#he was somehow injured and she ran up to him and started Touching him

[twenty-orange-balloons]

Just woke up from a dream where a woman believed she was dating Lan Wangji, who didn't correct this misunderstanding because he didn't know about it. Of course, neither he nor his husband were thrilled when they found out.

[sweetestcaptainhughes]

that’s my man

Word Count - 7200

Summary: Cole loves to train, and it’s no secret that’s how he’s number three on the Grind ‘24 list. But it’s also no secret that in the summer he loves taking his girl with him to the gym. But what happens when the new check-in doesn’t get the memo that Cole is in fact taken. 

Warnings: jealous girlfriend, easily embarrassed boy, talks of different kinks, VERY sub male, dom female, praising kink, thigh riding

Author's Note: I don’t know a lot about lifting, but I know enough to write this. Also if you're someone who goes to the gym regularly. They are doing a full-body day because you can fight me on it but it’s actually better as far as recovery time. As per usual, I was too lazy to do a full grammar edit, so sorry in advance. Anyway, thank you for reading as always. 

Masterlist

One of your favorite things to do in the summer was go to the gym with your boyfriend. Honestly, you don’t know what it was that made it your favorite summer activity. Maybe it was because you knew Cole cheered you on like no other when you beat a PR. Maybe it’s because he’s one of the only humans who you truly trust as your spotter knowing that man will injure himself before anything happens to you. Maybe it was that somehow he always wears the same damn white snapback and tightest shorts he has. Maybe it was because you loved being able to tease him in between sets. Maybe it was the fact that you were able to just stare at him while his muscles tensed to lifting the heavy weights. If you were being honest with yourself it was probably a mixture of all the above that made you happily jump your ass in the car before him when he asked if you wanted to come. 

This time was no different when Cole walked into the kitchen and hugged you from behind as he asked if you wanted to go to the gym with him. You happily agreed, especially since you couldn’t go the other day with him due to your work schedule. Quickly nodding your head yes, you ran upstairs to get some leggings on, crew socks because you liked lifting in socks, and a random Montreal crop top with 22 on the sleeve. Once you were done, you threw some vans on and went downstairs to meet Cole in the car. He already had the AC blasting and music on. As soon as you buckle your seatbelt, he is pulling off and handing you your water bottle he filled up. “Here you go Mamas” he shyly says, rarely does he call you by that name and whenever he does it makes himself blush. Deciding to reward him for the pet name you reach over and lightly kiss his cheek. 

“Thank you, baby boy.” you can’t help your smile grow as his cheeks get even more red.

It’s like time escapes you and before you know it Cole’s parking the car.  Both of you are shuffling out of the car. Cole waits for  you at the back of the car and flexes his hand, you know he wants you to hold his hand but he won’t say it out loud. A large part of you loves how shy he still is even after almost a year together. Slowly you reach for his hand that isn’t holding your water bringing it to your lips and leaving a small kiss. “Happy baby?” you ask shyly, he didn’t have to answer you already knew the answer. As you watched his cheeks stay that light red color, and smile shyly down to you.

Once you're inside you hear someone call Cole’s name, you turn your head to see it’s a girl you don’t recognize behind the desk. Cole starts to walk over, pulling you automatically due to your interlocked fingers. “Oh hey Chesley, nice to see you again.” Cole starts to make small talk with the girl and you can’t help but notice how she stands dipping over the counter trying to put her breasts on display. As if that’s not already too forward, she lightly touches Cole's upper bicep as his arm rests on the counter. 

“I’ve been great, I’m so glad to see you again… you know after the other day.” Her voice makes your stomach hurt.

“What was the other day?” you ask even though you know ignoring this girl was probably for the best. The little jealousy that started to brew in your gut couldn’t help but want answers.

“Oh you know when you were working the other day. That’s when I met Chesley and you know how the locker room door gets stuck sometimes y/n/n, well she didn’t know how to get it unstuck and she had to use the bathroom” you nodded your head yes but your eyes never left the girls as she wouldn’t stop staring at you “- and I was the only one here so I helped her.” Cole sounded like he had no idea what he just walked into and he probably didn’t. “Oh wait let me introduce you guys - Chesley this is my girlfriend Y/N, Y/N, Chesley.”  

“Hi nice to meet you.” you say your other hand is going to wrap itself around Coles arm that was still holding your hand. Not caring if it came off bitchy when you didn’t extend your hand especially since she hasn’t stopped batting her eyelashes at Cole since you got here. 

“Hi. oh Cole well if you need anything I’ll be here. I know last time you forgot your water.” The way she said it slipped like it was some secret between them. But it did cause your face to wrinkle in confusion because it didn’t make sense.

“Water? Baby you never forget your water.” you say turning to him.

“I know, but I was leaving as my mom was calling and I guess I got distracted.” His cheeks are still a soft pink from earlier in the parking. You couldn’t help but smirk at how easily embarrassed Cole gets sometimes. As you glance back to the girl, you see her smirking thinking she’s the reason for Cole’s blush, and something twists in your stomach. 

“It’s okay because I let him drink from mine. Plus you earned it shoving that door open after your… Hard workout” As she reached up to touch his arm again. Cole must have finally realized what was happening and pulled away. He really isn’t big on physical touch from people he doesn’t know and the fact he pulled away makes you smirk.  

“Well we're gonna go see ya” you don’t even pretend to be nice as you pull Cole away. You can feel her eyes following you to the turf as you put one earbud in, put on your playlist, and shove off your shoes. 

“Hey mamas, do you want me to spot you first?” he asks as he sets his water down, as you shake your head no. Handing him the other earbud and he quickly puts it in his ear. 

“It’s okay Cole you can go first today, I need to stretch anyway.” Cole can tell by your voice that something is wrong but decides not to push it. He walks over to the barbell that’s on the floor, adding the proper amount of weight while you finish your dynamic stretching. As you look up you can see Chesley starring at Cole while he sets the bar. 

Possessive isn’t a word you would normally use to describe yourself but as you feel your jaw set with her watching your boyfriend shamefully as he bends down to make sure the weights are fully locked in. Something about this girl shamelessly staring at his thighs makes you want to claim Cole, mark him as yours even though she already knows he is. You glance over at Cole as he moves the bench to behind the bar, knowing that means he’s decided to start with hip thrusts. Cole starts his set of twelve reps, slowly raising his hips each time, you can’t help but let your mind wander as you finally start to make your way over to him. Once he’s done with his first set he sits up shoulders resting against the back of the bench, the bar rolling stopping barely mid thighs. You come up to him from behind, separating your legs so they’re on either side of him and sit down on the bench. Your hands remove his snapback teasingly put it on yourself. “Hey give it back.” he says in a fake annoyed voice. His head tilting back so he can see you with a pout on his lips. Both of you know however that his announce and pout are fake and that he likes when you wear his clothes even if it’s just a simple hat. Your fingers lightly scrap at his head, his body automatically relaxing under your touch. His hands move away from where they were resting on the bar, to moving to the sides of your calves pushing you closer to him as he sinks into your legs. “Feels good love.” softly closing eyes, letting himself get lost in your comfort for a few seconds. Although you love this little moment you're having, the jealousy in you, can’t help but glance up at Chesley, as she quickly averted her eyes as you make eye contact. 

“Alright my time for my set.” you say as you remove your fingers from his hair and place his hat back to keep his hair out of his face. As you find both you moving around the gym, you still find the girl’s eyes following your boyfriend. Later when you were benching you could feel her eyes like a bad itch on your skin. Cole being your spotter could feel you start to slip as you were doing reps until failure. 

Cole hand was right there ready to help you if you felt like you needed as you finished one last rep. But once he saw you second guess the last pushup he didn’t give you a choice. “I got you baby.” as he gently helped you lift the bar to lock it in the stand. 

“I am proud of you know, you realize you just benched as much as Luke does. AND you got more reps in than him the other day!” with a small chuckle. 

“Yeah well he’s barely been in the gym all summer so nothing to celebrate.” you mumble annoyed at yourself.  As you watch your boyfriend bend his head over the bar to look at you, slightly frowning at your pout. 

“Okay so he’s a lazy fucker we knew this. But do you want to hear the lecture about how insane it is that you're a girl and your muscle density isn’t-” you pull Cole down with a smile on your face and kiss him upside down.

“What’s that for?” he mumbles, not fully pulling away. 

“To shut you up but also thank you.” you mumble as you pull away you see Cole’s cheeks bright red and as you sit up you see Chesley looking at you both from the check-in desk again. 

This isn’t your proudest moment and you're not sure if it’s you being frustrated that your spotter actually had to rescue you or just Chesley staring all morning at your boyfriend. But you decide at that moment, to turn on the PDA even more which is wild because you and Cole never have this much PDA in general. It’s almost impossible to find pictures of you online together kissing or even cuddling because you both respect your privavy and like keeping intimate moments private. Slowly you started with little touches as Cole set the weights on the rack for himself. He was so focused on what he was doing barely even noticing at first. But as you glanced up you could tell she took notice and you couldn’t help the smirk on your lips. 

Eventually, Cole did catch on to the fact that you would let your fingers ever so slightly graze his arm, or touch his thigh after a set. Everytime, he did you could feel him getting more shy and almost twitch away from your touch in shock. His cheeks looked like a lobster shade of red almost permanently from all the small touches you left behind. 

