everyone. I’m just a morning person like that. How are you doing Sam? I feel like you’ve been so busy, I barely even see you these days.” You asked, trying to sound casual. You still felt like everyone was acting so weird around you. 

“Oh you know, mission after mission. None of them were in Hawaii either, it's all been Nepal, Siberia, whatever frozen wasteland they can dump me in.” He sat down next to you. You nodded along as he continued talking about his missions, eager to connect with your friend again. 

“Good morning troops. Ah and good morning Beaker. Didn’t think I’d see you this early on a Monday.” Tony Stark, sunglasses still on, his closes wrinkled like he’d just come in off a jet. It had been awhile since he was on at the Compound.  

You hoped you weren’t blushing at the comment. Bucky had talked you into another Sunday night sleepover, you were trying to be subtle about it but you were a morning person, it didn't make sense to pretend to show up later.

‘I didn’t think I’d see you at all Mr. Stark. It's been awhile, since you’ve hunkered down with us mole people in the lab.” You always had a professional but good natured relationship with Tony. He was your boss after all, which is why you found it a little weird to call him Tony. 

Tony let out a chuckle and started to make science small talk, about the lab and the projects you’d been working on. 

Bucky and Tony were not great friends. They had buried the hatchet, sure, but it wasn’t like the two drank beer and watched the game together. Cordial coworkers are best. 

Except Bucky didn't feel very cordial with Tony right now. Considering he had taken the only open seat next to you. He gruffly sat down at the table next to them with his coffee. 

You wanted to invite Bucky to come sit with you, or go over to his table, but that would probably be a bit too much for just friends. You peered over Tony’s shoulder to your grumpy boyfriend darkly having breakfast. You tried not to make it too obvious and still listen to his anecdote about building a mini laser. 

The two of your eyes would catch more often than not. Quickly turning back to whatever they were doing. Tony picked up on this immediately, he looked over his shoulder

“What do you keep looking at?” He spun around to look directly at Bucky who was frozen in place.  “What’s going on here? Are you two fucking or something?”

It was like everything happened all at once.

“Tony -- out of line.” “Uh HR?” “No no no you misunderstand.” “Which one of you told Tony?”

Everyone burst into action, all speaking over each other.  Wait what? You swung your head from pleading with Tony to your secret boyfriend.  The three soldiers froze. Sam took a deep breath. 

“I’ve had enough of this! Nobody told Tony. You two idiots are just so obvious that anyone could see it.” Sam said. As soon as he did Steve let out a huge sigh of relief, his shoulders rolling forward like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.  

“I won’t have this, no way, not on my watch. Y/N. My beloved employee. With Mancurian Candidate? Under my nose, in my own lab?” Tony said indignantly,  putting his hand over his heart as if he was scandalized. 

“Tony! That’s really not very funny. You shouldn’t call him that.” You said your face a hard frown. and Bucky felt his heart burst with happiness. But then your gaze turned to him and he felt your icy stare.

“I--I can explain. You see I had actually texted Steve before we decided to be lowkey. It was before so really if you think about it. I didn’t do anything wrong. And Steve and his big mouth told a few people. But it’s just the people in this room. And Nat. And Clint. And Wanda. But that’s all.”  Bucky tried to explain to you as best he could. His eyes were pleading, he felt weak in the knees. You remained silent, your arms crossed. 

“Yikes, you’re in troooouble.” Tony taunted. 

“So basically everyone! Everyone I see on a daily basis. I can’t believe this. So they’ve all known the whole time?” You looked at Sam and Steve who both sheepishly nodded. You turned back to Bucky, you let out a shaky breath. People knew, and nothing bad had happened. Your friends had actually gone out of their way so you two could have some privacy.  “Well I guess there's no point in keeping this up then.”

“Hm?”

“I'm having breakfast with my boyfriend now, so if you don’t mind gentlemen.” You grabbed your breakfast bowl and moved your chair so you were sitting next to Bucky. You grabbed his hand and placed it on your lap. 

“Ugh, I'm nauseous you two are so fucking cute. Guess that’s my cue.  Come on, Commandos, take a hint.” Tony got up signaling to the other two who also rushed out of the room, more than happy to get out of the tense atmosphere. Once you were completely alone, you finally spoke. 

“I can’t believe everyone knows. Why didn’t you just tell me?” 

 Bucky let out a deep sigh. 

“I mean I kept it a secret from some people. Tony being one of them. I just…I wanted to give you what you wanted. But I mean to be completely honest I did want to tell everyone. I’m all in.”  

“I’m all in too!” You cried clutching his hand and kissing his knuckles. “That's why I wanted to try and slow things down so I couldn’t mess anything up. Now it just all seems so silly. I tried so hard to be sneaky too!” 

He took his hand off yours and gave your thigh a squeeze. 

“I mean…we can still sneak around sometimes. If you want. ” He had a playful glint in his eyes. “I mean, I had plans, Doll, a lot of plans. I was fully prepared to take you on every inch of that lab table.” 

“Sergeant Barnes! ” You gasped. “I think we may be a bit too loud for that level of sneakiness.” He took your chin in his hand and rubbed his thumb down your lip.

“I’m sure we can find a way to keep you quiet.”

[wordsofhoneydew]

fic rec time!! lfg

here i compiled a list of 11 amazing fics under 500 kudos!! you have angst, smut, fluff, pinging, grief, hurt/comfort. you fucking name it, it’s here.

happy reading!

Invisible by @nocoastposts [100, G]

For the Brownstone Discord Server's weekly drabble prompt "invisible".

Total Eclipse by @myheartalivewrites [1k, T]

Alex is not sure what the fuck is happening here.

“And if you only hold me tight…”

A man—probably the most beautiful man he has ever seen—is up on stage in this karaoke bar, absolutely murdering Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart and he’s pretty sure the guy is crying and it’s one of the most horrifying things he’s ever seen and Alex cannot. Look. Away.

Be Mine (And Be Yourself) by @itsmaybitheway [9k, E]

It starts with a misunderstanding, the way it always does with them.

Early on in their relationship, when there wasn’t even a relationship to speak of, the misunderstandings used to feed the animosity.

Then they’ve turned into something softer when their relationship turned into something softer. Purposefully misunderstanding each other just to take a jab, messing around for the fun of it or turning an innocent comment into a filthy innuendo and watching the other squirm.

But this? Oh a misunderstanding has never been this delicious, this appetizing. This one feels like the door to fucking sexy Narnia and Alex can not wait to eat those delicious Turkish delights

OR Henry just wants to be Alex's pretty little princess and Alex will make sure he gets his wish! AKA my Valentine's Day fic with housewife!Henry

it's so hard to get to heaven with my head in my hands by @anincompletelist [6k, M]

His mother would have a fit if she could see him now, taking comfort he isn’t owed from men he shouldn’t want it from. But Henry wipes his tears with the back of his hand and Alex begins singing the dulcet tune of a Spanish lullaby and George feels, perhaps for the first time in his life, like he belongs.

the tragic flaw is that they hide the truth (that you’re enough, you’re enough) by srrafoxjournals [6k, NR]

Alex has been staring.

For weeks now, actually.

Henry had originally chalked it up to Alex being, well, Alex. But lately, Henry can’t help but take it in as more than just his boyfriend's usual oddness.

Or: After gaining some weight, Henry feels self conscious. Alex however, loves his tummy.

blurred lines. by seafloor [5k, E]

Henry is a lovesick writer; Alexander a charismatic bartender. They’re still fated to fall into bed at some point.

I will/I will/We will by @tintagel-or-cockleshells [6k, T]

Alex's wedding planning business is going from strength to strength, but if he never has another wedding at Mountchristen Manor it will be too soon. He just can't get along with Henry, the venue coordinator, and the feeling is mutual. But when push comes to shove, the couple's big day has to come first.

I’ll be with him again soon by mymistakesweremade4u [3k, T]

It's sometime in mid-January, just a couple of months shy of his 95th birthday, when Henry finds himself surrounded by family in his and Alex's bedroom.

Or, Alex and Henry grew old together.

beg you on my knees (to stay) by @littlemisskittentoes [13k, E]

“Up.” Henry keeps the tone low. Controlled.

Alex is often frantic to follow commands, his limbs falling over themselves in his haste to obey. There’s no sign of that rushed need now. He takes his time, unfolding himself leisurely.

“You’re bold,” Henry monotones. He takes calculated steps forward, punctuating each slow stride with the unbutton and roll of his shirt sleeves. “I’ll give you that.”

“You’re only now realizing? Thought you were brighter than that, baby.”

keep me up all night / i wanna scratch your surface by @firenati0n [1k, M]

They step inside, greeted by moonlight streaming through the windows, illuminating their living room in a dreamy light; it’s enough to see outlines and shapes, enough to keep everything just a little bit secretive, a little softer around the edges.

Henry moves his hand to flick on the kitchen light, and Alex’s hand shoots out to grab his wrist. Henry looks down at him questioningly, blue eyes sparkling even with the absence of light. Alex always feels a little off-kilter around him, Henry both his center of gravity and his reason for vertigo. He’s stabilizing, and dizzying, and everything.

Alex’s thumb and index finger circle Henry’s slender wrist, exerting the slightest pressure. He feels Henry's pulse jump under his thumb.

“Get on the couch.”

don’t let me get drunk again by @getmehighonmagic [3k, E]

Alex had never wanted to cancel plans as much as he had while watching Henry pull a pair of light wash, tight jeans over his stockinged legs and bare ass.

Christ, he’s getting hard thinking about it now.

[psychokinetic-ectoplasm]

💞A Valentine's Surprise💞

Pairing: Ray Stantz x Female Reader

This was a request by a friend that wasn't necessarily meant to be for Valentine's Day, but it seemed too good of an opportunity to pass up. The basic premise is Ray coming home after being out ghost-busting all day to find you waiting for him with a surprise.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Also here on Ao3

NSFW

Ray shut the door behind him by leaning back against it and taking a breath. He was exhausted, and his back was aching from lugging around a proton pack all day. All he wanted was to fall into bed and sleep for twelve hours. However, soaking in the tub for a little while sounded nice, too. Maybe he could convince you to join him…

“Hey, sweetheart, I'm home!” he called, pushing off the door and slowly making his way back toward the bedroom. He wasn't entirely sure where you were, but he knew you were here. “Man, it's been a long day… I'm beat. I know I said we could go out if I got back early enough, but if it's okay with you, I could really use some sleep. The class five full roaming vapors are one thing, but we had two possessors back to back! I got lucky this time and didn't even get slimed. Venkman and Spengler weren't so fortunate. But we're all dead on our feet. Ha, sorry… Maybe that was a bad joke…”

He paused here to yawn and run a hand through his hair. He was so tired it didn't even phase him that the bedroom door was closed, which was unusual. “There's more, but I can tell you about it later. Hey, where are—”

Ray broke off, now having opened the bedroom door and realizing why it had been closed to begin with. His jaw dropped momentarily until a smile started tugging at his lips, and his body began immediately responding. Suddenly, he didn't feel so tired anymore.

You were sitting on the bed, obviously waiting for him, wearing only some red lingerie — that left very little to the imagination — and a smile.

“Hi,” he greeted, his smile widening.

You smirked in return. “Hi.”

You'd been waiting for him for nearly an hour, and his reaction was worth every second. It was as though Ray couldn't decide where to look first, which made you chuckle. You'd definitely surprised him. And in addition to yourself, you’d set out candles, flowers, and his favorite chocolates to be enjoyed later… But Ray only had eyes for you right now.

Ray stepped further into the room, approaching the bed. “What’s all this?”

“Well, it was going to be your Valentine’s gift, but if you’re too tired…”

“You know, I’m… I’m not feeling so tired anymore.”

“Yeah?”

Ray hadn’t stopped moving and was now crawling onto the bed on all fours up to you. He stopped when you were face to face. “Yeah.” 

He then looked down, letting his gaze drift over you, taking in the tantalizing view of your breasts through the sheer fabric covering them, and then lower, his breath catching and his cock hardening further within the confines of his pants as he realized that was indeed all you were wearing. There was a tie in the front that seemingly held it all together. Ray eyed it and idly bit his lip, wondering briefly if he could undo it with his teeth…

“You got this for me?” he asked, his fingers toying with the bow but not undoing it yet.

“No, I got it for me,” you teased. “For when I want to feel sexy.”

Ray grinned and softly kissed you. “You’re always sexy. Always beautiful. And this is… wow.”

You blushed and glanced away. He always had been very good at doing that. Your sweet man… “Thank you, Ray.”

“But you know… As much as I like seeing you in this…” He felt his cheeks get warm as he thought about what he was going to say.

You lifted a hand to his face, not wanting him to feel embarrassed for whatever he was thinking. It was endearing, really, the way his lustful thoughts sometimes flustered him. “What is it?”

Ray cleared his throat, unable to help but look over you again, his hands itching to touch you. He wanted you so badly… “I think I’d like it more if it were on the floor.”

Despite your cheeks still being a light shade of pink, your coy smile was back in place. “Then what are you waiting for?”

Ray gazed at you for a moment longer before moving to kiss you again, this time with a little more insistence. You hummed and raised your other hand to his face, your thumbs caressing his cheeks as the kiss gradually deepened. He didn't stay on your lips for very long, however.

He left a trail of soft kisses down to your neck, breathing in your scent as he went. You were wearing that perfume he liked so much. It made him feel a little giddy to know you'd gone all out for him. And he certainly wasn't going to let you down.

“Ray,” you whispered, stroking his hair. It was always so soft, even after a long day of ghost busting. “As much as I love you in uniform… Aren’t you a little overdressed for the occasion?”

Yeah, yeah he was. He then chuckled against your neck when he realized he was even still wearing his boots. “Guess so. Don’t worry, that’s easily fixed.”

Reluctantly, he moved away from you and sat at the end of the bed to remove his boots before standing to strip off his flight suit. You moved to the edge of the bed, raising up on your knees to help him undress the rest of the way. You tugged off his black shirt while Ray undid his belt and pants. You couldn't help but run your hands over his chest, loving the feeling of his warm skin under your palms. You were also quite fond of his chest hair...And Ray knew it, too, as evident by the sweet but slightly smug smile on his face.

Before you could get him out of his underwear, however, he kissed you and gently pushed you back onto the bed, lying you down and hovering over you. It briefly disappointed you that he wasn't letting you feel his skin against yours until you realized why. He'd left enough space to undo the tie on the front of the teddy. 

You could tell Ray was eager, but he wasn’t rushing. He carefully untied the bow and parted the fabric with the lightest caresses on your skin, making you shiver. He broke the kiss and looked into your eyes for a moment before kissing your cheek, your jaw, and finally, your neck again.

As Ray pushed aside the fabric, he trailed his hands down your sides, leaving goosebumps in his wake. His lips were still on your neck, seeking out the sweet spot he knew would drive you wild. He loved that he knew you so well, that he could elicit such sweet sounds and reactions from you. You came alive under his hands and mouth, just as he did under your ministrations. With that thought, he lifted you just enough to get the teddy off and let it fall to the floor next to the bed.

Ray found that spot on your neck at the same time he covered your breasts with his hands. You moaned and arched into his touch. He felt like he couldn't get enough of you, between lightly sucking a mark onto your neck and kneading your breasts that fit so perfectly into his hands… You were so perfect…

“Oh, Ray,” you sighed, your fingers threading through his hair.

“I love you, baby,” he whispered, brushing his lips against your skin. “I love you so much.”

With that, he moved on from your neck and began to kiss down your chest, replacing one hand with his mouth. He licked and teased your nipple, bringing it to a peak before moving to the other side. If it were up to Ray, he would have stayed there longer, maybe even move lower to taste you, but you both were too desperate and needy now, too worked up and aroused.

Ray got off of you long enough to remove his underwear. You couldn’t help but take in the sight of him naked. He was gorgeous, perfect in every aspect. He might not think himself perfect, but you did. And you wanted him. Badly. And there was no doubt he wanted you, too.

