#he did so much for me and yet i am over here debating and worrying over the flight and over everything

[damn-stark]

hiii!! I was wondering if you could write a hwang Jun Ho x reader where it’s angsty but with fluff ofc as well!! the plot is totally up to you :))

Strained Heart

Hwang Jun-ho x wife!reader

A/N- My first Squid Game imagine so I really hope you like it:)

Warning- Angst and fluff! Spoilers for the show!

Pairing- Hwang Jun-ho x wife!reader

Episode- 2x01

——

*12:00 AM*

“Hello?” Your voice comes out groggy, making the person on the other end of the call let out a shaky sigh before they interject.

“I am so sorry to call so late, ma’am, please forgive me,” a sweet feminine voice sounds extremely apologetic and almost as if she had hurt you by just calling so late. “I am calling from the hospital regarding your husband, Hwang Jun-ho.”

The grogginess that was making you all foggy leaves your body in a flash of a second as you hear the name of your husband. She has not mentioned his state but after days of not hearing from him and him not coming home, just hearing someone call you in regards to him is like a spike of adrenaline.

“He was admitted earlier today without any identification, but we were finally able to contact you—”

“Is…my husband alive?” You cut the woman off because you can’t sit in anticipation anymore. You need to know now.

“Yes. He has not woken up, but he was able to get treated. He will be here for the full day if you wish to come and see him. I am sorry again for calling so late. Goodnight.”

“Good night,” you mumble before you pull the phone away from your ear and let it slip from your hold as you drop your head into your hand while also holding your chest and letting out a deep shaky breath.

You had called his phone so many times and messaged him twice as much. When he did not come home the first night, you called his work over and over again in hopes something would change or that they would have received any kind of word from him, but they also had no idea where he had gone. You were all in the dark and the worry had begun eating away at you.

However, there’s finally news from him and you can’t say you’re riddled with relief nor that the strain over your heart lets go, but you no longer feel fear over him being potentially dead. Perhaps you should still feel scared, when you reach the hospital he doesn’t wake up. You wait until morning, but he still fails to rise with the sun. It has his poor mother weeping with worry, but you don’t feel a sliver of fear.

Maybe it’s because you know him better. He’s a fighter, after all, you know that. He wouldn’t give up so easily, especially not when he has yet to hear from his beloved brother. Or maybe fear doesn’t cling to you because your mind is focused on an annoying thought telling you to leave.

You don’t want to live with constant worry, if this is how your life is going to be with him, you don't want any part of it. You can’t live with the constant fear that one morning will be the last time you get to kiss him before he leaves your front door. That strain left you almost invalid this time around, you couldn't focus on anything but him, and all you imagined was violent made-up thoughts of different deaths. Could you really live through that again? Do you want to?

You love Jun-ho, but if that fear and pain is going to be following you around like a looming shadow can you go on at his side and be swallowed by it?

You let out a shaky breath and drift your eyes away from his resting face, catching his lonely hand resting at his side and feeling tempted to grab it to provide him some warmth and comfort while he still lies unconscious as if debating at that moment to give in and take his hand, or leave it be and run with that cruel thought.

Yet before you can decide the heart monitor starts to pick up, not in an alarming way, but enough to pique your curiosity and make you look back at him, noticing at that moment his eyes fluttering open at long last.

“Jun-ho,” you breathe out and slowly rise from your seat at the same time his mother does.

“Jun-ho,” his mother calls out with more tears already rolling down her cheeks. As said man’s eyes open wider she cries out. “Jun-ho, can you hear me?”

A shaky breath runs past your lips and you immediately stroke his cheek with a faint relieved smile spreading on your lips.

“Doctor!” His mother shouts as she runs out before you can offer to call a nurse or doctor inside. “I need a doctor in here! My son just opened his eyes!”

Jun-ho’s dark eyes remain fixated on the ceiling and he breathes out a single name. “In-ho.”

It’s his brother's name. The same estranged brother he’s been searching for, and the same estranged brother he worries about everyday

“Jun-ho,” you call out softly as if to not hurt him, and his eyes slowly shift to you, making his heart monitor skip a beat and a glimmer flash in his eyes as he makes out your face and seems to realize you’re no fever dream. He then utters your name and your smile widens while tears fall from your eyes without warning.

Before either of you can utter anything else besides each other's names his mother returns with a nurse who does a check up on him and preps him to be seen by a doctor. Thus for a while, he belongs to the fleet of nurses that barge in, as well as the doctor that comes in and out until they’re all finally satisfied and know for certain that nothing is wrong with his brain or heart after he was found drowning.

Drowning…he was drowning and you didn’t have a clue. Your worst fear could have come true and you would have never known, you would have lived forever worried and searching desperately if he hadn’t been found.

Can you really go on living like that?

That thought spins in your mind without seeming to know how to stop until finally, Jun-ho steals your attention. “Are you okay?” He asks with his voice still raspy.

You swallow back nervously and then draw in a deep breath. His mother seems to have caught the tension and excuses herself from the room. It’s only when the door is closed that you give his question an honest answer.

“Where were you? I called. I messaged you, and all I got that night you didn’t come home was that I shouldn’t worry, but you were gone for days, Jun-ho. And when I hear from you again, all I get is a call from the hospital saying you were brought in.”

Jun-ho’s eyes linger on you, on your furrowed eyebrows, and your eyes brimming with tears of frustration and he sighs deeply as he averts his eyes.

“I…can’t tell you what I was doing just yet. Wait until we get home so I can tell you what I know. For now,” he says and looks back at you with a slightly pleading look. “Can you trust me when I say I’m sorry for making you worry? I didn’t mean to. I didn’t want to, but I didn’t have another choice and my phone was only at half percent battery.”

You scoff in disbelief and slowly rise from your seat to pierce a glare into him. “That’s all I get? After I was riddled with worry not knowing if you’re alive or not?”

���Did you get what I sent you?” He asks and avoids answering, but that only infuriates you more.

“Jun-ho!”

“Please.”

Your frown deepens and you shake your head stiffly. “No.” You deadpan. “The nurse said you didn’t have a phone on you when you were brought in either.”

He groans and drops his gaze, so you press yourself against the edge of the bed and dig your eyes deep into his gaze to press him. “When we got married you said that you would not let me live with that kind of worry. You promised me Jun-ho, and look at us now.”

He slowly finds you again and with the strength he was gaining, he picks his hand off the bed and wraps his fingers around your hand to offer you some consolation. “I…found my brother…that’s what I was doing, and that’s all I can offer you now. I will explain it all when we go home, where I don’t have to worry if my mother or anyone will overhear. Can that be enough for now?”

Your breath catches and curiosity and confusion fill your mind, outweighing your frustration. Jun-ho sees that and continues to pass another apology. “I am sorry. Please forgive me. I…will do better. I promise.”

That cruel thought pulses in your mind, making your doubt clear.

“I…will change departments. I will work as a traffic officer. Just say you forgive me. I found my brother and lost him all in the same day. I…can’t lose you too.”

That cruel thought falters before it's completely destroyed by your bleeding heart. He doesn’t offer another promise, just sweet and affectionate words, but that’s enough to make your heart swoon and make you grab his hand to kiss his knuckles before you press your forehead against his.

“Don’t give up what you like to do for me…nothing will stop me from worrying, just…don’t leave me in the dark.”

Jun-ho grabs your hand and presses it against his beating heart, letting you feel the same ba-dum you hear on the monitor by his bed.

“I will try,” he offers you without making a promise so as to not potentially break another promise.

“I’m so glad and relieved you’re alive and back to me,” you whisper against his forehead, making him lift your hand to his dry lips to press a kiss on the heel of your hand and find peace in the silence.

[meowrimo]

MSBY BUSINESS — ༉‧₊˚.

ft. kuroo tetsuro !

꒰ SYNOPSIS ꒱ : kuroo goes out with the guys to give them his proposal.

꒰ CONTENTS ꒱ : f!reader, alcohol mention, kuroo is tipsy + silly , fluff ! — WC : 2.6k

꒰ NOTES ꒱ : the next installment for the all star project ! just something fun and silly hehe enjoy ! dividers by @/cafekitsune ᰔ

ᯓ★ masterlist

reblogs and interactions are always appreciated ! (*ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)ᰔ*.ﾟ

“hey sweetheart.” kuroo slurred into the phone. you could hardly suppress your giggle. he was still out with some of the guys from MSBY, trying to secure them as players for the all stars match.

“hi tetsu.” you smile, folding the last of the laundry away. kuroo had begged you to come with him tonight, but you figured the deal would go better if it was kept just between the guys. besides, you had your own stuff to do and drinking on a thursday night was not on your list.

“you sound so pretty.” he dramatically sighs into the phone, the noise so loud you pull it back from your ear for a second. whenever kuroo drank too much, he’d exaggerate everything, especially with you, behaving like a toddler who needs your undivided attention.

“thank you.” you walk towards the living room, debating if you should start getting ready to pick him up. “are the guys taking care of you?”

kuroo wasted no time in gathering the guys for tonight’s meeting, wanting to jump on the project as soon as possible. only a week or so after the proposal had been approved, he set up a time to talk to them. MSBY would have a big pull for this match, especially because they were centralized right here in tokyo. but getting the bulk of the olympic players was on the table, as well as a few stars who moved out of the country to follow their dreams in volleyball.

“yeah i guess they are.” he mumbled, bokuto shouting something in the background. “but i want you to come take care of me.”

“well-“ you start before you hear bokuto shouting some more at your boyfriend. kuroo yaps back at him, the two bickering as kuroo sets the phone down for a minute.

“fine!” kuroo scoffs. “bokuto says hi.”

“hi bokuto.” you laugh.

“no!” kuroo groans. “don’t pay attention to him, pay attention to me.”

“i am, don’t worry.” you coo softly. on that note, you decide to get him. “why don’t i come get you?”

“you’d pick me up?” he sounds surprised. 

“duh.” you roll your eyes, grabbing your coat and keys.

“guysss.” kuroos voice sounds further away from the phone. “my amazing girlfriend is coming to pick me up so i gotta go.”

“hold on, don’t go running off yet.” you laugh, “i’ll be there in 15.”

“okay, fine.” if you shut your eyes tight enough, you could practically see the pout on his face. “drive safe.”

after exchanging your goodbyes, or as kuroo insists — see you soon, you quickly get into the car and head over to where he said he was going to be for the night.

the drive over was seamless, city lights blurring past you as you made your way to him — your heart. music filled up the car, your favorite playlist spinning through the songs that you hold dearest to you.

pride swelled in your chest the closer you got to the bar. judging by the way kuroo’s voice sounded — and the fact he was drinking a smidge more than usual — tells you that maybe the deal went off without a hitch.

but who were you kidding, of course it did. kuroo was a man that would go after whatever he wanted, not stopping until he achieved it. and bokuto, atsumu and sakusa couldn’t pass up this opportunity even if they wanted to, their pride couldn’t handle it.

excitement fills you as you get to the parking lot, finding a suitable spot before heading inside. you couldn’t wait to hear how the night went, ready to hang on to every word kuroo told you.

as soon as you walk in, you hear a shout of your name. in a blink of an eye, bokuto is running towards you at full speed and your eyes widen as he sweeps you up off of the ground in a bone crushing hug. 

“it’s been so long!” bokuto roared, holding onto you as your arms are stuck by your side, unable to bring them up and properly hug him back.

“oi!” kuroo quickly zips towards you both, his brows furrowed as he makes his way over. “put my girlfriend down!”

“but-“ bokuto looks at you and deflates, reluctantly letting you down. 

“and it hasn’t been that long, you saw her 2 weeks ago.” kuroo slinked around a pouting bokuto and next to you, his face flushed as he presses his lips against your forehead, arm quickly wrapping around you. “hi sweetheart.”

“hi tetsu.” you beam up at him before looking back near bokuto as a flash of bleach blonde hair caught your eye. atsumu bounced over with sakusa shuffling behind. you exchanged greetings, kuroo wearing a proud smile as you did. 

“how are you guys getting home?” you asked, looking concerned at how atsumu was swaying side to side, the effects of alcohol clearing weighing on him. you whisper over to kuroo, “how much did you let him drink?”

“what? we were celebrating!” kuroo cheers, bokuto and atsumu enthusiastically agreeing.

“to answer your question, a lot. but then again miya can never hold his liquor.” sakusa sighs, ignoring atsumu making an offended noise of protest. “unfortunately, i’ll be the one driving them home.”

“good luck.” you offer him a sympathetic smile, your hand squeezing kuroo’s side. “i’ll take this one off your hands, though.”

“appreciate it.” sakusa nods. as much as he oozes annoyance around these two, you know better. the fond look in his eye tells you all you need to know about how he truly feels about his teammates.

“oh wait! i saw your interview with nagi.” atsumu speaks up, interested to hear more. “he didn’t give ya much to work with, did he?”

“he didn’t seem interested in talking about how they’re preparing for the next olympics.” you shrug, feeling kuroo’s gaze on your face. “some of them are more open to it than others but i guess we’ll find out with the rest of the world.”

“i wonder if they’ll do another blue lock project.” kuroo wonders outloud.

“y’know, i thought training camps were already fun enough but blue lock sounded like a paradise, i wish they did it for volleyball.” bokuto looks off into the distance, probably imagining how it would play out in his head.

“imagine if we got to do that before the last olympics? we definitely would’ve beaten oikawa.” atsumu joins in, looking off in the same direction. 

“did you guys actually read the interviews? it sounded like hell. sharing that space with people you hardly know for days on end, not seeing the sun—“ sakusa started. 

“alright, alright, i hear ya.” atsumu’s face morphs into a scowl, crossing his arms and looking like a dejected kitten.

sakusa gave him a smug look before side eyeing bokuto who started bobbing his head along to the music playing overhead at the establishment. “did you idiots forget that we have practice tomorrow?”

bokuto and atsumu freeze, clearly answering his question by the dumbfounded look on their faces.

“see?” atsumu practically screeches at sakusa, who only took a slight step back with the raise of his eyebrow. “i told ya kuroo was a con man! made us drink all this stuff just to get us in on whatever scam he’s trying to pull.”

“what?” bokuto’s eyes widened, turning to face kuroo. 

“hey, you guys were the one to order the sake bombs. plus, you already agreed to doing the match so,” kuroo said, a smirk lining his lips in victory. sakusa shook his head as atsumu kept babbling about how kuroo was going to take all their money next. 

“alright!” you bounce on your heels, taking this as your cue to go. “well, i’ll be taking him home now, goodnight guys.”

bokuto’s confused look melts into a frown, throwing you and kuroo into a hug before whispering to him, “i’d let you steal my money anytime kuroo.”

kuroo laughed loudly, atsumu looking on in horror as sakusa realized he could enjoy this little ploy on the way home, an evil glint in his eye as he looks at atsumu.

“goodnight guys.” you wave as they exchange their goodbyes. with your hand still wrapped around kuroo, you guide him towards the door. it’s a quick walk to the car, but kuroo starts walking towards the drivers seat. “just what do you think you’re doing?”

“opening the door for the most beautiful person in the world.” kuroo says, unlocking it and swinging it wide open with a soft expression. he was such a dope when he was tipsy. 

“thank you tets, but i think i’m the one that needs to help you get in the car, not the other way around.” you giggle, opening up the passenger seat. kuroo sighs in defeat and jogs over to his side. he gives you a kiss on the cheek before he slides into his seat.

“all buckled up and ready to go.” he nods with a little thumbs up. you close the door and make your way to the drivers seat, settling in before turning the car on, casting him a glance — eager eyes already set on you. 

“so, how’d it go?” you smile before putting the car in drive, getting on the road back to your shared apartment.

kuroo excitedly fills you in on everything. how he barely finished his proposal before bokuto was already signing everyone up. sakusa looking mildly interested at the prospect of ushijima showing up — asking if he joins that they play against each other. atsumu casted kuroo sketchy looks until the two drinks he had caught up with him, going on and on about how kuroo needs onigiri miya to work the event too if he really wants it to be a success.

and then the sake bombs came out. you’re not entirely too sure if kuroo is telling the truth when he says bokuto was the one who suggested it but you go along with his story anyway.

once he’s finished with his tale, the ecstatic buzz in the car settles and he’s quiet. you quickly look over to check on him and see him dozed off, head resting against the chilled window — the sign of a successful night you suppose.

after a bit, you stopped at a red light, having time to properly cast your glance over to kuroo, who was still peacefully snoozing. the color kisses his skin, waves of scarlet and maroon flowing over his features. the warm glow suited him, red was always his color.

only a few more turns and you made it back to the apartment, throwing the car in park and swiftly exiting the car to make your way to the other side.

“tetsu.” you whisper, crouching through the passenger door as soon as you open it, face close to kuroo’s as you prod him awake.

“hi baby.” he smiles, eyes still shut but he had the sweetest smile on his face. you couldn’t help but melt a little at the sight.

“come on mr. con man.” you giggle, tugging on his sleeve. “let’s get you to bed.”

“just let me sleep here.” he nestles deeper into the seat.

“you’d make me sleep inside all by my lonesome? wow…” you playfully sigh, feigning a step away. kuroo’s eyes bolt open, hand reaching out for your waist.

“never.” he smiles, getting up and haphazardly throwing his arm around you. “take me to bed, please.”

“well, since you asked so nicely.” you shake your head softly, overly fond of the man you’re half carrying into your apartment. 

“my savior.” he giggles, slightly tripping up the steps.

“you’re ridiculous.” you tease, smiling as you enter your shared space. “now get changed and go to bed.”

“im on it, boss.” he gives a lazy salute before stumbling into the bedroom. you shake your head with a smile, following him in there. 

the house was just as you left it an hour ago, the empty laundry basket still sitting on the bed. as kuroo undresses, you take the basket off, holding it as you watch him.

“don’t be a perv.” he teases, unbuttoning his shirt and sliding it off his shoulders before unbuckling his belt and doing the same with his trousers.

“why not? you do it all the time.” you smirk back, holding the basket just a little higher. he gets the message, bundling his clothes from the day into a ball and tossing it toward the hamper.

it lands in perfectly.

“score!” he cheers, throwing his fist victoriously up in the air, pride shining over his features. “i still got it.”

“easy tiger.” you roll your eyes, as you put the basket down. “lets get you to bed, okay?”

“okay.” kuroo moves so he's behind you, arms wrapping around you tightly, ready to wobble over to your bed like a penguin. 

“i still need to change, tetsu.” you try to move but his hold on you is surprisingly strong for his current state.

“let me help then.” he purrs in your ear, pressing his lips against your ear. a shiver runs down your spine as his fingers run along the hem of your shirt, sliding under it and smoothing his hand along your skin. 

“nuh uh, you need to sleep tonight if you’re gonna get up for work in the morning.” reluctantly, you grab his hand and pull it away from you, freeing yourself from his clutches.

“but—“ kuroo starts, looking absolutely pitiful. “i just wanted to help you get ready for bed. no funny stuff, promise.”

“yeah?” you raise a brow as he vigorously nods his head. “somehow i don’t believe that.”

“rude.” he pouts and looks away, nose high up in the air as if you’d ever question his integrity. you just roll your eyes.

“come on, you need to brush your teeth.” you take his hand and pull him with you, flipping on the blinding light.

“you’re so bossy sometimes.” he stands behind you in the mirror, looking at you through the glass with a smirk. his arms wrap around your waist, kissing your cheek before resting his chin on your shoulder. “i like it.”

you just laugh, your palm reaching up to gently pat his cheek. the two of you quickly do your nighttime routine, full of kuroo stealing glances in the mirror and trying to wink at you with a mouth full of toothpaste. 