Later as you were doing jump ups, making sure your ass was on full display for Cole. He got embarrassed when you put your ass practically in his face instead of easily going from the other side. “Sorry Coley” you whine out as you turn around and see the almost permanent blush on his face from today. Once you jump down from the box, take your hand and lightly rub it down his chest and slowly bite your lip trying to look innocent. His dick twitching in his compression shorts between all the touches and now you are looking at him with that look in your eyes.  

“Hey are you okay, love. You’ve been off since we got here.” he asks suspiciously. The gulp he let out didn’t go past you. Part of you started to feel bad for doing this to your boyfriend all morning, but you also didn’t want to hear his reaction to your insecurities about the new girl. 

“Yup peachy.” trying to make your voice a normal tone but failing miserably. He gives you that look that tells you he knows you're lying. But before he can open his mouth you sigh. “I might… be a little jealous.” you barely whisper as you hide your face with your hands and shove it into his shoulder. Naturally he wraps his arms around you, tightening his grip unconsciously as if it was the most natural thing in the world to hold you. 

“Jealous of who?” he whispers, trying to keep his voice down to have a private moment despite being in a semi crowded gym. It wasn’t often you felt insecure or jealous and Cole knew that you probably didn’t want others to hear about you having an off day.As he looked down at you, finally you felt like showing yourself to him and  you removed your hands from your face. 

“The new girl, she won’t stop staring at you and yeah I know you're hot. But I’m literally right here! She could at least pretend to respect me.” With each word your voice raises to more of an annoyance. 

Cole shyly smirks “ okay let her” as he dips his mouth to your ear. “She’s not the one who’s made me hard right now.” You tilt your head up to him and take your hand to caress his check. 

“Oh yeah?” you can’t help but tease him a little.

His mouth finds your ear again, “ yeah you have me almost begging you in the middle of the fucking gym how badly I need you.” He doesn’t bother removing his face from the crock of your neck, pressing his hard on to your thigh. 

“Oh yeah.” your hand goes to the nape of his neck pushing closer. You hear him make a sound of agreement. “What do you want me to do baby boy?” At this point you should probably stop considering you're in the middle of the gym but you wanna see how far Cole is willing to go before he whines to go somewhere else. 

“I just need you please, you can use me however the fuck you want I don’t give a fuck. But if I could choose I’d have you ride me as you used my cock to get yourself off. When my mouth plays with your boobs and you play with my hair while you tell me how good of a boy I’m being for you mamas.” Cole usually isn’t so forward with what he needs especially in public and it makes you drip at the thought of claiming him. 

“Imma grab my shoes okay baby. Can you be a good boy and go to the car and wait?” you can feel him shake his head yes. “Okay good I’ll drive us home baby. I know you don’t wanna get caught by one of the boys as I’m fucking the shit out of you in the car.” You can hear him grunt as he pulls away from you pulling down the ends of his shorts trying to hide his hard-on. He backs away and turns towards the wall where you discarded your slip-on vans earlier and your water bottle. By the time you turn away Cole is already gone and you can’t help but smirk as you know he’s probably already in the car waiting for you with the AC already blasting. 

You quickly make your way out of the gym but can’t help but hear Chesley try to get your attention. “Oh Y/N you're gone so soon! Is Cole not feeling well? He usually spends hours here… with the boys.” Trying to control your breathing but honestly you wanted to clock this girl but knew that Cole loved this gym, you took another deep breath. “Guess you don’t have the stamina that he does.” Her voice sounding like the scratching of nails on a chalkboard, although you control yourself not to hit her, your mouth isn’t as easily convinced. 

“Actually Sarah was it? We just decided to get some cardio done at home instead. Cole didn’t think the owners would like it if we fucked in the middle of the turf.” Your voice comes out so sweet and innocent pretending that you have no idea why Cole would see anything wrong. You smiled as her mouth fell open, “well see ya around” as you walked out of the gym and quickly made your way to the car. Opening the driver's door you let yourself get settled in the seat, purposely not looking in Cole’s direction. You grab your airpod case and put your airpod away realizing that Cole already put the other one away. 

As you adjusted the seat and mirrors to be able to drive home you could feel Cole’s eyes burning into the side of your face. Finally you decide to give him a little attention, “thanks for listening so well baby.” as you take your right hand off the wheel and put it on his thigh slowly moving your hand up and down. All of the teasing must have gotten to Cole more than you thought because he softly buckled his hips trying to get you to put pressure where he needed it most. “And just when I compliment you for being a good listener you try to be a brat.” Your mouth making a ticking noise of disapproval as you turn onto the highway heading back to Cole’s place. 

“Please, i’m sorry” you can hear the pleading in his voice even though your eyes are 0n the road. It kind of hurts your heart a little denying Cole when he didn’t do anything wrong. 

“I know baby boy, it’s okay, I’m not mad” you say as your hand inches closer to where he needs it. Coming up on your exit, both of you realize you're only ten  minutes away from his place. “What do you need?” you ask softly as your hand gently goes over his bulge and gives a light squeeze. His one hand was going to squeeze your wrist, the other that was leaning against the window flexing as he leaned his head back. 

“I - I na need” you could tell Cole was getting overwhelmed and for once you were grateful you were close to home so he didn’t get too worked up before he could have his release. 

“Do you want me to help you cum?” you ask, your hand still not removed from the bulge that as you glance over makes you squirm from how uncomfortable it looks like it is, Cole shakes his head no quickly.

“Nnn, no. I want you, I wanna taste you mamas.” His words have more of an effect on you than he even realizes. But sadly it logically doesn’t work if you're driving and Cole knows that too. 

“Baby we're five minutes from home now okay and then you can have me I promise.” The hand that was on his bulge moved to his face and squeezed his cheek. The pout on his lips makes your knees feel weak. He shifts in his seat so that he can lean over so that his head is resting against your upper arm. Both of your hands now on the wheel for the first time this entire drive. It takes everything in you not to pull the car over and just take care of him right here but being so close to home it just doesn’t make sense. 

“I know.” you hear Cole mumble, although you're not looking in his direction, you suspect that his eyes are closed and that he’s pouting. Removing your right hand from the wheel you find one of his and put it under your crop top. His head lifts up as he feels his hand move under your shirt. 

“Mamas?" he asks in a questioning tone probably thinking about how obvious it looks to the people we pass as I turn into his neighborhood. 

“It’s okay baby, you got tinted windows.” That's all it took for Cole to unbuckle his seatbelt so he could shift in his seat fully to face you. He dipped head under your crop top and you could feel him push up at your sports bra desperately as his mouth closed on your right boob and sucked. His right hand going across your chest to squeeze the other one. “Fuck bubs. Hmmm..” one hand busy turning on your street, while your other hand goes to press Cole’s head deeper into your chest. His mouth is swirling and sucking hard on your nipple now. Wanting him to know that he’s doing a job you let out a small moan. He moans in response with your nipple in his mouth, the feeling going straight to your core. “Coles were home” you whisper, quickly removing your hand to press the garage remote. Driving into the garage and parking. Cole still hasn’t moved from under your shirt but now that the car is parked at least you can let yourself get lost in the feeling. 

Throwing your head back against the headrest and closing eyes. Your hand going under your shirt to pull at Cole’s hair, not sure where his hat disappeared to but grateful you were able to touch his hair finally. After a minute or so you became antsy to go inside. “Cole baby, it’s time to go inside.” you say in a semi-serious tone. All you hear from Cole is a grunt that you can assume means no as he squeezes your boob not his mouth harder. “Come on baby, we gotta go inside, you're acting like a brat bubs. Don’t you like being a good boy.” knowing exactly what to say for Cole to remove himself from under your shirt and start to move finally. As he pulls away, you catch him in a needy kiss, biting his lip by surprise easily taking control of the kiss. Deciding that you need to move away before you end up not leaving the car. Both of you rush out of the car, Cole running around the hood to meet you picking you up unexpectedly makes you chuckle as he sits on the hood of his car, quickly stepping between legs. He connects your lips again but quickly you take control of the kiss, Cole moaning in response. He pulls away after a minute to catch your breath, and he pulls on your shirt, refusing to use his words. 

“Baby you know you have to use your words. What do you need bubs? You gotta tell me.” you say slowly encouraging Cole to use his words instead of pouting. He also knows when he uses his words 90 percent of the time he gets what he wants. But when he’s in this state of mind, of needing to be taken care of. He tends to struggle with using his voice, which actually turns you on even more but you will never admit that to him. 

“Can I take it off mamas?” softly pulling at the fringe at the end of your shirt. He looks up in your eyes and you shake your head yes. He quickly grabs your shirt and rips it off the top of your head. Quickly making contact with your chest leaving soft wet kisses and soft bites everywhere but not hard enough to leave a mark. The feeling makes you lean your hands back to give him more access. “I wanna taste you.” he whimpers as he continues his attack on your chest slowly moving up to your neck. 

Quickly you move your arms that were extended behind you to around his neck, crossing your legs behind him. “Take me upstairs, first baby boy.” you demand.