You reached for him, pulling him back on top of you by his hands. The smile on Ray’s face was soft as he let you guide him. Once your faces were close enough, your lips met in tandem, both of you humming as your skin made contact. You hooked your legs around his hips, pulling him tightly, intimately to you. Ray rocked his hips, which allowed him to grind against you.

“Raymond,” you gasped, breaking the kiss and tugging restlessly at his arms and shoulders. “Please, I need you.”

Without a word, Ray reached between the two of you, lined himself up, and pushed into you, both of you moaning at the feeling of him stretching your walls, filling you.

He groaned and pressed his forehead to yours once he was buried to the hilt. “Sweetheart, you feel so good.”

You nodded, running your hands over his back. “Oh, so do you, Ray. God…”

Ray pulled back just a bit before thrusting back in. It was not hard or fast, not yet; he just languidly rolled his hips, both of you sighing and gasping in pleasure. And things were already so slick between you from how aroused you were that Ray glided easily in and out. Your hands caressed each other anywhere you could reach. Eventually, Ray caught your hand, sliding your palms together until you could lace your fingers together. You both loved having that point of contact whenever you made love. Both of you always marveled at how much bigger his hands were than yours, and now was no different. His were so much bigger, but they fit together so perfectly. Just like your bodies did. 

But this wasn’t enough. Both of you wanted more.

Ray rolled onto his back, taking you with him. You sat up, your hands braced on his chest — your fingers curling into his chest hair — and your breath shaky as you ground your hips on him, making you both gasp. Even just like this, the feeling of him inside you was so damn good. But what felt even better was when you finally started moving on him, rising and falling, riding him with abandon until you found a rhythm that worked for both of you. Ray’s hands were tight on your hips, helping you for a few moments before he sat up, his arms wrapping around you and his lips attaching to your neck.

You could only moan in response and throw your head back. Ray moaned, too, louder than usual because you had pushed your fingers into his hair and tugged. He always loved it when you did that…

Both of you began to get desperate after that, no longer caring about finesse or savoring the moment. Passion was driving you now. Your echoed impassioned moans and cries filled the room as you both chased your releases. Ray's moans were music to your ears, and your cries of pleasure — cries interspersed with his name — drove Ray wild.

“Ray!” you whined. “Oh, God, don’t stop!”

He groaned, one hand braced behind him so he could snap his hips up to meet your movements. “I won’t,” he panted and took in the sight of you, from how your head was thrown back, the way your breasts bounced with each movement, down to where you two were joined. “God, you’re so beautiful.”

“Raymond!”

He hummed and caught your lips with his, swallowing your moans. You were so close, so desperate for release. He was making you feel. So. Good.

“Ray, baby, please… I’m so close… So close,” you panted and whined against his lips.

Ray managed a smile. “Cum for me, sweetheart. I wanna feel you cum around me.”

“Oh, Ray!” you cried, your head falling back again as your movements faltered, your body shuddering as you came.

Feeling you cum around him sent Ray over the edge right after you, a choked moan leaving him as he pulled you tightly down onto him, letting him spill deeply within you.

You clung to each other, riding out your orgasms and trembling together. You held Ray's head against your chest, and he could hear your heartbeat. 

Once the pleasure began to ebb, Ray laid back down and took you with him. You nuzzled and softly kissed his neck as your breathing returned to normal. Even after working all day, and now after this, Ray still smelled amazing. Whatever was just naturally him was intoxicating to you.

“I love you, Raymond,” you murmured.

Ray pressed a kiss to your hair. “I love you, too, sweetheart.”

The pair of you cuddled for a little while longer before you both dragged yourselves out of bed only to properly get ready for bed. Ray got done before you, and as you walked out of the bathroom, you figured you'd find him already asleep with how tired he was, but instead, you found him sitting on the bed eating some of the chocolate.

“I thought you were dead on your feet,” you teased as you blew out the candles before cuddling up next to him.

Ray immediately wrapped an arm around you. “I am, but I worked up an appetite.” He offered you a chocolate. “Want one?”

In lieu of answering, you ate it out of his hand, making a point to let your lips slide over his fingers. Ray watched you, his jaw slack. When you noticed, you smirked up at him.

“You okay?”

“You trying to get me going again?”

You caressed his cheek and ran your thumb over the delicate skin near his eye. He looked beyond tired. “You're exhausted, Ray. I don't think you could handle it.”

Ray set the chocolates aside and lay down. You followed suit, allowing him to pull the covers over you, and snuggled up with your back against his front. Ray wrapped his arms around you, keeping you close. He softly kissed behind your ear.

“If I wasn't so tired now, I'd take you up on that challenge, but…” He could feel his eyelids already getting heavy now that he was relaxing. “I'll have to take a rain check. Maybe in the morning…”

You hummed, lacing your fingers through his and holding his hand to your chest. He was warm and solid against your back. You never felt safer than in his arms. “I'm holding you to that.”

He, too, hummed, drifting off. 

“And, Ray?”

“Yeah?”

“Happy Valentine's Day.”

[shygirl4991]

Valentines Test

A gift for @alianarepasa Happy Early Valentines Day! Summary:  SMG3 and Fours fighting has gotten worse over the past week, being done with the fighting SMG1 and two slap a bracelet on the pair forcing them to swap bodies. Now the boys must go on several outings to find the spark to swap them back.  

Tag: Fluff, bodyswap, confessions, first kiss

They have had it with all the fighting at the castle, SMG1 told the pair that they needed to start getting along or else their meme powers won't work. Since then everything they have attempted to make them grow closer just made them fight,  annoyed at how at the results of the training One and Two created a special bracelet for them. At the next training event they slap the bracelet on them “These bracelets are to measure your meme energy, if the numbers are high then nothing should happen but if they hit low numbers well you two will be in for a surprise!” 

The pair exchange a look before SMG3 scoffs “Please the only reason we end up fighting is because this idiot doesn't know how to follow instructions.” hearing this SMG4 glares at Three “WHAT?! I follow instructions!” SMG1 sighs seeing that an agreement was about to happen, worried SMG2 chimes in “Hey you two why don't we do some basic practice!” It was too late as the boys had already started to argue about who pays attention more in their training and who was the better guardian. The bracelet started to beep loudly, Hearing the beeping SMG1 and Two nod at each other and run out of the room, Three looked at his wrist confused before a blast of light hit the guardians. Both men were on the floor groaning as SMG1 walked back in, sighing “Now your real lesson has begun. You two have been fighting way too much for this to be normal, so your lesson is to fix the curse me and Two put on you.”

SMG3 gets up from the floor confused “Curse?” he covers his mouth confused as to why he heard his ex rivals voice. He turned his head to see his body getting up looking around confused, they made eye contact and realized what the curse is they pointed at each “WE SWAPPED BODIES!?” One nods pointing to the bracelet “Once you two have settled whatever is going on the bracelet will be able to track your link, the moment the link is stabled you get your bodies back.” Two nods handing them a packet with locations for the pair to go to. Three glares at the man in his body, then starts reading the pages “ I HAVE TO ACT LIKE FOUR!?” The day couldn't get worse. Two claps his hand opening a portal and throwing the pair to their first location, a park with a valentines event going on.  They blink, exchanging looks, in the whole mess of training and doing their jobs the men forgot that today was the day of love. Shroomy sees them and waves at them as he hands the pair heart necklaces, amusingly enough Three got a purple heart and Four got the blue one. 

“Hiya fellas! Happy you can come, partner up we have fun games for you two to be a part of!” The mushroom man walks away as the two men stand there looking around the park in shock, Three sighs “We have to partner with each other, it's the only way to get our bodies back.” He puts the purple necklace on the faces Four waiting for an answer. Nervously he puts on the blue necklace “We have known each other for years, but I have no idea how I can act as you for this whole thing! I mean you cheat your way to victory, I can't do that!” Three scoffs “I can cheat for us, being you will make it easy after all you have the perfect eyes,” Four blushes at the comment. With them coming to an agreement they sign up as the ship name that Boopkins told them a few months back, they then line up with the other couples. The first game was a race across a landmine field, Four looked nervous at the floor while Three rolled his eyes “Don't make me look like a bitch come on!” Something felt weird as Three ran; it was as if was lighter on his feet. On instinct he did a front flip avoiding the explosion as he lands on his feet he turns in shock “You could just fucking do that?!” Four rolled his eyes walking up the Three “Nice cover on acting as me dumbass, but yes im very um flippy.” 

Three started to look at Four’s body in awe causing the other man's face to go red, he grabs Three and starts to drag him “Please stop checking me out!” hearing that Three blushes “Oi! I wasn't checking you out that be gay!” an explosion happens causing Four to jump grabbing onto Three. They both noticed the strange looks they were getting, slowly they pulled their hats down to hide their faces. Round one was done and both men were already done, Four fell to his knees “Ugh i hated all that, how is avoiding landmines a way to show love with your partner!?” Three shrugs “Cause you didn't use them as bait? The hell do i know what goes through shroomys head.”

A loud bell rings letting them know round two was starting, this one was an obstacle course, Three blue eyes twitch as he looks around “We could try to cheat around some of the paths…”  he walks up to Four and switches their hats “Mind if i wear my hat for this, dont care doing it anyways!” Four would be annoyed by the man's tone but he was too happy to have his own hat back. They walk to the starting line waiting for the sign to start the track. As the gun fires the couples start to run, Three takes Four’s hand and pulls him. Running hand in hand they would pull each other out of danger, with a smirk from Three he slips his hand under his hat taking out a bomb. Four lets go of Three’s hand in surprise “Why do we need bombs?!” He watches his partner turn, lighting the bomb and throwing it at the group behind him. The other couples scream running away as the explosion causes rocks to fall covering the path, Three being distracted didn't notice a medium size rock was coming at him. Seeing this Four picks up Three pushing on out of the way, Three opens his eyes to go red in the face when he sees Four on top of him. 

Three wasn't sure what could be doing this, maybe it's their cosmic link or maybe it's because he knows the soul in the body. The point was Three did not see himself in that moment, he saw SMG4 in his clothing looking down at him with concern filling his eyes. “You okay Three?” Four gently caressed Three’s face, they both got lost looking into each other's eyes as if something was pulling them closer. Hearing someone smacking into the rocks Three knocked down they both quickly get up “I’m fine let's hurry to the finish line!” as they run they don't notice the light flicker in their bracelets. They make it to the top and smile at each other, Meggy smirks seeing the pair “SMG3 and four? You two together for a couples challenge?” Both men get flustered taking a step away from each other “Listen squ- er Meggy nothing weird is happening with us two, we uh did it for the prize!” She points to the poster showing that the prize was a romantic trip to a ski lodge. Four blushes and steps in front of Three “What he means is…i wanted a vacation so uh,” he looks around before snapping his fingers “To advertise my cafe!” 

Meggy sighs giving them a small smile “You don't have to hide your relationship with your friends, we will accept you both!”  Three’s face goes deep red “WHAT?! FUCK THAT I WOULD NEVER DATE THIS IDIOT!”  Meggy stares at him wide eyed “whoa sorry Four didn't think.. You get that upset, “ Four sighs smacking Three “Ignoring him, thanks Meggy for being understanding but nothing is going on.” she stares at the pair confused. She gave them a look and was about to ask another question before Boopkin came in. “Hey guys, surprise you two are here!” 

Three  gives an awkward wave “Oh you're here too, are you guys helping host this?” Boopkins nods “Yeah! I didn't think you two would join this together. I'm so happy for you two!’ He walks to hug Three thinking he is Four.  Seeing this Three steps away from the fish only for the child to keep trying, Meggy and Four stand there watching Three scream as he runs from Boopkins attention.  Meggy looking at the pair steps in front of Three “ you love hugging Boopkins Four is everything okay?”  hearing this the man stood still as Boopkin hugged him. Four holds back laughing as he sees the amusement on Three's face, noticing Four finding the situation funny he walks over to the man.

“Find it funny huh?” Four gets nervous seeing the murderous look coming from him, Meggy watches as Tari walks up to her “Meggy everyone is here wondering what the hold up is.” She points to the pair in a fight while Boopkins attempts to get them to stop.  Tari frowns walking up to them showing them a rubber duck  “Come on guys we are friends here, let's get along, don't want to make archibald upset!”  They both glare at her and cause her to run hiding behind Meggy.

Meggy sighs blowing a whistle to get their attention “FINAL CHALLENGE GO!” she turns to comfort Tari, making Four feel guilty. As they walk to face the final challenge, four starts to think to himself why have they been fighting so much? He watches Three smirking seeing as the challenge was about climbing, he was all for doing the challenge given Four’s body was flexible and easier to move. While Three’s body was more built for strength. Four thinks back at what started their constant flights only to get interrupted by Three walking up to him “Hey idiot, you think we fooled your friends back there?” 

Four sighs looking back at his friends and smiles seeing Tari feeling better “Hopefully we did, but we have a bigger issue than that. Three i wanted to as-” the bell rings letting them know it was time. Four looks at the packet that was given to them as Three gets ready to climb up the tower to get the flag, he looks at the other locations and sighs. He wanted to get this body swap problem out of the way before he had to talk to more of his friends, he watches Three climb and jumps when someone touches his shoulder. Melony smiles at him “Sorry! I heard from Meggy that you were acting weird. Is this about Four?”

Hearing this caught his attention, taking a deep breath he played along. “Yeah..we have been fighting more, feels no matter what we do we just fight,” Melony nods rubbing her chin thinking. She then smiles and shows her notepad “Oh yeah! Why not draw what you want from him,” she shows him a drawing making him blush “like you did when we talked last time!” Taking the drawing he smiles softly, now he understands why they have been fighting so much, how could he be so blind. “You dumb tsundere,” thanking Melony he runs to the goal waiting for Three. His heart was starting to beat fast as he saw Three sliding down with the flag, the man smirking at him showing off the flag. All Four can think about was making Three’s drawing come true, the moment Three crosses the line he jumps up “Hell yeah! Finally we are done with this shit!”

Four walks up to the excited Three and surprises him by lifting him up and spinning him around, they both start to laugh from the excitement of winning. Melony gives a thumbs up to Four hoping to encourage him to make the move. He finishes spinning Three pulls him in without a second thought and kisses the man, the other contestants gasp while Meggy chuckles “Nothing happening huh?” Three getting over his shock kisses four back, the bracelet starts to beep loudly as a bright light covers the pair. They pull away surprised to see each other, the bracelets then unlock falling to the floor. They both laugh hugging “Thank god i'm back to being my sexy self again!” Four chuckles pulling away from the hug looking at him “Right you're the sexy one…oh uh..” they turn to see the group of people recording them while their friends were cheering them on.

Their face go red realizing they just kissed in front of everyone “Oh fuck…UGH WHY DID YOU DO THAT IDIOT!?” Four flashes the drawing Three did of them kissing “Cause you're such an idiot you couldn't tell me you had feelings for me!” Three takes the drawing then looks at the crowd before whispering “With our past i didn't think anything could happen…”

Four gives him a loving smile “Well it's happening and all it took was a body swap heh,” Three let out an awkward laugh taking Fours hand and running from the phones, he knew tomorrow SMG1 and two will learn about how their test went. Three wanted to dig a hole and die in it when that thought came to him, he turned to see Four holding his hand smiling “So..what does this mean for us?”

Four hums looking around to see if they were alone “I wouldn't mind trying out being a couple! Three blushes and nods “I would like that as long as you don't get us body swap again!”  Four laughs looking at the packet “Hey if we run out of date ideas maybe one in the future can spice things up!” Three groans as Four teases him on the way home.

[gabessquishytum]

https://www.tumblr.com/gabessquishytum/737343342801829888/firefighterhob-kitchen-disasterdream-dream-is?source=share -- I saw a list of prompts for Valentine's Day floating around my feed and one of the choices was "breakfast in bed". So i thought, let's check in on our favorite firefighter & his disaster "chef" boyfriend.

So, Dream is blissfully happy with his burly, attentive, firefighter boyfriend - Hob cooks for him and sexes him right. (Dream might have been banned from the sibling group chat because everyone is tired of him talking about his man all the time.)