“i’m going to go change but lie down, okay?” you say after you both finish and walk back into the bedroom. kuroo turns around and quickly pulls you in for a minty fresh kiss, letting himself melt into it for a moment before he pulls away.

“okay.” kuroo smirks and lays down on the bed, propped up on his elbows as he watches you get changed. “hurry up so i can hold you.” 

“now look who the bossy one is.” you roll your eyes, changing out of your clothes and into one of kuroo’s old shirts before slipping into bed with him.

in the blink of an eye, kuroo scoops you in his arms, tangling his limbs with yours and burying his face in your neck. 

“i love you.” the sound is muffled but you hear him loud and clear, heart swelling at his proclamation. 

“i love you.” you whisper back, kuroo’s soft snores already filling the room as he dozed off once again, more than content to be in your loving arms after the next step of his plan had gone off without a hitch.

your fingers weave themselves into his hair, lightly brushing out the strands as you feel sleep trying to claim you as well. but there’s a nervous pit in your stomach that evades you from giving into your slumber, something that’s telling you things are going to be changing soon. now that the ball is officially rolling, you hope it doesn’t topple over everything you and kuroo have built together over the last two years.

thank you sm for reading ᰔ — next part

[written-by-spoon]

The Sting of Deflection - Part 2, Romeo ⟢

ᯓ★ Synopsis: After deflecting away your confession, that same ghoul finds himself battling with feelings he tried to ignore. With Leo, Romeo, Ren, Yuri, Jin, and Subaru

ᯓ★ Tags: angst, teasing, kissing, swearing, fluff at the end, romeo's massive ego, jealous!romeo, possessive!romeo, soft!romeo, romeo x reader, gn!reader, Sho and Taiga make appearances

ᯓ★ Word Count: 3.5K (•o• )⭑.ᐟ

ᯓ★ Notes: Requested by @wokasiv ˙✦ holy shit i did not expect to write this much- I really enjoyed writing this one! (as you can tell from the word count LMAO) sometimes I just have a vision and I gotta see it through, and this was definitely one of those times. Romeo was fun to write!:3 excited for the next one~ whoever that ends up being haha

── .✦

You stood in line for Sho’s foodtruck, Highway to Home, tapping your foot anxiously. The line during lunch hour is usually long, but you have always felt as though it moved rather quickly. Today, however, it seemed to drag - you have already been waiting for five minutes and you have barely moved! Normally, you would not mind the wait, especially for Sho’s food, but today you are supposed to meet Romeo in the casino’s VIP lounge to deliver yet another shady little package he made you pick up for him.

The Vice-Captain of Sinostra is known for his notoriously short temper which is easily set off by someone not following orders - which is exactly what you are doing. Your foot starts tapping a little faster, in time with your increasing anxiety. Sinostra is so far from the main campus, and because you have a class right after the lunch hour ends, you decided to get some food now so you can eat on-the-go. However, you didn’t expect the line to basically be stagnant.

As you had an internal debate with yourself on if you should take the loss on your wasted time and hoof it to Sinostra or stay in line and guarantee yourself to be on the receiving end of a lecture from Romeo later, you hear a familiar scream, “BB! Why are you keeping me waiting for so long!? Don’t you know my time is precious!?”

You turn in the direction of his voice and see an angry Romeo storming his way over to you. Your face flushes with embarrassment and you sheepishly scratch the back of your neck, “H-Hi Romeo! What are you doing here?”

“Tracking you down since you apparently can’t be bothered to make it to our meeting,” he curtly replies, rolling his eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“Ah, yeah. I’m sorry about that, Romeo. I wanted to make sure I got some lunch before coming to the casino, and Sho’s line usually moves faster, but today it is a bit slow..” you gesture awkwardly in front of you.

Romeo narrows his eyes at you before taking in his surroundings. You quietly watch as he processes his thoughts, hoping to gauge his reaction. Abruptly, he turns towards the front of the line and crosses his arms over his chest with a little “Hmph!”

Your eyes widen with shock, “What are you doing?”

“WDILL?!” he snapped, “I am waiting with you! I am going to see what the fuss is with this since it is apparently so much more important than our meeting.”

You let out a disgruntled noise, “Romeo, you know that is not what I-”

“Enough, BB! We will wait, or I am going to make you work the tables tonight!” Your mouth audibly snapped closed, and Romeo scoffed, knowing that you would react that way to his threat.

After another 10 minutes of waiting, you both were finally at the front of the line. Sho was turning over the food on the grill as you approached, so he called out a quick “I’ll just be a minute!” over his shoulder to you.

Romeo rolled his eyes, but you cheerily responded, “No worries, Sho!”

At the sound of your voice, Sho turned a bit more to face you while also maintaining the grill. His signature lop-sided grin graced his features at the sight of you, “Oh, hey Senpai. I didn’t know you were coming by today.” You could feel Romeo looking between you and Sho, his gaze causing you to flush with embarrassment again. “Y-Yeah, I didn’t message in advance today - it was kind of a last-minute decision..”

Sho moved the food off the grill and packaged it up. Turning towards the counter, he slid the package over to the person waiting next to you and said, “It’s no big deal, don’t worry. I see you have company today.” His eyes flickered between you and Romeo.

“Oh- yes! I do! Romeo and I are having a meeting after this so he met me here!” You scrambled to over explain Romeo’s presence. You really did not want Sho to have the wrong idea and assume you are together, together - you know he would tease you endlessly. You already get flustered with his teasing, but you couldn’t imagine him teasing you about someone you actually liked and were very much not on a date with.

“Ohh..” Sho nodded in understanding. But he looked at you with a twinkle in his eye that told you that he was definitely going to tease you later.

You coughed awkwardly, “SO! What is today’s special?” Sho crossed his arms over his chest, standing in a pose you have come to know he does when he is particularly proud of himself. “Steak Kabobs. Each one is made-to-order with each customer’s specific preferences on how well their steak is cooked.” Ah- that explains why the line was slow today.

“That sounds great, Sho! I want to try that today - but make the steak the way you would like it done.” He nods, committing your order to memory, then looks to Romeo, “What about you?”

“I’ll have the same.” 

Sho grinned, “Great! They are 1,000 Yen each.”

You reached for your bag and started to dig around for your wallet when Romeo suddenly put his arm out in front of you to stop you. You looked up at him, confused, but he wasn’t looking at you at all. He was handing his black credit card to Sho, saying “This is for both.”

Sho took the card, “Sure.” He briefly looked at you with amusement before running the card. 

While waiting for your orders, you peeked at Romeo from the corner of your eye, once again trying to gauge his mood. “Would you like to take a picture, BB? It will never be as good as the real thing, but at least you could stop ogling me.” You jumped at his words, you hadn’t realized he was aware you were staring.

“Sorry!” You intentionally diverted your attention away, and it once again became quiet between the two of you. You hesitated, but ultimately faced him again to ask, “Why did you pay for me?”

He stiffened slightly, but immediately released it. Instead he turned to you with a dumbfounded expression on his face, “Because I can?”

You gave a little laugh, “Fair, fair. Just be careful with that generosity, people might get the wrong idea~” you teased, bumping his shoulder with yours.

He jumped at the contact and turned to you again, “No one would ever believe I would be with a BB like you!”

Your chest tightened at his words, but before you could say anything in response, Sho was sliding your meals across the counter to you. He was eyeing you both suspiciously, but quickly adopted his quick, easy smile again when you made eye-contact. “I hope you enjoy it, Senpai. Message me later to give me feedback, alright?”

You took the package with both hands, nodding enthusiastically, “I will! Thank you Sho~”

You and Romeo found an open table and each dug into your meals. As always, Sho’s food tasted absolutely amazing, causing you to let out a dreamy, satisfied hum while closing your eyes. When you went to take another bite, you opened your eyes and found Romeo watching you with amusement on his face. You blushed from embarrassment, again, and defensively stammered out, “W-What is that look for? You’ve tried it now, so you know it’s amazing!” 

He responded, “I am pretty impressed, admittedly. I am just also enjoying watching you enjoy it,” with his amused look still on his face.

You let out a squeak followed by a hiccup at these words. You struggled to remind yourself to breathe as you processed what he said and without thinking about it you said, “Now it really seems like you are into me, Romeo.”

He recoiled slightly, his face twisting into a scowl despite the tinge of red that bloomed across his cheeks. “DGYHU, BB.”

You stared at him confused, “DGY-?”

“Don’t get your hopes up! Obviously!”

“Oh.”

For a moment it was silent between you both. You broke the silence with your small voice, “Would it really be so bad?”

He crossed his arms and regarded you, “What?”

You looked up at him, making eye contact, showing him the tears pricking at the corners of your eyes, “Would it really be so bad to like me? To be with me?”

He jolted back in his seat and you saw what looked like shame? or guilt? wash over his expression. It lasted for only a moment before he scoffed, his normal cocky attitude sliding on like a mask. “Why does it matter? It’s not like you have those kinds of feelings for me, that would be ridiculous.”

You blinked. In that moment your face went from one of heartbreak to one that was void of any emotion at all. “Yeah.. ridiculous.” Romeo’s eyes widened, a hint of shock dusting his features. But before he was able to say anything else, your phone started ringing and buzzing from its place on the table.

You glanced down, eyes still void of all emotions, and turned off your reminder alarm for class. You rummaged through your bag and produced the small package that Romeo tasked you with retrieving. “Here,” you said, placing it down on the table.

With that you stood from the table, put your bag on, and turned to leave. 

Romeo seemed to visibly bristle the more confusing he found your actions to be. He floundered at your abrupt departure, opening and closing his mouth several times trying to piece together something to say to you. But you were already too far to hear, even if he yelled. He just continued to watch your figure walk away from him until you turned a corner and left his line of sight. 

Letting out a big sigh, he picked up the package you had left, muttering to himself, “WTF.”

── .✦

It has been two days since the incident at lunch, and Romeo’s mood has only continued to worsen. He found himself thinking about you a lot, and the more you lingered in his mind, the more his heart ached. He was in disbelief that you shared his feelings, and he was abhorred with himself for the way he acted that day. Every time his thoughts wondered to you, they always ended with the image of you with tears picking your eyes, or you walking away from him. And every time, those thoughts would cause a pang of guilt in his heart. After having this whole mental process repeated multiple times over the last two days, he has become even more irritable than normal.

He sits back in his chair with a sigh, rubbing his temples. This is exactly why he is in charge of watching the EITS tonight - he can brood all he wants without anyone watching him, and he doesn't have to deal with any annoying staff or customers.

He does, however, have to watch you as you make your way across the casino floor. Tonight there were several high-paying customers from Frostheim at the casino, and Romeo has tasked you with entertaining them while they play. The goal is to keep them happy and sitting at the tables for as long as possible - an easy task for you.

He had called you in an hour ago, and though you haven’t talked since the other day, you still showed up on time, ready to work. He gave you a sultry little outfit to wear, one that hugged you in all the right places, and went over the details of the night. You had quietly listened, nodding when needed to confirm your understanding, then slipped into the bathroom to change into your outfit. When you returned, Romeo was on the phone yelling at one of his lackeys to “get it together for once!” He turned towards you, hearing the door open, and nearly dropped his phone at the sight of you. He knows he has impeccable taste, but he really has outdone himself this time. The ensemble highlighted your best physical features with a sexy feeling without being skimpy and over-revealing. The color complimented your skin tone so well that you looked like you were glowing. When you walked, you did so with an air of confidence he has never seen from you before - he was absolutely enthralled by you.

You finished putting away your uniform in your bag, turning to Romeo to confirm your schedule for the evening. He shook his head a bit, centering himself again, and ran through the night one more time with you.

Now, from the comfort and privacy of his hidden security office, he watched you put the plan in motion. You easily entertained the Frostheim elites, giving them charming smiles and light hearted laughter at their awful jokes. He felt a twinge of satisfaction knowing he picked the best person for the job - but that feeling turned much darker as he watched you leaning towards one of the students while laughing, and placing your hand on their forearm as a clear flirtatious gesture. Romeo’s eye twitched and he forced himself to look away. Think about the profits, think about the profits, think about the profits, think abou-

He halted his thoughts, his entire body going rigid watching the screen where he could see you best. He could see behind you that Taiga had slipped onto the floor at some point, despite all of the security having a strict no entry order for him tonight. Romeo knew how easily Taiga could mess up his schemes, so he was meant to be forbidden from playing tonight. 

Romeo let out a deep, frustrated sigh while massaging his temples again. “That BTH better not ruin this!” he muttered to himself, squeezing his eyes shut in annoyance.

When he opened them again, anger flashed in his chest so suddenly that he almost stopped breathing. Taiga had sauntered up to you, inserting himself into the conversation you were having with the Frostheim students. He leaned into you, head drooping down so his lips ghosted over your ear, and he whispered something to you that made you jolt slightly. His face broadened into his signature, cocky grin, and he slid an arm around your hips, pulling you closer to him. To Romeo’s dismay, you seemed to untense slightly at Taiga’s touch. His heart felt like it was being twisted and squeezed while watching the interaction between you both. Once Taiga had sat down at the table and pulled you onto his lap, Romeo slammed his fists down on the table and stood, quickly exiting the room and heading to the casino floor. 

── .✦

“Gyahahaha! Whaddya think kitty-cat? Think I’m gonna win?” 

You were perched on Taiga’s lap at a Blackjack table with the Frostheim students you were tasked with entertaining this evening. When Taiga appeared and immediately became very touchy with you in front of the others, you were sure they would get annoyed and leave. However, they seemed to be egged on even more by Taiga’s presence - setting higher and higher stakes each round.

You pretended to ponder his question, “Hmmmm, oh, I don’t know Taiga! My new friends here are quite good,” you flashed them a sultry smile, “but I also know how hard it is to beat you~” You had hooked an arm around his shoulders and neck, mindlessly playing with his hair. All of the physical touch seemed to really rile up the Frostheim students, as if it confirmed that you were a prize to be won by the highest bidder.

“Oh, is that so, Kitty?” Taiga said, leaning into your neck, “Well we will just have to see how good they really are.”

You glanced at the Frostheim students, who were watching you and Taiga intently. Both of them considered their cards again, one of them reaching for his chips to raise the bid, when suddenly a strong arm wrapped around your waist and essentially plucked you off of Taiga’s lap. You let out a yelp as you stumbled to catch your footing, leaning into the perpetrator for support, only to find yourself grasping onto Romeo’s arms.

“Oi, Lulu, what are you doing with my kitty-cat? We were just having fun-”

“They aren’t your kitty-cat you BTH!” Romeo barked at Taiga. Without letting Taiga respond, Romeo turned sharply on his heel, pulling you with him to the VIP lounge.

Flinging the doors open, he rushed you inside, yelled an order to not let anyone disturb you both, and then slammed the door shut. You heard the lock slide and click into place before Romeo whipped around to face you.

“Romeo, what the hell!” You crossed your arms and huffed at him as he began pacing the room. “I have been doing great tonight, those Frostheim bozos have been dropping money without a care all night, and they were about to drop even more since they were getting worked up over Taiga-”

At the mention of his name, Romeo suddenly stopped pacing, “DON’T-” he stopped himself, taking a breath. “Don’t bring up that BTH to me. He was way out of line tonight.”

“How was he out of line? He was riling them up, putting on a show to make them jealous, making them feel like they needed to flaunt their money in order to make an impression-”

Romeo huffed and ran a hand through his perfect hair, leaving himself looking disheveled. “He didn’t need to cling to you in order to do that! You didn’t need to play along so well either!”

You stared at him, bewildered. THAT is what he is upset about?? You crossed your arms in front of you and pinched the bridge of your nose, “Why does that matter to you!? The way I do my job is no concern of yours, especially after making your feelings so abundantly clear two days ago.”

Something snapped in Romeo’s expression. You watched the walls he had built come crumbling down - but you didn’t have time to process it. In an instant he had closed the space between you, grabbed a fist-full of your collar, and pulled you into a heated kiss.

You jumped, surprised by the action, but you didn’t pull away. Instead you matched his intensity, turning your head to deepen the kiss and threading your hand into his hair. He released your collar, sliding that hand up your shoulder and around the back of your neck, where he held you. His other hand wrapped around the small of your back, pulling you closer to him as he let out a low groan into the kiss. He wasn’t gentle, but you could feel all of his pent up feelings for you in that kiss, making you lightheaded.

You pulled away first, your need for air overpowering your desire to kiss him forever. You both stared at each other, panting and flushed. “Romeo, I-”

“It wouldn’t be bad.” He interrupted you.

Your eyebrows creased in confusion, “W-What?”

He let out a small breath, removing his hand from the back of your neck to press his thumb in between your eyebrows, smoothing out the tension there. “Liking you.. being with you.. it wouldn’t be bad. It isn’t bad,” he corrected.

Your eyes widened with realization - he was referring to your conversation from the other day. “Then why did you say those things? You were really mean, Romeo..” you pouted.

He sighed deeply, glancing away from you, “I don’t know. Maybe I was scared, or maybe I wasn’t ready to confront my feelings.” He made eye contact with you again, a serious look on his face, “But I know I was wrong. You have plagued my thoughts since that day, never giving me a moment to rest without being forced to confront my feelings towards you.” Your heart hammered in your chest as you listened, your blush returning to your cheeks and the tips of your ears. You couldn’t believe what you were hearing - Romeo’s confession was so serious, and so uncharacteristically open that you could almost believe that this whole moment was a dream. But that kiss.. that kiss was all the evidence you needed to know that this very much was real.

Romeo tucked your hair behind your ear, gently, with so much care and adoration that you melted into that small touch. That same hand then ghosted down your spine until it met his other hand, still resting at the small of your back, “And then you came here tonight to help.. it has been so hard to keep myself together, watching you in that outfit.” He pulled you closer to him, so your bodies were firmly pressed together, faces only inches apart. “I hated watching you entertain those Frostheim idiots - you’re too damn good at your job. But then Taiga.. that BTH slid his nasty little hands around you and I just couldn’t hold back anymore.”

You cupped his face and he leaned into your touch, letting out a small sigh. “Oh, Romeo..” you cooed. You brought his face closer to yours, stopping when your lips barely brushed together. “TDHB,” you whispered.

You felt him grin against you as he brought you in for another kiss. 

── .✦

New abbreviation meanings:

WDILL - What does it look like?

TDHB - Then don’t hold back.

[raysrays]

Crimson Guardian NSFW

Kyojuro Rengoku x Wife! Reader

18+ MDNI!🚫

CW: NSFW Content, minor angst, controlling/manipulating behavior, fluff-ish.

Y/N POV

Scenario : You've recently married into the respected Rengoku family, and while you continue your work as a demon slayer, life starts to get a bit messy. Balancing your duties becomes a real challenge as you navigate the challenges of married life. You find yourself having to make tough choices just to keep your husband happy, all while debating to stay true to yourself and your calling as a demon slayer.

Marriage. Truly one of the most beautiful milestones a couple can achieve. Marrying Kyojuro has undoubtedly been my greatest accomplishment.

I still remember it vividly, as if it were yesterday. Surrounded by friends, family, and core members, we pledged our lives to each other. Though it wasn't the most glamorous wedding ever seen, it was enough. Because really, all I've ever wanted was Kyojuro, and now, finally, I have him.