“Okay my love.” As he picks you up and turns you both so he can carry you up the few garage steps and into the house effortlessly. Both craving each other, you lean in and continue to deepen your previous kisses, quickly feeling more desire for eachother then before. Cole can’t stop whimpering as you pull at his small hairs at the back of head as he enters the bedroom. He softly places you on the bed, without breaking contact with your kiss. Both of you kick your shoes off as soon as you make contact with the bed. He slowly pulls away sitting up on his knees to catch his breath asking, “can I please eat you out now mamas.” 

Cole usually doesn’t whine for this long, he also usually doesn’t have to wait this long for what he wants. As much as you want to to edge him on and push his limits. The idea of him sinking when he never has before makes you nervous. “Okay baby go ahead.” The smile on his face makes your stomach warm with anticipation. Lifting your hips, you help Cole take your leggings, underwear and socks off. Deciding to take your sports bra off as well. 

“Wait bubs, you gotta take something off too” reaching forward you pull his shirt above his head. Slowly you scoot up on the bed to give him more room to lay down. Leaning against the headboard as Cole dips his head down giving you wet kisses, lightly nipping your soft skin on your stomach as he makes a trail to your pussy. Moving your legs to make more room for himself, keeping his hands on your thighs making sure they stay further apart to give him more access to your core. Slowly he dips his head down and looks up at you waiting for your direction. One of your hands is going to move the hair out of his face, “go ahead baby.” 

That’s all it takes for him, to shove his mouth in your folds licking up and down as if his mouth had been in a drought for days and this was his first sight of water. He closed his eyes enjoying tasting you after begging for it for so long. His hands pressing down on your thighs pushing you closer to you. The hand that wasn’t playing with his hair, going to your boob to play with your nipple. “bubs feels good, always such a good boy for me.” you softly coo your encouraging words to your boyfriend. He decides to put your attention on your clit, moaning as he hears your breath catch in your mouth. The sensation going straight to your core, feeling yourself being worked up. Deciding that if you were gonna cum off of his mouth you needed a new angle. Pushing his face away, he got the message and pulled away, not without a small pout on his lips. 

“Lay down on your back.” your demanding  tone leaving no room for argument. Quickly he laid down beside you, his head resting against the pillows. His leg twitching in nervousness not going past you, as you smirk down at him. Sitting on your knees beside him your hand goes to lightly go over his bulge in shorts. Knowing that it was mean but not caring as the idea came to you. “Bubs you're wearing too many clothes, I’m gonna take your shorts off.” Your fingers moving up to his lower stomach, pushing down in the start of his v-line making him whine a little in response. Then returning your hand to his bulge and giving a light squeeze, Cole bulks his hips in response not caring if he got punished for it. “Babyboy wait, then once you're undressed, I am gonna sit on your face and use your mouth to get myself off.” As you slowly start to pull at his shorts and boxers he lifts his hips automatically to help you. His brows frown, wanting to know what happens next. 

Barely over a whisper he asks “ then what?” 

“I’m gonna tease you, and suck you off until you're begging for me to ride you and let you cum inside me.” Lightly take your pointer finger and trace the vein that’s so visible on his dick. “Do you think you can handle that bubs?” you ask as you start to sit, getting ready to swing your leg over his shoulder. 

“Ahmm.. yeah mamas” 

“Good boy.” Finally, swinging your leg, before you lower yourself all the way down you ask “remember the sign if you need a break right.” making direct eye contact with his hazel-gray eyes. He shakes his head and with that you sit down, your hands resting on his chest for stability. Slowly you start grinding on his face. Cole’s hands go to the back of your thighs, kneading the flush there slowly creeping up to your ass, pushing you even closer to him. Quickly you find your pace, rolling your hands as Cole’s long tongue goes in and out of your core. The pleasure slowly starts to build, you increase the speed of hips rolling, basically just grinding on his face. 

“Yeah right there baby. Don’t stop.” you encourage him. Your nails starting to dig into Cole’s chest, the little bit of pain Cole felt going straight to his dick. His hands are scratching down the back of your thighs. Starting to feel the familiar coil your stomach straightens to tighten. “Fuck I’m gonna cum, don’t fucking stop.” His nose starts to nudge at your clit, as Cole pushes you down making you sit completely on him. That being the final act being enough for the tight warm feeling your stomach to explode. “FUCK fuck I’m coming Cole. fuck” repeating it like a prayer, Cole only mildly slowing down his actions licking up all your juices as you work yourself through your orgasm. Finally, parting from his mouth you crawl down to his boxers.

“Did I make you feel good?” he shyly asks. God how you loved this man, and how he always needed to be reassured that he made you feel good. 

“You did so good baby” you softly tell him, as you straddle him. His hands go to your hips pulling you closer as you bend down so your chest is flesh with him. Starting at his most sensitive spot on his neck, immediately getting his breath to catch in his throat. Smirking as you do kitten licks, finally putting your mouth on the spot and sucking making sure to leave a bruise. “Gotta make sure I mark you so that girl knows you're taken.” The jealous feelings from earlier today slowly rising in your chest again. 

He squeezes his hands on the flesh of your hips at your words. “Mark me everywhere, cause you're the only one who I ever want to see me like this for the rest of time.” His cheeks immediately became bright red, you know that he didn’t mean to confess so much and it was in the heat of the moment. But you can’t help the butterflies form in your stomach. Kissing his cheek giving him nonverbal comfort for his confession. 

Moving on you make your way down his chest, leaving hickies on the center of his chest. Licking down each of his abs, up and down and up again. Then softly biting each ab, probably leaving bite marks, Cole doesn’t seem to care as his moans grow into groans at the pleasure. “Ppp ple- please mamas.” almost as if he’s crying out.

Glancing up at him, you see how overworked he’s getting. “I taught you better than that bubs, use your words.” Your mouth doesn’t leave his lower stomach as you make eye contact with him through your lashes. 

Cole takes a few seconds to collect himself as his hands up and down your shoulder blades, something you know he does when he’s feeling a lot of things and needs to ground himself. “Mamas it hurts.” he whines out taking another ragged breath. “Can you please help me cum.” He begs and you swear you could never say no to him when he asks so politely. You shake your head yes, and you kiss down the side of his v-line. Quickly making your way down, you leave little love bites and kitten licks up both of his thighs alternating between the two. Moving his legs so bent and open more giving you more room to down properly between them. Cole is a whimpering, moaning mess at this point. Each sound from his loops turning you on more and more. Finally making it his almost red tip, softly kissing and licking it between the slit. Cole automatically bulking his hips. Taking your hands you push down on each of his hips so he can’t move them any more. His heads going to your hair and you know that it’s going to be a matted mess but the end of this. 

Taking your tongue, you start at the base and lick down the same vein you were teasing earlier. Then going back to kiss each of his balls which you know he would describe as ‘blue balls’ if you asked him. “Fuck mamas, feels so good” his eyes squeezed shut from the pleasure your finally giving him as your mouth puts the tip in your mouth. Softly sucking, slowly taking more and more until your softly choking. Cole usually isn’t this vocal in bed but you're loving how much he always moans and grunts when you take him in your mouth. His fingers threaded in your hair, as you moved the pace of your mouth. Cole never dares to push your mouth down, scared that he might accidentally hurt you since he knows he’s bigger than most. “Augh I- I am close” he whispers and he starts moving his hips unconsciously. Deciding to quicken your pace to help him cum faster, within minutes he’s crying out in pleasure and curse words as he shoots his cum into you. Continuing to suck until he comes all the way down, and tries to wingle out of your grasp scared over getting overstimulated. Finally you pop yourself off of him, a huge smile on your face as you look up on Cole as he looks properly fucked out, that glow on his skin as he pulls you up to his face. Softly he brings you into a kiss “Thank you mamas.” he whispers once he pulls away for air. 

Kissing his neck softly, as he arms tighten around you. Sitting up stranding is lower stomach, you have a devilish smirk on your mouth. “no love I don’t think I can” Cole says knowing where your brain is going without you even saying it. 

“Oh I think you can, but if you insist I know how to give you some rest while I still get what I want.”  your voice is cheekily teasing as you pull Cole to sit, sitting fully in his lap. 

“What?” he softly asks his forehead resting on your shoulder. 

“I'd rather show you.” as you move your leg so you're straddling just his right thigh. Taking your left hand resting it on his cheek to turn his head in your direction. Moving your head to crain of your neck, as you sit fully on his thigh grinding down. Bending down slowly whispering in his ear “what if I just use you again to get off, it wouldn’t be the first time I use your thigh.” His hands tightening on your hips, his grip so tight you would be shocked if you didn’t have little bruises on them later. He hums in response as you softly kiss the hickies you gave him earlier in the crook of his neck as you continue to softly grind on his thigh. “What do you think, you wanna watch me use you as I use you to get off. I’ll let you play with my boobs. While I use you to get off, I’m not evil bubs.” Softly moving down to the spot between his collarbone and neck biting hard as he groans in his pleasure. 

“Fuck. Please” he mumbles as he softly puts his left boob in his mouth tightening his grip on your left hip. That’s all it took for you to roll your hips at a faster rate, alternating between rolls and purely grinding down on him. Breathing between both of you becoming uneven again, as you glance down to softly tease Cole’s cock as it’s already getting hard again. Cole softly bites down on your nipple, removing his mouth to hiss as you continue to softly tease him. “Do you want me to stop, I don’t know if I can get off watching you hard on. I'd rather be riding you.” letting you confess out quickly, your intrusive thoughts taking over as you slip off his thigh fully straddling him again teasing him with your hole. 