Any way, it's Valentine's Day and Dream wants to do something romantic for Hob - he's going to cook him breakfast in bed! Dream has watched Hob cook for him for months. Cooking does not look that hard. Dream can totally focus enough to do it. Besides, Hob will still be a sleep (he was able to swing it so he was off shift on V-DAY), so he won't be able to use his sex wiles to distract Dream. This will totally work!!!

🩷❤️🩷❤️

Nope, it does not work, at all. Hob wakes up early, finds Dream cooking for him, to bring him breakfast in bed, and Hob is so touched by his boo's thoughtfulness, they start going at it ...... to forget about all the cooking food.

Long story short -- Hob's ladder company has to come out because the fire alarm goes off and they get to see Hob in nothing but unlaced work boots and boxer shorts (and covered in bites & hickies) holding Dream's ravens' cage; and Dream bare foot, in dark red panties wearing one of Hob's shirts, standing on Hob's booted feet.

I'm thinking Hob just scooped Dream up, grabbed the bird cage, and evacuated with Dream in his arms down flights of stairs.

Hob is never going to live this down,,,,but his boyfriend is hot! So his team gets it.

Only 3 days till V day now!! A perfect time to imagine Dream’s terrible attempt at breakfast, bless him.

They do make the most adorable picture out on the front lawn. Dream is flushed with embarrassment; he keeps hiding his face in Hob’s chest (which has the added bonus of being super warm and fluffy). Hob is holding him close, with one eye on the ravens (who are enjoying the morning adventure) and occasionally pressing soothing kisses into Dream’s bird-nest hair. Several of Hob’s team members are faking being mad at him because he's got a cute boyfriend AND a day off to spend it with him. They can't wait to meet Dream properly (hopefully clothed) when they have a little station get together.

The crisis is averted, Hob’s team send him back into the house with many wolf whistles and well wishes. Dream is still a bit teary eyed though, and that won't do. Hob tells him to get dressed in something cute and comfy - they're heading out for Valentines brunch. Dream perks up a bit but only because he's going to enjoy fighting with Hob over who gets to pay the bill.

They come back home later and successfully manage to prepare chocolate covered strawberries without any incidents - yay!! The ravens get special valentines treats, and then it's time for Dream and Hob and the strawberries to head to the bedroom. They won't be emerging until they absolutely have to like if the house burns down <3

[selineram3421]

Something cute.

Little Valentine

Alastor and Child Reader

Warning? ⚠

⚠ sweets-chocolate and candy, cussing, blood/gore-heart organ, implied murder ⚠

~

You woke up early to make cookies with Niffty.

After taking them out the oven and letting it cool down, you got to decorating.

"Just like I taught you little one! Frosting and then a few sprinkles if you want!", she said bringing out a fresh batch from the oven.

The first three didn't come out too well but after the fourth try it was getting a little easier and you were able to complete a whole baking sheet. (You ate the messed up ones.)

"Are you excited for Valentine's day?", the one eyed demon asked.

You didn't hesitate to answer.

"I'm excited for all the sweets I'll get tomorrow!"

💝

The Radio Demon was up early as usual.

After putting on his monocle and adjusting his hair, he went to go wake up his little demon.

Knock knock!

"Mon petit! Rise and shine!", he said before opening the sliding door to your room.

Like most children, you had a range of stuffed animals piled on top of your bed. For some reason you liked having them all facing the entrance. Their beady little eyes stared at him as he walked in.

"Wake up my little one~", Alastor said and walked up to the window, opening the curtains. "There's crepes in the kitchen!"

"Mm..crepes?", you mumbled and turned in bed, blinking your eyes open.

Alastor helped you wake up and walked out of the room to let you get ready, making sure to close the door on his way out.

Not too long later.

"I'm ready!", you bounce out of your room excitedly, wearing the shades of red to go with the holiday. "Let's go! Let's go!", you take his hand and pull him towards the door.

He smiles and follows along, letting you lead him out of the room and into the hallway.

"What kind of crepes are downstairs?", you ask.

"Well, you can make your own. There's strawberry, banana, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry.", he listed off as both of you made your way to the dining room.

.

You stood in one of the common rooms with Fat Nuggets by your side.

Earlier, you had told everyone to meet there around three in the afternoon. While waiting, you got the cookies in little baggies, got Alastor's treat separate, made decorations using paper and bribed Husk to get heart balloons from Charlie's parties supplies.

Fat Nuggets helped you by chewing open the heart confetti bag and dragging it around the room.

Hearing footsteps coming from outside, you picked up some of the remaining confetti and threw it up in the air once they walked in.

"Happy Valentine's Day!"

"Aaawww!", the princess said with glittering eyes, Vaggie right next to her. "Honey! Look! Look! They decorated and everything!", the blonde shook her girlfriend by the shoulders.

"Yeah, its cute hun.", the moth demon agreed and led her over to sit on the couch.

Angel, Niffty, and Husk came in a few moments later.

Looking around the room, you notice a certain red dressed demon missing. "Where's Alastor?", you ask.

"Right here Mon petit!"

"Ah!", you jump and turn around, finding him sitting on the couch that was behind you. "You were here this whole time!?", you pout with a huff.

He just chuckles and pulls you into a hug. "Apologies for not announcing my arrival."

You hand out the cookie bags and Angel points at the box sitting on the table.

"Who's that for?", the spider demon asks.

"Its for Alastor!", you say and pick up the box.

Walking over to the man in red, you hold out the box for him to take.

"Its quite heavy.", the radio demon comments and reads the note before opening the box.

He gasps and stands, scooping you up into a spin.

"Oh little one! You shouldn't have!"

Curious, the others lean over and take a peek of what's in the box. Inside is a small cooler with ice and..

"Oh shit! That's a fucking heart!?", Angel screeches.

"So that's what they snuck out for.", Husk says.

Niffty was picking up the confetti.

Charlie was trying to calm down Vaggie while Alastor was praising you.

"I love my Valentine's treat! How kind of you little one!"

You got a pile of sweets from him and a new stuffed toy that was a cat with a fancy bow tie.

"Murder mittens!"

~

Happy Valentine's Day!

~Seline, the person.

ML for Alastor🎙

Taglist@

@ducky-died-inside @c4rved-pumpk1n @stolas-thebirb @naelys-the-aster @scary-noodlesblog

Art💕

[depressopax]

BrBa/BCS characters on Valentine's day

Fandom - Breaking Bad/Better call Saul

Happy valentine's day to everyone that celebrates! Shout out to my single fellows, same bestie 🫶

Pairing: Mike Ehrmantraut - Nacho - Jimmy - Kim - Jesse - x gender neutral reader Genre: Fluff, headcanons Warning(s): Cheesy af lmao. User is gender neutral (they/them and referred to as partner) Words: 900 Summary: How do the BrBa/BCS characters celebrate valentines together with reader? English is not my main language, if I make any spelling mistakes please let me know so I can improve my writing! <3 AO3 link soon

How do the BrBa/BCS characters celebrate valentines together with reader?

Mike

Mike doesn’t really get the idea of valentine's day, when he can be affectionate any other day.

Probably the one who scoffs at couples that exaggerates valentines day with expensive gifts etc (same Mike, same)

Double standard king, he’d do just that, just to see you all happy when he surprises you

Probably cringes at himself, but your reaction to his affection makes it worth it

If you like celebrating valentines, then so does he.

Mike will take you out to a fancy restaurant and make sure you feel special

Also make sure he has the day free so he can spend it with you.

But this is nothing unique, this man treats every day like a valentine's day and takes all opportunities to spoil you. 

When you give him a gift too, he’s rather surprised.

He’s not used to receiving gifts and having someone spend money on him “You didn’t need to” meanwhile he smiles like an idiot

The day is spent with dinner, cinema or maybe both? 

Of course he has more plans for later, too. 🤭

Nacho

Same with Nacho, he’s not that fond of Valentine's Day, especially all the cheesy annoying couples that make such a big deal out of it.

He thinks it’s ridiculous to only show affection and give gifts to his partner once a year, he does so every opportunity he gets (which is often, homeboy got no limits when it comes to you 💀)

But of course, he will make a big deal out of it when it comes to you.

He buys you roses and some gift but feels really awkward about it

Which quickly changes when he sees your happy reaction. 

When you give him a gift too he probably plays it cool

Meanwhile he melts on the inside. 

He loves you and the thought of you spending money on him makes him flustered “What did I do to deserve them?” He thinks as he looks at you in admiration.

He takes you out for a date and then takes you to his place iykwim ;)

Jimmy

Honestly? He has two moods: 1. Planning valentine’s day weeks ahead 2. Forgetting about it and panicking about it when waking up on february 14. 

He spoils you with gifts and dates any other day, but he still likes celebrating valentine's day with you.

So he feels really bad if he forgets about it, which he did today lmao

He woke up early in the morning, feeling like he had forgotten something.

Homeboy rushed out of bed to get to the store early to buy gifts

He doesn’t give a fuck it all fancy restaurants are fully booked for the night, he wants to take you there and wont give up.

Somehow finds a way to get a seat for the two of you at the restaurant

He picks you up and drives to the restaurant, making sure you have the best day ever. 

But knowing him, you can sense he forgot about what day it was.

You don’t mind, though. 

Of course, you give him a gift too, just to watch him blush when he receives it lmao

After a perfect date, he has plans for when you go back to his/your place. He wants to thank you for the valentines gift, after all. 😼

Kim

Kim loves you more than anything, but her job takes up lot of the time which she wants to spend with you

She doesn’t get the opportunity to take you on spontaneous dates, nor does she like it.

Kim wants to plan the perfect dates when it comes to you

Valentine's day is her way to “make it up” to you by really showing her love and affection to you

She plans it months ahead, with booking a table at a fancy restaurant, buying a thoughtful gift, and making sure she has nothing work-related planned, so she can spend the day with you, and only you. 

She buys some thoughtful gift for you, maybe some jewelry, roses or chocolate etc

She doesn’t expect something back but when you hand a gift to her, she feels so appreciated.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a “bad” gift, she’ll love it either way and keep the gift close to her all the time, knowing it’s from you. 

Kim makes sure you have the best date of your life, doing everything to make you smile and enjoying every second with you. 

The valentines celebration ofc continues at her place ;)

Jesse

Though he would never admit it, Jesse LOVES valentines day.

Whenever he goes into stores with valentines decorations and gifts, he gets the urge to buy something

Spoiler alert: His impulse wins.

On February 14, he probably has at least done 10 impulse purchases to give you

“You got something for me?”“Of course, idiot” He smiles as you give him the gift he didn’t expect (but was hoping for)

Jesse looking at you with so much love in his eyes, grateful to have someone like you.

He takes you for a perfect, cheesy date. 

He doesn’t like awkward dinner dates, so he ends up taking you to an amusement park or takes you for a romantic picnic, preferably when it’s dark outside. 

He def dresses up nicely too, even if you guys end up at some amusement park or a not so fancy pizzeria lmao

When back at his place, he’s prepared with lights shut off, lighted scented candles and romantic music, just like he’s seen in cheesy movies

You can probably guess the rest. 🤭

This was cheesy af loll, but I wanted to post something fun and valentine's day inspired!

[wrrrenff]

Our First Valentines

Stardew Valley Elliot x F! reader. Synopsis: You and Elliot have been dating for a few months now. Being the romantic he is, Elliot went all out for the woman he loves of this special holiday. Warning: n/a

Valentine's day was approaching. Everyone with a partner in the valley was practically buzzing with excitement, speculating what plans their loved ones have planned for them and sharing what they themselves have planned. It was sweet. You had never really had a valentines day that was more than a 'fancy' (chili's) dinner and sex right after. Not that you hated that, it just wasn't anything magical. You were very happy to have probably the most loving boyfriend you ever had to spend the holiday with this year. Thinking about your time together, you started preparing you gifts for your man.

In his cabin, Elliot was busy at work making Valentine's preparations. He has always wanted to go above and beyond for his love and now was his chance. How could he not celebrate the greatest person he has ever met? You're the woman who changed his life, became his muse, inspired him to finish his novel! He got up extra early to begin preparing, going as far as to travel to Zuzu City to get supplies for today. After hours and hours of work, it was almost time to pick you up at the farm for the big night. Elliot walked over to his mirror, made some final adjustment to his outfit, and he was off.

Just as you finished up putting yourself together, there was a knock on the door. "Coming!" You put on your shoes and headed to the door. You were greeted with you devilishly handsome boyfriend. He was wearing a play on his normal attire. A sleek red blazer, a white button down, a vibrant green tie that paired nicely with his matching slacks and a pair of dress shoes. As you were taking him in, he was admiring you just as much. You decided you wear a beautifully fitted red dress that showed of all your best assets and a pair white heels that extenuated your legs. He wanted to drink you up, but he resisted like the gentleman he is. "My darling, you look incredible. Like a work of art." He took you hand in his and kissed it leaving you a blushing mess. "You look so handsome my dear." You replied, walking up close to him to give him a proper kiss. Elliot composed himself. You were not making it easy to control himself. He extended his arm to you. "Shall we?" You accepted him arm and you both headed off towards his home.

Arriving to his shack, he leads you in an you notices the lengths he went to celebrate your relationship tonight. Candles decorated the room, flower petals trailing around the room, the table set with a lavish meal, and the ting that impressed you the most, a bouquet of white lilies, apple blossoms, baby's breath, red camellia, honeysuckle, and of course, red roses. Elliot had told you about the language of flowers after researching it for his book. After this, you two would use this language to send each other meaningful messages. You were speechless. You turned to Elliot and captured him in an emotional hug. "You didn't have to do all of this. Thank you so much. I love you." Elliot pull back from the hug and locks his eyes onto yours. "I would walk to the ends of the earth if it would make you smile. This is nothing." You both laughed at his cheesiness.

"Now I feel like my gift to you is dumb." You looked at the ground feeling embarrassed. "You don't have to give me anything princess. You being here is plenty." Before you could worry much more over it, you handed him a carefully wrapped box. He opened it up to reveal a few bottles of squid ink. Now was Elliot's turn to be speechless. You worried he hated it so you started rambling. "I'm sorry. I know it's lame. I just remembered you mentioning when you got to try writing with squid ink but couldn't keep doing it due to the rarity and expense so I thought I'd raise some squid on my farm and-" Before you could realize it, Elliot and set down the gift and captured your lips. The kiss was filled with with so much love and adoration for you. It almost brought you to your knees. "Y/N, this is the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me. You truly are the best thing to happen to me."

After that, you both headed to the table to eat. You had complimented his cooking, surprised at how good it was considering Elliot claimed to be a terrible chef. Sheepishly, Elliot admitted to having Gus cater your dinner. It didn't matter at all to you though. Just the amount of thought put into the night was enough to solidify this is the man you were meant to spend your life with. The love and care he has shown you time and time again only supported this. After your incredible dinner, Elliot put a record on the vinyl and you two danced for a while. It felt perfect. Everything felt perfect with him. Swaying in his arms, you couldn't imagine anywhere else you'd rather be than here with him.

[andromeda-pleiades]

Shadows of Trust - 3

Part - 1 Part - 2

PAIRING: Simon 'Ghost' Riley x F!Medic!Reader

WORD COUNT: 3,339

CW: oral m receiving, mini thigh riding

Putting this out on Valentines Day was a challenge because I got really bad writers block and just wanted to write smut, lol. But I hope yall like this .

Also if you saw me accidently post it last night you didn't

As the days passed, Simon found himself replaying the events with Grim in his mind. The only person he had shared the details with was Price, who, instead of providing comfort, teased him.

“If a few meetings got you acting lovestruck would love to see you actually talk to her”

Besides his mental turmoil, Price had volunteered the 141’s services in apprehending a high-profile hostage from Russia. Preparing for the mission Simon had a lot of paperwork to do. He usually would have done anything to get out of paperwork but now it was a welcome distraction.

The only downside to putting all of his thoughts into paperwork was that he saw the team that needed their help was not only the US Air Force but the exact team Grim was working with. No matter what he did he couldn't erase Grim from his mind, he thought of her when he awoke, when he ate, doing paperwork, and especially when he tried (but failed) to fall asleep

The fact was that Grim was everywhere.