For the first few months, our marriage was nothing short of perfect. I moved into the Rengoku estate with Kyojuro's family, assisting Shenjuro with chores and gradually trying to get closer to Shinjuro. Though I'm not sure how successful I was.

It was only six months in that I realized being a demon slayer and a wife wasn't as easy as I thought.

Before our relationship, I was Kyojuro's Tsuguko. He was simply my mentor, and I trained hard under him to get myself where I am today. It was later down the road that we noticed each other's lingering gazes, the occasional flirting, and all the other subtle hints of wanting to be more.

Kyojuro was strong, and I knew he wanted a family, but I simply wasn't ready to give up training and my duties as a demon slayer just yet.

Every day, after helping out around the estate, I would hike over to HQ and pick up where I had left off the previous day, training until the late hours of the night. I would often come home exhausted, which usually caused Kyojuro to worry. As much as I reassured him, he never seemed fully convinced.

Now, here I was, sitting at the dinner table with Kyo across from me. It was a rare occasion for us to eat alone together like this. We made small talk about our day and training, and then he finally stopped eating and put his silverware down.

"Little Flame, I think it’s time we have a serious discussion about the way things have been as of late,” his usual happy smile seemed almost nervous.

I set my spoon down on my plate, giving him my full attention.

“Yes? What is it?”

“Sunflower, you have been working so hard as of late, and it’s quite admirable. I truly admire your dedication to the demon slayer corps and your training!”

“But…?” I ask, confused.

“But… since our marriage, I’ve found myself in constant worry over you. Every time you go on a mission without me, I have to painfully wait for your return. Not knowing whether or not you'd be injured or even-“

“Dead?” I finish.

I saw his body tense up at the word.

“Yes, my love. Dead. I cannot even bear the thought of you never returning to me. It pains me to my core,” he seemed so sad, so worried about me.

I know Kyojuro, I know he didn’t mean anything bad by what he was saying. However, I felt almost offended. He too was a slayer, a hashira. I also had to deal with the fear of him returning with serious injuries or even never returning at all.

Did he believe me to be incapable of protecting myself? He was the very one who trained me. Even though I knew Kyojuro was strong, much stronger than me, it just felt like he lacked faith in me.

“You don’t think I’m strong enough anymore? Do you think marriage has made me soft?” I realized I might have come off a little too harsh, but my emotions were getting the best of me.

His expression seemed surprised, but I could tell. While he may not have used those words, that was definitely the gist of it.

I watched him get up from his place at the table and walk over to me. He pulled my chair out from under the table, then grabbed my hands and kneeled down in front of me.

His big, bright eyes were now staring up at me.

“You are one of the strongest people I know, my love. I know how capable you are, but please remember…”

He brought my hands to his lips, kissing them softly.

“You are my wife before you are a demon slayer. I cannot risk sending you off only for you to never return.”

I could practically hear the desperation and love in his voice.

Kyojuro wasn’t someone who would usually discourage anyone from pursuing something they're passionate about. So if he was now, I knew that it’s something he’s been internally battling with for a while.

“What about you? Is it not the same? What about my worry? What if you never come home to me?” I could feel my face start to heat up. Everything he was saying seemed to come from genuine care, but it felt so hypocritical.

“I am a Hashira, my little flame. I have a certain responsibility you do not have to burden yourself with. I shall retire soon, in just a few years. So please…”

There’s no way he’d ask me-

“Please retire your sword, Y/N. Please stay home for me. Please allow my heart to rest easy knowing you'll be here waiting for me whenever I shall return,” his voice was pleading.

I felt so conflicted. I’d worked so hard. All of these years of training to hopefully become a high-ranking swordsman myself. However, at the same time, I never stopped to consider my romantic life and how being married would affect things.

We both sat there in silence for a few moments, and I finally rose up from the chair, pulling him up off his knees along with me.

I looked up at him, reaching my hand up to rest on his cheek.

“Kyojuro, you are the only one I would retire my sword for. So please promise me, promise me you will always come home to me. Until the day you yourself retire.”

“I promise you, Sunflower. As long as I know you are safe and waiting for me, there is no demon that could ever keep me away.”

I felt his hand on my lower back and the other holding up my chin.

We both leaned in, our lips meeting in a tender kiss.

This kiss started so gently, so lovingly at first. As we pulled away for just a moment, staring into each other’s eyes, we realized how long it had been since we really enjoyed each other’s company.

After that, the kiss only grew hotter and more passionate.

Kyojuro swept me off my feet and carried me straight to our shared room at the back of the estate, the most private spot. It seemed fitting for newlyweds, after all.

As he gently laid me back on the soft futon, I couldn't help but stay focused on him. Kyojuro was simply beautiful. His hair, his eyes, his body, everything about him looked like he was perfectly sculpted.

My admiration was interrupted as I felt him begin to kiss me again. One of his hands traveling to my breasts, gently squeezing it.

The other massaging my thigh.

I feel him pull away from me starting to kiss on my neck traveling all the way down to my chest.

Kyojuro had always known my weak points and how to make me say yes to his every request. He knew my body just as well as I did, and now he was taking full advantage of that knowledge.

I could feel him pressing against me as he moved his hand down my body, lightly touching me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me, wanting more.

Then I heard, Kyojuro's soft voice whisper these words, almost as a demand. "Enjoy this little flame, you've kept me waiting far too long.”

As soon as those words left his lips, I felt myself begin to relax. His movements were so gentle, so careful, so loving.

His fingers trailed down my sides, sending chills through my body. His hands went back up and caressed my neck, making me tremble. He kissed me once more, and I melted into him.

It was as if he had cast a spell over me, and all I could do was obey him. He was completely in control of me.

After a moment, I felt him move back down and remove my underwear, revealing my already wet entrance. His hand slid between my thighs, and I couldn't help but let out a moan as his finger slipped inside me. He was gentle at first, just barely grazing me, but it felt incredible.

"Is this okay?" he asked softly, his breath hot against my ear.

I nodded but I could tell that wasn’t enough for him.

“Use your words my love.” He demanded sweetly.

“Yes Kyo, it’s perfect.” I said, my voice trembling.

He leaned down and kissed my lips before pulling back again, smiling at me.

"I want to be inside of you," he whispered, his voice filled with desire.

"Please," I begged.

He removed his fingers, replacing them with his cock, his tip rubbing against my clit.

"Good girl," he whispered, thrusting into me.

I threw back my head, arching my back and digging my nails into his shoulders. His movements were slow and deep at first and then they became faster and harder, and soon my whole body began to shake. I couldn't stop the moans from escaping my lips, and I couldn't help but beg for more.

When he starts to speed up I know we are both about to reach our limit.

I feel his fingers interlock with mine and his lips pressing against mine again, but this time, he wasn’t just kissing me, he was also letting his teeth graze my bottom lip.

He was biting down hard enough to draw blood.

We were both so close and we were both trying to hold back but we couldn’t anymore. We were finally going to let ourselves release.

I was the first one to let myself go, arching my back as I moaned his name.

Then he followed not too far behind.

After he finishes, we just lay there for a bit catching our breath.

“I love you, Y/N,” he finally breathed out, turning his head to look at me.

I turned to face him as well. “I love you, Kyojuro.”

After that, the two of us drifted off in each other's arms for the rest of the night.

The next morning when I awoke, I was still trapped wrapped in Kyojuro's arms.

After a bit of struggling, I managed to maneuver my way out and make it to the kitchen.

There I saw Senjuro, who was already preparing breakfast for everyone.

“Good morning, Sen,” I greeted with a yawn.

“Oh, good morning, Y/N!”

“I'm almost finished with breakfast. Is my brother awake yet?”

“He should be awake soon. We both have to see Master Kagaya today,” I said, rubbing my eyes.

He stopped to turn and look at me.

“Did something bad happen?” he asked nervously.

Poor Senjuro always assumes the absolute worst in every situation. Well, I suppose in this case it’s somewhat understandable.

“No, Sen, nothing's wrong. Kyojuro and I are just going to inform Master Kagaya of my retirement. That’s all.”

He gave a puzzled look.

“Retirement? Why? Haven’t you been training for years to improve your sword skills to move up in the ranks?” he asked.

He was right. I know I shouldn’t go back on my word to Kyojuro, but I really was having second thoughts about my decision.

Senjuro could probably sense my doubt because his next response was:

"If this is something that you're not sure of, then you shouldn't do it. If you have doubts about this decision, then maybe you're not ready for retirement just yet."

His words really struck a chord with me.

Maybe he was right.

Before I could ponder that any further, Kyojuro had made his way into the kitchen.

"Good morning! How are my two favorite people doing?" he said cheerfully.

I smiled.

"Morning, Kyo. Did you sleep well?"

"I did, actually. Thank you, little flame," he walked over to me, giving me a kiss.

I could feel my chest tightening, nervous about what was to come.

The whole time at breakfast, I felt so spaced out. All I could hear was Kyojuro and Senjuro talking and the occasional grunt from Shinjuro drinking away at the table.

“Sunflower? Are you okay?”

I was snapped out of my daze by Kyojuro waving a hand in front of my face. All three of them were staring at me, kind of concerned.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Sorry.”

I shook my head a little and looked down at my plate. I felt bad for Senjuro going through all that trouble to cook, but I simply couldn’t eat right now.

After we finished breakfast, Kyojuro and I headed out.

The thought that this would be the last time wearing my uniform with my sword by my side was so weird and almost uncomfortable to me.

I knew that this day would come eventually, but I always hoped in the back of my mind that Kyojuro would be the one to retire before me.

I had been so focused on training and my duties as a demon slayer that it had never even occurred to me how my marriage would affect everything.

I was now a wife. My first priority should be the estate, and helping Shinjuro while he was in his state of grief, and being there for Senjuro as well.

It wouldn’t be right of me to go against my husband's wishes either. Especially after the intimate moment we shared. Right?

As we made it to HQ waiting to speak with the master I felt my heartbeat racing inside of me.

The room was quiet, I could feel Kyojuro’s eyes lingering on me but I couldn’t bring myself to face him right now.

Both mine and Kyojuro’s attention was shifted as we heard the door open and Master Kagaya entered the room.

"Rengoku, Y/N. It's a pleasure to see you both," Kagaya said, his face as warm as ever.

"It's wonderful to see you too, Master," I replied.

"So what brings you two here? It seems urgent, judging by the fact that you came in so early."

"It is very urgent," Kyojuro began.

He then proceeded to explain our conversation from the night before, and how I was considering retiring.

"Y/N, this is a big decision, and it's important that you feel comfortable and confident in it. Do you think you can fully retire, knowing you won't be able to assist the demon slayers as you are now?" Kagaya asked.

I looked at the master and then glanced at Kyojuro. He seemed so proud and happy that we were here. I could feel the warmth radiating from him.

But, I could also sense the worry in his expression. He was nervous, scared almost.

I couldn't do that to him.

"Master, I've spent most of my life training for the opportunity to become a hashira. To serve the demon slayer corps and protect those who cannot protect themselves. But...I'm no longer just a demon slayer. I'm also a wife, and as such, I think it's only right that I focus on that," I answered.

The room fell silent for a moment.

"If you truly feel this is the right choice, then we support you, Y/N," Kagaya finally spoke.

"Thank you, Master," I bowed.

"Thank you so much, Master! I will never

forget your kindness!" Kyojuro bowed as well.

The two of us left the room and started to head out.

As we exited, we ran into a few of the other Hashira, who asked us about what we had gone to see Master Kagaya about.

They too seemed surprised and a little concerned when Kyojuro explained to them that I would be retiring so soon.

I could tell some of their reactions to the news annoyed Kyojuro. Shinobu used the word “controlling,” and you could see his smile almost falter.

"Controlling" was never a word I would have used to describe my husband. He just loves me, right? He wants to protect me. There's no way my sweet and kind Kyo would ever do anything to control or manipulate me.

Right?

Part Two

[aegonsvhagar]

Lamb to Slaughter Ⅵ

𐙚 As Aemond settles into his position as regent, you begin to find yourself conflicted on where your loyalty truly lies.

𐙚 Aemond Targaryen x Reader (tw: violence, manipulation)

“He dares summon me!” Aemond throws his cup to the wall, the wine staining the wall. “With haste?”

You glance up at him. He’s more angry as of late, not sleeping, less eating. You hate what regency has done to him. There’s times where you find that you cannot comfort him, he shuns your touch and spends his time circling the city on vhagar, or so you assume.

“Are the Lannisters so diminished that they cannot march from the Tooth to Harrenhal without an escort?” It's a rhetorical question, not one he wants you to answer. Another concerning thing that arose from him. You knew he could be mean to girls, but never towards you. But lately, some of it has been directed at you.

“Is there not a large dragon in the Riverlands my love?” you speak up.

He glares at you.

“The Lannisters are a large army yes…but they lack what we posses-”

Aemond’s hand quickly grabs your face before you can register his movement towards you. “I am the prince regent! Not a dog to be called to heel! If they cannot deliver their host to Harrenhal with haste, Daemon’s dragon will be the least of their worries.”

He releases your face, which now aches. Tears pool in your eyes. “Your irritations are justified my love.”

You weren't terrified of Aemond easily. Not even growing up. Not even when he lost his eye and became an angry shell of what he once was. But now. He scared you. Terrified you really. Perhaps the Aemond you loved had been buried with his childhood the night of Driftmark, and who shared your bed now was a stranger.

“I’ve had enough of this cursed blockade.” he huffs, picking his cup up from where he had thrown it and sets it down on the small table. “I may reach for an alliance with The Triarchy.”

You gasp. “Aemond?”

“They will delight in the chance to terrorize the Sea Snake again. Let them weaken his blockade. While our true allies make their long journey East.”

“Will you leave me?” you ask after a few minutes of silence.

He looks at you, “I am not sure yet.”

“Will you find comfort in others?” you felt silly asking it. You hadn't stayed loyal to him, sleeping multiple times with Aegon. But that was over. Aegon had been burned, and the Maester told you his dick was not exactly in riding condition.

“Like you have?” he smirks.

“Like you have!” you yell. “What of your whore in that brothel?”

Aemond lunges at you again, but this time you flail your arms against him in defense.

“Stop it! Stop it!” you cry.

“Where have you earned your braveness from?” Aemond finally finds a grasp on your arm, and twists it in a way that causes you to whimper in pain. “Did you mouth off to Aegon when he was king?”

“Aegon has never lied to me.”

“And I have?” you can feel his breath on your face.

You want to kiss him, and cry. Debating to yourself if this was all worth it.

“Your Grace.” Cole’s voice calls from the doorway, both you and Aemond unaware of him entering.

“It's time you set out for Harrenhal, I think.” Aemond starts. “The longer we wait, the more chance he will prevail. Take what strength we have, and force Daemon from the Riverlands and make his Riverlords fight on two fronts.”

Criston’s weight shifts. “It's a fortnight’s march to Harrenhal-”

“We must strike before his army is raised.” Aemond stops looking at you and glances at Criston. “I will fly out to meet you when the time is ripe.”

Your heart breaks at that. He was going to leave you here. Why would he take you with him?

“My uncle is a challenge I welcome, if he dares face me.” Aemond then glances back at you, and releases you from his grip.

✮⋆˙

“Aemond has grown violent.” you whisper, as if anyone else could hear you.

“Has he hurt you?” Aegon says. He sounds much different now. Tired. Defeated.

“Nothing to worry about.” you insist.

“How have things been?”

“Got enough sheep for your dragons. But none for the smallfolk. They're angry I imagine. Words of riots.” you shake your head. “He's not doing anything about it.”

“Why is this anger directed at us? It is my cunt sister who has raised the blockade and-” he begins to cough before sighing in pain. “-making our people starve.”

“Yes but they expect the King to break it and feed them. You. Now him.” you remind him, reaching for his hand. “Does it hurt?”

“I have enough milk of the poppy to keep it at ease. But I do have pain, yes.” Aegon looks off. “Have they told you my cock has been destroyed?”

You nod.

“The one thing that's good about me. Gone.” tears brim his eyes.

“That’s not true.” you shake your head. “I love you for more than that.”

The room falls silent for a few moments. The grand Maester had come to you first to make you aware of Aegon’s consciousness. You hadn't even let him get through a minute of it before you had rushed immediately to his side.

“What do you remember?” you ask.

“Nothing.” he hoarsely says.

“You challenged Meleys.” Aemond’s voice booms over both of you.

You turn from Aegon and glance back at him. He does not look pleased.

“Aemond-” you start.

“It was foolish.” Aemond cuts you off, only looking at Aegon now.

“I remember…nothing.” Aegon coughs.

“Stop it, Aemond.” you demand, your hand's curling into fists.

He looks at you. “You should have come directly to me when you found out he was awake.”

“Is that my responsibility to you? As what? Your lover or your sister?” you stare him back down.

“Why are you so defiant to me as of late? Am I not gracing your bed as often as perhaps I should?”

“It isn't about you?” you shout.

“Please…” Aegon begs.

“What have you done?” you question.

“I have done nothing.” Aemond shakes his head. “It was merely him challenging the wrong dragon.”

“Why do I feel as if that is not the truth.” you murmur. “Why do I feel like you have lied to me since the very beginning of this relationship?”

“Relationship?” he questions. “Do you think you would be my wife?”

That hurts too.

“More than you would be Aegons?” Aemond laughs.

“I hate you.” you say, looking away from him.

You glance from Aegon to him, then quickly turn to leave them both.

✮⋆˙

The only pleasure you could flaunt in as of late was your darling uncle and his stories from Oldtown. You had never been, but now you desired it more than anything. Away from Aegon, away from Aemond, away from everything.

“I wondered if you’ve heard from father?” Alicent cuts into your conversation.

Gwayne looks at you, smiling and soft. The smile dies down as he glances at your mother.

“I have sent ravens to Highgarden and Oldtown, but have had no reply.” she continues.

“If he wrote letters, it would be to you.” Gwayne replies. “You were always the favorite.”

You giggle at him.

“As are you, I hear princess.” he smiled back at you.

“I have missed you uncle, it has been too long since your presence has graced us. Must you leave so soon?” you frown.

“Your brother is very insistent on it I’m afraid.” he nods.

“Strange there has been no word.” Alicent cuts in again. “Otto Hightower is ever-resourceful.”

You're only slightly annoyed. The only person who had not tortured you or caused you discomfort was in front of you. And you still could not earn a moment of peace with him.

“He will send news when there is news to send.” Gwayne says, showing little annoyance too.

“I’m sure grandsire has reason to not respond.” you nod at him, face flushing.

“I often wonder what life could have been if he had brought you to court instead.” she laughs slightly, an awkward one.

The air grows thick.

Gwayne shares a look with you, knowing this is probably not something that should be said in your presence.

“I’m the eldest son, it was right that I was raised at Oldtown.” he nods.

“I wish I was raised at Oldtown.” you admit.

Gwayne smiles back at you. “I'm sure you would've succeeded there princess.”

“Like Daeron has?” Alicent breaths deeply.

The mention of your brother caused you to stiffen. You rarely even knew him, no one having spoken about him.

“Does he not write to you?” Gwayne inquires.

“Less and less these days.” your mother admits.

“Would you ever take me to Oldtown, uncle?” you cut back in. This was your conversation after all.

Alicent huffs.

“If I could, I would take you and never bring you back.” Gwayne is smiling at only you. “But I must join Ser Criston.”

"To the Riverlands." you nod.

"The war will not touch you princess." he promises, as if he had the power to truly keep it. He bows his head to you, kisses your hand and then rushes off to meet the other knight.