“Yeah I need you mamas please.” as he rests his forehead. “Wanna feel your warmth mamas.” You softly kiss his pouty lips, as your core clench at his words, pulling away from kiss whispering yes. Sitting down on him getting used to him, throwing your head back in your mouth at finally feeling full. Cole starts making little kisses on your chest and down the valley on your breasts as you start to bounce softly on his dick. “I wanna make you feel good please.” as he looks up at you silently asking if he can continue his attack on your breasts. 

“Go ahead baby boy.” that's all it took for him to put your nipple in your mouth, his hand kneading your other one, flicking and pinching the hard nipple. His hand on your hip shows the first sign of dominance from him today, by helping you keep an even pace. All that can be heard is your soft moans and skin slapping. Cole takes the hand that was kneading your boob to your ass kneading the flush until you're sure it’s bright red. His mouth going to your other boob deciding it needs attention. “Ugh ugh Cole fuck, you feel so good. You always fill me so well.” you voice is low, filled with your lust for the man you love. Your hand slips between the two of you to give your clit attention, rubbing small harder than normal circles on it. Your other hand moves to his hair, threading your fingers through his dirty blonde hair pulling at the roots. Cole’s mouth opened slightly at the pressure and groaned. 

“Fuck bubs. You feel so fucking good, swear your dick was built for me.” His hand on your hip helps you fasten the pace. His hips help meet your thrusts, making him hit your g-spot with every thrust.  All you can do is moan as you feel your entire body on cloud 9 from the pleasure you're feeling. “Augh augh fuck baby, your always so good for me.” you slur out due to the pleasure you feel from the start of your lower stomach tightening. 

Cole removes his head from your breast to ask “mamas i- i am gonna cum.”

“No” you demand. “Wait for me. I’mm close wait for me. Will let go together bubs.” leaning your head back as Cole leaves wet kisses down your collarbone, quickly removing the hand that was on your ass and lightly slapping it. “FUCK.FUCK. YES YES YES” you scream. Cole going back and slapping your ass a few more times, you can feel yourself about to let go.  “Let go baby, it’s okay.” 

That’s all it took for Cole to lean back and moan in pleasure as he shot his cum filling deep in your pussy and you let go. Both not stopping your thrusts until you come completely now. Cole just holds you for the first time today, kissing down the top of your shoulder while you catch your breath. “I love when you use my body.” he softly admits. 

“Oh yeah” your head softly setting into his neck. Although you can’t see him you can feel him shake his head. His fingers lightly ghosting up and down your back as he leans back so he’s laying down still on top of him. 

“You're the only one who I’ve ever let dominate me.” he admits, your head lifting up in shock.

“What?” The confusion is clear in your voice.

“You heard me mamas. You're the only one I feel safe enough to give that type of control to.” He admits his cheeks become a light pink as he lets his words sink. 

“Thank you baby. I love you.” as you leave soft kisses all over his face. Slowly you lift your hips to remove yourself, but his hands stop your hips. 

“No, we stay like this. I like being close to you.” Turning your bodies so you're both on your sides as he looks directly into your eyes waiting for a response. 

“Okay” you lightly let out, shifting again so you're on your back, Cole’s full body weight on you, as he settles between you. As your legs come up behind his back and hold him there. His face hiding in your breasts, softly kissing the valley of your breasts as he lets out a light thanks closing his eyes. He looks so comfortable you can’t help closing your eyes, your hands playing with his hair. Sleep almost grasps your consciousness. Cole's voice brings you out of sleepiness for a moment. 

“Mamas.” in a questioning tone to see if you're still awake.

“Hmmm” still not bothering to open your eyes.

“For what it’s worth, I like when you get possessive over me.” His tone is as if he’s listing a well known fact, as he snuggles deeper into you as you can feel him pulling a blanket over the both of you. The laugh that escapes your mouth is contagious as you feel Cole’s chest rumble above you. 

“Okay baby I’ll keep that in mind, let’s get some sleep.” you let out, little did you know Cole was already letting out little snores before you could finish your sentence.

[justwinginglife]

May I have a request for Hoshina with a s/o who have a ability to heal people? It's either injuries or even broken bones. She's a doctor (or medic) in the defense force, she didn't use ability unless its very serious. She's not even a kaiju.

Imagine when Hoshina was in life and death situation or brink of death dealing a tough opponent/Kaiju she saved him with her abilities and he woke up fully healed. She explained to him she have these abilities of hers, since she was born.

Very interesting prompt, sorry for the wait and thanks for being patient. It definitely was difficult for me to figure out how to work the healing powers into a universe that doesn’t have powers so I hope what I went with turned out okay. Also fun fact- this post could've been significantly better but it accidentally got deleted somehow and I had to start all over from the beginning and try to remember what I wrote and it was so devastating so the writing is definitely not as good as it could've been.

A Reason To Live

Your mother was a freak of nature and apparently it was genetic.

You’d been told she was already strong, already tough, already fast, like all the women on her family’s side, even to the point of being declared superhuman but it wasn’t enough for her. She’d lost her husband and all her children to the Kaiju and she’d never be able to repair that damage to herself, that feeling of never being enough, much as she tried to through lengthy experimentation and numerous scientific enhancements to her body. Eventually, the stress of being pregnant with the last child her dead husband would ever give her overwhelmed her heart and she passed on.

You were born as the result of all that experimentation and that, mixed with your already inhuman genetics led to an interesting development, one that had never been heard of before. You had the power to heal. And nothing else.

You thought it a useless power at first. You were so focused on being the failure of your bloodline. You had planned on joining the Defense Force, like your whole family had before you- anything to feel connected to them. But whatever it was that made them outstanding, you didn’t have it, you didn’t have their strength or their speed, and you were devastated at the thought that your bloodline would die with your unimpressive self.

Then, one day when you were walking home, you noticed a tourist standing on the edge of a bridge. Before you realized how desperately they were eying the murky waters below, they jumped. Unable to catch them in time, you cursed your own inadequacies again as you ran to pull their limp body from the river. As you dragged them to the bank, you realized they were still alive, but just barely. They were badly injured but had enough life in them to whisper their regrets, to murmur they actually did want to live. And it touched something deep inside you, awakened some ancient power, and you healed them like it was second nature.

Saving them made you realize that even though you couldn’t shoot a gun or swing a sword for shit, you could still make a difference. So you became a doctor, only saving your powers for the most serious of cases, but studying your ass off so hard you almost didn’t need to use your gift.

And for the first time in your life, you were content, you made peace with your strengths and your weakness, and you felt like you actually had a purpose. You almost didn’t even realize you were missing anything in life until you made the acquaintance of one Soshiro Hoshina. You had been okay just being content with your life but he made you experience more than just contentment- he made your life blissful.

You couldn't imagine what you'd do without him constantly making excuses to see you. He'd bring in officers, any officers at all, and claim they needed treatment for rug burns or paper cuts, anything he could do to see you, to be near you.

He'd bring you your favorite coffee every morning just to be the first one to say good morning to you and put a smile on your face.

He'd even wait for you to finish work so he could walk you home, saying that it wasn't safe for such a gorgeous woman like you to be alone at night.

Sometimes you were glad you were weaker than him, so you could rely on his strength. And he loved that you relied on him, he loved to provide for you, to protect you.

But on some occasions, today in particular, those familiar insecurities would crawl their way back up to the surface reminding you just how weak you really were.

Today he was hurt. Badly. And all you could do was sit and wait for them to bring him to you on the verge of death. You would have given anything to be able to fight by his side, to protect him so he wouldn’t even need your healing in the first place. Sometimes you were scared you wouldn’t be able to heal him, wouldn’t be able to save him, he'd be too far gone. Maybe one day he wouldn’t even survive the journey back to you. Then what would you do? How would you go on with your life? Could you find contentment again? You didn't think so.

He'd even smiled at you weakly when they first brought him in. He was always trying to comfort you when he was the one that needed comfort. You thought you might just die right there beside him if you couldn't see that smile again.

You cleared everyone out of the clinic, anxious to start treating him. No one knew about your powers but you didn't want to waste time trying to treat him without them, he meant too much for you to start with conventional methods. So you kicked everyone out and got to work healing him.

You thought this might be the day your powers failed you as he didn't seem to be responding. But then you heard a groan and his eyes blinked open. You sighed, the sound thick with relief.

"Love, I know you're a good doctor but this is something else." He lifted his arms and examined every square inch of skin, trying to process the complete lack of an injury anywhere.

"Guess you weren't hurt that badly." You muttered nervously, trying to figure out how you were going to explain this to him.

He raised an eyebrow. "Dearest, my life was flashing before my eyes, I think might've actually been dying. So whatever you did, you did a hell of a job."

"Well I'm just glad you're okay." You were eager to drag him away from the topic.

"You know... I saw you, out there. Out on the battlefield when I thought I was dying. Couldn't think of anything else. You're my whole world."

You bit back tears. "And y-you're mine. So don't go dying on me again, okay? Promise."

He chuckled. "Can't do that love, but I'll do my best not to die on you anytime soon. Now are you gonna tell me how you yanked me back from the Underworld?"

You bit your lip.

He ran his thumb over your lip, forcing your teeth to release it. "It's okay baby, it's just me. You can tell me anything."