He would stroll the main grounds as he walked around the base, eyeing every leaf that moved, reacting to every sound the wind made, hoping that it was early enough for Grim to be still asleep, still tucked in the covers of your bed so he wouldn’t see her, he wouldn’t have noticed her presence, so he would’ve behaved like the ‘Ghost’ he hadn’t seen in a while, the cold, detached, business-like ‘Ghost’, the one whose head was not tormented and stuck to the sight of her. The Simon Price would’ve been happy to get back, since even Gaz noticed some kind of discrepancies in his harsh exterior, asking whenever he would find him fidgeting at her mere presence if he was ok. Simon hoped he hadn’t made the connection of those strange behaviors arising just during the period of her arrival.

The thing that really set him off, the thing that made him realize that he was one step away from losing it all was the fact that even the sergeants noticed this change.

“Are you always this stiff whenever you see someone talk or is it just because it’s her?” Gaz had said, at the side of the sparring mats watching you try to explain something to Soap who was nodding eagerly but, from the looks of it, not understanding much.

“Excuse me?” Ghost’s blood had turned cold in his veins almost instantly, he felt his shoulder grow stiffer, and his neck hurt as he turned his head to look at the man beside him.

Gaz’s eyes seemed to hold one too many secrets for his liking. The man just smiled before quickly walking away.

If Gaz knew surely Soap would hear the news, soon then the whole base would hear the rumors because God knows Soap can’t keep his mouth closed. What he didn't expect was Soap to immediately confront him

Simon never wanted someone to change the topic more than at that time, luckily for him, Soap's attention span lasted only a couple of minutes. Soap seemed to be much more interested in the group of dogs in training coming into the cafeteria.

Avoiding her had to come to an end at some point, even though he wished he could avoid his feelings and responsibilities forever. He had to talk to the medics of his force and Grims, making sure they had enough materials to keep most of his men alive. He avoided her eyes most of the meeting, looking over her head and giving her one-word responses. But as the universe may have it, she was one of the most qualified medics in the room, so qualified in fact that all further medical inquiries would need to go through her, one one-on-one.

Luckily, he had a sergeant who was very eager to pass on his messages. Whether the time Soap spent with you was making him uneasy, or the fact you followed Soap around like a puppy, he didn't have the energy to find out. And Soap didn't give him the time to find out

The next day Ghost was rudely woken up by the familiar sound of knocking, he had spent one of the worst nights, barely asleep, tossing and turning waiting for Sleep's lovely embrace to take him to a place where his dreams would make him forget about the insane reality he was living in, but it never really came. That was why, when he finally decided that the banging was annoying him enough to get up from his bed and lean against the door, preparing himself to deal with whoever thought it was appropriate to wake him up.

"What the…" Half asleep, standing on one foot and balancing on the other one, trying not to slip on the perfectly polished floor, hanging on the wall like it was an anchor, Simon had a vision: Soap smiling, a huge, mischievous smile on his lips and someone talking to him.

You and your heavenly voice

Ghost considered the possibility of having a brain tumor. He wasn't the safest man, a brain tumor meant having visions in some cases and, it was a possibility, certainly a fair better one than having to decide if you could set foot in his room because he was almost sure he would've had to burn the entire base down to get rid of the memories if you ever did.

So, while you and Soap were, as usual, arguing, Ghost's mind was trying to work a responsible and mature solution between arson and a brain tumor.

Then he started banging on the door again, startling him.

"Open Up! I know you're theree!" Soap sang.

"Maybe he went on a trip…" Oh, her voice. Now his ears were playing tricks on him too. "I mean he hasn't really been around mu-"

Nope, you were still there.

What had he done?

He still hadn’t moved. Still paralyzed, still drenched in that absurd, apparently ridiculous substance that had been knocking the air out of his lungs a few hours before.

He looked at the door like it was about to burst open or like he was scared that it was going to slowly and painfully unlock and tilt slightly open, like the ones you’d see in a horror movie.

Except no hand drenched in crimson blood reached to the side, no terrifying face poked through the gap.

There was nothing to fear.

Nothing that a sane mind would’ve considered fearful. So why was Ghost’s heart hammering inside his chest? Why did he feel ready to bolt, ready to fight?

He saw his own hand reach for the doorknob, saw, in horror, the neat and strong fingers holding onto the metal.

And then, he saw it twist it.

The horror, the screeching, the madness in his head, the tension building up on his body, he felt it all rushing through his hands, he felt it rising up to his feet, crawling, like a sneaky spider, on his back.

He readjusted his stance, he breathed out and the door was finally being moved.

"Hey." If he knew that on the other side of that stupid piece of wood was your gentle, warm smile he would've busted it open from the start.

If he knew he'd hear your voice speak so sweetly, if he only knew, he would've made the world go quiet and listen to what you had to say.

There was no pain in his chest anymore, no buzzing in his head, no spider crawling on his back.

"Hi." He tried, it felt wrong to speak after you, like purposely, immaturely, interrupting the symphony of a perfectly harmonious orchestra.

You smiled and again, Ghost felt his heart in his throat, not for fear this time but for longing. He felt like the witness of the few, shy rays of sun after the cold and mighty night, the joyous, festive colors they would create as they painted the sky.

"You know…" Soap pointed at you. "I should bring you with me every time I have to ask Ghostie for a favor, you seem to put him in a good mood."

Ghost glared at soap, you didn't know if it was for the special nickname or for the context of the accusations. If it was the latter he didn't show any concern.

"Actually Soap, this is the last time you trick me into doing any of this."

"He tricked you?" Ghost wasted no time working with the new information, he was waiting for it actually, so he could be looking at you with a purpose without merely sneaking a glance.

"He did." You smiled, the way his eyes landed on you meant trouble and, thanks to the liquid courage in your hands, you were ready for it. "He told me we were going to ask Price about the drinks and not annoy you with our pleas…" You looked back to Soap, annoyed, but you quickly returned to Ghost, the sight was not enough, never enough.

You had, admittingly, drunk a little before with soap, deciding to pregame your begging. Which is why you apparently lost all professionalism and filters.

“I honestly expected you to be busy with some lucky girl” you chuckle, “Expected to see a line out the door, would’ve had to take a queue”

Thankfully, Soap laughed.

“No, not really.” Ghost sounded different as if you could hear his smile through words. You couldn't help the smile that grew on your face.

“Course not Bonnie, he couldn't even get Gaz to step in his room when he first got to base. He was so scared thought he was getting sacrificed or something. I wish you could have seen it.” Soap told through giggles

“Speaking of shouldn't we get Gaz to come help us too?” You asked.

“Oh that's so smart Bonnie, if we get Gaz to do it then we won't need anyone else. Kyle knows how to hit Price in that sweet spot he canne tell him no” Soap pats you on the back like a dog learning a new trick then runs out of Ghost's room. His feet can be heard pounding on the ground, certain to wake a few people.

But with soap absence, that left you and Ghost, alone, in a room by yourselves.

While you wanted a moment alone with Ghost since you got here, being in his bedroom was another story. Especially when you both are so quiet, just staring at one another.

Do you want to drink?” You reach to twist the top of the bottle but he stops you, grabbing your wrist.

“Did you really come to recruit to pressure Price?” He narrows his eyes and your knees feel a little wobbly.

Fair enough.

“I guess not.” You take a step forward as best you can considering the height difference.

He doesn’t speak, he just stares down at you.

His pupils are fucking massive.

Or are his eyes just that dark?

“Ghost?” He’s definitely moving closer to you, even if it’s in such small increments that you don’t actually perceive his motion.

“Simon?” He moves his face closer to yours, inhaling deeply.

“I've really wanted some time alone with you.” You’re feeling a little weak in the knees.

In the alley, he was intoxicating enough covered in blood, but in a space this small?

His presence threatens to smother you.

“You already regretting it?” He chuckles, as he lifts his mask so only his mouth is uncovered, showing the scars and stubble he wears.

“No, The furthest thing from that actually.”

Turns out, Simon Riley is full of surprises.

First, he avoids you all week, then he’s all smiles, and now it seems he can’t get his hands on you fast enough.

Nothing about his attitude tonight indicated that he’d growl the moment he got his lips on yours yet when you crash your mouth into his he silences all thoughts roaming in your head, only the thoughts of him and his body remain.

You want to feel him everywhere.

You take his face in your hands and bring him back in for another kiss.

His mouth is sweet.

Did he drink before you got here?

He likes bourbon if your memory is correct.

You can’t focus on that though as his teeth graze your bottom lip and you instinctively poke your tongue out trying to taste more of him, his kisses are slow and sloppy as smiles against you.

He shifts his legs so his knee pushes up between your thighs and your head falls back into the door, finally giving you that much-needed friction.

“Simon- Simon, just like that.” You shut your eyes, already dropping any and all inhibitions as you grind down against his thigh.

“Yeah?” He sounds fucking ravenous as he steadies his leg so you can rub against him without any resistance. “Show me how you like it, gorgeous.”

If you continue to get off on his thigh your night would play out much differently and you needed to taste him before you lost the chance.

You slid yourself down his body, kneeling in front of him. You unbuckled his belt and slid it from the loops. Simon kept his eyes on you as your fingers moved carefully to unzip his pants, pulling just far enough to release his manhood.

He let out a soft grunt as you palmed his thick cock through his boxers. You looked up at Simon, smiling as you slid his boxers down, maintaining eye contact, while you tipped his cock up to your mouth. You slide your fingers on a thick vein on the underside of his cock and let the tip touch your tongue gathering your spit. Simon let out a huff of air, though you couldn't see his expression you knew was losing patience. You moved your hands to steady yourself on his thighs as you took his cook into your mouth. You sucked at the tip and slid your tongue up his shaft. All you could hear were his soft grunts. His hips thrust into your mouth, forcing his long cock further into your throat, making your eyes water. You can tell he is right on the edge with the speed of his hips. You stop moving, letting him control your head to his pleasure. He moans then pulls your face till your nose touches the base of his cock eliciting a moan from you and a breathy moan from him, then you feel the warmth of him spilling down your throat.

“Grim-” Your voice is strained as he pulls your head off his cock, suddenly leaving without the welcome weight on your tongue.

“We should- stop.” His breathing is heavy as he murmurs against your lips, kissing you one last time, he certainly isn’t acting like someone who wants to stop.

“W-why?”

“We need to stop.” And with that, he pulls back a bit.

“Are you okay?” You grab his face, but he stops your hands from exploring.

“Yes it’s just-”

Shit, did you do something wrong?

“There are rules, Grim rules I shouldn't be breaking especially as your CO”

“We’re already past that part.” You try to ease his nerves but still, he seems to be only gaining distance from you.

“You should go Grim.” He steps aside as if making way for you to leave.

“Wow” rejection no matter what age still hurts, but you rather not let him see you cry so you stand up straight and walk through his door.

When the day of the mission arrived, You and Ghost ended up on different planes much to his dismay. The operation went smoothly, with few casualties, but those who were injured required the full attention of the medics.

You were nowhere to be found. Ghost would ask a new rookie every thirty minutes if anyone knows of your status. The answer varied as you were busy tending to the injured, but one factor remained, you were the furthest you could be from him. For that he couldn't blame you, he would have never seen him again if he was in your situation.

He knew you didn't want to see him, you basically ran from him when the helicopters landed. Taking your happiness and comfort from you just so he could fulfill his desires was selfish. But if wanting to see you, hear you, and hopefully feel you again made him selfish, then he was the most egotistical man to grace the earth.

As of now, he has been standing outside the medical tent waiting for you to walk out, which got the attention of Gaz and Soap.

“Are you waiting for your girl Ghost?” Gaz said. Unaware of his surroundings, Ghost was startled when Gaz and Soap came from behind him. It honestly scared him. His thoughts were completely taken up by you that he was letting his guard down

“Who are ye talkin about” Soap questioned “Grim, you haven't noticed? Ghost got himself a little crush, been following her around all day.”

Soap looked at Ghost who hadn't turned to them, intent on staring at the opening in the medical tent, then burst into laughter.

“Ye’ got to be jokin, Ghostie here isn't the type to get a crush. And besides I've been putting the moves on her myself.”

Now that broke Ghost's focus. Could that be true, you do spend an awful lot of time with Soap. But no. You wouldn't have slept with him If you're interested in soap.

“Oh really?” Gaz said with an amused smirk on his face.

“Yeah, I was going to ask her for a drink later but she's been in that damn tent all day”

“Fraternizing is illegal Sergeant,” Ghost said albeit a little louder than he meant for it to be but if it got soap away from you then mission accomplished. “ Don't make me write you up to Price”.

Soap had a very confused look on his face. “Calm down Lt. it's not like I want to marry her or anything. She's going back to America soon, I'm just spending the night with her. Been a long time since I got some.”

Now Ghost is a very patient man he can withstand weeks of torture without breaking but, this torture is on another level. He shoved past Soap on his way to the tent knocking into him hard.

Ghost looked around for you and found and found you wrapping the ankle on one of the privates, your back stiff as you busied yourself with the cloth.

"Grim," he called, his voice firm and commanding.

You stiffened at the sound of his voice but didn't turn to acknowledge him.

"You can't keep avoiding me," Ghost pressed on, his tone unwavering.

Still, You remained silent, your focus now shifted to restocking supplies.

"If you're still upset about last night then you come talk to me—" Ghost started, his voice retaining its steely resolve.

“Get out of my tent Ghost” You cut him off not wanting to hear any more from him.

Ghost continued as if you didn't say anything. “You don't sulk around and try to avoid me, insubordination isn't going to get you any–”

Suddenly, You whirled around, your eyes flashing with anger. "I'm not one of your subordinates, Lieutenant," you interrupted again, your voice sharp and cutting. "I am your medic, and right now, I outrank you. Get out of my tent."

Ghost's jaw clenched at your words, but he didn't falter. Instead, he met your gaze head-on, his expression hardened. "We'll talk later," he stated firmly, before turning on his heel and striding away, leaving you to her solitude.

Days turned into weeks, and soon it was time to return to America. Ghost sought out Grim one last time, determination burning in his eyes.

"We'll talk when I see you again," he stated firmly, his voice brooking no argument.

You merely shook your head, a bitter smile twisting your lips. "I doubt it," you replied, your tone tinged with resignation.

[devnmon]

save who you can save // t.s.

A prequel to Long Long Time, detailing the first time the two met.

pairing: smuggler!reader x tess servopolous slowburn

Summary: One of your smuggling deals goes wrong– almost deathly wrong. A stranger decides you're worth saving.

word count: 11k

warnings: descriptions of several injuries, reader gets beaten up, non-sexual nudity, tw for random guys in the qz, physical assault, mentions of blood, death, drugs, and typical tlouverse violence... reader is mid 20's, tess is early 40's, tess gives reader stitches (but it's ok they're unconscious), mentions of tess's past, tess and joel aren't a thing in this, but he is an asshole for the better part of the fic [lowkey enemies to friends w/ joel]. pining (a lot of mutual pining oh my god guys.) also pls don't come at me for inaccurate qz stuff, this is fanfic. nonbinary pronouns used the reader is afab! also this fic starts in readers pov and ends in tess's and i just realized that so don't hate me for it! xx

a/n: happy valentines day GAY PEOPLE. this is for you guys. and all the tess fic lovers. here is my prequel of Long Long Time that i wrote a little over a year ago when tlou hbo came out. i pour my heart into each and every fic i write. this is my child, be kind with her. i hope you all enjoy and don't forget to reblog to support your favorite creators!!

That day she found you, beaten and bloody with several injuries, was the day she had quite genuinely saved your life.

You never should’ve made this deal. 

Becoming a smuggler required more skill, more cunning –more than you had. Somehow, you’ve ended up right where you never thought you’d be: on the sour end of an unstable client. 

You knew your stock wasn’t as satisfying as the client demanded, but the amount of ration cards seemed too good to be true. It happened to be– regrettably you’d been a fool to try and weasel out of the deal without repercussions. Nothing was ever that easy in this world. 