"I'm going to find your sister and ask her to come and pray with me." your mother now speaks to you.

"He was not my son." you turn to look at her. "I have no interest in praying for anyone anymore."

[eddieandbird]

I JUST REALIZE I SEND THE REQUEST IN THE ANONIMOUS MODE, IM SO SORRY 😭😭 but here it is again

Hello! I don't see if you do angst or not, but if you do, i'd like to request a fight with Eddie in front of the Hellfire club, like they're in a D&D section and start to fight over any reason (you can choose) and the reader get's upset and get out of the room and the other's be like "😳...go talk to her, man" and the rest is whatever you think is better, thank you so so much, and sorry if my english is bad 🥺💕

no worries! i gave it my best shot, hope you like it -bird

Ditch—

You have an attitude during a Hellfire Club meeting

tags/warnings: fluff | hurt/comfort | 1.3k words | f!reader | arguments

———

If a single drop of water were to touch your skin right now, it would evaporate in seconds, or at least that’s how furious you felt at this moment. You’d been silently grinding your teeth and fiddling with your character’s figure on the table since Eddie started the session.

“Any day now, sweetheart. It’s your turn,” To you, it sounded like he was elongating your words just to taunt you.

“Skip my turn, nothing good’s happened yet,” You muttered, squeezing your figure tightly in your hand before dropping it back onto the table.

Eddie’s brows knitted together, disgust laced in his deep frown. “So you’re just going to leave the party vulnerable because we bore you, is that it?”

“Why not? Leaving people hanging isn’t completely off the table for our party, right? Or is that just towards me?” You folded your arms, unwavering from his intense glare.

“God, are you seriously throwing a fit right now? In front of everyone?” He leaned forward and spoke in a low tone as if that was going to conceal the argument with you from the other members.

“You know what you’re right. I am so sorry everyone, I’m just not in the mood for D&D tonight. So sorry I have to ditch you all,” You laid heavy emphasis on the word ‘ditch’ before getting up and pushing in your chair with a loud squeak.

The weight of your footsteps could be heard as you walked out of the auditorium. You left the rest of the Hellfire members in awe with your absence.

Dustin was the first to break the silence. “Damn… What the hell did you do, Eddie?”

“Zip it, Henderson,” Eddie snapped back, his eyes transfixed on the door. “Jesus Christ, what the hell was that?” He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh, dropping his head on the table with a thud.

“That was some good drama, right there,” Gareth spoke in an amused tone.

“You’re not helping,” Eddie grumbled.

“Are you going to go after her?” Jeff asked, a slight hint of worry in his voice.

“Yeah, Eddie. You can’t let her storm off like that and not chase her. Trust me, it never ends well when I leave Max alone to ‘cool off’,” Lucas added, shaking his head.

Mike nodded “Yeah, El hates that too-”

“Okay! I get it! You guys are expert-level boyfriends or whatever,” Eddie’s eyes shot wide open with annoyance. “Just… give me a second to go find her, okay? Dustin’s in charge in the meantime,”

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Mike exclaimed.

“Argue amongst yourselves for a minute, nerds!” Eddie yelled back, already in the process of slamming the door behind him.

Eddie stomped quickly down the hallway, eyes darting everywhere looking for you.

He turned the corner and his eyes widened slightly as he saw your hand disappearing into the girls restroom.

“Damnit..” he mumbled to himself.

He stood outside the door, debating whether he should barge in after you or not. Eventually, his head got the better of him and he pushed open the heavy door.

“Hey. We need to talk.”

“Eddie, get out, you’re not supposed to be in here,” You grumbled, not giving him a second glance.

You were focused on your reflection, carefully dabbing at your tears with a tissue to not ruin more of your makeup.

“Like I care about that,” He retorted.

You caught a glimpse of him in the mirror. He stood with his shoulder slumped, back against the bathroom stall. His intense dark eyes glaring at you with frustration.

“I’m not coming back to the session, you can just kill my character off now,” You said sternly.

“Can you just look at me for a second?” He pleaded, but you remained facing the mirror, trying to avoid even the slightest glance in his direction.

He sighed and took a few more steps into the bathroom, his hands shoved deep into pockets, knuckles turning white with how hard he was clenching his fists.

“Why are you so pissed at me?” He asked, his voice soft and lacking its usual bite.

“You seriously don’t know?” You looked bewildered. “You didn’t even notice that I’ve been avoiding you all day?”

Eddie winced as you took a step forward. “What? You weren’t just busy with school stuff?” He asked sheepishly, knowing he definitely did not notice anything off about today until Hellfire.

“You ditched me on our date yesterday, ring any bells?” You gestured wildly. “You left me at the movies by myself. I had to call my dad to pick me up. I was humiliated!”

Eddie's face dropped as he was hit with a wave of realization. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers and let out a long sigh, his jaw clenched tightly.

"Oh, that's what this is about? I'm sorry, I really am, but you gotta know-" He took a small step towards you, his expression pained. "I had to help Dustin okay? It was a like a family emergency and it couldn't wait,"

Eddie needed to be vague for various reasons. He couldn’t possibly tell you about any of the crazy monsters he encountered that night or show you the huge scratch in his shoulder that was covered by his jacket. He could only pray that you bought it.

You wrapped your arms around yourself and frowned deeply. You didn’t want to pry if it was about Dustin’s family, that wasn’t your place. His explanation did explain some things but not enough to satisfy you.

“You didn’t even call afterwards… We didn’t talk today,”

You shook your head, pacing in front of him as thoughts swirled in your mind. “You know, it’s totally fine if you changed your mind about me, if you don’t like me anymore, it’s whatever, but you didn’t have to lead me on like this,”

"Whoa, slow down." He quickly approached you again and firmly placed his hands on your shoulders, gently stopping your frantic movements.

He looked deep into your eyes, searching for any sign that he hadn’t hurt you completely.

"Look at me, okay? I never ‘changed my mind’ about you. I still like you a hell of a lot. And I definitely didn’t mean to leave you in the lurch like that," Eddie pleaded, his thumbs rubbing your skin.

“I’m just kind of a space cadet, you know? I’m impulsive and forgetful and I screw up… a lot,” He took your hand and pulled you toward him.

You pouted and reluctantly followed his tug, your eyes refusing to fall upon him.

“But know this: I do like you. And I know I’m not really good at this whole dating thing, but I wanna make it up to you okay? I don’t wanna end things on this note,” Eddie shook his head and brought your hand next to his face. He made sure you watched as he locked his fingers between yours. “You gonna let me make it up to you?”

You pursed your lips, wanting to refuse at first, but then you nodded.

“Fine,” You whispered.

A small smile appeared on his lips, his shoulders visibly relaxing. He brought your hands to his lips, placing a soft kiss on all eight of your knuckles.

"Thank god," he breathed against your skin, his exhale warm and shaky.

He looked at you with hopeful eyes, his grip on your hand still tight.

"We can do something after Hellfire, alright? Just you and me."

You crinkled your nose as you nodded even more enthusiastically this time.

“I’m looking forward to it, Munson,” You mused.

You turned around, now being the one to tug his arm and lead him out of the restroom.

“Hey, wait, what’s going on?” He asked, his old sneakers squeaking on the hallway floors as he followed you.

“Back to the session,”

“You’re still gonna play?” Eddie let go of your hand for a moment, pleasantly surprised.

“C’mon! The faster we get this done, the faster you can take me to get some food,” You whined, walking off without him.

“You got it, princess,” Eddie chuckled, clutching his swollen heart then sprinting after you.

[motherismotheringggg]

scripted desire pt. 2

(the finale)

read part one here!!!

summary: based on this request linked here, essentially cooper gets to work his celebrity crush and has to navigate doing a sex scene together

type: cooper koch x fem! reader (i know cooper is gay, this is just fiction pooks)

tags/warnings: 18+, penetration (p in v), oral (f! receiving), creampie, angst; back and forth between reader and cooper’s POV, the reader will be in red and anything in the past (in the context of the story) is indented

author’s note: i’m quite literally so sorry it took me OVER A MONTH to get this done but i hope you all like it!!!!

word count: ~10172 (good lord)

tag list: @purple-1995 , @blackynsupremacy , @hoffmansgirl , @sharonusworld , @violetidk , @melaninjhs , @emluvsuxo

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Cooper ran a hand through his already tousled curls, glancing around his apartment for what felt like the hundredth time. The coffee table was wiped down, the cushions on the couch had been fluffed and repositioned, and he’d vacuumed earlier—twice. He tugged the hem of his shirt, debating whether to swap it for something else. Casual but not too casual. Cool but effortless. God, why am I like this?

Your text saying “on my way” had come through almost twenty minutes ago, and ever since, he’d been pacing like a madman, obsessively checking that everything was perfect. The faint aroma of the takeout he’d ordered lingered in the air—Thai food, your favorite. The wine was chilling in the fridge, and he’d even lit a candle on the windowsill, though he worried it might feel too much like he was trying.

Filming had been going on for three months now, and during that time, what had started as a friendly dynamic on set had grown into something more. Every scene you shared seemed to deepen the connection—whether it was the playful banter your characters exchanged or the raw, emotional moments that required complete vulnerability. You pushed each other, fed off each other’s energy, and every time the director called “cut,” you found yourselves laughing or dissecting the scene together, eager to make the next take even better.

Off-set, the bond had only strengthened. Cooper showed up at your trailer every morning with coffee and breakfast, even on days when it meant dragging himself out of bed before sunrise. You repaid the favor by ordering lunch for him on his long shooting days, sneaking into his trailer to lay it all out neatly so he could eat between takes. It was little things, small routines that felt easy and natural.

But the connection was truly solidified after the first time you invited yourself to Cooper’s place after filming one day.

The two of you sat in your trailer, killing time while waiting to see if Ryan was going to call you back for reshoots. You were stretched out on the couch, your head resting on the armrest, legs casually draped across Cooper’s lap as he sat in the corner of the couch scrolling on his phone.

“The weather is so perfect today,” Cooper said, glancing out the window at the blue skies. “I’m excited to actually get home and use the rooftop deck for once. My new furniture came this week, and I haven’t had a chance to sit out there yet.”

You shot up, your feet sliding off his lap as you turned to face him. “Wait, is it the set I showed you from Amazon?”

He grinned, pulling up his phone to show you a picture. “Yep, this one. It’s even better in person.”

You grabbed the phone from his hand, studying the photo with a grin. “Oh my God, this looks so good, Coop! It’s giving, like, coastal rooftop vibes. I’m love it!.”

“Well, technically, you did good,” he said, leaning back into the couch. “You’re the one who recommended it.”

You handed his phone back and smirked. “Exactly. And since I recommended it, I think I should get to break it in with you.”

Cooper’s breath caught for a moment, his mind immediately registering the double entendre. He tried to play it cool, but the faint flush creeping up his neck gave him away. “Uh, yeah, that sounds... fair.” He chuckled, hoping it sounded casual.

You didn’t seem to notice his internal spiral, already moving on with an idea. “Perfect, because there’s this new Thai place that just opened near you. I’ve been dying to try it, and it can be my treat. Plus,” you added with a grin, “I have a new wine I’ve been saving for someone to try with me. Consider it a housewarming gift for the furniture I picked out.”

Cooper’s brain short-circuited. She’s coming over. Oh my God, she’s coming over. Is my place even clean? Did I take out the trash? What if I didn’t flush the toilet before I left this morning? He felt heat creeping up his neck at the mere thought, his mind running wild with every possible thing that could go wrong. Did I put the laundry away? Or is it still sitting on the bed?

Before he could spiral further, your voice broke through his thoughts. “So, what time should I come over?”

---

The rooftop was everything you’d imagined and more. Cooper’s new furniture fit perfectly into the space—a sleek outdoor sectional, a chaise lounge, and a low coffee table, all framed by a wrought iron railing that overlooked the city skyline. The warm glow of the string lights you’d helped him hang crisscrossed above, casting soft golden hues across the space. Potted plants and small lanterns added to the cozy atmosphere, and as the sun set, the soft pinks and oranges of the horizon melted into the deep blues of twilight, transforming the rooftop into something out of a dream.

The outdoor table was sprawled with takeout containers, half-empty wine glasses, and the bottle you’d brought, its label peeling slightly from the condensation. Music played faintly from a speaker in the corner, a mix of mellow indie tracks and 90s R&B that matched the chill vibe of the evening.

You and Cooper had been talking nonstop—sharing stories, cracking jokes, and diving into details about each other’s lives that made you feel closer with every passing minute. He told you about his brother’s embarrassing best man speech at a wedding last year, and you countered with the story of the time you accidentally texted a very private complaint about an ex to your boss instead of your friend. You’d laughed until your sides ached, and at some point, the distance between you had naturally closed.

You weren’t the type to get touchy when you were drunk, but thw wine played it’s part tonight. You started the night in one of the armchairs, but at some point, you’d migrated to the chaise lounge where Cooper was stretched out. Now, you were lying between his legs, your back resting against his chest as his arms draped loosely over the sides of the chair. It was innocent enough—two friends relaxing after a long week—but the warmth of his body against yours and the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest made you feel... something.

The city below was quieting down, the hum of traffic fading into the night as you both stared up at the string lights above. The silence between you had gone on for a little while, but it wasn’t awkward. It was comfortable, even soothing.

“It’s getting pretty late,” you murmured, your voice soft as you broke the quiet. “I should probably get going. I’ll just Uber home and come back for my car tomorrow.”

You felt Cooper shift behind you, his voice a little firmer now. “You’re not taking an Uber home alone at this hour. No way.”

You tilted your head back slightly to look up at him, catching the serious set of his jaw. “Coop, I’ll be fine. It’s not a big deal.”

“It is a big deal,” he countered, crossing his arms in mock seriousness. “You’ve had wine, it’s late, and I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you. Just stay. You can sleep here.”

You tilted your head, giving him a teasing grin. “Are you sure this isn’t just an elaborate ploy to get me to stay longer so you don’t have to clean up by yourself?”

He smirked, shrugging one shoulder. “I mean, I wouldn’t say no to the offer. But mostly, it’s because I’m a gentleman.”

You rolled your eyes, laughing softly. “Alright, alright. If you insist, Mr. Gentleman.”

The two of you gathered the leftovers and headed back down to his apartment. The narrow stairwell was dimly lit, and the old wooden door that led into the hallway stuck as Cooper tried to push it open.

“Stupid thing,” he muttered, jiggling the handle.

You stood close behind him, the space so tight you could feel the warmth radiating from his back. The scent of his cologne—fresh and woodsy—lingered in the air, making your head spin slightly.

“I’ve got it,” you said, stepping closer to help, your hand brushing his.

“It’s fine, I—” Cooper glanced back at you, his eyes meeting yours for just a second too long.

You hadn’t really thought about Cooper like that before—or at least, you’d tried not to. He was sweet, sure, and definitely attractive, but he was also the guy who never crossed a line, no matter how much you jokingly flirted with him on set. He’d always been so respectful, and you wanted to follow his lead. But now, with the wine flowing through you and the way his lips parted slightly as he turned back to the door, you couldn’t help but feel... intrigued.

Finally, the door gave way, and you both spilled into the hallway with a laugh. Cooper handed you a T-shirt to change into once inside, heading off to his bedroom while you ducked into the bathroom. The shirt was huge on you, brushing just above the bottom of your thighs as you adjusted it in the mirror.

Alright, nothing wrong with setting the bait just a little, you thought with a smirk as you ran your hands over the fabric.

When you came back into the living room, Cooper was already on the couch, scrolling on his phone. He glanced up as you walked in, his eyes flickering to your legs for the briefest of moments before he cleared his throat.

“Shirt fits okay?” he asked, his voice casual.

“Yeah, thanks,” you replied, settling onto the couch beside him.

The two of you talked for a little while longer, the conversation slowing as Cooper let out a yawn. You stretched, glancing at the couch. “You wouldn’t happen to have a weighted blanket, would you? I’d love that for the night.”

Cooper chuckled, leaning back. “You’re not sleeping on the couch.”

“Oh, come on. I can’t kick you out of your bed,” you protested.

He smirked. “After the fight scenes today? You need all the cushion you can get for your back. Trust me.”

You grinned, trying to play it cool but unable to resist joking. “You know, we’ll have to get comfortable sleeping with each anyway, might as well start tonight.”

His laugh came out nervous and uneven, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, you have a point.”

You immediately regretted saying it, heat rushing to your cheeks. Why did I lay it on so thick? you thought as you stood to head upstairs. It’s clear he’s not into that. Or maybe... he’s just not into me.

“I’m joking Coop,” you stood front the couch, feigning nonchalance, “thanks for letting me kick you out of your room for the night.”

He called out “goodnight as you headed up the stairs and you responded back with those thoughts swirling in your mind, you trudged up the stairs, the oversized T-shirt swaying softly against your legs.

---

The second you climbed into the chaise with him, Cooper’s body went stiff, every nerve on high alert. It wasn’t the first time he’d been close to you—on set, the two of you had plenty of moments that required touching, leaning into each other, and sharing intimate glances. But this? This was different. It was quiet, real, and the wine wasn’t helping.

Over the past few months, Cooper had essentially mastered the art of acting normal while being completely overwhelmed by how much he was in love with you. He’d trained himself to steady his breathing, to regulate his heart rate when you got too close. He’d learned to make sure his palms weren’t clammy whenever you grabbed his hand to drag him to another part of set or shared a private joke. He’d perfected the casual laugh, the easy nod, the reassuring smile—all the things that kept you blissfully unaware of the storm raging inside him.

But tonight, with you nestled between his legs, your back pressed to his chest, and his fingertips lightly grazing your arm as if they belonged there, it was almost too much. The way your head rested against him, the way your laughter had softened into something quieter—it felt romantic. And for a moment, he let himself enjoy it. He let himself believe that maybe, just maybe, you felt it too.

And then you came downstairs in that shirt.

When he first heard your footsteps on the stairs, he’d braced himself, but nothing could’ve prepared him for the sight of you. The oversized T-shirt barely skimmed the tops of your thighs, the curve of your perfect ass peeking out just enough to drive him crazy. Something primal surged through him, catching him off guard.

He wanted you. Right then and there, he wanted you in a way that was overwhelming and consuming. He wanted to cross the space between you, scoop you up into his arms, and carry you back upstairs. He wanted to throw you down on his bed, pin you there, and make you his.

The longer he stared, the worse it got. His eyes trailed from your long, sexy legs to the way the shirt swayed with each step. He imagined those legs over his shoulders, your thighs trembling as he buried his face between them. He imagined bending them back, spreading you wide as you took him fully, your voice gasping his name. He imagined you straddling him, your hands on his chest as you moved, slow and deliberate, driving him out of his mind.

He clenched his fists on his lap, forcing himself to look away before you could catch him staring. His jaw tightened as he tried to rein in the heat spreading through him. He hated this. Hated that he couldn’t stop thinking about you this way. Hated that you were right there—so close, so effortlessly beautiful, and so completely off-limits.

You were his friend. His coworker. And he knew you appreciated him as just that.

Even when you made jokes about sharing a bed for practice, he knew it didn’t mean anything. It was just you being playful, the way you always were. But God, did it kill him every time you said something like that. It was like dangling a dream in front of him that he couldn’t have.

When you’d gone upstairs earlier, he’d felt relief. But now, sitting here with the sound of your soft footsteps shuffling around above him, he hated himself for passing up the invitation you’d all but handed him. You’d practically given him the green light to share the bed—to be closer to you—and he’d chickened out.