You nodded slowly. "I know, I know, love. It's just... it's complicated."

He sat up in bed, wanting to give you his full attention and support.

You got in the bed with him, not wanting to look at him but not wanting to be far from him, so you snuggled up against his chest as you told him everything.

He was surprisingly very receptive to the whole situation. Even cracked jokes about being able to get into more trouble now that he knew you could save him like that, which earned him one hell of a lecture from you about staying out of danger best he could.

As much as you liked when he visited your clinic, you never wanted him to visit on a gurney. You weren't sure your heart could take anymore scares. After being so lost for most of your life, you finally found a reason for living and you'd be damned if you'd let that slip away from you.

He held you close the rest of the night and reassured you with many sweet promises that he would be careful and that he'd try not to do anything to endanger his future with you. Once you were satisfied, you fell asleep in his arms. It was a weight off your chest to finally tell him the one thing you'd been keeping from him and you slept soundly against him, knowing he now had every part of you.

He slept just as soundly, comforted by the thought of having every part of you for life.

[elronds-meleth-nin]

Randir

I actually started writing this before Season 2 came out, but something like half of it was inspired after Season 2 began. Idk. Brain said 'smooch the Uruk' so here we are. 🤷‍♀️ I might write a follow-up with the actual smut, but for now, I hope you all enjoy this!

Randir = Wanderer (Sindarin)

Cross-posted to AO3 here.

~*~

Adar (RoP) x Reader

[A/N: This has innuendo and implied smut, so 18+ ONLY, MINORS DNI!!!]

Warnings: Caring for an injury, hurt/comfort (physical), mentions of blood, mentions of injuries but nothing too graphic, attraction at first side, Uruk/Human relationship, Uruk/Human romance, Uruk/Human sex (eventually), interspecies sex, kissing, Adar in a bath (yes it's a warning because holy hell that thought is so sexy), slightly dom!Adar, she falls for him hard, he loves her like a moth loves a flame, soft!Adar, angst with a happy ending, implied smut, implied interspecies sex, implied Uruk/Human sex, nudity, literal sleeping together.

~*~

He came out of the woods limping and obviously injured just as I was removing one of my shifts from the clothesline. Looking bedraggled, with matted hair and a cloak that appeared mere moments from unraveling, the Ellon with scars on his face stumbled into my yard and collapsed amongst the wildflowers.

Dropping my laundry without a thought, I gathered my skirt and ran over to him. He was barely conscious when I dropped to my knees.

"Can you understand me?" I asked as I fumbled with the breastplate of his heavily worn armor.

"Yes...my lady," he breathed. The gentle rasp of his voice was surprisingly pleasant, but I couldn't focus on that. I had to find where he was bleeding. Nearly his whole side was soaked in it.

"I'm not going to harm you. Can you tell me where you're hurt?" His hand met my arm, touching me gently, drawing my gaze to the point of contact between us then up to his eyes. Valar, they were a beautiful shade of green!

"My...left side...and my right thigh," he answered, but instead of letting his hand fall away, he reached farther up, touching my cheek.

"You'll be alright," I murmured, wanting to comfort him. He looked up at me as if I was a light shining in the hopelessness of the dark, somehow looking peaceful even as his eyelids fluttered dangerously toward unconsciousness.

"Yes...I'm certain that I will...with you...t-to care for me," he managed between labored breaths as a small smile stretched his lips. "Thank you...my lady."

His hand fell away as he passed out, and a sense of renewed urgency rushed through me as I worked to staunch his wounds. His blood was incredibly dark - nearly black - but I could find no evidence of poison. How curious!

No matter the color of his blood, he'd already lost so much of it. I had to tend to his injuries. With a bit of elbow grease, I managed to get him into the house and onto my bed. As my language was coarser during that process than would be considered ladylike, I was rather grateful that my patient wasn't awake to hear it. Once he was free of his armor and blood-soaked clothing, I cleaned his wounds and bandaged them more securely.

For long hours, he did not wake. The slash across his side had not been terribly deep, but it did bleed more heavily than I would've preferred. Embedded in his leg was the broken-off tip of an arrow. Removing that had been the most difficult and nerve-wracking part.

That night as I snuffed all but a few candles and settled in to keep vigil over my injured guest, I took a moment to observe his face. His wounds had already partially healed - the wonders of Elven physiology, I assumed - and the salve I'd applied beneath his bandages would help them heal the rest of the way without scarring.

But his face...he was gorgeous. Clearly, he'd been the subject of either torture or a terrible accident. Scars of all sorts covered his body, reaching all the way up to his face. The poor man. I had no idea what he'd been through, but he deserved a measure of gentleness. Earlier, after binding his wounds, I'd gently cleaned the grime from his skin to the best of my ability and dressed him in a clean set of clothes. I was glad I did.

He was beautiful.

His chest rose and fell at a steady rate, suggesting sleep rather than a complication from his injuries. His pulse was, by then, hale and hearty, so without too much worry, I settled in at his bedside to keep watch over him.

Eventually, the steady rhythm of his breathing lulled me quietly to sleep.

--

"Am I dead?" The quiet rasp of his voice drew me out of my half-doze. Lifting my head from the edge of the bed against the protests of my stiff neck, I found those green eyes open again and fixed upon me. His gaze seemed clearer.

"No, sir, you're not." My voice came out a bit rougher than I anticipated from sleep. "You're in my home and quite alive."

The slow, gentle flex of muscle in my grasp made me glance down, and I realized with a sleepy blink that I was holding his hand. When had I gotten the courage to do that? Had I done it in my sleep? His long, obviously strong fingers squeezed mine so gently that when I looked back up at him, I couldn't fight the little grin that tugged at my mouth.

"How are you feeling?" I asked as my thumb absently skimmed over the backs of his knuckles. He drew in a deep breath and winced at the tail end of it.

"Not perhaps my best, but much better than before," he murmured. "May I ask the name of my savior?"

I answered, and he repeated the word slowly, allowing the syllables to roll around in his mouth as if savoring their taste. My own name had never sounded so good.

"And you? What do you prefer to be called?" I asked as I lifted the hem of his borrowed shirt and checked the dressing on his side. The light, white fabric was thankfully loose enough around his torso that I was able to do so without disturbing his wound.

"My real name has been lost to time. To most I am known simply as Adar," he answered, and it hit me then how old he might be. He was an Ellon, of course. It was entirely possible that he was hundreds of years old.

"Adar." Repeating his name as carefully as he had mine, I was treated to another charming little smile from my patient. "Well, Adar, you appear to be healing quickly, though, from what I've heard about your people, that's not uncommon. You should be able to get up and move around come the morning."

The dark-haired Ellon shook his head.

"The credit lies with you. Had you not found me, I could well be dead. I owe you my life." As he spoke, he still made no effort to remove his hand from my grasp.

I was not disappointed by the prolonged contact.

Struggling to distract him from how obviously I must be blushing from his gratitude, I addressed some concerns that I would've had myself if I'd been in his position.

"Just so you know, I had to undress you to treat your injuries, and as your clothes were soiled rather completely, I've dressed you in a clean shirt and pants. Your own clothes have been washed and are drying on the line," I said gesturing vaguely toward the window. "The rest of your possessions are on the table just to your side, and I did clean your armor. Although, I didn't want to risk using the wrong polish, since I couldn't tell what sort of materia–"

Silencing me by pressing a few of his fingertips against my lips, Adar breathed my name. I looked at him wide-eyed.

"You have no need to explain yourself. You could have allowed me to die, but instead you chose to help me. I have seen many types of people since the birth of the world, and you are not the sort who would rob me while I was lying vulnerable in your home," he said as his fingers slid down my chin, then descended the column of my throat to the dip between my collarbones.

I barely suppressed a shiver at his tone - whether pleasure or unease, I couldn't tell. Then, his eyes dropped to my lips, and I settled firmly on pleasure.

"Since the birth of the world?" I asked quietly, and he nodded his head. "But...that would make you thousands of years old...?"

"Does that surprise you?"

My eyebrows shot upwards.

"A mortal woman caring for a being who has lived through entire ages? Certainly not. It happens every fortnight." The playful sarcasm slipped out before I could stop it, but instead of being offended by my casual impertinence, my patient let out a rough huff of laughter.

"As vain as it sounds, it pleases me that you are. Perhaps I don't appear as ancient and broken as I feel," Adar said as his fingers squeezed mine lightly.

"Had I not known, I would've assumed that you were no more than a century old," I teased, and he grinned up at me.

"Ah, now you are deep within the realm of falsehoods, my lady. Do not sully your integrity attempting to placate a relic's ego," he muttered, but beneath his teasing words, a lingering sort of sadness filled his eyes. "I am not worth any dimming of your own light."

Without thought, I reached up and brushed a few strands of hair behind his pretty, pointed ear.

"I speak only the truth. Now, let me get you some water, and then you will require more rest."

"I dare not argue with my healer's wishes," he murmured as I got to my feet. Just before I turned away, I saw him clench his newly-released hand a couple of times. Assuming I'd held it long enough for the muscles to stiffen up, I made a mental note not to do so again.

As he faded in and out of sleep, I went about my day, tackling minor chores and tasks, checking on Adar every so often to see if he needed anything. Eventually, after I fetched his clothing from the line, I found him lying awake in bed late in the evening, watching me as I puttered around.