The first thing you felt was the end of a very sharp knife pressing into your back. Then you heard his voice in your ear, speaking punctually. 

“Where do you think you’re going? Nobody gets past me. Not even you. I let you think you’re good at sneaking around. But I see everything.” 

Your breath hitched as his grip pulled you backwards into the alley. Once you turned away from the main road, you were met with another man, one you knew accompanied another man you dealt with often. He was dressed the same, and had that classic sketchy-guy look that told you exactly who’d approached you this hostile. 

It was a particularly unstable client, one you hesitated to continue business with due to his poor self-control. He was a junkie through and through, just a man too weak to settle into this world, needing a constant escape. You had unfortunately promised him a supply you didn’t have, and things escalated too far soon after. 

There was no reason to call for help either; it would be that easy for him to rat you out to FEDRA for selling pills. Even if those same soldiers were frequent customers of yours. Your voice had gone hoarse and the cut on your lip swelled enough to make it hard to speak. 

You couldn’t decide what was worse, the fact that you never saw this coming, or that nobody would be coming to your rescue. 

Crack. 

Your shoulder was slammed into the wall with enough force that you toppled to the floor. Followed by multiple kicks to the stomach and sides, with not even a second’s notice. Your lunch felt closer to coming up with every rough kick of their boots into your torso. 

The amount of stock wasn’t nearly as close to what the client demanded, but his ration cards seemed too good to be true. To be fair, you weren’t cut out to be a smuggler; you were a fool to try and weasel out of the deal without repercussions. It was never that easy in this world. 

Your knuckles scraped against the blacktop like sandpaper while attempting to stand, painted crimson while your skin ripped. When your vision went double, then triple, squeezing your eyes shut alleviated the pain for just a moment. 

Other than the blood you felt gushing from your hands, the throbbing in your head and torso made it difficult to move without immense pain. Weakened by several blows to the stomach, your legs finally gave out. Your ankle twisted the wrong way as you fell, while your palm caught on a sharp piece of rock, scraping it enough to burn. You were damned if you tried to yell for help.

You huff a breath, before a sharp pain stopped you short, coughing up blood that pooled in your chest. On all fours like a dog you were, with the two men standing above you muttering to themselves. 

Mercy, they called this having mercy on you. 

Some form of laceration cut deep enough to drip red hot blood down your forehead, and there was no doubt you had several more covering your body by the way everything burned. It dripped down your face and made everything blurry. 

Coughing hoarsely, you somehow found the strength to pull yourself off from the prone position, finding a wall to sit up against. Each time you moved, it felt as if your body was getting ripped apart. Your bones felt like glass, your skin like paper. Blood gushed from a slash on your arm, and your stomach had taken one too many blows to pull yourself to your feet. 

How the fuck did this happen?

You had been traveling through the QZ during late afternoon, around the central hob of trading. In the midst of the zone's chaos, you ducked into an alley as a shortcut, which was your first mistake. Minutes later, you had been roughly attacked from behind, and thrown against the wall with one motion.

“You got our pills, bitch?” Two sets of feet pointed toward you while weakened. 

“I need more time,” you breathed, convincing yourself more so than the man in front of you, “My dealer’s stingy with his supply. I can get it out of him, though. Soon.”  Your arms raised at your sides, knowing how many people secretly carried knives around the QZ. There was no way you were taking that chance. 

A pair of hands grabbed the collar of your shirt, lifting you up so you could hear them clearly. 

“We want the rest of our pills. And a pack of cigs. End of the day tomorrow. Or you’re all the way dead. You hear me?” 

The other man approached, unsheathing his blade and immediately pressed it to your cheek, standing not even a foot from your body. His blade was forced onto your skin so hard that it drew blood, and you called out in pain. 

“End of day tomorrow. The usual spot.” The one holding your collar said pointedly. 

A fast nod of your head paired with the incessant throbbing of his words within your mind had you struggling to comprehend anything. He released your collar, which resulted in you toppling onto the ground once more. The blood you coughed up afterwards stained your shirt, wiping it away with the sleeve of your flannel. 

You’d survived the chaos of outbreak day, almost running yourself into the ground trying to escape everything. That was the day you knew this would be a life of running, until you arrived in Boston. 

You weren’t sure about the Quarantine Zone at first. But then you saw a bed and pillow to sleep on every night. No more camouflaging yourself in the backseat of a car or suffering drastic temperatures and hoping you wake up not frozen to death the next day. 

To be fair, you tried to sign up for work shifts, but manual labor was never for you– especially not when it was shoveling shit, or transferring corpses to burn in fire pits. That kind of work was not how you intended to live out the rest of your life. 

That was when you landed on smuggling, since people had to be desperate for some kind of relief after taking orders from soldier douchebags all day. You probably would’ve been better off in the academy, not taking shit from a weasel of a dealer whose name you forgot, but whose ponytail you remembered. You’d gone from risking your life every day in the open world, dodging the swarms of runners underground to being forced into risking your life trying to make the junkies and downright miserable people of the QZ happy. 

Now, you’ve accepted that you were going to slowly bleed to death in this alley. Part of you wanted to resist, but the idea of not having to deal with anything like this ever again. It would just be that much easier to close your eyes and succumb. 

You whimpered at the pain running through your leg, a patch of maroon seeping through your jeans. Too weak to put pressure on any of your own wounds, you let your eyes close in defeat. The voice at the back of your head protested, wanting you to get up and fight for your life. But you just couldn’t. 

Eventually the air got cooler which you noted meant the sun had gone down, and you were in and out of consciousness. Warily, you opened your one good eye, spotting the patch of blood that had spread further from the gash on your leg. The sight made you queasy, so you closed your eye again and went back to unconsciousness for a while. It was the lone way everything stopped hurting, and bliss once you floated into it. 

“Psst. You alive?” The words rang sharp in your head with an ache so bad you couldn’t focus. The nudge at your foot woke you a bit, pulling you to consciousness slightly. No reply earned you a slightly harder kick to the leg, which shot another stinging pain up your leg. You groaned and your body moved a bit. 

Is someone there? 

Footsteps crunched against the blacktop, getting slightly louder. 

Fuck, please don’t hurt me, please, please.. 

“I’m just gonna check your pulse, so if you can hear me, don’t freak out.” Your head moved an inch weakly, unsure about this person being so close to you. A low groan of discomfort came from your chest, alerting the woman you were conscious. 

“Hey, hey. I’m not going to hurt you. Just needed to know if you were alive.” The voice was low, and it sounded feminine through the ringing in your ear. 

“H-help… me…” You managed to speak, your mouth and tongue tasting like iron. 

The woman went silent for a moment, taking a look over the state of your injuries. 

“You’re pretty fucked up, honey. God, what piece of shit did this to you?” She picked up on the multiple gashes on your body, staining your clothes, and your shoulder was visibly out of place. 

You decided to open your eyes to see who was crouched next to you. It was no use, your vision was still spinning from earlier. Sharp pains drummed against your head and obscured your ability to see. The one sole thing you could make out was someone with long, light colored hair and a dark pink shirt, but you kept looking around to see if your vision would come back. 

“Shit. I’ve gotta get you out of here. Just- just hold on. Name’s Tess, what’s yours?” You picked up on her moving about, unzipping what you assumed was her pack. 

You mumbled again, still unable to speak clearly. 

“Right, dumb question. So, I’ve gotta stop your bleeding, and your shoulder looks dislocated. I can only do one of those things right now, and then we can get you someplace safe. That means I’m gonna have to put pressure on your leg. Okay?” Her words came out matter-of-factly, and she seemed like a true survivor of this world. 

You begin to protest, moving slightly away from her and moaning with distrust. 

“Look, I promise, I will get you out of here. But I can’t have you leaving a blood trail through the streets. Alright?” She asked, and you hesitated for a moment, but nodded slightly. 

“Okay, this is going to hurt, but I need you to keep it quiet so it doesn’t attract soldiers. Can you do that?” 

Immediately, you shook your head no, and you heard the woman mumble to herself while she shuffled through her bag.

“Here, bite down on this. It’s a clean rag, and I promise that if you scream, it’ll be a hell of a lot quieter than if you didn’t have it.” She raised the rag up to your lips and waited for you to open your mouth. Somehow you trusted her to let her put it in. If this were some other old injury, you wouldn’t be giving an inch. But you happened to be on the brink of death right now, and you realized she’s probably saving your life. 

“I’m gonna put pressure on your cut now.” You heard her rearrange herself to be crouched over on the other side of you. With both her hands, she pressed down firmly on your wound. The stinging pain that died down earlier came right back when her hands made contact. She noticed your wound gushing through the first bandage in her hand. You groaned loudly into the cloth, grateful for its existence. 

“I know it hurts…” The woman spoke again, “Just hang in there. I’m gonna wrap your wound, and then once we’re safe, I can stitch it up.” 

You begin to protest, borderline trusting the woman in front of you. Then you realized, she was the only one here. 

"Look, I need to get you out of here. Need to get us out of here. Soldiers are gonna be swarming the streets all night, and it's almost sundown. I can take you to my place, and I’ll have a better chance to take care of you there. I know you probably don’t trust me, but it's the least I can do."

Considering the current situation, you didn’t have much of a choice. 

“Do what you… h-have to..” you muttered weakly. 

The pressure on your wound had lightened, while one of her hands rested on it as she used the other to grab for her bag again. She met your eye level for a moment, glancing up to survey your state. She went back to wrap some gauze around your thigh, tying it tighter than you would’ve liked, even though you knew it would help your wound begin to heal. 

“Okay, I think the bleeding stopped. You poor thing, let’s get you out of here.” You watched her zip up her pack and shrug it onto her back, while grabbing yours with her other hand. 

“It’s probably gonna hurt a lot if you try to stand, but we gotta get you up one way or another.” You felt her at your side, slipping your left arm around her shoulder. She had already noticed the sharp inhales you were taking upon moving from your spot. 

“Here, lean on me. I’ll carry you. Just keep breathing, honey.” 

The minute she began to lift you was when you knew something was really wrong with your other arm. It tingled all over and your shoulder ached something awful. 

“‘M t-tryin’– it hurts…” had been uttered under your breath with another whine of sharp pain as your body moved with hers. 

“I know. Shhh, Shh. Hey, Just put one foot in front of the other. You’ve got this.” Something about her voice was calming you, and it almost made up for all the pain. The two of you begin walking, slowly at first, testing out your strength for the journey. It took a minute of tripping over your own feet to steady yourself. 

“Promise we’re gonna get you fixed up, brand new.” She muttered under her breath, low enough so other people nearby didn’t hear. 

Somehow her words kept you going, limp after limp. Tess made sure you knew when you had to take a step up or down, and kept you going the whole time. 

“Yeah, you got it. We’re halfway there. Keep it up, doin’ great.” Her words reverberated in your head with an echo. You couldn’t see where you were stepping for the majority, but you trusted her to guide you. Another few minutes of walking had your body much more worn out than normal. Once she stopped at the side of a building, her arm went to push the door open.

“Here we are.” Tess kicked it shut behind you two, and balanced you against her body. The interior was warm on your skin, but somehow your body still shivered to its core. Inside, you could hear people shifting around, but the sounds blended together amongst your attempt to stay upright. 

“I’m s-so cold…” 

The strength in your body was draining with every step you took; you were ready to collapse. 

“I know, but you gotta keep your eyes open a little longer. We need to get you up these stairs. Then we’re home free.” 

You didn’t protest as she brought you closer, inching up each step carefully in order to not strain yourself. Your legs ached with every step, persevering to make it all the way.

The last step up the top stair drained the last of your stamina, evident by the way your fingers throbbed with each beat of your heart. You were out of it more intensely than when you had been outside. Your whole body was sensitive with some form of pain you couldn’t quite pinpoint. 

Tess led you down the short hallway, stopping in front of her door. She fumbled with her keys, although the jingling chain sounded more like glass breaking in your head. The door flew open, and she brought you inside, tossing your pack to the side while tossing her keys in another direction. 

“Alright, let’s set you down on the couch. Should be more comfortable than the damn ground.” Tess scoffed as she brought you over, keeping an eye on your limp. She turned you to the right, your bad arm on the outside of the couch as you were lowered down onto the cushions. When your feet were finally off the ground and your back rested against the pillows, it made a world of a difference. 

“Fuck… I’m so tired. Everything hurts.” You stifled a groan, but Tess saw how much pain you were in. Your eyes scrunched together every time you tried to move and there were multiple patches of blood seeping through your shirt. 

“I know. But I can’t leave your shoulder the way it is.” 

“My shoulder?” You hadn’t the slightest idea what she was talking about, your arms felt fine. 

No, it’s definitely the shock you’re in. 

“It’s dislocated. Pretty swollen already, you must be in shock. And I already told you that I’d have to pop it back in. Before we left, you don’t remember?” 

“No…” You mumbled, trying to recall; your memory was so groggy; you couldn’t remember half the day. 

“Shit, you probably have a concussion too.” Tess reached to the back of her jeans, pulling out the same rag as before. “But I’ve gotta set your shoulder before it’s permanently damaged. It’s probably been way too long already.” 

“How d’you know all this? Were you a doctor or something? Before?” Tess turned to face you, and you were able to focus on the features of her face for a moment. Her eyes were a light hazel color, and you could see little strands of grey peeking through her light brown hair. 

“Or something… I did a lot to survive after the outbreak. Learned a lot more to survive the hard times.” Her words trailed off, and she went to grab something from another part of the room. Tess had collected an old shirt of hers, and came back over to you. 

“Okay, so… I’m not good with pain clearly. Hope you still have that rag. Cause I’m gonna yell… or pass out. Either way, it’s gonna hurt a shit ton, and I’m gonna need it.” 

Without a doubt, Tess pulled the rag from her back pocket for you. 

“Got it right here. Kept it out of my pack cause I knew you’d need it again. This is gonna hurt a lot more than just some pressure on your cut.” She began tying the t-shirt together in a specific way, but you weren’t sure what she was doing with it. 

“Shit. I know… I know. Just do it.” You groaned, feeling a slight tingling sensation in your left hand shooting upwards to your shoulder. 

Tess set the now tied shirt onto the floor, as she kneeled down next to you. With one hand, she held the rag up to your mouth, and you bit down on it. Among the various other pains in your body, your shoulder was the worst of all. Taking a few deep breaths to calm yourself enough, Tess met your eye once she had leaned down in front of you. 

“Ready?”

Wordlessly, you nodded your head. You were trying to keep calm, but the shock was wearing off and your pain came flooding back. One of Tess’s hands grasped your forearm, though you could barely feel her grip. 

“Okay. One, two…” 

Crack went your shoulder back into its socket with one swift motion. Just as she thought, you went groaning into the rag once again. Tess took her hands away and grabbed the makeshift sling she had tied together earlier. 

“Does that feel better?” She asked, watching you spit out the rag. You took another deep breath in and out, surveying the current feeling in your arm. 

“Yeah.” You weren’t sure if you believed it yourself, but for now you decided to. “Pain’s still there, but it definitely feels different. Better than before.”

“Good. Here, you’ve gotta wear your arm in this sling while it heals.” Tess lifted the tied up sling over your head, and it slipped on easily on once she had it situated the right way. 

“Could I get those pills now? The idea of any kind of grace from the amount of pain I was just in sounds like a dream.” You tried to laugh, but a cough came up instead. 

“Yeah. I’ve got Oxy, Hydro, Morphine…” She trailed off, not even knowing if you knew what she was talking about. 

“Honestly, whatever you think will be best. I honestly don’t know anything about dosages very well, and I trust you. Besides, I just wanna knock out for the night. I’m fucking exhausted.” Your words slurred a bit, due to your swollen lip, but Tess heard you well enough. 

“Alright, I’ll be right back.” 

Instead of trying to keep your eyes open, you shut them again in an attempt to alleviate the pain in your head, but it pounded nonstop. You listened to Tess’s boots on the wooden floor walking around to ground yourself. A couple minutes later, she returned to where you lay on the couch. 

You peeked your eyes open, and she’d crouched down with two pills in one hand and a cup of water in the other. 