Cooper leaned back on the couch, staring at the ceiling as he listened to the faint sounds of you settling upstairs. The weight of his unspoken feelings pressed down on him like a brick. He hated this. He hated wanting you so much it hurt.

----

The small office was cozy but cluttered, filled with mismatched furniture and a lingering smell of lavender. You and Cooper sat on a worn couch, waiting for the intimacy coordinator to arrive. The room was quiet except for the faint hum of the air conditioning, but the anticipation was palpable. This was the day you’d finally start mapping out your scene—a pivotal moment in the story, and one that had loomed in the back of your minds since you first read the script.

When the coordinator finally walked in, she was everything you might have expected and more. Her look was delightfully granola: baggy, billowy clothes in earthy tones, tattoos covering her arms and neck, and, of course, a pair of well-worn Birkenstocks. She kicked them off almost immediately, wiggling her toes against the hardwood floor. “I like to feel more connected to the space,” she explained with a serene smile as she settled into an armchair.

You exchanged a quick glance with Cooper, suppressing a laugh as she pulled out her notebook.

“Alright,” the coordinator began, flipping to a fresh page. “Before we get into choreography or specifics, I like to start with comfort levels. Let’s talk about how you feel about your own bodies—not just on camera, but in real life.”

Cooper leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees. “I’d say I’m pretty confident with my body,” he said, his voice calm but thoughtful. “Growing up, I was lanky and awkward, so it took a while to feel comfortable in my skin. But once I started working out, it helped a lot. It’s not just about how I look—it’s about feeling stronger, more capable.”

You nodded, smiling at him before adding your own response. “For me, it’s been more of a journey. I’m a bigger girl, and that wasn’t always easy to embrace. But being around people who actually valued me—not just for my body, but for who I am—made all the difference. I’ve worked through a lot, and I’m the most confident I’ve ever been now.”

Cooper turned to you, his warm brown eyes softening. “I didn’t know that,” he said, his voice quiet but full of genuine care. Without thinking, you reached over and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

The coordinator smiled knowingly, her gaze flicking between the two of you. “There’s a strong connection between you two,” she said, jotting something in her notebook.

You felt Cooper’s hand squeeze yours briefly before he pulled it away, and though you noticed, you didn’t react. The moment lingered for just a second before the coordinator continued.

For the next hour, you and Cooper talked about your on-screen experiences. He’d done more nudity, you’d done more sex scenes. Your experiences balanced each other out in a way that felt natural, and you both laughed over anecdotes from past projects—like the time Cooper had to lie naked on a freezing cold floor for hours, or when you had to make out with an actor who’d eaten garlic knots right before a scene.

Then came the choreography.

Sex scenes look so intimate and natural on screen,” but in person? They’re anything but. It’s a dance—a mix of choreography, lighting, camera angles, and making sure everything looks right for film. Some things we can improvise for realism, but a lot of it is planned down to the smallest detail.

You practiced straddling Cooper’s lap at least twenty times, adjusting your positioning for the best angles. You rehearsed how he’d remove your shirt over thirty times, making sure the motion was fluid and natural. But it wasn’t until the kiss—the kiss—that the scene took on a life of its own.

It was the climax of the story, a moment where your characters bared their souls to each other. The coordinator told you to let it flow, to stop if you needed to, and to trust her to course correct.

You were in Cooper’s lap again, your shirt off and your lacy bra barely covering your chest. His hands rested lightly on your waist, and his gaze flickered nervously to the coordinator.

“Loosen up,” she said gently. “You’re doing great, Cooper, but you need to relax.”

Cooper hesitated. He was afraid to relax. Afraid to let go of the control he’d clung to since the moment you entered his life. Because if he did, every single feeling he’d buried—the longing, the need, the desire—would come rushing out, and he wasn’t sure he could hide it anymore.

You leaned forward slightly, your hands on his shoulders, grounding him. “We’ve got this,” you murmured, your voice low and steady.

And then you kissed him.

It wasn’t like the other kisses your characters had shared. This one was hungry, desperate, your tongues tangling as you pressed closer. Your hips rocked steadily against his lap, and his large hands gripped your torso, sliding up your sides and down your back.

The kiss was everything it needed to be for the scene—and more. For a brief moment, Cooper forgot where he was. Forgot the lights, the cameras, the crew. It was just you.

And that was the problem.

He felt it before he could stop it—the telltale heat, the rush of blood as his body betrayed him. He was getting hard, and there was no stopping it. He knew that in seconds, you’d feel it, and there was no way he could let that happen.

Cooper pulled back abruptly, his breathing uneven as he gently moved you off his lap. “Maybe, uh, maybe we should try this standing,” he said quickly, his voice tight.

The coordinator raised an eyebrow, amused. “Standing? For a car sex scene? That would be... interesting.”

“You’re both doing great,” she added, smiling. “Let’s take a quick break and regroup in a few.”

Cooper was gone before you could say anything, practically storming out of the office. You stayed behind, talking about the scene with the coordinator and not focusing on the sudden change in energy.

----

By Thursday, you’d all but convinced yourself that Cooper was avoiding you.

It started subtly enough—small things that, at first, you chalked up to coincidence. Instead of bringing you breakfast himself, he started handing it off to an intern to deliver. Between takes, he wasn’t lingering on set, sharing jokes or teasing you about forgetting your lines. Instead, he’d retreat to his trailer, barely glancing your way as he passed. And after work? Nothing. No texts, no memes, no TikTok links. Radio silence.

At first, you tried not to take it personally. Cooper was allowed to have bad days—or even bad weeks. You reasoned that maybe he was tired or overwhelmed. But as the days stretched on, the oddness of it all settled into something heavier.

What the hell is his problem? you thought as you stared at his latest text—a curt “No thanks!” after you’d offered to buy lunch for both of you.

By the end of Thursday’s shoot, you were tired, frustrated, and more than a little upset. You’d been close to Cooper for months now, relying on the easy rhythm of your friendship both on and off set. And now, just as you were gearing up to shoot the most intimate scene of the entire project, he was acting like... this? It didn’t make any sense.

Ryan called everyone into a huddle to wrap up the day, his energy as commanding as ever. You found a spot near the back of the group, scanning the crowd until you spotted Cooper. He was standing far from you, arms crossed and gaze fixed on the ground.

“Alright, listen up!” Ryan said. “The studio’s doing some maintenance tomorrow, so we’re all getting the day off. Enjoy your Friday. Recharge. But—” he added, his tone firm—“I need everyone here bright and early Saturday. We’re filming the big one. You know the scene I mean.”

You nodded along with the rest of the group, your stomach tightening at the mention of the scene. You glanced at Cooper, but he didn’t look up.

After the huddle broke, you headed back to your trailer to pack up your things. You were trying to shake off the lingering frustration when you caught sight of Cooper outside, moving quickly and quietly toward the studio lot. He glanced around, clearly trying not to be noticed, before ducking into the passenger seat of a car you didn’t recognize.

It clicked all at once. Maybe he has a girlfriend.*

The thought made your chest tighten, not completely with jealousy but with a strange, sinking feeling. It all made sense now—his awkwardness during the sex scene practice, the way he’d been pulling away from you, the tension in his body every time you got close. If he was seeing someone and your friendship had blossomed too fast, too intensely, it would explain everything.

He’s probably just trying to define boundaries with this other relationship, you thought, your earlier anger morphing into understanding. The sex jokes you’d made, the rooftop hangouts that stretched late into the night—those things probably felt like lines being crossed to him, even if you hadn’t meant them that way.

The weight of it followed you home. As you got ready for bed, you debated whether to text him. You didn’t want to make things worse or seem like you’d uncovered some big secret. But you also didn’t want to leave things unresolved, especially with the big scene looming over you both.

You grabbed your phone just before climbing into bed, deciding to send a message. Keeping it light felt like the best approach.

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, but I’m happy for you. And I’m sorry for crossing any boundaries. Hopefully, me, you, and lucky gal can all do a rooftop hangout soon!!”

You hit send and stared at the screen for a moment before setting the phone down.

*There,* you thought. *Ball’s in his court now.*

---

Cooper saw your text the instant it came through, the screen lighting up his darkened room like a beacon. The soft ding shattered the quiet, cutting through the heavy silence he’d been drowning in all week. He stared at the words, rereading them until they blurred at the edges. His thumb hovered over the keyboard, wanting to reply immediately, to say something—anything—that would keep this fragile thread of connection intact. But the weight of everything unsaid kept his fingers still.

He’d turned off his read receipts weeks ago, claiming it was for privacy, but tonight, he was grateful for the buffer. You wouldn’t know how long he sat there, staring at your message like it was a lifeline. You wouldn’t know how much it meant that, after the way he’d been acting, you still wanted to reach out.

The guilt clawed at his chest, sharp and unrelenting.

Payton had driven him home from set that day, and the entire ride had been a disaster in his head. He hadn’t stopped replaying the moment in the intimacy coordinator’s office—or more accurately, the moment he’d ruined everything.

He’d wanted to kiss you. God, he’d wanted to kiss you. Not just because the scene called for it, but because every fiber of his being had been screaming to close the gap between you and finally show you how he felt. To let his hands roam your body, to pour every ounce of his frustration and longing into a kiss that would leave no doubt in your mind.

But he hadn’t. He couldn’t.

Instead, he’d pulled away, stumbling over a half-baked excuse about standing choreography and all but sprinting out of the room. It wasn’t the kiss that had scared him—it was the thought of what you’d think if you’d realized how much he’d wanted it. He’d been terrified that you’d felt his erection during the scene, that you’d think he was gross or unprofessional or just another actor who couldn’t separate work from reality.

So he did the only thing he could think of to protect himself and, in his mind, to protect you too—he distanced himself.

That night, sitting in Payton’s passenger seat, Cooper had finally cracked. He spilled everything to his brother—the scene, the kiss, the way he couldn’t stop thinking about you, and the guilt that gnawed at him for how he’d acted. He admitted that he had no idea how to fix it, no idea what to say to you now.

Payton listened patiently, letting him get it all out before shaking his head. “Man, icing her out was the top 10 stupidest things you could’ve done,” he said bluntly but not unkindly. “You’re acting like you’re the first guy in history to fall for someone they work with. Just text her. Clear it up. She deserves that.”

Cooper groaned, throwing his head back against the headrest. “Yeah, okay. And what am I supposed to say? ‘Hey, I know we’re friends, but I’m gonna do that guy thing where, after you’ve built trust with me, I’ll tell you I’m in love with you and want you sexually’? That won’t send her running at all.”

Payton laughed, shaking his head. “You could maybe *not* phrase it like a serial killer. Just tell her you’re sorry for being distant and you’ve had stuff on your mind. It’s not that hard, Coop.”

But it was hard.

By the time Cooper got home, he was too wound up to do anything but collapse on the couch. He spent the evening aimlessly flipping through channels, snacking on crackers and sipping wine, trying—and failing—to gather the courage to text you. Every time he opened your thread, the words he wanted to say felt wrong or inadequate.

When he finally dragged himself upstairs to bed, it was nearly midnight. He lay on his back, phone in hand, scrolling to your name again. Your last message glowed softly on the screen, and he stared at it until his eyes burned. He thought about calling you, about telling you everything, but the fear of saying the wrong thing paralyzed him. Once again, he did nothing.

Friday morning came and went, and still, the words eluded him. He told himself he was giving you space, that it was better this way, but deep down, he knew he was fumbling the friendship. He hated himself for it, hated the way he was letting his fear keep him frozen.

By midday, he was lying on the couch again, scrolling aimlessly when his phone vibrated in his hand. Your name popped up on the screen, and his heart stopped.

“If you’re not busy, are we doing our Friday night sesh lol?”

The text was simple, nonchalant, and so perfectly you. Relief washed over him, warm and heavy, but it was quickly followed by a pang of guilt. Even after the way he’d acted, you were still reaching out. You were still trying to keep the connection alive, and here he was, barely holding it together.

For a long moment, Cooper sat there, staring at your message. A part of him wanted to ignore it—not because he didn’t want to see you, but because he was terrified of messing up even more. But then Payton’s voice echoed in his mind: “Just text her. She deserves that.”

Taking a deep breath, he finally typed a response.

“Yeah. Come over whenever you can!”

His thumb hovered over the send button, his chest tightening as the weight of his feelings threatened to crush him. Finally, he hit send, watching the message disappear into the ether.

He set the phone down on the coffee table, leaning back against the couch as he tried to steady his breathing. And now, all he could do was wait.

---

Even before your eyes opened Friday morning, you were already expecting a reply from Cooper. Some part of you just knew he would’ve texted you back by now—confirming that he was seeing someone, apologizing for being weird, and putting all of this to rest.

But when you rolled over and grabbed your phone, the screen told a different story.

There were a few Instagram notifications—likes on a recent post—and a couple of mentions on Twitter from fans speculating about the show. But nothing from Cooper.

Your heart sank, a dull ache settling in your chest. You felt silly for being so hopeful, for thinking he’d reply as quickly as he always used to. If he does have a girlfriend, you reasoned, then technically, I can’t be mad at him. But that logic didn’t stop the sting. It still hurt.

You tossed your phone onto the bed, burying your face in your hands with a groan. “Get a grip,” you muttered to yourself, but the pep talk didn’t do much to lift your mood.

You spent the morning moping around the apartment, picking up clutter here and there before sitting back down, aimlessly scrolling through your phone. The knot in your chest tightened every time you thought about Cooper, about how things had shifted so suddenly between you.

By midday, you decided you couldn’t take it anymore. Sitting around wasn’t helping, and you needed to clear your head. You grabbed your bag and keys, determined to shake off the heaviness.

The sun was warm on your skin as you walked through downtown LA, the familiar buzz of the city wrapping around you like a comforting blanket. You stopped at a nearby coffee shop, ordering your favorite drink and savoring the slight bitterness of the first sip. You sat outside for a bit, watching people go by, their lives unfolding in a way that made your own worries feel small.

You didn’t even notice the paparazzi at first. It wasn’t until someone called your name, camera in hand, that you realized you’d been spotted. You forced a smile, raising your coffee cup in a mock toast as they snapped a few pictures. It was part of the job, and while it wasn’t your favorite part, you knew how to play the game.

From there, you wandered into a few stores, picking up a couple of things that caught your eye. Retail therapy wasn’t a cure, but it was a distraction—and today, a distraction was exactly what you needed.

Being outside, away from the quiet of your apartment and the constant swirl of thoughts about Cooper, helped you breathe a little easier. By the time you were heading home, the sting of the morning had dulled.

And as you climbed the stairs to your place, a thought struck you: At the end of the day, you and Cooper are friends.

Friends have awkward moments. Friends sometimes need space. And whatever was going on between the two of you, it didn’t have to be the end of your friendship. Neither of you had done anything wrong, so there was no reason for things to stay weird forever.

The realization didn’t erase all the hurt, but it gave you clarity. You could move past this.

Feigning bravery, you grabbed your phone as you kicked off your shoes. It was Friday night, after all, and Friday night meant one thing: your weekly hangout with Cooper. You’d made it a tradition, and you weren’t about to let a few days of awkwardness ruin it.

Opening your messages, you typed out the text and hit send before you could overthink it:

“If you’re not busy, are we doing our Friday night sesh lol?”

You set your phone down, exhaling deeply. Whatever happened next, at least you were trying. At least you were giving him the chance to meet you halfway.

And now, all you could do was wait.

----

It was a little after 8 when you got there, and Cooper had already turned his bedroom into a war zone. Clothes were scattered across the floor, his bed buried beneath rejected options that didn’t pass the “effortlessly casual” test. He didn’t want to look like he’d tried too hard—because trying too hard would suggest something—but he also didn’t want to look like a slob. He did all that just to finally settle on a simple gray muscle tank and sweat pants, but as he stood in front of the mirror, tugging at the hem, he started second-guessing everything again.

What was he even going to do when you got here? Should he act normal and pretend nothing was wrong? Should he apologize for being distant? Try to patch things up and keep being friends?

Or should he just tell you how he feels?

No. Absolutely not. That was a disaster waiting to happen.

But then there was the issue of the text you’d sent last night. The one that suggested you thought he had a girlfriend. How could he clear that up without spilling everything? He didn’t want you thinking he was lying or sneaking around, but explaining it meant opening a door he wasn’t sure he could close.

Before he could spiral any further, the doorbell rang, and his stomach dropped.

You were here.

Walking down the stairs to open the door, Cooper felt like he was heading into a first date instead of hanging out with someone he’d spent almost every day with for the last four months. The feeling annoyed him, made him hate how much power his own emotions seemed to have over him. You weren’t a stranger. You were you. And yet, seeing you standing there on his doorstep still sent a pit straight to his stomach.

When he opened the door, it hit him again. You looked amazing, even in something as simple as jeans and a t-shirt. The faint scent of your perfume reached him as you stepped inside, and he fought the instinct to pull you into a hug. Normally, you’d hug him or give him some casual pat on the stomach, but this time? Nothing.

The lack of touch stung more than he cared to admit.

You started making small talk as you slipped off your coat, your voice light as you talked about your Uber driver and how they’d missed the turn to his street. Cooper nodded along, but his nerves were all over his face, and he could feel it. The tension in the air was suffocating, even though you were trying to fill it with conversation.

“I’m making dinner,” he blurted, his voice louder than he’d meant. He cleared his throat. “Uh, if you want to sit here on the couch, I just have to grab something from upstairs.”

You nodded, smiling faintly as you settled onto the couch. Cooper didn’t wait to see if you’d say anything else—he turned and bolted up the stairs, his heart pounding in his chest.

Once in his bedroom, he started pacing. He rubbed his hands over his face, muttering under his breath as he tried to calm the frantic thoughts running through his head.

Why did I tell her to come over? he thought, dragging a hand through his hair. I don’t even have a good explanation for her.

He glanced at the clothes still scattered across the floor, stepping over a pile of T-shirts as he paced back and forth.

She’s going to ask why I’ve been distant, and I’m going to make it worse. I’ll ruin the show, I’ll ruin this—

He stopped mid-step, shaking his head as if he could physically dispel the anxiety gripping him. He wanted to fix things. He wanted to make everything normal again. But how? What could he possibly say that wouldn’t dig him deeper into the mess he’d made?

Cooper stood in the middle of the room, staring at the wall like it might offer him some magical solution. The silence upstairs was broken only by the faint sound of you shuffling around downstairs, probably settling into the couch.

----

Getting out of the Uber made your stomach churn, and you weren’t even sure why. This was Cooper—your friend, your Friday night hangout buddy. Nothing was different, right? But as you walked toward his door, the trembling in your hand when you reached for the doorbell told a different story.

When Cooper opened the door, you instinctively inhaled, a witty line ready to spill out as you leaned forward to give him a hug, but his body language made you pause. He didn’t lean in or even shift toward you. He just stood there, stiff and awkward, his usual warmth replaced by something that felt… off. You swallowed the hug and stepped inside, brushing off the sting.

His apartment was eerily quiet, save for the soft hum of the stove fan in the kitchen. The silence pressed down between you, like you both wanted to say something but didn’t know how to start. Trying to break the tension, you launched into a lighthearted rant about your Uber driver getting lost, your tone playful and exaggerated.

But Cooper wasn’t biting.

He gave you half-smiles and short answers, avoiding eye contact as if looking at you might crack him open. His usual charm felt buried under a thick layer of nerves, and just when you were about to ask if everything was okay, he blurted out, “I’m making dinner if you wanted to sit here on the couch, I just have to grab something from upstairs.”