"How are you feeling, Adar?" I asked taking a seat beside him, and when he looked over at me, he seemed much more alert than before.

"I feel almost whole, my lady, thanks to your tender care," he answered, and as I carefully lifted his shirt to check his newest dressing, he continued. "May I ask something...of a rather personal nature?"

Giving him the go-ahead, I looked up just in time to see him eyeing me with a contemplative expression.

"You appear to live alone, yet this shirt seems to have been made for a man. Is...your husband away? In my current state, I do not think I could defend myself against an irate spouse."

I couldn't help but giggle.

"I have no partner, Adar. These clothes are my brother's. He left a few sets here for those rare occasions when he deigns to visit," I explained, and a look of surprise crossed his features. "He despises carrying more travel bags than is absolutely necessary, so having a small stash of spare clothes here suits him."

Was he relieved by my answer, or was that my imagination at work in the dim candlelight?

"My apologies for prying," he murmured, but I just shook my head.

"You may ask me anything you wish without guilt," I assured, laying a hand gently atop his chest. His eyes flicked between my hand and my face as if he was warring with himself over something. "What is it?"

Still, the Elf hesitated before speaking up.

"Have you a stream nearby or perhaps a lake? Any body of water will do, really. I feel as though I am covered in half a countryside's worth of dirt," Adar said with a sheepish smile. "I do not wish to dirty your brother's clothes more than necessary."

"Clothing can be washed. As for yourself, well," I began getting to my feet, "I think we can do much better than a cold stream, don't you?"

--

With the practiced ease of someone who'd done this alone hundreds of times, I heated water for my patient's almost-bath. I could not fill the tub completely for fear of reopening his wounds, but I was able to put in just enough that we'd be able to help him slough the dirt off of his skin. His bleeding had stopped the night before shortly after I'd bandaged him, so I didn't see any harm in him soaking for a short while, as long as I could keep an eye on his injuries.

I would, of course, have to help him, otherwise we would run the risk of his injuries opening themselves once more, but it could be done. My patient certainly wasn't too proud too accept help when he needed it. I bore much of his weight as I helped him over to the partially-filled tub.

Together, we made quick work of the task, but I couldn't keep from my mind thoughts of what terrible things he must've been through to accrue such an array of injuries. As I carefully scrubbed the parts of his back which he could not reach, I went a bit slower than was necessary, taking the time simply to observe him.

Each raised ridge and callused swirl spoke of cruelty beyond comprehension. Who could've done something like that to one of the Elves? They were among the strongest people in all of Middle Earth. Certainly no dwarf or man was capable of this. A wizard perhaps? Or something else with abilities beyond those of mortals?

"I sense a question brewing," Adar rasped, and though he could not see my face from that angle, I feared he would feel the heat radiating from my blushing cheeks. "You should know that the courtesy which you extended to me earlier is mutual. You may ask me anything you wish."

Biting my lip as I wrung out the rag and picked up a pitcher of warm, clean water, I let the silence float between us. As the water sluiced soap and dirt from his back, I reminded myself that it was not my place to ask about the scars beneath. If he wished to speak about it he would, but I longed to ask him who'd done this to him so I could do something about it.

"It...is not a question, so much as..." I trailed off as I searched for the right words. "It is impertinent for me to say, and I do hope you'll forgive me. If your scars hurt you, I have a salve that'll ease the ache."

Adar turned very carefully and looked at me.

"My dear lady, it is abundantly clear to me that we have very different ideas about what constitutes impertinence," he murmured as his lips quirked into a small smile. "As kind as your offer is, however, these wounds are so ancient that even a salve made by the most famed healers in all of Elvendom could not hope to affect them. I do not wish to waste your resources in such a futile exercise, but you do have my most sincere gratitude for taking the time to consider such a course of action."

I was struck by his tone. It almost sounded as though that was a new experience for him...as if people did not often think of such things in regard to him. Did he not have anyone to care for him or think of such things?

"Is there anything that I can do to make you more comfortable?" I asked, and my Ellon guest gave me an incredulous look.

"You have opened your home to me, treated my wounds, fed me, and clothed me. Truly, I cannot ask anything more of you."

Beginning to massage soap into his scalp, I lowered my voice further.

"You can ask anything of me that you wish." That was an admission I ought not make, but I could not restrain it.

Within moments, I had helped my guest rinse his hair and dry off, and I'd only stolen one glance - alright, maybe two - at his rather gorgeous physique. Scarred, he might be, but Adar was still lean, muscular, and utterly beautiful. No wonder Elves were rumored to enchant mortals across the ages. Even after as much untold pain as this Ellon had experienced, he was still kind and attractive, with a voice that made my heart race.

Late into the night we spoke, he reclining in bed, and I seated beside him in the chair I'd dragged over the night before. We talked of everything and nothing. For his part, Adar looked healthier than I'd yet seen him, and at his final bandage change before bed, I was pleased to note that his injuries were well on their way to being healed.

Adar was kind enough to indulge me when I asked about his own life, recounting a few tales from several millennia ago. Just imagining him joyful and untroubled, reclining in the noonday sun brought a smile to my lips. He was handsome as I'd seen him, but my mind's eye conjured him in more traditional Elven clothing - sumptuous silks that clung to his figure and fluttered in the wind - and my cheeks heated.

My thoughts must've been written more clearly on my features than I'd anticipated, because Adar skimmed the backs of his knuckles down my cheek.

"You would have fitted that time to perfection. All was gentleness and light, and the world was awash in beauty," he murmured as his expression flitted to one of nostalgia and a hint of longing. "I hope you'll pardon me if this is too forward, but when you came to my aid, I believed I was beyond help, but I realized that I could make peace with my end if your face was the last I ever saw. Your beauty reminded me of all I had seen in those early years of the world...you took my fear and replaced it with contentment. None before you have been able to do that."

Unable to find anything even remotely adequate to say in response to such a sweet sentiment, I grasped his free hand and blinked back the tears his words had inspired.

"You are much too generous with your praise, sir," I stammered, and Adar shook his head.

"I do not know why you insist upon minimizing your virtues, but I wish it to be known that I am speaking the truth." His fingers squeezed mine carefully. "You complimented me before. It seems only fair that I be allowed to do the same, especially since neither of us were telling falsehoods."

To that, there was no rebuttal. Eventually, we fell back into a rhythm of give and take. Before I knew it, Adar's eyes had fluttered shut, and so had mine.

--

As the morning's first light streamed in, I blinked slowly awake and found myself entranced. Adar stood at the foot of the bed inspecting his injuries, his borrowed shirt laid neatly atop the quilt behind him. His torso, riddled with scars and signs of past injuries, seemed even more lovely in the light of day, and the Ellon did not seem weakened by his experiences. Surely, I had no reason to be ashamed of looking?

I must have made some sort of small sound, or perhaps my breathing changed enough to draw his attention, for within a moment, I found him smiling over at me and stopping my breath in my throat.

"You have a great deal of medicinal skill, my lady. I doubt these will leave a scar," Adar praised as he took a few slow steps toward me. Lifting one of my hands in his grasp, he guided my fingertips to press gently against the raised, reddish line that used to be the injury upon his side. Elves truly did heal more quickly than any mortal could. "One less scar is a welcome change, as you can undoubtedly see."

His hand didn't release mine, nor did his gaze stray from my face. My tongue seemed to have deserted me along with my good sense. I couldn't stop staring at him. Eventually, he grasped my chin and lifted it, forcing me to look into his clear, green eyes.

"I believed that I had imagined it last night...your desire. I thought it a residual component of my delirium or a symptom of my exhaustion," Adar breathed in that beautiful, raspy voice of his. Had I truly been that obvious? "After all, why should you crave the darkness when you are so obviously a creature of the light?"

"You are not as dark as you might believe," I muttered, and he smirked as his fingers slid from my chin to my jaw, grasping me a bit tighter. Leaning down so that his lips brushed the shell of my ear, he lowered his voice to a whisper.

"If you could hear my thoughts and see my desires, dear lady, you would not say such a thing." If that was meant to be a warning, my mind did not take it as such.

"Mine are no more innocent," I admitted, against my better judgment. There was something irresistible about the Ellon towering above me. He stepped closer, tilting my head up with his hold on my jaw, and when his lips met mine, I surrendered myself to him. Perhaps I was a fool to do so, after all, we'd only known each other for a matter of days.

And yet...there was something about him that just...fit. In my home, in my life, and in my heart - in every way possible, Adar filled a void of which I had not even aware. His heart, scarred and filled with self-loathing as it was, called to mine in a way I'd never experienced before. Being around him was effortless and pleasurable. I'd grown accustomed to hearing his voice and catching his eye as I puttered around my house.

This new intimacy felt right. At least, that is how I justified it to myself when his tongue brushed mine and I moaned into his mouth. A low, hungry sound mirrored my own, but Adar pulled away after a long moment. I couldn't seem to form coherent thoughts in the wake of his passionate demonstration.

"Forgive me," he breathed, but he didn't sound particularly remorseful. Removing his hands with a great show of reluctance, Adar redressed. I ought to have moved closer and kissed him again, but I was simply stunned by the sheer strength of my body's reaction to him. I wanted to throw myself to the ground before him and plead for him to take me. As unladylike as that was, the urge was nearly overwhelming.