“Got you water to wash it down with, if you want.” Her cupped hand held two of the white pills and you raised your good arm to grab them. Patient as she was, you moved slowly. 

There was no indication of any burdensome look on her face, which was odd– no one had ever been this kind to you before. You didn’t know how to feel about it. 

Slipping the pills between your lips, you grabbed for the cup of water. It began to slip out of your hand the minute Tess loosened her grip.

“Here, let me. You’re gonna be really weak for a while, so just close your eyes and relax.” She said, to which she brought the cup to your lips with no hesitation. 

“Now, while those pills kick in, I’ll see what I can do for your gashes and other injuries. All I want you to focus on is getting some sleep. You’re safe. I promise.” She touched your hand softly, then stood up and walked off to leave you space to rest. 

Once you closed your eyes, you felt the exhaustion wash over you, though it finally felt good to rest again. A few minutes passed, and the groggy effect of the pills began to set in. You were out in no time. 

In the meantime, Tess darted back and forth gathering supplies to fix you up; she’d sterilized a needle and thread to stitch up your leg, and took the last of her ace bandages out from her pack to use for your ankle. She grabbed the bottle of whiskey on the countertop, and brought what she needed over to you, couchside. 

Before Tess took the needle and thread between her fingers, she cut away the area of denim that was ripped from your gash.

“Sorry, kid. I’ll get you some new pants.” To be fair, those jeans of yours were filthy with dirt and muck stains you’d never be able to wash out. Not to mention the blood that spread had well enough to become a large patch. She attempted to wipe up the dried viscera around your cut best she could, dabbing with the alcohol lightly to sanitize it. She’d counted on you being unconscious from the pills to start stitching up your gash. Hands steady, she looped the needle and thread through your cut, pulling it closed with each tie. 

Though it wasn’t the most ideal situation for something like this, Tess had the experience. Stitching up cut after cut on the road for god knows how long, trying to keep moving forward, but somehow someone always got hurt. People kept dying, or turning– and that wasn’t even the worst part. Upon making it to Boston, she learned what it was to be calm under situations like this. To become cold. It got the best of her, more often than not; any idea of the old her was lost to dreams of the world before. She never looked back, never slowed down, never took even a moment for herself. Her routine was based strictly around finding the best way to get by in the QZ. The constant eye of FEDRA’s guards and firefly bombings were enough, let alone the mile-long lines for rations that were barely ever in. It was too much to subject herself to being controlled by an invasive military, especially after all she’d done to survive. Each person Tess left behind etched a sliver of her humanity off, chipping away the heartfulness she once carried with pride. 

Save who you can save, the last words whispered to her by someone that sacrificed themselves so she could make it to Boston. Everything blurred together sometime after getting admitted into the city; by then, she’d worn down that kind version of herself into the ground. Possibly that same place where she heard those words before. Quickly, she gained a reputation with Joel by her side in the smuggling business of the zone. It paid well– better than hard labor all day for a cruel amount of flimsy ration cards, just to repeat the same thing over the next day. There was a respectable line Tess drew between the things she’d done in the name of survival, and things she strongly disliked doing. 

Tess’s time in the QZ had only reinforced that rigid outer shell of hers, confident the softer, weaker person inside her was left behind for good.

She’d almost made it through the day without finding any trouble, but her path through the streets was detoured by FEDRA vehicles and it happened to be the quickest route back to her place. Tess’s steps were quick, aiming to make a b-line straight back. 

Then her eyes caught the image of your thoroughly beaten self, and attempted to shut down the itch in the back of her throat she couldn’t quite scratch. 

Just keep walking, she’d told herself. But her subconscious knew better. Then those words echoed lightly through her head. 

Tess, save who you can save…

“Shit…” 

She thought she’d forgotten them all. But time never does. Those poor souls lost to hordes of runners, clickers, stalkers– each one shoved down so deep inside, and the outside shell of her was simple glass. 

Keep walking, just keep walking…. No–

She truly tried to keep going, but each step gnawed into her further. Remembrance of the ones she’d lost shattered the glass holding her back, and glued her feet to the ground in place. A quick curse had Tess looking back over her right shoulder, catching a glimpse of your unmoving body. She’d figured if this were a trap, others would’ve already surrounded her. 

A deep sigh came from her exhale of a tightly held breath; her heart pounding against the inside of her chest, as if something about to burst. Any second thought of moving further had vanished, her feet pivoting against the concrete, toward the stagnant body lying soundless against the brick wall. 

Darkness swallowed every corner of that alley; Tess was fortunate to even have seen you at all. 

It wasn’t often she found herself stopping for anyone that needed help, let alone in the QZ. Underneath the swollen and crimson stained injuries, she saw a young individual subdued and unconscious from their injuries. That was the moment she’d called out to you. 

Tess shook those pre-Boston nightmares from her mind, putting all of her focus onto fixing up your ankle. With the discoloration of bruises that covered your ankle, it baffled her how you were even able to trek as far as you had gone. Her eyebrows furrowed relentlessly, each one of your injuries more surprising than the last. 

“Jesus, kid. What the hell did you get yourself into?” She muttered to herself, before grabbing the roll of bandages from her pack. Tess was so focused on getting your ankle wrapped, that she hadn’t heard the creak of the wooden floor from behind her. 

“Tess… what’re you doin’?” 

Unbothered by the voice, her hands kept working. Though, she knew she’d woken her roommate from his slumber. Joel Miller hadn’t thought this was what he’d be seeing at almost two in the morning. 

“Wrapping an ankle, the hell do you think I’m doing?” 

“Tess. who the fuck is this?” By the tone of his voice, she knew he was pissed. She dare not poke the bear this late. 

“It’s uh… well, no. I don’t know. They couldn’t speak when I found them.” She’d finished securing the bandage around your ankle, and placed it back down on the couch.

“Do you even know their name?” Joel stepped towards Tess, his brow furrowed. 

“Joel… they were lying beat up and bloody in an alley. I wasn’t gonna take the chance and leave them there to die.” She reached for the other pillow on the couch, and placed it delicately for your ankle to rest on. 

“Well, did you even check their pack for weapons?” 

Tess huffed a breath, and stood up straight, turning to the man. 

“I was a little preoccupied making sure they weren’t bleeding out. Besides, they didn’t have any on their body. But if you insist…”

She took the moment now to move towards your pack she’d thrown into a corner earlier, taking out a notebook, some ration cards, and a couple bags of pills. 

“What the fuck? Tess, this could be a setup.” Joel muttered, the tone of his voice unsettled by the situation. 

“What? No. No fucking way, Joel. I’m telling you, they would’ve died out there if it wasn’t for me.” 

“You’ve gotta stop tryin’ to save people that ain’t worth it. That’s how we’re still alive, why we’re here and the dead ain’t.” 

“No, I don’t believe you. They’re unconscious and didn’t even see you, by the way. I think you’re fine.” Tess shook her head while she spoke. 

“Well, it’s our business that goes to shit if you’re wrong.” Joel spat, beginning to walk back to his door. 

“I don’t really give a shit. Not tonight. What I do care about is making sure this person stays alive. I couldn’t care less about distributing pills to junkies.” 

She did care about the smuggling, just not as much as she did about keeping you alive for the night. 

“Yeah, whatever.” 

His door shut and locked, leaving Tess alone with you for the night. She collected herself after that conversation, preparing anything she might need throughout the night to treat you. Just in case. 

Her muscles finally relaxed the minute she’d sat down in a chair adjacent to her couch. While she draped a blanket over her legs, Tess took one last look at you, studying your rising chest and calm features. 

You’re gonna be alright. 

Beams of sunlight painted the walls with a glowing warmth, cast across the older woman’s skin. Morning broke early, waking Tess before either of the habitants that resided in the Boston apartment. She’d always been a light sleeper, despite that it was loud most hours in the walls of the QZ. Living in Detroit her whole life had certainly accustomed her to it. 

Her hazel eyes opened against the light, finding themselves staring upwards at the ceiling. Tess had woken up several times throughout the night, which had become a normal occurrence for her. Events from last night flashed through her mind as she rose from her slumber. Her slumped position resulted with an uncomfortable spot in her neck from the chair she’d been in all night. Tess sat up as best she could, grasping the nape of her neck for comfort. No matter how many times she tried to get rid of the pain, nothing relieved her. Defeated by the lack of sleep, she rose from the chair and looked over at you still asleep on the couch. 

Rays of sunlight happened to catch right over your face, peeking through the blinds as they awoke you from rest. Yesterday had become a blur quicker than light. 

Where am I? What happened to me? It hurts everywhere…

You shifted lightly with a groan, eyes still closed. A headache pinged at the sides of your temples, and you took a sharp breath out of reflex. You weren’t able to move your body freely; exhaustion had drained you enough. Out of the blue, you heard a female voice echoing in your ears. Your one good eye opened, and it took a minute to adjust to the light, along with any blurriness. 

“Hey, you with me?” Her voice called out to you, unintelligible at first, but once you focused on the words more, you understood. 

“Where… where am I?” You mumbled, attempting to lift yourself up. You didn’t know what was worse; not knowing where you were, or not being able to lift your body normally. 

“Don’t try to sit up. You’re safe, but you’re too weak to sit up right now. I saved you last night, patched you up. Remember? My name’s Tess.” 

“Not really…” you sighed, accepting your weakened state. 

Tess knew it would take more than just one night to gain your trust; she also knew Joel wouldn’t be as patient. She crouched down by the side of the couch where you were, getting closer to make sure you heard her. 

“So, I pulled you out of that alley last night, patched you up and kept you safe the past twelve hours. I think that warrants me your name.” 

Your eyes glanced over her figure, the image of Tess still fuzzy. Considering all the factors, and the fact that you were still alive, you gave in and told her your name. Tess nodded contently and spoke again.

“Well, you probably have a concussion. But I cleaned and bandaged up everything else I could. Your left arm was dislocated, but I popped it back in last night. That’s why it’s in the sling. Don’t try to move it much, it’ll take a while to heal. As for your ankle, it’s twisted pretty bad. Bruised, too. You’re gonna be off your feet for a while.” Surveying the bumps and bruises you’d received, she set other supplies to the side on the floor.

You glanced down at your body, pulling back the blanket over your legs to find your stained jeans and the stitched up gash, with other bandaging around your ankle. 

“You saved me? And bandaged me up?” You speak clearly for the first time, and Tess stopped in her movement. 

“Yeah. You’re lucky to be alive. I wasn’t gonna let you die out there.” 

“What..” you swallowed, “What happened to me?” 

“From the looks of it, you were on the bad side of a shitty deal gone wrong. Like I said, you’re lucky to be alive.” Her tone was calm, and impressive to see in a situation that was anything but. 

“You went through my pack?” 

“I found you in an alley. Almost dead. Can you blame me?” 

“Guess not…” you said, sighing and trying to sit up. With one arm in a sling, you were having trouble moving without anything hurting. The pills were wearing off little by little as time passed. 

“Yeah, I wouldn’t do that. You’re gonna be couch bound for a while.” 

“What? No way. I need to… I have business and shit I need to get done–” 

“Don’t play coy. We know you’re a smuggler.” She shoved her hands in her pockets, pacing in small circles. 

“Well, you went through my bag. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. Wait, did you say we?” 

Before Tess could respond, a gray haired man emerged from behind her, jutting into the conversation. 

“You’re real cocky for someone that almost ended up dead from one of your clients. For all I know, this whole thing is a setup for you to rob us, kill us, or somethin’ else. But I ain’t gonna take that chance. Not now, not ever. Are we clear?” His southern accent came out as he spoke, and it wasn’t often you heard a voice like his among the Boston streets. It was intimidating enough; you didn’t trust him. 

“Yeah– okay, dude. Jesus, I don’t even know who you are. I didn’t know you guys were smugglers!” your voice strained while you lift your arm to gesture. 

“Joel, I was the one that brought them here. Like you said, this is on me. And I’ve got it. Walk it off, Texas.” 

The man named Joel walked backwards, dark eyes trained on you until the moment he turned around and left. He shut the front door in haste. 

“Is he always that tense?” You ask, taking a deep breath. 

“No. It’s not every day I bring anyone back to this apartment. Let alone someone who looked half dead, like yourself. No offense.” 

“Yeah… Why did you save me, by the way? You could’ve just left me there. But you didn’t.” 

“I told you… I wasn’t going to let you die. I thought you were dead at first, but I took the chance and saved your damn life. Is that what you wanna hear?” Your vision was still a little blurry, but you could focus on the woman’s features much more easily up close. You finally made out the face of your savior, Tess was a woman with light brown hair, longer than her shoulders but not too long. Her eyes were green, and there were lines on her face from time passing. With her stern voice, you wouldn’t know her face would look as calm. 

“Well, thank you.” You admitted, half ashamed you even thought about staying there to die in the first place. 

“You’re welcome.” 

Just as the silence settled, your body became aware of every injury you’d received. A sound of discomfort slipped past your lips, furrowing your eyebrows together. 

“Are you in pain? What hurts?” Tess began looking over the stitches she’d done the night before. 

With a groan, you replied, “Everything…” 

“Alright, I can give you a couple more pills for the pain. Uh wait– do you need to use the bathroom? I assume it’s been a while…” 

“Oh, yeah. I think in my near death I’d been.. You know, going without the ability to control it.” 

“Right… Well, I can get you a clean pair of clothes, but it won’t do any good if you’re wearing your own body fluids. Do you– would you like a bath?” 

Immediately insecure, you realized how filthy you must’ve become, spending most of yesterday soaked in your own blood and urine. Quickly, you nodded while looking down, shame washing over you. 

“Okay, Joel’s not gonna be back for a few hours. I can spare you some new clothes and underwear, but your boots I can just clean off later. I’ll re-wrap your injuries after, too. For now, we’ve gotta get you cleaned up.” 

She lifted you from the couch dutifully and slung you over her shoulder to head towards the bathroom. Tess recognized your sounds of discomfort, a string of sharp breaths and muffled groans you thought she didn’t hear. 

“Almost there. Here we go.” Her hip pushed the door open, sitting you on the chair next to the tub. Once the water was on and flowing, Tess found the right temperature and began filling the tub. She made her way back to you, and began to untie your boots, placing them off to the side. She took off your button down shirt, which revealed more black and blue bruising across your back and shoulder. You hissed a breath as she pulled the sleeve down off your left arm. Before moving further, Tess looked toward you with kind eyes. 

“It’s okay. Don’t feel ashamed. It’s just hard now. But you’ll be alright… Can I continue?” Her hand rested on your good shoulder patiently. You nodded silently, realizing the intimacy of the situation and looked down at the floor. 

Slowly, cautiously, and gently, she undressed you while the tub filled beside you both. Not only was your body covered in bruises and scrapes, but dried blood and other viscera had caked on a few layers. The bandages from last night were discarded to the side, fresh ones in the other room for when you were clean. She saw your reaction as you entered the water, your face contorted in both pain and pleasure while you sat. The warmth of the liquid against your torso was another level of soothing, flooding your skin with goosebumps and washing off some of the dried blood upon submerging yourself into the tub. Tess grabbed a washcloth and bar of soap, lathering it up before wiping it across your back. 

“I don’t know how to thank you. This is…” 

“You don’t have to say anything. And you don’t have to thank me. Please– please don’t thank me.” Tess knew this wouldn’t make up for the numerous people she’d left behind– left to die so she could persevere ahead. But all she had to do was goddamn try. 

A comfortable silence settled between the two of you, sighing while she kept cleaning off your body. Her hands were soft against your skin, sending shivers up your spine. Though she was doing something as intimate as washing you, it didn’t bother you as much as it would have on any other occasion. She carefully avoided running over your scrapes and other open wounds, yet still washing them lightly with the soap and water. Before long, the water had become a dark brown color from how much had washed off of you. Tess began to drain the tub, keeping the faucet running as it drained. 

“Mind if I wash your hair?” 

It was just a simple question, but it sparked your anxiety a bit more than when she undressed you earlier. 

“Uh.. sure.” 