It was so abrupt that it almost made you laugh. “Uh, okay,” you said, setting your coat on the armrest as you perched on the couch.

You watched him practically bolt up the stairs, his footsteps echoing overhead. For a few moments, you sat there, trying to piece together the puzzle of his behavior. Was it still about the intimacy coordinator practice? Or maybe… was it something else?

The sound of muffled shuffling pulled your focus, followed by Cooper’s hushed voice. At first, you thought he might be on the phone. But as you tilted your head and angled yourself to hear better, it became clear he was talking to himself.

And not just about anything—about you.

Your heart raced, a mix of curiosity and anxiety bubbling to the surface. You didn’t want to startle him, but it was clear that the two of you couldn’t keep dodging whatever this was. Quietly, you made your way up the steps, the wood creaking slightly under your weight.

His bedroom door was ajar, the soft light spilling into the hallway. You knocked lightly, pushing the door open just enough to peek inside.

“Hey, Coop,” you said softly. “Are you okay?”

He turned sharply, his wide eyes meeting yours like you’d just caught him robbing a bank. “Yeah, I’m great,” he stammered, his voice unconvincing.

You stepped inside, leaning your back against the door and crossing your arms. “Cooper,” you said with a teasing smirk, “for such an incredible actor, you’re a terrible liar.”

For a moment, he just stared at you, the tension in his shoulders melting as he let out a soft, nervous chuckle.

“It’s been unfairly long since we laughed. I can’t stand it,” you said, trying to ease the tension.

Cooper nodded, letting out a long sigh. “You’re right. I—I’m sorry,” he said, his voice quieter now.

“For what, exactly?” you pressed, your tone gentle but firm.

He hesitated, his gaze dropping to the floor. When you mentioned the idea of him having a girlfriend, he froze, his mouth opening and closing as if he was trying to find the right words. Finally, he walked over to the bed, sitting near the top so he could rest his back against the headboard.

You stayed by the door, watching as he ran a hand through his hair, clearly trying to gather his thoughts. Finally, he exhaled and said, “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

The relief that washed over you was immediate and overwhelming. Internally, you were beaming. Thank God.

“Can you come sit next to me?” he asked, his voice soft.

You crossed the room and climbed onto the other side of the bed, sitting with your legs tucked under you. Trying to lighten the mood, you teased, “So, you just make all your friends think you’re mad at them to keep things interesting?”

He let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head. “No, I—” He closed his eyes tightly, like he was bracing himself for impact. “Y/N, I’m just gonna say everything I need to, like word vomit, because if I don’t, I might actually throw up.”

You nodded, even though he couldn’t see you. “Go ahead,” you said gently.

He took a deep breath, his eyes still closed as the words spilled out of him. “Ever since I saw you in Kindred Spirits, I’ve had the biggest crush on you. And every day since then has felt like a dream because not only are you captivating, but you’re so kind, and sweet, and funny. And I knew I was in love, but then you started coming over, and it made it impossible to ignore.”

Your breath caught, your heart pounding in your chest as his words tumbled out.

“I’ve been having dreams,” he continued, his voice quieter now. “And I know it’s probably gross, and I’m so sorry if that’s weird, but that’s why the sex scene marking was so overwhelming for me. Because I didn’t want to be that guy—the movie set creep who can’t keep it together. But it’s not just about control. It’s about you. I want you. And I get it if you don’t feel the same way, but I—”

“Cooper,” you interrupted, your voice soft but steady.

His eyes shot open, panic flashing across his face as he looked at you.

You paused, unsure of how to respond, but the way Cooper's eyes searched your face so desperately for reassurance made your heart ache. He looked so vulnerable, so raw, and you wanted to find the right words to ease the weight on his shoulders.

"So, this has all been because of the scene?" you asked gently, keeping your tone light to relieve some of the pressure. "I mean... I already imagined you liked me-because I liked you."

His eyes widened at your admission, his lips parting in shock, but you pressed on. "But I thought it'd be tacky to date your co-star, you know? And you're nervous about getting hard during the scene?"

The redness that spread across his cheeks was answer enough. He couldn't speak, but he shook his head furiously, as if trying to deny it, even though it was clear you'd hit the mark.

"Honey, that's natural," you said softly, letting a playful smile tug at your lips. "We're going to be so padded up, we won't even have to worry about that."

You reached out and cupped his cheek, your thumb brushing against the faint stubble along his jaw. He leaned into your touch instinctively, his tension melting under the warmth of your palm.

Relief flickered in his eyes as if the weight of his confession had finally been lifted.

For a moment, neither of you said anything. The silence hung in the air, charged with an energy that neither of you dared to break-until you did.

"…Do you wanna practice the scene?" you asked quietly, but with intention.

Cooper's eyes snapped to yours, wide and full of surprise. "Practice," he repeated, his voice barely above a whisper. "But... do it for real?" His voice cracked slightly, his neck craning forward as if trying to confirm he hadn't misheard.

You nodded, your gaze steady. "This way, we can get all your nerves out of the way. And," you added with a sly wink, "we both get what we clearly want."

His face flushed deeper, and for a moment, he just blinked at you, his lips forming a silent are you sure?

But you were already standing, sliding your jeans down your legs in one smooth motion.

Cooper sat frozen, his breath catching in his throat as his eyes traveled up your body. You crossed the room to the bed, climbing on and straddling him just as you had during the rehearsal. His hands instinctively rested on your thighs, and you could feel the heat radiating from his palms.

"Okay, so remember," you said, your voice calm but slightly breathy, "pull the shirt over both arms, not one at a time."

"Slow and with eye contact," Cooper murmured, his voice steady but soft.

"Exactly," you said, smiling at how well he remembered.

He nodded, his fingers brushing the hem of your shirt as he carefully lifted it up. The cool air hit your skin as he pulled the shirt over your head, leaving you in a lacy pink bra. Cooper froze for a moment, his eyes sweeping over you.

"Okay," you said, your voice a little shakier than before. "Now for the kiss."

Cooper nodded, his hands still resting lightly on your hips. "I think we should start slow," you directed. "And then pick up the pace."

"Okay," he breathed, unable to say anything more.

You leaned in first, your lips brushing his gently.

The kiss started soft, hesitant even, as though you were both testing the waters despite having kissed countless times on set before. But this wasn't a scene. There were no cameras, no lights, no crew. Just the two of you alone in his bedroom.

The kiss deepened naturally, growing more intense with every passing second. Cooper's hands tightened on your waist, his fingertips pressing into your skin as though anchoring himself to the moment. Your arms looped around his neck, pulling him closer, and you felt his breath hitch when your chest pressed against his.

His lips were warm and urgent against yours, and the way he kissed you sent a rush of heat straight through you. He tilted his head slightly, deepening the kiss as his hands slid up your back, his thumbs grazing the band of your bra.

Your hips rocked against him, the motion slow and instinctive. Cooper let out a deep, throaty groan against your lips, and you couldn’t ignore the hardness pressing against you. The sensation made you bolder, and you rode him harder, your movements drawing an almost guttural sound from his chest.

His moans turned into low, needy grunts, his hands sliding back down to grip your hips. He didn’t just steady you—he guided you, his grip firm and deliberate as if he wanted to make sure you felt every inch of him beneath you.

“Take my bra off,” you whispered against his lips, your voice soft but commanding.

His eyes darted to yours, wide and hungry, before his fingers moved to the clasp at your back. He fumbled for only a moment before freeing you, and the lacy fabric fell away, leaving you bare before him.

Cooper’s chest heaved as his gaze swept over your exposed skin. His pupils dilated, his breathing quickening as though he couldn’t fully process the sight of you.

He leaned back in, capturing your lips with his as his hands moved to your breasts. His fingers worked expertly, rolling your nipples between them with just the right amount of pressure. The sensations sent a wave of pleasure coursing through you, and you let out soft moans into his mouth, your eyes fluttering shut as you lost yourself in the moment.

His kisses grew more urgent, his lips trailing down your neck in a path that left your skin tingling. He paused to suck gently at the sensitive spot where your neck met your shoulder, his teeth grazing your skin just enough to make you gasp.

“Cooper,” you breathed, your voice shaky as his lips continued their descent.

When he reached your breasts, his tongue flicked over one nipple before his teeth scraped it lightly, sending a chill down your spine that left you feeling numb in the best way. Your back arched instinctively, pressing yourself closer to him as your hands tangled in his hair.

He switched to the other breast, giving it the same attention, and you couldn’t help the way your hips continued to grind against him. The friction between you was electric, building a heat that threatened to consume you both.

“Just like that, Cooper,” you moaned, your voice dripping with need.

Cooper’s lips found yours again, his hunger for you palpable in every kiss, every soft graze of his tongue. “Y/N,” he murmured against your mouth, his voice low and dripping with need. He pulled back just enough to look into your eyes, his forehead almost touching yours. “I need you,” he confessed, his gaze dark and unwavering.

“Take off your pants,” you replied, your voice steady but heavy with anticipation. You held his gaze, matching the intensity radiating off him in waves.

Cooper stood from the bed, his movements quick but deliberate. He pushed his sweatpants and briefs down in one motion, and his hardness sprang free, standing proudly before you. For a moment, you simply took him in, your eyes roaming over his body, every inch of him completely enthralled by you.

Without breaking eye contact, you slipped off your panties and tossed them aside. He stood frozen, watching you, his chest rising and falling as his breaths grew heavier.

You knelt on the bed in front of him, pulling him back into a kiss that left both of you gasping for air. Your hand trailed down his torso, wrapping around his length as you stroked him with deliberate, measured motions.

Cooper groaned into your ear, his head tilting back slightly as he breathed heavily, your name tumbling from his lips like a prayer. “Y/N,” he murmured, his voice shaky with need. “I want you so bad.”

You kissed him deeply, cutting off his words as you guided him back onto the bed. He laid down beneath you, his head resting against the pillows, his eyes glued to yours with a mix of awe and anticipation.

You climbed on top, straddling him as you positioned yourself over him. The room was thick with tension, every movement deliberate and charged. You could see the anticipation in his eyes, the way his jaw clenched slightly as he waited for you to close the distance.

Slowly, you lowered yourself onto him, your wet heat enveloping his tip. Cooper let out a loud, guttural groan as his head fell back against the pillows, his hands gripping your thighs as if to ground himself. The sensation sent a shudder through you, and your back arched instinctively, your body adjusting to the feeling of him stretching and filling you completely.

“Fuck,” he groaned, his voice ragged.

You let out a soft moan as you took him fully, your hands bracing against his chest. His skin was firm and warm beneath your palms, his body sturdy enough to support you completely. You rocked your hips slowly, savoring the way he fit perfectly inside you.

Cooper’s hands found your waist, his grip firm as he guided your movements to match his. “Fuck, you’re so wet,” he said, his voice hoarse. “You feel so good, Y/N.”

His eyes flicked down to your breasts, which moved with every motion of your body. He reached up, cupping them in his hands, his thumbs brushing over your nipples as he watched you ride him with unrestrained admiration.

Your head tilted back, a moan slipping past your lips as the sensations built. “Cooper,” you gasped, your voice thick with pleasure.

He groaned in response, his hips bucking slightly beneath you as he moved with you, completely lost in the rhythm of your bodies.

You reached for his hands, intertwining your fingers with his as you shifted your position. Leaning forward slightly, you began to bounce on him, the new angle sending shockwaves of pleasure through both of you.

The sound of your skin meeting filled the room, accompanied by the symphony of your combined moans and the breathless gasps of each other’s names. The intensity between you was overwhelming, your bodies completely in sync as the tension continued to build.

“Y/N,” Cooper groaned again, his voice deeper now, tinged with desperation. His grip on your hands tightened as his hips drove upward to meet your movements, his need for you consuming him entirely.

Your pace quickened, your breath coming in short, ragged bursts as you chased the high that seemed just out of reach. Cooper’s eyes locked onto yours, his gaze full of adoration and unspoken promises as you both climbed higher and higher.

You continued bouncing on Cooper, feeling the waves of pleasure build inside you with every motion. The tension coiling in your body was undeniable, and you knew you were close—so did he. His hands gripped your waist, guiding your movements as your pace quickened, your breath hitching with every bounce.

The intensity grew until your legs trembled with the effort, and you slowed, needing a small break. Cooper, sensing your need, reached up and pulled you down for a kiss, his lips capturing yours in a way that left you breathless.

“Lay down,” he murmured, his voice husky with need.

You obeyed, your body melting into the mattress as he trailed kisses down your neck, over your collarbone, and along the curves of your body. Each press of his lips left a trail of heat in its wake, making you shiver in anticipation.

When he reached your center, he paused, his eyes flicking up to meet yours with a smoldering intensity. His lips brushed against your most sensitive spot, sending a jolt through your body that made your back arch off the bed.

“Cooper,” you gasped, your hands instinctively tangling in his hair.

He didn’t hesitate, diving in fully as his tongue worked you with precision, licking and sucking at your sensitive bundle of nerves. Your moans filled the room, your thighs trembling as he devoured you like a man starved.

“You taste so good,” he murmured against you, his voice vibrating through your body.

You barely had time to respond before you felt him slip a finger inside you, his movements slow but deliberate. Your hips bucked against him, your hands tugging at his hair as the pleasure built to an almost unbearable height.

“Fuck, Cooper, I want you so bad,” you moaned, your voice breaking.

He stopped licking you for a moment, focusing entirely on the slow, intentional pace of his fingers inside you. He looked up at you, his lips glistening, his eyes dark with desire. “I’ve wanted to hear you say that for so long,” he said, his voice low and commanding. “Say it again.”

“Cooper,” you whimpered, your voice trembling, “I want you so bad.”

“Again,” he growled, his tone sending shivers down your spine.

You repeated it, again and again, each confession carrying more intensity than the last. Your voice became more desperate, and with each word, you felt yourself teetering closer to the edge.

“Cooper, please,” you finally begged, your voice cracking. “Fuck me, baby.”

In an instant, he was over you, his body moving with an urgency you hadn’t seen before. He angled himself at your entrance, his tip slipping in easily, the sensation making you gasp. He exhaled sharply, his forehead pressing against yours as he pushed in deeper.

“Fuck,” he groaned, his voice strained as he fully seated himself inside you.

Your back arched, your body adjusting to the fullness of him as he began to move. His thrusts were steady but firm, his body pressing against yours with every motion. His biceps rested on either side of your head, framing you, and your hands reached up to caress his face.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured between kisses, his voice thick with emotion.

Cooper adjusted his position slightly, spreading your legs wider to deepen the angle. The new depth sent a shockwave through you, and you cried out his name, gripping his shoulders tightly.

“Cooper,” you moaned, your voice trembling. “I’m so close.”

“Me too,” he grunted, his hips rocking into you with renewed determination. “I want us to finish together.”

He lowered himself, hovering just above you as he maintained his rhythm. His breath was hot against your neck, and you felt his body tense as he worked to keep his pace steady.

“Please,” you whispered, your voice barely audible. “Cum inside me, Cooper.”

Your words sent him over the edge. His thrusts grew erratic, each one more desperate than the last, until finally, the both of you came undone. Pleasure crashed over you like a tidal wave, your moans mixing with his deep groans as he spilled into you, filling you completely.

His body collapsed against yours, his chest heaving as you both caught your breath. For a moment, the only sound in the room was the soft hum of your breathing, the intensity of the moment settling into something quieter, more intimate.

Cooper rolled onto his side, pulling you close as he lay next to you. You turned to him, leaning in to kiss him softly, your lips brushing against his in a way that felt unhurried and full of meaning.

He rested his head on his hand, his other hand lazily tracing small circles on your shoulder. For a while, neither of you spoke, just basking in the afterglow.

When you finally broke the silence, it was with a teasing smile. “What?” he asked, his cheeks flushing as he caught the look on your face.

“If this doesn’t help you with the scene,” you joked, “I don’t know what will.”

Cooper laughed, his wide smile lighting up his face as he leaned in to kiss you again. “You’re impossible,” he said, shaking his head fondly.

“You love it,” you shot back, grinning.

And he did. He loved everything about you.

For the rest of the night, you stayed wrapped up in each other, the weight of unspoken feelings finally lifted, replaced by something new.

[lostintransist]

.. that idea on ghost coming back with his therapist’s contact is brilliant, could we get a pt2 when we do hit him up cuz,,, it’s inevitable and he pulls up in that same motorbike and actually plans a banger date?

Just for you! A part 2! Original post for anyone curious is here.

Also thank you for what I am percieving as patience, I had things to accomplish today. But it gave me time to think about this...

CW: I can't think of any.

You held onto the business card. No real explanation that would satisfy you or anyone who might have asked. And your best friend did ask. Repeatedly.

“You still have the card?” She asked over drinks.

Running your tongue along the inside of your teeth you debate on how to answer.

“Yes,” you reply curtly.

“And have you called the therapist or texted him yet? Do you even know his name?” She followed her questions with a sip of her drink.

“All I know is that when I search up S. Riley I get a few hits about a brother to a home invasion that ended badly a few years ago and nothing else. No one on social media matches him and without his full name or maybe a birthday I can’t find much else about someone that might be him.” Flopping back into the couch you watch your drink slide side to side as you tip your glass.

“You don’t have to call him but you have to make a decision about this soon,” she chides.

“No decision is a decision though.”

She gives you the flattest stare she can muster. Seeing as your best friend is autistic it’s a pretty impressive flat look.

Heaving a sigh you concede the point.

“Fine. I get it. I can’t avoid this forever, what if he finds me at a coffee shop again and asks why I haven’t called? S. Riley sure does seem like a man who doesn’t know how to leave well enough alone.”

“I think you should call and tell the therapist to inform him that you would like to never see him again, but you have this whole ‘attracted to the adventure’ thing going on.” She rolled her eyes.

Aghast at being so well identified, it does not matter that she is your best friend, you fire off a rude gesture at her. She only laughs.

“At least I never have to worry about not realizing I fumbled the woman of my dreams three months late,” you say with a wicked grin.

“It was one time!” Your best friend launches one of the couch pillows at you.

“Twice.”

The purest look of concern crosses her face.

“Twice?” Comes her panicked ask.

“Once at the bar,” she nods, “And then last week at the bookstore.”

Watching her eyes go wide and her mouth drops open you can’t help the full-body laugh that overtakes you.

“I thought she was just being nice!” Her voice gets squeakier with each word.

You are laughing so hard you can’t breathe.

“I fucking love you and am so glad we are best friends,” you manage to croak out between ab-shredding laughs.

💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠

Your next early day off of work you pop in your headphones and call the number printed on the business card. It sat between your insurance card and your driver’s license. Those two cards didn’t see much action and would keep the business card from disappearing.

“Thank you for calling Healing Sky Therapy, how can I help you?”

“Yes, is Anna Mortz available?”

“For a phone call or an appointment?” The sound of clicking keys bubbles over the line.

“A phone call, I am calling to speak to her about a current patient of hers.”

“Okay, and are you a provider?”

This causes you to pause. Did you really need to explain why or how you were connected to this crazy situation? No. Bare bones it is.

“No, I should be listed as a person who can discuss the care of a patient of hers who goes by S. Riley?”

“Okay,” she drags the word. “It looks like I can drop a call in her schedule in about forty minutes if that would work for you?”

“That would work great, can I give you a callback number?”

“Yes, I can take that when you are ready.”

Finishing up the phone call you grabbed your grocery list and headed out the door. Your phone rang as you were transferring bags from your cart to your trunk. The number looked vaguely familiar and so you answered.