I didn't remember getting to my feet, but after a moment, I found myself topping up my horse's food and water in the stable. Her sable hair gleamed in the light as I began to brush her. She'd been my brother's horse, but he'd given her to me when the father of his betrothed helped him acquire a rather beautiful black stallion. So, Míra - for that was her name - had become a rather good friend of mine over the years.

"He kissed me, Míra," I whispered to her as if it was a secret. The only person who could possibly overhear me was my guest, and given that he knew rather intimately what we'd done, I doubted he'd care if I told my horse. He might think me strange, but given the relationship between Elves and nature, I doubted that he would.

For a few quiet minutes, it was just me and Mira, but soon a shadow stretched from the doorway into the stable.

"Míra rocco," Adar said as he walked slowly toward us. I blinked at him in surprise.

"How did you know her name was Míra?" I asked, and he looked at me with a lopsided smile.

"I did not, my lady. I intended no more than to compliment your pretty steed, but it seems her name is one. You see, 'míra' means beautiful in one of the forms of the Elvish language," he explained, and I let out a huff of laughter. No wonder Elrond always seemed so amused by her name!

Adar turned his gaze back to my mare, murmuring her name amongst a string of other Elvish words. Typically, she was shy around strangers, backing off or huffing and stamping until they backed off or I calmed her, but she let Adar caress the side of her head immediately. Apparently, she trusted him just as much as I did, despite the short duration of our acquaintance.

"It would seem my brother chose well, then," I said as I watched Adar lift a handful of her feed from the barrel where I stored it.

"Indeed, he did." After a few more moments of bonding between Míra and her new bosom companion, Adar faced me with what looked like determination flashing in his eyes.

"I apologize for interrupting, but I wish to pay you back for your kindness," he began, and as I opened my mouth to protest, he held up a hand to stop me. "I know that you will likely say that no such thing is necessary, however, I would be a poor patient, indeed, if I did not at least attempt to show y gratitude. Give me something to do. Chores, tasks you would rather avoid, anything at all. If you are worried about my injuries, I assure you, they are sufficiently healed for all but a sword fight."

I thought for a moment, and grabbed a few tools from their place inside.

"There are a few short log rounds that need to be split for the hearth," I began, "but if you feel that would be too hard for right now, I could give you something else to do. I do not want you reopening either of those wounds."

Looking at me with a mixture of mischief and pride, Adar took only the axe from my hand, not my makeshift splitting wedge or hammer.

"I could fell whole trees for you and expend no more effort than you did brushing Míra." I didn't know if I believed that, even if the Elves were stronger than mortals.

"Do not overexert yourself. I would hate to have to drag you into the house unconscious for a second time," I ordered with no real venom behind my words. In truth, I was just happy to have him by my side.

He placed a gentle kiss upon my brow and walked out of the stable. I was so overcome by the tenderness of his gesture that I took a long moment to lean against the wall and savor the feeling before returning to my own long list of chores. Most of the ones I'd put off were inside the stable, so I had no reason to step outside.

By the time everything was finished, I headed inside, thinking that Adar must be resting after having split the wood. After all, he was still regaining his strength. Surely, he was exhausted after such hard work. But, when I walked inside, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Adar?" There was no answer to my call. The sound of my voice carried through the house in the way only an empty space could manage. My gaze fell to the table where a small, purple bundle lay.

It was a bouquet of little, purple flowers tied with simple twine. Sage blossoms, presumably from the stream near my home. When had he gone to the stream? Beside them was a note written on a piece of parchment.

'My lady,' it read, 'I beg your forgiveness for my abrupt departure. I am incredibly grateful for your kind ministrations over the last few days. You wished me to have a more rest, but I fear in must move on. My absence will undoubtedly return some semblance of peace to your life. With all my heart, I wish you every joy this world can bring. Thank you for giving me the blessing of looking upon your light. It will shine all the clearer for the lack of my darkness. You will be safer for it, and the acknowledgment of that fact appeases my own aching heart, somewhat. Forgive me, my sweet lady. Your kisses will ever fill my dreams. Sincerely yours, Adar.'

I dropped into one of the chairs beside the table as loss clawed at me from the inside out. He'd left. He'd...actually left. Beyond the letter, he had not even said 'goodbye.'

Hoping against hope, I looked around my home, both inside and out, but instead of Adar, I found enough chopped wood to fill the box near the door, the rotten beam in my fence replaced with a sound one, and the clothes I'd lent him hanging on the line to dry after being washed.

He must have worked quickly to do all of that without attracting my notice, and I had not even asked him to repair the fence or wash the clothing.

Darkness, indeed. Would a being of darkness truly take the time to wash a shirt and trousers in a cold stream and hang them to dry? I'd have thought they'd leave them in a crumpled heap on the floor, instead.

With a sniffle, I realized that I was being ridiculous. I'd known he would leave eventually. Nobody would want to be stuck in this lonely, out-of-the-way, little cottage for long. Even I had debated traipsing off to Rivendell and accepting Lord Elrond's invitation to stay for good. But, why would he leave so suddenly? Had I said something that offended him? And what was this darkness to which he kept alluding?

Lord Elrond! Of course! He might be able to answer my question or give me some insight into what was going on. I hoped he would not take offense to my showing up unannounced, but I had no choice. I needed answers.

Mere hours afterward, I had packed a small bag - including the flowers Adar had given me - mounted my horse, and departed for Rivendell.

For the entirety of the two day journey to Rivendell, I rode hard, taking breaks only long enough to avoid either my horse or myself collapsing. By the time I entered the Hidden Valley of Imladris, I must've looked as haggard as I felt.

Lindir strode down the steps into the courtyard just as I managed to pry myself from my saddle and land unsteadily on my feet.

"My lady, welcome to Imladris," he called, but concern colored his voice. "You seem in dire need of respite–"

"Thank you, Lindir, but I am afraid that I cannot rest until I have visited Lord Elrond's library," I stated trying to sound less exhausted than my shaky legs looked. "If you require his permission, I am more than happy to wait. Please convey to him my apologies for arriving unannounced, but it was unavoidable."

"And...what may I tell him is the reason for your visit?"

"Something odd occurred a few days ago," I began. "Normally, I would not trouble him, but this raised several questions...questions which I believe only the records kept here might be able to answer."

Lindir nodded his head despite his skepticism.

"Mellon-nin, you know I would not ask for this over a mere whim," I murmured looking into his eyes, and that was what seemingly convinced him.

"Very well, your horse will be tended to. You may, of course, proceed to the library while I convey this to Lord Elrond."

I waited only long enough to thank Lindir before rushing up the steps. I'd been to Imladris countless times, and on sunny, warm days like this, I knew it would be empty enough for this particular line of research to remain confidential.

Asking the library attendant where I might find information on old Elvish armor designs, I made a beeline for the section she indicated. A set of scrolls marked 'Second Age' caught my eye, and I pulled them down with care. Soon, I had a whole table full of scrolls laid out, and a note in the margin of the oldest I'd pulled made mention of older designs incorporating natural patterns such as rivers and mountains.

...Had Adar been alive since the First Age? He did mention the 'birth of the world,' so...I supposed it was entirely possible that he had. Returning that set of scrolls to their rightful places, I searched the much smaller stack of early First Age scrolls. Many had been rewritten on fresh parchment several dozens of times over, but were in dire need of yet another fresh copy.

The second scroll I unfurled was where I found it: an illustration of several ancient armor styles, including the one with the same pattern that I'd copied down.

Dropping heavily into a seat, I read the notes on that style with shaky hands. Apparently, the pattern itself was conceived during an era called the 'Years of the Trees,' which was seemingly the earliest part of the First Age - Elvish year classifications always made my head spin.

The only problem was that all the descriptions I could find referred to gold, silver, and occasionally white armor. There were no references to dark versions. I supposed Adar's armor could've been discolored across the years, but given how consistent it was, that didn't seem likely.

Swearing under my breath, I opened the other two I'd picked up, but there were no further mentions of that which I sought.

"Mellon-nin?" My friend's voice tore me from my puzzlement, and at the sight of him, regal and serene, standing with a rather confused expression upon his lordly features, I nearly burst into tears. I hadn't meant to disturb him. I'd hoped to find the answers myself.

And if the dread weighing my stomach down like lead was any indication, I wasn't worthy to be trespassing upon his lands. Surely the lack of records about something like this had to be significant. Either this was nothing and I was being dramatic, or it was awful and absolutely meant to be forgotten. After all, it did not do to dwell upon darkness when one could live quite happily within the light.

"I-I'm sorry," I stammered as I got to my feet, and Elrond took a few steps closer, surprise flashing through his warm, gray eyes. "I did not intend to bother you. I would not have come here unless it was truly important."

His hands grasped my shoulders lightly, and the Lord of Rivendell smiled reassuringly at me.

"Peace, I know," he murmured, and I took a shuddering breath. "Now, Lindir said you had questions. Urgent ones, if I were to take a guess."

I nodded my head and tried to compose myself.

"I recently encountered this pattern. I've found records of it, but...I still have...concerns. Have you ever seen it before?" I asked handing him the scrap of parchment on which I'd copied down the engravings adorning Adar's armor. I'd drawn it initially because I liked how the pattern looked, but once I'd given his note more thought, I became curious about its origins. What could have been so dark that he did not wish to endanger me?