Tess washed out the tub with a bucket while you sat in it. She lathered some shampoo between her palms, rubbing it across your scalp with gentle fingers. 

You couldn’t deny, Tess’s hands were calloused and rough, but they felt like heaven against your scalp. Rubbing the pads of her fingers into your head was somehow better than all the times you’d done it yourself. Eyebrows furrowed against the sensation, and you groaned lowly. You somehow alerted Tess, wondering if she’d pressed too firmly on your head. 

“What happened? Does it hurt? Sorry if I’m going too hard–”

“No, it’s great. Keep going.” You breathed. 

“Okay..” she chuckled a bit before continuing, then used the bucket to wash the rest out from your locks before applying conditioner. One of her hands grabbed the brush on the floor, slowly untangling the mess of knots in your hair. The warm water calmed you like nothing you’d experienced before, at least not since after the world fell. Appreciation flowed through you, and the comfortable silence reinforced that all the more. It was a safe feeling, one you shared with this kind, and beautiful woman. She’d washed the leftover soap and conditioner off your body, and began to towel dry your skin in a gentle manner. 

“Here, wrap yourself in this. I’ll be right back with the clothes.” Quick footsteps brought her to the pile of clothes she’d attained over the months on the run. She’d returned to the bathroom with a few things in hand, and approached you. Carefully, she stood you from the tub and stepped back onto the floor while wiping the remaining water droplets off your back. 

“Thanks..” you shivered a bit against the cold air, wanting to be clothed and back under the thick blanket. The socks she slipped over your feet helped warm you, while carefully slipping on the rest of her clothes. Tess even brought a spare sports bra for you to borrow for the time being. Something about the way she moved so calmly, spoke with such a soothing voice that made this whole situation seem lighter. On any other day, you’d be stressing about finding the right pills for a client or risking your life outside the walls. Her soft movements sparked something inside you with a new kind of warmth, and it almost atoned for everything you’d been through the past 12 hours. 

Once you were dressed, Tess towel dried your hair and began to tie up another sling for your arm. 

“When you’re back on the couch, I’m gonna put some ice on your ankle. It’ll help with the swelling and probably some of the pain.” You nodded silently, taken back constantly by her kindness. 

“If you’re in pain, I could give you another dose of pain meds. But it depends on if you want to eat something beforehand. It’s been since yesterday since you ate anything, probably for the both of us. I can fix you something to eat, though.” 

“Oh, uh, sure.” You weren’t completely sure what you were doing here still, your mind foggy from the night before. The way your injuries burned and ached against one another had you aching for some kind of relief– any kind at this point. How you got yourself here, you weren’t sure of either. 

Not much later, Tess came over with something suitable for you to eat, before giving you a couple more pills for the pain. Again you fell drowsy from the pain medication, resting the day away. With you resting calmly on the couch, Tess did her best to stay awake until Joel returned, running on less than five hours of sleep. It felt like ages before he came through the apartment door once again. 

“Hey, can you… keep an eye on them, please… I barely got any shuteye last night.” 

“I just got back–” 

“Joel, please.”

“Fine.” 

“Don’t hurt them, Miller. Seriously. Or I’ll hurt you.” She mumbled under her breath, trudging to the door. 

“I’ve got it. Just go.” 

With that, Tess collapsed on her mattress, not even bothering to pull the sheet over her, before drifting off to sleep the minute her eyelids fluttered shut. 

On the couch, you woke to a silent morning; no movement could be heard amongst the apartment. Your eyelids fluttered open, turning your head to look for Tess; instead you were met with the dark eyes of Joel Miller. His figure sat across from you, adjusting the gun in his hand so you could see it well. 

“You try anything funny, you get a bullet.” Joel raised his hand to gesture with the weapon. He noticed the bags under your eyes were dark and sunken in, making you appear more dead than alive at the moment, despite all the bandages. 

“You wouldn’t shoot me here. It’d be too loud and soldiers would be here quicker than light.” You rasped, coughing lightly from your dry throat. 

“Wanna bet?” He leaned in with a menacing glare. You kept eye contact with him as he began to stand, the intimidation not making a dent in you. It was enough to make Joel second guess his opinion of you for a moment. 

“Joel, stand down.” Tess called from the other side of the room. You called her name from the couch, and she quickly replied. 

“I’m here. Do you need anything?” She came into eyesight now, her hair pulled back in a ponytail and casually wearing a sweatshirt. Tess gave Joel a look, motioning for him to leave the room. 

“Yeah. I need to get out of here and home.” Your eyes watched the older man get up, watching as Tess approached, “My client’s probably freaking the fuck out and wreaking havoc across the QZ looking for me.” 

“About that…” She strolled over to where you were, taking a seat, “You need to tell me who did this to you.”

“What? N-No… I can’t. He’s my client. I can deal with him.” You shot up in your seat, groaning slightly. 

“Oh right. Like that worked out so well last time?” Joel spoke, walking away. Your eyebrows furrowed in annoyance at what Tess was suggesting.

“Trust me, kid. You’ll thank me later.” She added. 

“I’m already thanking you later. I’ll probably be owing you for the rest of my life.” 

“No, kid–” 

“Don’t call me kid. I’m grown. I can take care of myself.” 

“Okay, you’re gonna have to prove it, then. You still need time to heal.” Tess insisted you lay down again, but her words flew in one ear and out the other.

“I need to not be couch bound and sleeping through the day! I need to have a life, some kind of life in this shit hole of a city! Don’t you get it?” Your voice was rising, straining against the irritation. 

“I do, trust me. I do. It’s why we got into that business, too. But hun, you didn’t deserve what happened to you. I hope you know that. Now, I’d like to know…” She leaned in closer, lowering her voice to look you in the eye. 

“Let it go. It doesn’t matter!” 

“Yes it does. Who did this to you?” Her voice spoke pointedly, holding strong eye contact with you. Your eyes closed for a second, throwing your head back with a sigh. 

“His info is on the third page in my notebook. You’ll know it’s him cause his orders take up almost the whole fucking page.” You pinched the bridge of your nose as Tess stepped toward your pack, rummaging through it until she found the notepad. Pocketing it, she walked over to Joel’s door, ajar, and spoke. 

“Texas, make our guest something to eat. I have some business to attend to.” She turned toward the door, exiting the apartment with your notebook in hand. 

“Wait, Tess!” 

Your voice fell on deaf ears; she was already down the hallway and gone. Once the man emerged from his bedroom, you shared a plain look as he made his way to the kitchen. Before reaching for the cupboard doors, he grabbed the bottle of amber liquor and poured some into a glass. 

“Pour me a glass of that, please.” 

“Are you even old enough?” 

“Are you kidding? I’m 25. Now can you pour me a damn drink already?” 

Silently, Joel rolled his eyes and poured some into a glass for you. It was his peace offering before he went back to find something for you to eat. You ended up sharing some soup and crackers with Joel for dinner, awaiting the older woman’s return afterwards.

An hour or two passed before Tess made her way back. You were resting on the couch when the door opened. She took a sharp breath in upon entering, and let the door slam behind her louder than usual. It gained your attention and Joel’s, looking toward the door. You heard her hiss a breath, while she shook out her fist. 

“Shit, Tess. What did you do?” She walked further into the apartment, the light glimmering against the fresh blood across her lip. 

“Took care of that client of yours.” She muffled a groan, stretching out her fist while her knuckles bled. 

“Did you kill him? The fuck–” You began to try and stand on your good foot, but stumbled before you could get any closer to her. 

“What? No, I didn’t kill him. Just taught him a lesson. That smug fucker. I don’t know why you did business with him. He’s a bad junkie. You never do business with a bad junkie.” She sat down near you again, noticing the empty whiskey glass nearby on the floor. 

“He was my most frequent customer. Shady as hell, if I’m honest, he kinda scared me. That’s how I knew it was him when I got attacked. 

“That’s naïve of you. Why would you ever do something that risky by yourself?” 

“I… didn’t have anyone else who was willing to risk their lives sneaking around the QZ. So I said fuck it.” 

“Well, I still think you’re a dumbass. You’re just lucky you’re staying out of the smuggling market for a while.” 

“No, I told you I can’t. I need to–” 

“You need to rest and heal. I swear to god, if I hear one more word about you getting on your feet before you’re a hundred percent, I swear I’ll chain you to the couch.” 

“Jesus, fine. I won’t go back out there. Throw my entire business away just to wait till these injuries kill me in the middle of the night, I guess.” 

“Hey, you’re gonna be fine. The only reason I’m being an asshole about this is because I want you to survive. I didn’t pull you off the street to let you go back to that shitty situation.” Her words were honest, even if you didn’t believe them. 

“Well, thanks. I guess.” 

“Yeah, don’t mention it.” She shrugged your thanks off and went about her business. 

The future weeks proved to be the longest haul you thought you’d ever been in. It consisted of a lot of reading, sleeping, and wishing you could be on your feet. You ended up asking Tess to take a trip to your place and retrieve some of your things; you were tired of having to put her out of her own clothes to wear. Plus it would just be more comfortable for you. Tess checked your injuries daily, reapplying bandages and cleaning on a steady schedule. She would not let you die from infections after doing all she could to save your life that night. 

The two older individuals went about their days more regularly once you were out of the woods with all of your injuries. Tess helped you to and from the table so you could join them for meals, otherwise spending the day rereading old books and magazines while trying to find other things to do than just sit around and rot. You were grateful for Tess saving your life, but this healing process was a bitch. 

 Standing wasn’t as easy as you thought it would be, especially having been off your feet for days on end. Much less the blood loss you’d experienced, it was humbling to not be able to get around on your own. Slowly as the first week passed, Tess helped you get back on your feet bit by bit. You had enough strength after another week to stand on your own.

One day, the smuggling duo was planning a run while surveying a map they’d drawn up. You nonchalantly watched, sitting in a chair neary. They hadn’t noticed you, until you mentioned a route they hadn’t heard of, and her attention turned to you, impressed with your knowledge and jotted the trail down for later. 

“Wait, question. Do you guys know Robert?” Your arms crossed over your chest. 

Both Joel and Tess turned towards you now, their eyes widened and faces grim. 

“Why?” Joel asked with a stern voice. 

“He’s one of the guys that uses that route. At least, his guys do. So be careful.” 

“You’re telling me you used to run with Robert?” 

“Only for a little. Seemed like he wanted more than just business… with me. But I got out of there before it was too late.” Tess scoffed, a smirk forming on her face. 

“Tell you what. You wanna keep smuggling, you join us when you’re fully healed.” 

Joel turned to her, but she shot him a look and turned back to the map silently. 

“You’re sure?” You asked, sitting up. 

“I’m sure. Not gonna let you put yourself in danger again when you could have us at your side.” She looked back down at the map and continued jotting in her notes. 

“Okay, cool.” You smiled to yourself, thinking Tess didn’t see, but she glanced up for a moment after she heard your words. She noticed the eagerness in your eyes and felt her heart skip a beat. 

So, it wasn’t all for nothing, you thought. 

You weren’t given a second chance to live just to lose what got you through the days and weeks on your own. This gave you another opportunity to survive with individuals by your side; you wouldn’t be alone anymore. 

Caring came far too easy for Tess. She'd seem cold on the outside, and sure, she was a reserved person. But to see you so overjoyed about being able to continue smuggling, she couldn’t help but have a little warm feeling in her chest. 

She thought the first time would be the only time a spark would flicker inside her. But then you were laughing at something idiotic one night, and she felt it again. The tensions between you and Joel had broken– finally. For the first time in a while, Tess saw multiple things looking up: you were recovering on a steady pace, and on an even better note, becoming a friend to her. She read you books, mostly classics from what she’d traded for. Ultimately grateful, you listened intently to every word she read, while trying to not fall asleep from her soothing voice. 

Under all the scratches and bruises, Tess saw your kindness and personality reveal with everyday that passed. She became privy to the way you saw the world with a gentle hand, reinforcing that spark in her chest. Yet that same spark came with guilt; she knew it wasn’t fair to fall for you after all you’d been through. She wasn’t sure if you’d ever trust someone like that again. So that spark was only kept as embers, in a lockbox on a very high, very dusty shelf in her mind. 

Another week of healing went by, and you were finally able to stop wearing your arm in a sling. You spent the day traveling back to your place to grab some things you’d need for the next few days. Tess insisted you stay in the apartment with her and Joel while you healed. You hadn’t been home since the day you were attacked, other than the days Tess was kind enough to retrieve some things for you. 

As of present day, you had gained the ability to walk on your ankle back after almost a month of being off it. The first thought in your head the morning of was that a trip outside the walls of the apartment. You also knew others might want to pay you a visit if you returned back by yourself, which is when you mentioned the idea to Tess. 

“Yeah, you’re definitely not going alone. I’ll come with. When do we leave?” 

“Right now.” You grinned at her with content before you went to grab your pack. 

The two of you flew down the steps and out the door, Tess following behind you with caution. Your first step into the outside air was something you missed within almost a month of being indoors. While it wasn’t exactly sunny, the cool air was refreshing against your skin and differed greatly from the apartment. 

“Don’t run off now.” the older woman muttered, shutting the door behind her. Just from the way you moved, Tess could tell you were in need of something like this. You looked around at the same old streets of the QZ like it was something completely new. She felt lucky to be the one seeing this part of you, the healed and healthy part. 

“C’mon, I’ll lead the way.” You turned back to her, noticing her hazel eyes trained in your direction, then shifted to the path in front of you. A few minutes of walking passed, and you’d picked up some pairs of eyes looking your way from people on the surrounding streets. It was more of a side eye glance than a stare, but still you noticed it. After being terrified to leave the four walls of the apartment, being perceived was a bit more intimidating than you thought it’d be. You slowed your steps, letting Tess catch up with you. 

“Um, Tess?” You mumbled, glancing back towards her. 

“What’s up?” 

“All these people keep staring...” 

Tess surveyed the area before noticing something you hadn’t, and she chuckled. 

“They’re not looking at you, they’re staring at me.” You did a quick glance back and forth, fidgeting with your fingers nervously. 

“Are you sure?” 

“I’m sure. Let’s keep going.” You turned back after nodding to her, hiding the tiny smile that snuck its way onto your lips. It was almost like walking with a scary dog at your side, except said scary dog was the taller woman trailing behind you. 

From the way multiple pairs of eyes shot in her direction, some glazed over, some didn’t notice as you passed by. Other pairs of eyes widened as they fell on the figure of the woman behind you. You don’t know how she’s done it, but Tess Servopolous has the Boston QZ wrapped around her finger. It seemed everyone–including Joel Miller himself– had themselves under her spell. They did whatever she wanted the moment she asked. There was no second guessing her, and when she said to do something, you were damn well to do it. You learned the hard way during your healing process, stubborn and complaining that you couldn’t get around on your own. 

One night when you were bickering, she’d tried to convince you that you weren’t ready to try and walk on your bad ankle yet. Stubborn and impatient, you kept talking back to her. 

“Don’t even try to get up.” 

You’d been overstressing yourself about getting back on your feet, so as to find another way to keep smuggling. 

“Watch me.” You had hoisted yourself off the couch halfway, then used the last of your stamina to pull yourself the rest of the way up. The first step you took was with your good foot, but the minute you stepped with the other, you groaned and stumbled from the pain, landing on the ground. 

“I told you…” Tess was at your side before you could attempt to move yourself back to the couch.

Gentle and slow, her hands around your body were familiar as if you’d known them to be the hands of a long time lover. They were just Tess’s hands, but to you, they couldn’t hurt or kill any more than they could wash over your injuries with a soft touch. When you got a better look at her for the first time, you saw the kindness in her eyes, and her heart in the actions she took towards you. 

Common human decency was to take care of someone injured or sick, but you felt something different in the way she tended to you. It was in the way she used her hand to lift up your chin to check how your cuts were healing. Especially when she inspected the one on your lip for a bit too long, claiming it was healing fast and that you shouldn’t try to open it again. All you could hear when she spoke was your own heart beating in your ears, lost in the hazel of her eyes. She’d even found you a cane, but you paid it no mind and kept letting her help you instead.