“Hi this is Anna Mortz, I am returning a phone call.”

“Yes, hi Anna. I am the one who called.”

“That was in regards to Simon Riley, right? Let’s go through some information on my end to make sure that we can discuss him first okay?”

“Absolutely,” you slam the trunk closed and return your cart while confirming all of your information.

“So, what questions can I answer for you?” Anna started.

“Let me get settled and I will give you the rundown.” Tossing your purse to the passenger side and locking the door you get situated in your seat. You push a large breath from your lungs and start. “Okay, so this is a weird situation. The long and the short of it is that Simon had been dating a friend of mine several years back and they were not good together. He was being a pushy asshole who refused to let the relationship die and she was codependent to a deeply unhealthy level. My friend asked for help in telling him off once and for all. She tended to cave and give into having sex every time he came by to start a fight. That is where I met Simon.”

Anna made a noise of confirmation. You took it as permission to keep telling your story.

“Nothing more came of that except my friend and I drifted apart, nothing major and not important to the story. I ran into Simon next at my friend’s wedding reception. I don’t know if he showed up to confirm to himself that it was really over or if she actually invited him but,” you paused here eyes tracing the dash of the car parked in front of you. With a slight shake of your head, you focus back on your phone call. “That is neither here nor there. He hit on me that night and I told him basically to fuck off and go to therapy if he wanted a shot at that conversation.”

Puffing your cheeks with air you slowly let it out, you felt like you were explaining a whole crazy situation to the principal.

“He ran into me at a coffee shop close to probably a year later, dropped your card on the table with his number on the back, and insinuated that I would call because I was interested in him.”

“Okay, that is pretty close to the story he told me as well,” Anna speaks with kind authority. “What I can tell you from a clinical standpoint is that Simon struggles with C-PTSD, which is complex post-traumatic stress disorder. This basically means that Simon has been through so many traumatic events at so many points in his life that he has a hard time functioning day to day without it affecting every aspect of his life. I can also tell you that we have been working on him gaining some coping abilities and practicing social skills.”

“Okay, I guess what I am asking is that if I go on a date with him will I end up with a stalker who will end up killing me in the night if I say I don’t want to see him again?” You lay your concerns bare. She’s not your therapist so her judgment worries you a bit less.

“While nothing is guaranteed,” she hedges, “I cannot see that kind of behavior occurring with the progress Simon has made. He has scheduled out appointments weekly for the next three months with me and has even mentioned he is working on some other types of therapy I have recommended to help him process his traumas further. He’s actually doing the work to deal with his issues. I think he is here because he wants to be, you happened to be the trigger.”

Resting your elbow on the steering wheel you leaned your head into your hand.

“Whew, okay. Thank you. That is actually really helpful. How is he about accepting boundaries?”

“He is familiar and comfortable with them in a work context but if you choose to interact with him I know personal boundaries will come up in our sessions. So, I would keep it in mind when interacting with him.”

“Okay, thank you so much Anna this call has been,” a slight pause, “Enlightening. I appreciate your time.”

“Happy to help. Have a good day!”

With that the phone call ends and you stare down at your phone. Flicking open your messaging app you add the contact you saved to it almost a month ago.

<Your therapist seems nice.

Three minutes pass as you watch the screen. It goes black once and you wake it with a tap on the screen.

Tossing it to the passenger side on top of your purse you put the text from your mind. You instead focus on pulling out of your spot. Parking lots are of the devil and you aren’t even religious like that.

Five days pass before a message dings on your phone from one S. Riley.

>Can’t say she is nice to me. I get a lot of mean looks from her.

Setting a timer for an hour and thirteen minutes you let the text simmer. You hope he can see that you have opened the message.

<You normally take a work week to respond?

>Only when I am on a job.

The reply comes in instantly.

<What kind of jobs keep you from your phone?

>Classified.

<Ooh big brain work then. Got it.

You snort at the eye roll emoji he sends.

>So, have you decided if I can hit you up yet?

<I’m thinking about it. If I were to say yes, where would you take me?

>Indoor sky diving.

You read the three-word message at least six times, check out the closest indoor sky diving place near you, and then finally reply.

Starting and erasing three messages you finally settle on one.

<Would we ride your bike there?

>Unless you would prefer to talk on the drive over?

What do you talk about with a man when you had to check with his therapist that he wouldn’t murder you?

<Bike sounds like fun.

>Saturday?

<Maybe. Time?

>2

<Done. Pick me up at noon and we can grab lunch?

>No, you’re going to want an empty stomach. Dinner instead.

Narrowing your eyes at the message you debate the logic of testing a boundary yet. The advice to not have a full stomach did look like a good one.

<Fine, but nowhere fancy. If I can’t roll up in the same outfit I don’t want it.

The only reply you get for several hours is a thumbs up on your message.

Guess you had a date coming up.

[etherealmaidenprincess]

Reaching For You

A Sonamy nightmare comfort one-shot.

After a daring mission and defeating their foe….again, our team of heroes were heading home. As this took a much longer journey, they took a couple days to rest and see the sights of a small town. Their festive celebrations of the harvest moon were at its peak. Tails was involved with the history of the town. Knuckles enjoyed partaking in the many events that required strength and focus. Rouge went around to find the most exquisite treasure (with Knuckles also keeping her in check from any theft).

Whilst Amy took in the culture the music and the dances as Sonic just enjoyed everything in the present moment. Though couldn’t help but admire his hammer swinging, compassionate hearted friend from afar. Just watching her dance and move so freely was inspiring to see. Even if she would debate how weird and silly she looked dancing. He shrugged off the imaginary prediction with adoring the view of her just being herself.

That evening, the gang went to rest up in a nearby inn. Recounting tales of their adventure and what they did earlier. At the clock striking a late hour, Amy’s face briefly fell into one of fear and worry. Before Sonic could ask, she blinked and seemed to be back to her usual self as everyone said their ‘good nights’ heading towards their rooms. Still something didn’t seem right to him. Laying in bed, he glanced out at the starry skies. Wanting to check up on her.

Getting off the bed walked towards the door that joined the rooms one right after another. A feature only for large parties who also wished for privacy. Hesitating only slightly as it was late and she was most likely asleep, gave a couple soft knocks. Silence fell as he reached out to try once again, just dropped his hand at his side. Turned to walk away when his ear twitched at the sound of a familiar yet slightly distressing noise.

Leaning against the door he could hear it a bit louder. It sounded like she was crying and her breathing shaken. Unable to leave her in this state, gave a few louder knocks allowing seconds to pass before heading inside.

“Amy?” He called out before his eyes widened at the sight of her in the bed. Tossing and turning and obviously having a nightmare.

“No…please Gaia no!” Her voice cracked in a desperate plea. “No!” She shouted before instantly sitting up in bed, arm outstretched as if she was reaching for something. Breathing ragged and tears kept rolling down her cheeks.

“Amy! Amy it’s okay.” He soothed in hushed tones, gently placing his hands upon her shoulders. “You’re safe Amy, I promise.”

“S-Sonic?” Glancing up at him briefly before turning away.

“It’s alright Ames, I’m here.”

“This curse…so many faces…our friends….gone-” Breaking out in another fit of sobs. “I-I’m sorry to wake you.”

“I was already awake.” Sitting on the edge of the bed, gently embraced her from behind. Helping her breathe and calm down at her pace. Slowly pulling her closer, guiding her head against his chest.

“Listen to my heartbeat. That’s it.” Once again that soothing tone was like a warm blanket. The rhythmic beat to her intake of breath was just the thing she needed. They stayed liked this for awhile until Amy pulled away sightly embarrassed.

“I-I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. Would you like me to leave you alone- oh okay okay it’s alright I won’t” He chuckled slightly at her immediate head shake of the negative connotation. “You don’t have to tell me anything. Just breathe and stay right here in my arms. I promise nothing bad will happen.”

Amy nodded before both leaned back laying on the bed. Sonic pulling the covers upon them both. Running a hand over her soft quills as she eventually told her story of these nightmares she’s had in the past. Sonic wished he could protect her in those tormented dreams. But Amy insisted that him being like this for her was more than enough.

They kept the conversation light for a bit as he ran his hand against her quills and back. Whilst she gently traced small circles on his shoulder and chest. He cracked a joke or two that she added her own spin on. At some point heard her voice less and less until he felt a rhythmic breathing coming from her. Glancing at her sleeping form, smirked before looking back at the stars.

They seemed to be twinkling brighter than before this evening.

“I promise, you’re safe with me Amy.” He whispered before allowing himself to fall asleep as well.

[heartsandstars34]

Joel Miller Story Chapter 4

Note: Here is chapter 4 and the longest by far! Hope you enjoy!

Content Warnings: Mature themes towards the end.

It's been a week since your date with Joel and you couldn't be happier. You moved your conversations off Tinder ad onto regular texting. You even end your nights with a phone call from him that feel like they go own for hours.

"I'm serious! When Sarah was fourteen, she told me she sold drugs to pay for my birthday gift!"

You laugh at Joel's story. You and he were just talking about random family stories.

"Oh my god that's hilarious! What did you say?"

"I told her she could help out with the mortgage then!" You laugh again. "I swear that girl was gonna be the death of me."

"I could only imagine."

After you both calmed down from the laughter, there was a brief pause of silence before Joel cleared his throat.

"Hey, um, I was thinkin' and I was wonderin' if I could take you out to dinner t'morrow?"

"Joel Miller, are you asking me out on another date?" You tease.

"Why yes I am, Y/N Y/L"

"Well then I accept. And when and where shall I meet you?"

"It's a surprise and I'll pick you up at six."

Even though you had your car back, you didn't bother fighting back with Joel about him getting you. One thing you learned about him over the week is that he defiantly likes to do things his way.

"Ooo a surprise how fancy."

You both chuckle.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yes you will, pretty lady. G'night, sweetheart."

"Goodnight, Joel."

You fell asleep very easily, like always after talking to Joel.

______________________________________________________________

It's four o'clock when you start to get ready for dinner with Joel. You look at your phone to see a message from Joel.

"Dress fancy :)"

You start to look through your closet for the nicest thing you own. Eventually, you come down to two options.

Option 1: a long, black, elegant dress

Option 2: A shorter, more sexy, red cocktail dress

You stare at the red dress more than the black. The red dress definitely showed off your body more. You aren't the skinniest, but this dress hugs your curves really well. You decided to wear it with a pair of black heels.

You get dressed, style your hair and do your makeup a bit more smokey than usual. After you were dressed and ready, you stared at yourself in the mirror a bit longer than normal.

Was this too much?

You debated changing into the black dress, but before you were able to, you heard a knock at the door.

Joel.

You take one last look at yourself, sigh and go to open the door. You open it and there he was. He was dressed in a suit, but made it look more casual but sexy. He stared at you for a minute, looking you up and down, taking notice specifically at your chest from your low-cut dress.

"It's not too much is it?" You ask.

"N-no, you look amazing."

"Thanks. Right back at 'cha." You smile.

You grab your purse and lock your door before heading outside to Joel's truck. He once again, opened the door for you and helped you inside.

"So, where are we going that's so secretive?"

Joel chuckles.

"Hold yer horses, girl. Y'll see." He smirks.

After a few minutes of driving, Joel pulls into the parking lot for the restaurant. He helps you out of the truck and then holds out his arm. You link arms with him and walk towards the building. As you get closer, you see the name of the restaurant and immediately recognize it. You quickly halt walking.

"Joel this place is really expensive."

"S'alright don't worry 'bout it."

He continued to lead you into the restaurant and wow was this place fancy.

"Reservation fer Miller."

The hostess led you to the back of the restaurant to your table. Joel even pulls out your chair for you.

You start looking at the menu and notice there are no prices. Fuck, this really is expensive. You end up deciding to order what you assumed was on the cheaper side. You and Joel started conversing about random topics.

"So, you ever find a new job yet?"

You sigh.

"No. It seems like no places are hiring, but if they are I'm not qualified enough."

"Ya know, if yer interested, I'm thinkin' 'bout hiring a secretary for my company. Would really take a load off me. It's yers if you want it."

"You sure you wanna see my face around that much?"

"Trust me,"

Joel reaches over and grabs your hand.

"Seeing yer face around would make my days a lot better."

You blush like crazy.

After you both finish your meals, the waiter brings over the check and Joel immediately grabs it. He throws his card in the folder and puts it off to the side and turns his attention back to you.

When the bill is paid for, you start to head out of the restaurant. After you step outside, you immediately notice that it's significantly colder than it was when you left home. Without hesitation, Joel shrugs off his suit jacket and rests it over your shoulders. You look up at him and smile, locking eyes with him. He leads you back to his truck and drives off to your apartment.

Joel pulls into the parking lot of your building and turns off the truck. You sit in silence for a second before you say,

"Do you wanna come upstairs for a drink?"

Joel looks at you and smiles, "Sure."

You both head up to your apartment. You unlock the door and let yourselves inside. You instruct Joel to make himself comfortable and he takes a seat on the couch. You grab two beers from the fridge.

"Sorry I only have beer." You hand him one, sitting on the couch next to him and kicking off your heels.

"S'alright."

You both slowly sip on your drinks.

"Thanks again for dinner. You didn't have to take me somewhere fancy. I would have been fine with a small diner or something."

"Nah it's alright. You deserve it."

Joel shifts a bit closer to you.

"You really do look gorgeous t'night."

You look down at the hand he put on your thigh. Your heart starts to beat like crazy. You look at him, making eye contact.

And then it happens.

Joel slowly leans in and you do as well. He puts his hand on your cheek and kisses you softly. And it felt good. He holds the kiss for a few seconds and pulls back. You both are a bit out of breath and look at him in the eyes. It felt like a second when the tension heated up.

Joel fiercely pulls you back against him and kisses you hard. He pulls you onto his lap as he pulls off his suit jacket he put on you earlier. You put your hands on his neck and his hands rested on your hips.

As you made out with Joel, his hands were rubbing all over your waist and hips. He suddenly wraps his hands around your ass, squeezes and you let out a slight moan.

You made out for what felt like hours but was only about 15 minutes in reality. You both pull out of the kiss and stare at each other out of breath.

"That was..." You heavily breathe, unable to catch your breath.

"Yeah, I know." Joel says as he pushes your hair back and cups your face.

You both just sit and stare at each other for a minute.

"It's getting a bit late." Joel says.

You nod and maneuver off his lap.

"Um, if you wanna start t'morrow, I wouldn't mind having ya around." Joel says, talking about the job he offered you.

"I could do that." You smile.

"Great." Joel smiles back.

You both stand up and walk towards the door. He looks at you.

"Thanks for letting me take you out t'night."

"Anytime." You smile.

You say your goodbyes and close the door behind him. You look back at the couch and notice he left his jacket. You quickly grab it and run out in the hallway to look for him, but he wasn't there. You quickly run down the stairs in hopes to catch him. As you get into the lobby, you see him outside the main doors and run outside.

"Joel!"

He turns and looks at you, a bit confused. As you jog up to him, you hold out the jacket.

"You forgot this."

He reaches out for the jacket and his fingers brush yours.

"Thanks." Joel smiles.

You both look at each other before parting ways once again. You slowly walk back up to your apartment and crash into your bed as you get inside.

Wow.

Tag list: @greenwitchfromthewoods

[coffeeandbatboys]

OLLOOOOOOO!

Congrats on your follower milestone!💜🎉

I have magically appeared in your asks to send you a little something here 👀

I would like to ask for Kix (or Jesse if he works better, go where the muse takes you😘)

with the emoji 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 and i bestow the number

3

I hope you enjoy creating all of these! I'll keep my eye out for them! And i might just slide in with another later on if you dont mind 👀

😘💜💜💜

Yay!!!!! I definitely debated whether to do Kix or Jesse but I ended up going with our fav grumpy Medic.

Prompt is: Holding and cradling their face to study it, perhaps noticing something new. Something else to love.

(Btw anyone can send in multiple requests) and I am enjoying this very much. I love writing for my boys. Also I must say I find it crazy that a few weeks ago I was fangirling over your fics and now I’m writing one for you. It is an honor.

Warnings: mention of slight injury, medbay, Kix cannot be paid a million credits to be relaxed and happy for ten seconds. Reader is a mechanic.

Gray (Kix x Reader)

“Kriff.” You hissed, pulling your hand back. Not five seconds later did you hear footsteps behind you.

“Medbay. Now, Cyare.”

You groaned in frustration. “Kix, I swear it’s only a scratch.”

“There’s blood all over your hand!” He screeched.

“That’s an overstatement. It’s just a little patch,” you said, clutching it to your chest.

You had nicked your finger on one of the metal studs inside an astromech, and it started to bleed pretty heavily. Kix had shown up like a moth to flame when the curse left your lips.

“Kix, I feel like the reason you shave your hair is because it’s gray.”

He huffed. “No such thing.”

“You worry too much.” you emphasized.

“Just,” he closed his eyes and took a breath. “Come with me. Please?”

You obliged, feeling bad for making him go crazy. Once you both reached the sterile medical room, Kix motioned to one of the beds, which you plopped down on.

After returning with a bacta patch and a cleaning pad, he sat down in front of you with a sigh. He carefully took your hand and began to wipe away the blood.

The lack of conversation was killing you, because you couldn’t tell if he was still worried or just mad.

You decided to break the silence. “You know, you don’t have to worry about me so much.”

He sighed, again. “It’s just…” he shook his head. “Never mind.”

You cocked an eyebrow. “That doesn’t work on me, Kixie. Spill it.”

“You’re the only person besides my brothers that I get to care for. And it’s weird because I’m used to treating worse injuries from the battlefield.” He smoothed the bacta patch over the cut.

Your lips parted in surprise.

He grimaced. “Do I sound stupid yet?”

“No! No…I just…never thought about it like that. But there are other ways to take care of me, you know.”

He took the bandaged hand and placed a soft kiss on the bacta patch.

You slid both hands up until they cradled his face. You noted the little lines around his eyes, and the stubble that was growing out on his jaw. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

You frowned. “Maybe I should be the one taking care of you.”

“Aw, Mesh’la.”

“Here.” You scooted so that you were laying on one side of the bed and patted the space next to you. He huffed and did as you asked, laying down and resting his head on your chest.

“Sleep, Kix. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

He mumbled something into your skin that you couldn’t decipher, so you hummed in question.

He lifted his head slightly. “Love you so much, cyare.”

You shook your head with a smile.

“Love you too, Kix.”

[hhighkey]

Minor Feelings // PREVIEW!!

Shanks (opla/anime) x OC (female)

Rating: overall will be mature

Story Will Contain: live action implied, age gap, OC had been kidnapped n shanks found her, arranged marriages, eventual smut, wild ass families

notes, eeeh love this preview ,, trying to decide whether to focus on this fic or my mihawk one

Masterlist, vote for which i should focus on here

-

Two days went by before Marisol's eyelids finally began to flutter, her extremities slowly stretching outwards like a cat. Twitching fingers attempting to grasp at the unfamiliar plush bedding that surrounded her as tiny mewls left her lips. The next thing she noticed was the sound of waves, the sound of a bell ringing in the distance. Then a scent of fresh pine sparked her brain into overdrive, nose contorting in confusion as tingles ran down her spine.