“I’d hate to feel like a burden…” 

“It’s alright, I don’t mind taking care of you.” A warmth flushed through your cheeks when her words hit your ears. 

You could tell somewhere deep down, Tess used to care for people as easy as breathing. From the way she knew so much about patching others up, she wanted to keep people going, no matter the circumstances, you knew she cared much more than she showed. 

Being on your feet again, outside those same bland apartment walls brought a new feeling you weren’t able to identify. It was different not walking alone for once in the streets, always having to glance over your shoulder just in case. Now when you looked over your shoulder, you saw Tess, and you hoped she’d stay in your life for longer than just when you were healing from your injuries. She meant too much to you to just forget about after she’d been by your side the whole time. 

The route to your apartment wasn’t far from where Tess lived, and you were there within no time. It was a bit overwhelming once you came up to the door, fidgeting with the keyring until it clicked into the lock. 

“Well, here we are.” You opened the door, stepping into the stale air of your place. Things were as you’d left them, with a few odds and ends out of order from when Tess had stopped by for some of your toiletries. All your knickknacks were scattered about, some across the countertops and any spare surface you could find. Some, if not most, were collected on the road, and others were from your home when you first fled. 

“Nice place you got here.” 

“You should know, being the only person to be here besides me in the past few weeks.” you chuckle, shoving your keys back in your jeans pocket. They actually happened to be Tess’s, but you couldn’t tell the difference anymore. She didn’t mind either.

She’d been contemplating a lot on the walk over, worried about what might happen when you were fully healed. Tess knew there was a problem when her heart warmed at the sight of you sleeping peacefully on the couch, then remembered what you’d been through and wanted to burn the whole QZ down. 

It was almost gone when you started to heal, until she couldn’t sleep thinking about what could happen to you when you went back out there. A wave of restlessness washed over her, and it’d been very hard to accept the fact that you could end up right back where she found you. 

“Guess you’re right.” Tess muttered, stepping into the cool air of the apartment. 

“I’ll be a minute, gonna grab some clothes and then we can head back.” You spoke, her eyes trailing down your back as you walked into the other room. Silently, she moved about the main room, her eyes catching all the different little objects around the space. Tess didn’t know how you had time to collect all these different things– from shells to rocks to other small toys and charms that lay about– there was no shortage of oddities. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of your open bedroom door. Timidly, she peeked inside to see you rustling through a few drawers and shoving clothes into a backpack. 

“Nice… room. Cozy.” You glanced up at her for a moment while folding the clothes to put in your bag. 

“Thanks, I tried to make it as home-y as possible. Makes up for the whole quarantine zone thing.” 

“I get it.” Tess chewed the inside of her lip nervously, stepping into the room slightly, leaning one of her arms against the doorframe.

“Do you? That place of yours is barely decorated.” You snarked, trying to cover up how aware you were of how domestic she looked standing in your bedroom doorway. She was perfect with the light beams of sunlight peeking over her shoulder. 

“Guess stuff like that doesn’t really matter to me.” 

But she wanted it to matter; she wanted it to matter to her so desperately. For you, she’d do anything– put up with whatever you threw at her, because she cared. There wasn’t a way to tell when Tess noticed this fire burning inside her, lit aflame by your out righteousness. 

She pined to see reminders of you every day when she wakes up. To see you when she opened her eyes in the morning. You’d simply been indented into her mind, and refused to give way. 

“Y’know, you’re still welcome at my place after you get back on your feet. Seriously. My place is yours.” Tess took a step into your room nervously. 

“Oh, well thanks. That means a lot. I mean… I’m really grateful for everything you’ve done for me. It’s not like we won’t see each other ever again. I’ll probably spend most nights at your place when we start working together.” 

I would never want to stop coming around you either way… 

On the instance of becoming friends with the woman who saved your life, it occurred to you quite rapidly that the feelings you had for her weren’t just appreciation. It shouldn’t have been that easy to realize you wanted her… to be entranced with her in a way so distracting. Some days you weren’t sure if you were actually feeling better on account of listening to every groove of her voice streak through your mind with no return. You could hardly believe she was standing in your apartment as of today, let alone sharing a space so intimate as your bedroom. 

“Besides… It's your apartment. You must both want your respective space back.” 

Tess sighed, masking the pit in her stomach when she thought about you on your own again. God forbid you ended up right where she found you; that would be a gut wrenching nightmare. It was already hard enough seeing you beaten up and barely hanging on to life. To even ponder the idea that it could happen again? She’d take absolutely no chances. 

Getting protective when you’ve known them for three weeks, Tess? Pretty weak to let someone in while you couldn’t protect the rest of them.

“Even when you do start working with us, you’ll be right between me and Joel. That way you’ll always have one of us on your six, watching your back. We’ll have your back.” She started with a small smile, while simultaneously ignoring the voice in her head. You met her eye and nodded with a smile, zipping your bag shut. 

“Very considerate of you, Tess. But if you don’t teach me how to hold my own, I’ll start practicing on Joel.” You slung your bag across your shoulder, watching as Tess followed you out. 

“Oh, I’ll definitely teach you. Joel will just have to be fine with being the dummy.” She followed with a chuckle, taking another look at the interior of your bedroom like she would never see it again. 

“Well, don’t worry. I’ll still be on your couch tonight.” You said, before walking out the door and locking it behind Tess. 

The only epiphany Tess had that day was that she never wanted you to leave. Never wanted to lose sight of you, never wanted to be without you, could never even imagine losing you. Tess had stuffed all those warm feelings down in a tight little box that sat on a dusty shelf in the back of her mind. When she would revisit the idea of actually having a chance with you, she was unsure. But she’d do her damndest in the meantime to shove away those pesky butterflies in her stomach. 

It would be a long, long time before she revisited that box again. 

a/n: i linked it at the top but i will link it here as well, this is a prequel to another one of my fics called long long time. You can find that fic here and all my other tess fics here!

[epicrainbowsheep]

A Gothic Cowboy

Agent Whiskey X Reader

Happy Valentine's Day @perotovar , I'm your secret Tumblr Valentine I tried my best to follow your prompts, please enjoy our Cowboy with a hint of Darkness <3

(Reader in my mind is in her early to mid 30s in this)

A dark castle looms over you, the violent wind of the storm swirling around you as you walk up the dark pathway, with each step you took the gravel crunch under your feet. The cool wind brushed passed your face, clinging onto the massive bouquet of red roses. “Okay this is the last delivery then book it back to the car” You mumble to yourself, walking up the cobblestone steps you looked around, the 16th century gothic style mansion was absolutely breath taking, finally reaching the door you see a massive rope, gathering its the door bell you pull it, a mass of bells ring out, you hear the noise echo throughout the entire house.

You stood there for about 10 minutes, before the door finally opened to a gorgeous man, his hair neatly combed back. “Hello I’m from the Silverbough Florist, I’m here to deliver the roses you ordered, you’re Mr Daniels?” Holding out the massive bouquet for him, he sighs as he opens the door wider to reveal him wearing a well fitted suit with several buttons undone, showing his chest with his tie undone.

“Shit I forgot I ordered those” He collected the roses from you, “You alright Mr Daniels? You seem unsettled” he looked into your eyes with a saddened smile, “Just found out my date decided to cancel on me” The dissapointment very evident in his voice, you were just about to speak back when a loud crack of lightning spread throughout the sky, the rain started to come down now practically partially drenching you, Jack pulls you by the arm and closed the door.

“Shit the storm hit pretty quickly, you alright Mi-” Jack turns to face you, your top half partially wet with droplets of water making its way dow your neck beneath your white shirt embroided work shirt clearly wet enough to see the colour of your bra, his eyes follow it down stopping him mid sentence “Mr Daniels eyes up here” his eyes snapped up from where they were staring from.

“Apologies Miss?”

“(Y/N)”

You smirk as his face turning lightly red, coughing while looking to the side to avoid your gaze. “Let me show you to the bathroom, so you can clean yourself off” Jack turns to lead you down the hall, looking at your legs he sees that they are also dirty due to the weather and you move your arms to rub your shoulders, just realising how cold you are. 

You hum in agreement, "Yes please that would be lovely" you follow him down the hall until you reach a door. "This is the bathroom, please feel free to use anything in the shower" Opening the door he leads you in, shows you how to use the shower and where the towels are located. "I'll leave you to it Darlin' " He smiles kindly at you as he leaves closing the door behind him, he leans on the door and lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Fuck what have I gotten myself into" He walks down the hallway again towards the sitting room, going towards the alcohol shelf, pouring himself a glass of statesmen whiskey. His hand is shaking while holding the glass as he takes a sip, hoping the drink would calm his nerves of having a lady in the house. Sitting down he let's out a shaky sigh, rubbing his hands over his face "Why the fuck did I go on tinder, your 40 years old and get bloody roses for a one night stand" talking to himself as he's gotten used too over the years of being alone.

He finishes his whiskey, his knees cracking as he gets up from the leather chair. Walking into the grand dining room he sighs again at the site in front of him, he had gone all out tonight; gorgeous silver dinner set on the table, with multiple sets of cutlery on both sides of the plates surrounded by candles and rose petals scattered round. 

"She must be a special lady for this romantic set up" Jack is startled by your sudden voice, he turns around to see you dressed in his massive fluffy robe, bare feet and damp hair, holding your even damper clothes bundled together.

"Sorry did I scare you" Your eyebrow raises slightly, his reaction being unexpected.

"No no not at all, its nice to see someone appreciate the dinner I put together" Jack walks towards you and holds his hands out to take your clothes, "Let me put these in the dryer for you, and please feel free to help yourself to the food set out on the table, it will go to waste otherwise" He shakes his head at his helplessness of needing company, wanting to please people.

"Oh don't worry it defiantly won't to to waste now" You grinned walking over to the table , sitting down you lift the silver dome from the plate to reveal the most deliciously appetising steak, drizzled with mushroom sauce with a side of glistening vegetables, which were sprinkled with herbs. Your mouth salivating at the sight, you spot the wine bottle and pour yourself a glass, "Ooooh red wine goes lovely with steak" you grin to yourself and dig in.

As soon as the steak hits your mouth, you moan out as the flavour bursts onto your tongue. "Shit this is so good" Jack walks in to see you devouring the steak, he grins at the simpleness of you eating, hearing you moan at the flavour breaks him a little, he clears his throat he looks towards you.

"What?" You ask chewing the last piece of steak.

"Nothing" He quickly says as you laugh softly, seeing him like this makes you feel warm somehow, "So what's the story" He sits down next to you, picking up his cutlery to start eating. 

"This" he gestures to the dinner, "Is my attempt to get back into the dating game, my friend's made me a tinder and set me up" He starts cutting into his steak while you pour him a glass of red.

"Thank you" He smiles, looking into your eyes, the light from the candles shining off your face beautifully. "May I ask how long?" you take a sip of your wine as he responds 

"About 10 years sexually?” Jack says as if it's common news, you choke on your drink. 

"How your so attractive?!” You blurt out, not knowing how badly your words affected him, his hard ached at being called attractive. “Well being a reclusive rich divorcee affects your dating life” Your smile faded, looking around the dining room at how gorgeous the room was, realising how empty it must have been, there are no family photos or personal touches anywhere, making you realise how lonely he actually is.

“Mr Daniels-“ you started, “Please call me Jack” he interrupted as he continued to eat.

“Jack” Correcting yourself as you continued, “You put all this effort into dinner, massive roses and dressed up to the nines so you could get laid?” You press him, “I used to be so confident in myself, being rich and knowing I’d inherit this massive estate and run the ranch back in Texas, married my gorgeous wife, all for her to cheat on me” His faced crunched up as he continued. 

“She called me a washed up cowboy, my confidence shaken a little, tried to date again only to be cheated on and called a washed up cowboy for a second time and left in the middle of dinner, haven’t put my Stetson back on since” he placed his knife and fork down.

“May have been some years apart, I feel like people forget I’ve got feelings” He chuckles to himself, “This is the most successful evening with a Lady I’ve had since then” He looks into your eyes, which are looking at him with an unreadable expression.

He watches you lean forward, your lips landing on his in a sweet kiss. His eyes go wide with his hands immediately grasping for your waist, you move to sit on his lap, he grips your thighs tight pulling your crotch onto his hardening bulge. You take charge rolling your hips, he moans out giving you the chance to slip your tongue into his mouth deepening the kiss.

He desperately grinds up to meet yours, his hands roaming your body, gripping you tightly as if you’d disappear. He breaks the kiss to moan out your name “(Y/N) Darlin’ your makin’ me hornier than a teenager, it’s been so long I may come from just this” You moan out at his confession.

“Fuck I’d find that hot” you start to kiss his neck, rolling your hips to emphasise your point, his groans spur you on. His hands reach for the tie of the robe your wearing, releasing it to show your body, top half naked, your breasts bouncing with the movement of your hips. His lips reach the nipple on one and fondles the other in his hand, the other gripping your arse, moving with your body. He rolls the nipple with his thumb while his tongue licks around the other.

You groan into his ear, grinding your pussy down, fastening the pace to chase your approaching orgasm. “Shit Jack don’t stop, I’m close!” Jack doesn’t relent, you grind especially hard triggering his orgasm, which breaks his concentration and makes him nip your nipple. The sharp pain brings you over the edge as well, following him in the ecstasy of pleasure.

You both pull away from each other, you both flushed and panting. “Darlin’ I can’t even put into words how good that felt” His arms gripped you tighter as he spoke his next words, “I-if you intend to leave, I won’t blame you” his voice wavers as he spoke, your next words stun him “Jack I may have just met you but I know I ain’t leaving until I feel that cock in me, plus the storm sounds like it’s going to last all night” you grin hopping off his lap, pulling on his hand to stand up.

“Besides I thought I saw your bedroom down the hall, please lead the way… I ain’t done with you yet” The look you gave him was pure lust, he leads you towards the bedroom. His room didn’t match the rest of the house, his personality shone through more, he sits down on the bed as you spy the Stenson on top of his dresser. 

You grab it and put it on his head, sitting on him again. His breath is shaky as you speak your next words.

“I defiantly wanna see what this old cowboy can do” Your words stoked a fire that hadn’t been lit in a long time, he felt his confidence coming back, he flips you over, hooking your leg over his hip.

“Darlin’ I’ll show you exactly what this ol’ cowboy can do”

He smiled too himself realising he just broke his unlucky streak.

[crazyunsexycool]

We saw what happened to Henry on valentine's day

What would Bucky's reaction be when Lottie receives gifts on valentine's day 🤣😭

Is he like oh Lottie can see the future, if this boy was a problem she'd kick his ass or does he use his spy skills to do research about this boy and scares him

In this scenario Bucky would absolutely not trust Lottie’s vision. 😂😂😂 that’s his little girl and he’s going to protect her at all costs. He’s taught Henry how to be a gentleman and he’s not worried about him but Charlotte? His little girl, his doll? Bucky thinks she might be a little bit too trusting so he does his research on not only the kid but his parents. This man goes back generations. 😂😂😂

Sugar, Steve and Sam have to drag him away and convince him to calm down.

When V day comes this man is standing there in a very menacing pose. At some point this poor boy is so scared of Bucky Sugar has to drag him to the corner and scold him.

“Will you stop it.” She says in a whispered yell.

“No, I don’t like this and I don’t like that kid.”

“He’s a child.”

“I don’t care.” Bucky looks over sugar’s shoulder where the kids are enjoying some snacks and talking about their friends from school.

“James Buchanan Barnes if you ruin this day for your daughter you are going to be in so much trouble.” Sugar huffs. “Don’t be like this, look at her. She’s so happy.”

“I don’t have to like it.”

“Fine, think of it as an undercover mission. Your job is to gather intel.”

“Fine.” Bucky grumbles. “But after this she isn’t going to date until she’s 40.”

“She was born in the early eighties technically she is.”

Bucky opened his mouth to argue but closed it again when sugar turned around and joined the mom of the kid.

Bucky had spent the rest of the afternoon getting to know the dad and slowly eased the tension he’d been dealing with.

What neither him nor Sugar had prepared for was Henry…