Her morning bliss, gone within mere seconds—an obvious, heavy gaze had been focused on her form and she finally felt it. Alarm bells went off inside her head. Freezing under the blankets, fear tickled from top to bottom as she thought through the sudden situation. This wasn't the bed or room she'd gone to sleep in. And her gut instincts ran rampant with no sense of fight or flight- no sense of if she were safe or in danger. And as her breathing grew heavier turning into quick gasps, it alerted the figure in the corner she was properly conscious.

"You're awake." a thick, gravelly voice she couldn't register spoke, "been a few days, was gettin' worried," the man continued, "couldn't have ya dyin' in my bed."

She debated staying under the covers with the false pretense of protection- If I can't see him he can't see me. But if she'd learned anything about disobedience during her long 24 years of life, was it never ended well. Yet her thirst for adventure and answers always won out in the end. So slowly her grip on the blankets tightened as she pulled them from over her head, letting her face feel the cooler air of the room. It took a second to adjust to the light streaming in from the windows, but when she did, what Marisol saw made her sigh in defeat—

Red hair. A large man with claw marks over an eye. Her stomach dropped as he readjusted his position from where he sat giving her a better look of him. Quickly her mouth ran dry as her brain wracked every conversation she'd had of renown pirates.

Marisol's heavy and still sleep ridden eyes widen in fear, surprise, as she scoots backwards on the bed create more distance between them. Realization dawned. An emperor of the sea was staring her down with dark eyes, and it made her blood run cold. Maybe all along, he'd been the one to plot her kidnapping and simply waited to show his face. Waited until she was broken down.

"So you know who I am." smugness reeked from the smirk on this lips.

She nodded slowly, dazed and still waking up.

"And you are?"

Clearing her throat she croaked out, "I'm Marisol." but wouldn't he already know that?

"Shanks," he replied, leaning back and crossing his arms across his large chest. The top few buttons of his shirt undone, showed muscle underneath that drew her eyes in with shame.

"Why did you take me?"

For a second, he looked perplexed, "take you?" he hummed, "I mean, suppose I did take you from that ship of ridiculously stupid pirates... you wanted to be there?"

"What- no! I-" clammy fingers squeeze together, warmth rising to her cheeks as she grew flustered, body literally shaking from the overwhelming-ness of the situation, "I'm confused."

"You and me both mama, now what were y'doin' locked in a room on that ship of ragtags? They had no business tryin' to board us I can tell you that."

Marisol grimaced as she placed her head in her hands, bringing her knees to her chest. The wheels in her head turned. She needed to think fast- needed to seem genuine in her confusion without revealing too much, not that she wasn't confused. Because, while she didn't understand why pirates came for her, she also understood her Father's unfortunate stature had everything to do with it. And Marisol can't afford for the extremely wanted pirate in front of her to find out her surname. But the panic in her chest made it easy, because she felt she were being swallowed whole.

"I don't even know what day it is. Or what part of the sea I'm in... don't even know how long I've been gone." Marisol's voice was so quiet that Shanks wasn't sure he'd heard her correct. Like a little child in trouble mumbling apologies, the dejection was written all over her.

"I think I understand now." sighing, Shanks got up with a grunt and made his way over to his bed where the strange girl sat. She looked up to follow his movements- watched as he kneeled beside the bed, only an arms length or two away, "it's August 20th."

An incessant ringing reverberated in her ears. Marisol felt her surroundings go blurry, numbness taking over, "fuck," is all she could mutter. The musk of pine invaded her senses as she prodded her fingers into her temple, "it was July 11th yesterday.."

[dontcallpanic]

Not-Wednesday WIP

@patolemus AND @gege-wondering-around were kind and sweet enough to tag me in a Not-Wednesday WIP (which is still mindblowing to me thank you SO much gorgeous people!) I was hoping to share a creepy bit from my Strange Town AU but my brain isnt working (as per usual) so have a bit of Stiles and his Dad instead (also yes, Stiles is meeting everyone BUT Derek so far in this slowest of slow burn stereks)

__________________________

“Jesus, kid, you nearly gave me a heart attack. Do you know how close I was to calling in a 10-65? You had minutes. Minutes Stiles.”

Stiles pauses and squints at the phone. “Do you even know where I am?”

“Oh please kid. Who do you think you’re talking to?”

“Well then… how can I be missing if you know where I am?” he says, figuring he can push his luck now he can hear his dad finally relaxing. Besides, there’s the tiniest of chances that if he can keep talking, his dad will forget all about the phone thing.

“Look kid, I’m not in the mood for a debate but as far as I’m concerned if you’re not here, you’re missing. That means, if you’re going to be gallivanting around god knows where, it’s my prerogative, as your father, to take certain precautionary measures.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Stiles shoots back. “Did you bug my car or something?

There is a lengthy pause on the end of the line.

“Oh my god! You bugged my car!”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I didn’t bug your car. I put GPS on my car which I then gave to you.”

Stiles splutters, stammering over his words in indignation. “Wha – Well, I – That… is a technicality. At best! And technically it was mums car.”

“It’s my name on the paperwork son.”

“Technicality!” Stiles shouts down the phone but he’s smiling now. He can’t even be mad about it. Okay, that’s not true. He’s a little mad about it – a lot really but he'll unpack that later. Right here, right now, after the night he's just had, he can’t help but be comforted that his dad cares enough to want to know where he is, that he is in-fact alive and okay - gross levels of intrusiveness aside. He just wishes he'd asked first.

“Some deputy you are,” he mutters but there’s no heat in his words. “Does the Sheriff know what kind of hardened criminal he has working for him?”

John snorts and Stiles counts it as a win that he can get a laugh out of him. He’s as good as forgiven.

“Some deputy I’d be if I didn’t know how to utilise the loopholes when it comes to looking out for my own son.

Stiles gives the phone some serious side eye. “You are spending way too much time with Melissa. This was totally her idea, wasn’t it?”

John huffs a laugh again. “I just worry about you son.”

And dammit! Because Stiles can hear everything his dad isn’t saying in those words. He can hear the stress he’s been under at work, the stress Stiles puts him through, even though he doesn’t mean it or just can’t seem to help it. He hears the exhaustion in his sigh, the double shifts, the overtime… the loneliness.

He can hear just how much his dad misses him.

How much he misses his mum.

Stiles slows his pacing and drops wearily onto the edge of the bed. He scrubs a hand roughly through his hair, sighing into the phone.

“I know dad,” he murmurs, grimacing at the twist of guilt he feels in his gut. It cuts him up inside, to know he left his dad behind. But the guilt is never quite enough for him to think about going back. Not right now.

There’s a million things left unsaid between them.

“Do you know when you’re coming home?”

“No. Not yet.”

He hears John give a gentle sigh. “Whenever you’re ready, son.”

Stiles blinks hard against the emotion pricking his eyes and feels an overwhelming rush of gratitude towards him. Gratitude and relief.

“I love you dad.”

“I love you too, kid.”

“I’ll check in tomorrow – even if it’s just a text. I’ll check in.”

“Alright.” They linger on the phone for a moment, unwilling to end the call, both needing the reassuring presence of the other on the line before John clears his throat and gruffly adds:

“Just charge your goddamn phone!”

___________________

Forever no-pressure tags, just for whoever wants to share at any time or at any point: @gege-wondering-around @patolemus @hellameyers

And generally anyone else who has something they want to share, please feel free to tag me because I LOVE to see what everyone's writing!

[an-artists-burnout]

tw: sh mention, detailed talk abt sh and knives/razors

It’s getting so bad this time.

I haven’t been sleeping well lately. Everytime I sleep, we fight in my dreams, and i wake up stressed knowing one day i’m gonna screw it all up and it’ll end with a bang or a resigned silence, or I have a weird fucked up one in which he actually misses me, actually feels sorry for what he did.

It’s currently five am. I went to sleep at midnight. What is life? lmao. I’ve been trying to take care of myself.

Yesterday was so bad, but i didn’t want to tell you that. You clocked it anyways, instantly, but I just lied and denied it. When did I start lying to you?

everytime i started or tried to cry yesterday, i starting smiling. Not the happy kind, the bitter fucked up kind you learn to do when you don’t want people to pity you when you cry. What I didn’t realize until yesterday is that when you do that all the time, when you’re alone and you actually want to cry, you just smile. And then you feel even worse.

i relapsed tonight (last night) for the first time in 2 months. did you know that a razor cuts worse than a knife? i didnt. I grabbed a knife for the first time because my razor doesn’t cut deep enough, but my knife wouldn’t even puncture. I just scraped over and over and eventually gave up and grabbed my razor.

It’s getting fuzzy again. I used to spend my life zoned out, and then I began to zone in more and more as time went on, thankfully. But I can’t do that anymore and I don’t know why. Every moment has started feeling like I’m listening to someone else speak when I do.

And I’m also just becoming a horrible person, I guess. There’s this person, and they like me I think, and I react like I like them. And I thought I did like them, but I really can’t like people. Guys is the television glowing? I can’t tell, I turned it off. I still identify as bisexual, but’s it’s all a hypothetical. I’ve only ever actually liked one person. But they transitioned and i still liked them so I just went with bisexual. I don’t know that it feels right anymore. The irony of me always being certain i wasn’t bisexual, and then identifying as it for months, and then thinking it’s wrong but not being brave enough to change it.

I wish I could tell you all this, cry in your arms, except we’ve already established that I can’t cry, and you have enough shit to deal with without me adding to it.

You told me a bit back that it’s annoying when I think you don’t want to listen to me, and what I took from that was “you think i’m annoying?”. Way to willfully miss the point.

I know that it’s annoying. I also know that it’s annoying when I practically started to bite your head off for telling me you were worried about me. I’m sorry. You texted me about an hour after I relapsed and I wasn’t ready for you to know.

I’m going to disappear for a while, and you’re going to worry. And the fact that I know that and still plan to disappear makes me a horrible person. But I need you to not keep seeing this again. I’ll get better or die alone or something like that.

I’m really worried that you’ll need me while I’m gone, and I won’t be here to help. That scares me constantly, so i text you before i put my phone down so you know. But i don’t want to keep texting you because i know you do worry when i do that and doing that too much is attention seeking. And I don’t want to lie to you and say that my time without my phone was good, my day was good anymore.

I’m actually so sick. I want you to worry about me and then get pissed when you do. What an unfair situation to put you in. I genuinely will never understand why you haven’t left yet. Maybe you will when I shut down.

A lot of times I debate just getting it over with, but I think it’s easier for everyone to see me die around them and keep the anatomical case than to actually die, which i understand.

But I’m starting to wonder whether I’ll actually make it to sixteen. It was the age I told myself I’d never reach, that i’d die before. Knowing me, I’ll probably commit the day before my sixteenth birthday.

I’m gonna go back to sleep.

[wolfbirdguy]

wolfbirdguy hi!!! sorry for the sudden flood for notifications lol. I saw your art (and the amazing Tokoyami content), went !!!, and now I'm here!!

Anyway!!! I will offer you uh

A fun fact about crows!!!

In return for info about Chiyo the fox OC because I am IFJEIFHEICHEIFBEICHRISMVNEID about them. Ignore the feral excitement :]

Give me the lore!! The backstory!! The personality!!

(pauses)

Okay cool!!! And now for the crow fact!!!!

Did YOU know that crows (American Crows specifically but likely other species as well) can recognize faces??? YEARS after the fact??? And teach OTHERS about what the faces of their enemies look like???

I know!! That's so fucking cool!!! It was a study done by the University of Washington over the course of years!!!

Anyway anyway!!! Chiyo content 🥺🙏

(no pressure if not but!!! am curious!!! so so very curious!! :])

hello somebirdiedude!! No worries my friend. I appreciate each and every little comment.

My grandma actually raised a baby crow after he was abandoned on the ground. We named him scout. Once he was healthy we had him picked up by bird specialists but it was a silly experience.

I actually have a crow that follows me around campus! Very odd but kind. We walk together.

Onto Chiyo! My girl... my sweet cheese..

Chiyo comes off as your stereotypical cool girl. She stares off into space, a focused look in her eyes. Her sharp features make her look so cool and her mask adds mystery. Little do you know she's thinking about tetris.

Chiyo is inattentive as hell! Due to her quirk, scorching maw, which allows her to shoot a massive beam from her mouth (like the guy from two heroes!) she has been isolated. When she was just a young pup, she didn't know how to control her quirk, and the output was incredibly strong. This caused her to form scars around her mouth.

Chiyo was always an anomaly growing up. People treated her like less than human due to her being a heteromorph. She would bury herself in her mamas arms, whining, wondering why people were so mean to her and people like her. Though as she went into middle school, she heard of Tentacole and his sidekick Anima. Two heteromorphic heroes focused on improving the lives of heteromorphs. Tentacole caught her eye. He was big, with octopus like arms and sharp eyes. People probably looked at him weird too, and yet here he was, proudly standing as a hero. He even wore a mask like she did.

That's when she decided she wanted to be a hero! Just like Tentacole. She wanted to help make the world an easier place to live for people like her.

Chiyo got into UA on recommendation. Her quirk is incredibly powerful, holding the destructive capabilities of heroes like Dynamight and Shoto. Her grades were consistently good (she's a gifted kid tm. Has never studied a day in her life) and she did great on the entrance exams.

When Chiyo was accepted, she was assigned to the hero course, class 1-C, taught by the pro hero Deku. She heard of him before. Everyone has. Though she didn't care all too much.

She entered the class on her first day, fear knotting itself in her stomach. She didn't want to be a freak at her new school. Though as soon as she opened that door, there stood a short chubby little owl girl with zero volume control, yelling about Tsukuyomi. The girl was a heteromorph, just like her. She was loud and wore jewelry with her uniform. She had wings but they were way too small to do much of anything and a stubby little tail to match. And yet here she was, in a yelling match with some kid in a red hat about who the better hero was.

Little did she know, she was about to enter a rivalry she wanted no part in, because the best hero is apparently not up for debate.

In a small description, Chiyo is an inattentive young fox. Though she can be obsessive about rhythm and puzzle games or her favourite pro hero. She would be considered cool if she wasn't a heteromorph. Really, despite her cool girl looks, she's a huge nerd.

[joes-sha-la-la-la-girl]

When Love and Hate Collide: Chapter 4

Series Masterlist

Sav and Y/N walked down the street in silence. It was fairly warm for May but they could both feel the chill of the night air. Before long they reached an all night diner. Going in, Sav ordered them both a coffee and they sat at a table.

“So, are you going to tell me what's wrong or am I going to have to guess?” Sav asked her as she avoided eye contact by looking at the slightly greasy table. Sighing, Sav placed his hand on hers, causing her to look up at him. His kind blue eyes staring into hers.

“Honestly, it’s probably nothing.” Y/N told him. As much as she wanted to admit to him that Joe’s coldness towards her bothered her, she also knew that Sav was his best friend and in no world would he take her side over his. 

“Y/N.” Sav told her in a gentle yet firm tone.

“Seriously Sav, it probably is nothing. I just..” Y/N paused to take a breath, trying to find the right words to say. “Have I done something to offend Joe?”

Sav looked at her confused. “What do you mean?” He asked her, now sitting up straight. Y/N couldn’t tell if he was ready to walk out and leave her there or if he was intrigued as to what she meant, reminding her that she really didn’t know the band very well. 

Before she could answer him, a waitress came over with their coffee. She asked if she could get them anything else, or rather asked Sav. Y/N found it quite amusing that even with her sitting there the waitress tried it on with him. Obviously the waitress didn’t know that Y/N was just an assistant and she wondered if the girl who looked barely twenty even realised that she was still sitting there.

Sav just waved her off and looked back at Y/N for an answer to his question. Looking away again, Y/N debated on whether to say anything or not. However, she knew she had gone this far so she gave in and started to tell Sav everything.

“It’s just, right from when I first started, I got the impression that Joe didn’t like me. Rick told me it was because I was new, but it just seems to be more than that. I just want to know if I did something to upset him. He hasn’t even so much as looked at me unless I ran into him and even then it was to have a go at me. I just don’t want to be the reason that he is uncomfortable on his own tour.” 

Sav listened whilst Y/N spoke. Nodding along slightly. In his mind he had an idea what was wrong with Joe but it wasn’t his place to tell Y/N if he was right. Knowing that his best friend had made her feel this way upset him quite a bit, especially when he had seen how much over the last two days Y/N had tried to talk to him. Afterall, the poor girl was only trying to do her job. 

“You haven’t done anything to offend him Y/N.” Sav started, taking a sip of his coffee. “Joe’s been through a lot recently but it isn’t right that he’s taking that out on you. I can talk to him if you’d like.” He offered. Y/N shook her head.

“That’s not necessary, Sav.” Y/N smiled. “I just want to know if there's anything I can do to make him more comfortable around me.” Y/N wanted to tell him what Joe had said earlier but wasn’t sure. “If I am going to be on tour with you guys, I don’t want anyone to not want me here.”

“If?” Sav questioned. “What do you mean if?”

“Well Malvin told me to use this first leg of the tour as a trial run. If there are any problems, my contract allows me to leave the tour after the first leg. If Joe doesn’t want me here then I’m not going to stay. It’s not fair to anyone.” Y/N told Sav calmly.

This worried Sav slightly. Everyone but Joe got along with Y/N better than they had any other member of staff before. The idea that she might leave after their first leg upset him. No matter what problem Joe had, he wasn’t going to let Y/N give up her job. Not wanting to push her, Sav tried to think of the best thing to say.

“Well, we’re only on day two so far so I don’t think you need to worry about that yet. I don’t mind talking to Joe discreetly if it means that we can get to the bottom of this. Apart from just blanking you, has he actually said anything?” Sav asked. Y/N knew that she would have to tell him. She didn’t want to stir anything up but she wasn’t the best liar and knew that Sav would catch on pretty quickly.

“There was one thing.” Y/N looked away from him for a second before looking back when she caught the waitress from before glaring at her. When she looked back towards him, Sav gestured for her to continue. “He told me he knew what I was doing and that he’d never let me get too close. The thing is I have no idea what he is talking about. The only reason I am here, no offence, is so that I can pay rent.” 

Sav immediately knew what Joe’s problem was. Trying not to give anything away, he kept his face neutral and nodded to her. “I know that Y/N don’t worry. I’ll try and figure out what’s going on for you.” He smiled to make his little white lie more convincing. As much as he understood Joe, he couldn’t allow him to take it out on Y/N. The poor girl had no idea what was wrong and all she could think of was how to make Joe more comfortable, despite having every reason to dislike him.

They both finished up their coffees and paid, tipping the waitress as well. Sav held the door open for Y/N as they left, not giving the waitress another glance.

*

Soon enough, Y/N and Sav were back at the hotel. Y/N thanked him for listening as they made their way up to their rooms. Just before Y/N went inside, she reminded him what time they were leaving the next day and she closed her door. A weight lifted off of her shoulder now that she had spoken to someone. 

She knew however, that she shouldn’t be complaining about Joe on her second day, especially to his best friend, but she couldn’t deny the relief she felt. If Sav helped her sort this out then she was more likely to stay for the second leg of the tour, something she really wanted to do. 

*

Meanwhile, Sav didn’t go to his room like Y/N assumed he did. Instead, despite the time, he made his way to Joe’s room, wanting to sort this out as quickly as possible, for everyone’s sake. He didn’t mind how late it was, they hadn’t stayed in that hotel long enough to have unpacked so there was nothing he could do until the morning. 

Once Sav reached Joe’s door, he knocked and waited for a reply. When he didn’t get one, he assumed that Joe was actually asleep and prepared to walk away. He turned to make his way to his own room but before he could actually take a step he heard a voice behind him.

“Have fun on your date?”