Taking it carefully from my hand, my friend nodded his head.

"Yes, this was often placed upon Elven clothing, armor, shields, and the like, but it has not been used in thousands of years," Elrond said looking from the page to me and back again. "I cannot imagine where you would have seen it, but it appears that you have located our records on the subject."

"I found information about the pattern, yes, but...well, I do not believe they are complete. This scroll here mentions gold, silver, and even white versions of armor with this engraving, but what about darker metals?" I asked, and this time his gaze snapped up to meet mine.

"Darker?" Laying the parchment upon the desk nearest us, he gestured for me to have a seat. "We use those three colors to symbolize Ilúvatar's light shining within us - the light of the Valar. For this pattern to appear in dark colors, especially black, it would make a mockery of that most sacred light, the way that Morgoth did when he created the first Orcs using Elves."

My heart nearly skipped a beat. Was that what he was?

"Can you tell me about that?" I nearly whispered, and he agreed.

"In the very beginning of the First Age, Morgoth stole several of the Elves - widely speculated to be of the Avari - and tortured them," he said, and my heart sank in my chest. Was that where he got all those scars? From a wrathful godlike entity? "Twisting and manipulating them, he created in them the first Orcs, the Moriondor - Uruks, they called themselves, though they still appeared very like the Elves. From them, he bred an army with which he intended to conquer Middle Earth."

In horror, I covered my mouth with my hand and felt tears burning the corners of my eyes at the thought of all that Adar had been through, assuming this was what he'd meant.

"Have you seen the armor that you described, mellon-nin?"

Unable to summon my voice, I nodded my head, and Elrond leaned closer, grasping my hands with his. Thankfully, he remained silent, allowing me to speak in my own time.

"It was engraved on a black breastplate that looked pitted and rough, aged beyond anything I'd seen before, but still well-maintained, all things considered." I paused for a moment, wondering how much I should tell him.

"Why the curiosity about armor, mellon? I have never known you to be interested in such things before," he wondered, and I looked up at him with tears gathering in my eyes. I intended to answer his question, truly, I did, but another escaped my tongue instead.

"How did you know?" I asked, and he blinked blankly. "With Celebrian, how did you know that she was the one?"

Elrond's eyebrows shot upward at the rapid shift in topics.

"It was a combination of things, I suppose. I felt at ease around her, conversation was effortless and enjoyable, but most of all, I did not feel as if I needed to hide any part of myself from her," he explained. "Though I am but Half-Elven, she did not treat me any differently than she did anyone else. She accepted me, flaws, differences, and all."

Acceptance. Could it be that simple?

Adar had not judged me for being mortal. He'd been equally surprised when I refused to listen to his self-deprecation, instead offering him genuine compliments. We conversed easily for hours during his short-lived convalescence, and every moment I was in his presence, it felt as though I was wrapped in a comforting hug.

He fit so perfectly into my life that it was frightening. Perhaps, after all that he'd been through, assuming that he was one of the Moriondor as Elrond had mentioned, it had frightened him. After thousands of years of pain and torture and violence, a gentle touch must be surprising. Perhaps, even a little unnerving.

But he'd left. He was gone, so there was very little chance that I would ever know for certain.

Lightly, Elrond grasped my chin, turning my head so that our gazes met.

"Why these questions, mellon-nin? Never before have I seen you so troubled," he murmured. Concern twined in his every word and glittered in his eyes. "Speak to me. Tell me what burden has weighted your soul so that I might help you carry it."

Fear and regret, pride, an odd sense of excitement, and dread rose in my throat, clawing at my tongue as I spoke, fighting with each other as I warred with my own heart.

"I have done something...made a choice which I cannot alter," I admitted in barely a whisper, "but even if I could, I do not believe that I would wish to."

My vision blurred beneath a veil of tears, and my sweet, worried friend pulled me into his arms. He always seemed to know exactly what I needed, even if that was an excuse to hide my face so that I could more readily confess to my actions. Elrond waited patiently, allowing me to choose whether or not to continue.

"I have saved a life," I breathed against the softness of his robe, beginning to relate the tale to the only person whom I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that I could trust. By the time I spoke of the kiss, the note, and the flowers, I wept openly.

"Mellon-nin...oh, my dear friend," he cooed brushing away my tears tenderly and laying kisses upon my brow. "You have nothing about which to feel guilty. You saved an injured person's life without knowing who he was."

"But...but if he truly was one of those taken by Morgoth as you mentioned earlier, should I not feel some sense of...of shame that a being of darkness lives because of me?" I asked between sniffles. "Should I not feel guilt or remorse or fear or sadness? Why do I feel relieved? Why do I feel as glad as I would have if it had been your life in his stead that I had managed to preserve?"

Giving me a patient, affectionate smile, Elrond cupped my tear-stained cheeks and looked into my eyes.

"Saving a life is an act of compassion. What he chooses to do with the time you have gifted him is not your burden to bear. It matters not if his heart knew darkness, for he may yet choose to step into the light. Would you deny him that chance?" Mutely, I shook my head, and Elrond smiled. "None are truly lost until their last breath is spent."

I nodded my head, but something else nagged at me.

"I love him. Darkness or no, I feel for him as you did for Celebrian," I breathed. "Should I not be ashamed even about that?"

His arms gave me a gentle squeeze.

"We cannot control with whom we fall in love. What you can do, however, is listen to what your heart is trying to tell you. Love always has a reason for being, some lesson to teach us, even when it is found in the most unexpected places," Elrond murmured against the top of my head, and I took a deep breath.

"Then, I have realized that too late. His note sounded so...final. I doubt I will see him again," I said trying to pull myself together. "I am sorry, my lord, for troubling you over something so insignificant–"

"Hush," he ordered giving me a stern look. "It was important that you uncover those answers, and I am glad beyond measure to have helped you find them. If nothing else, you have learned that your compassion runs deeper than even I previously thought."

Getting to his feet, Elrond helped me return the scrolls to their rightful places. He knew I'd had a long journey, but despite how exhausted I was, my mind was too active for me to even consider sleep. Instead, my friend led me to his own chambers, poured me a cup of tea, and kept me company until my mind felt clear enough to venture toward the set of chambers that he reserved for my use. Admittedly, however, rest did not come easily.

--

I remained in Rivendell for three days, seeking some sort of peace over what had transpired. Sitting in meditation with Elrond in the mornings and trawling through Elvish poetry in the afternoons left me emotionally primed for an evening walk filled with thoughts too loud for my mind to contain.

Had he seen sights like this? Or, did Morgoth take him before places like Gondolin and Lindon existed? Had he been at peace, even once after he was stolen away? If he really was one of the Moriondor, why was he not with the Uruks now? They massed in Mordor, so...why was he here? Could he not find belonging with either race?

I'd posed some of those questions to my host, and he told me of one of the Moriondor he'd met on the field of battle in the Second Age. Fiercely loyal was he, but eventually, he was tricked and ousted by Sauron. His children, as that Moriondor called the Uruks, had betrayed him and chosen a new master, barely escaping with his life. None knew where he'd gone and most argued that he'd died of his wounds or his grief.

Something in that melancholy ending resonated within me. The sadness in his eyes, the surprise when I'd tried to care for him...was that why? Had been so used to caring for his children that he'd had nobody to care for him?

The day I left, Elrond met me in the stables.

"Mellon-nin, I doubt he would be a threat to you if your mystery lover returned, but if you ever need me, I am here," he said as I buckled my horse's saddle in place. "Truthfully, if he is the Moriondor I encountered, and if, as you say, he harbors even the smallest amount of affection for you, you might be safer than either of us realize."

I made some noncommittal sound, then mounted my horse, but Elrond grasped the pommel before I could depart.

"Do let me know if you marry him. I have always wanted to see you happily lovestruck," he said with a mischievous wink.

"He would need to return for that to even be a possibility, mellon," I muttered, trying very hard to stop my cheeks from heating up. Thanking him for all he'd done, I began my journey home at a much less frantic pace than before.

Once or twice when I stopped along the road to tend my horse, I thought I heard twigs snap in the woods, but I put it down to animals. There were many rabbits and deer in this part of the world. By the time I returned home two days later, I tended to my horse, tore my riding leathers off and practically fell into bed.

--

A small noise awoke me in the night. A second followed it from just outside my door. Grasping blearily for the dagger beneath my pillow, I slipped it from its sheath and slid as soundlessly as I could out of bed. In reality, I'd probably made quite a bit of noise, as I'd been awakened from sleep that I'd desperately needed. I nearly leapt out of my skin when a shout sounded from outside and was abruptly silenced and followed by a dull thud.

Quite suddenly, I was no longer tired.

Raising my dagger, I threw open the door and froze at the sight before me. The Ellon I'd nursed back to heath, who had left a week ago, was crouched not far from my door, covered in blood once more, illuminated by the first pink glow of the sunrise. Only, this time, the blood splattered across his armor, sword, and dotting his face, wasn't his. It belonged to the man lying motionless at his feet through whom he had run his sword. There was another body a few feet away with its head detached.

Fierce, green eyes met mine, and I lowered my arm.

"Adar?" After cleaning his sword on the dead man's shirt, he sheathed it and walked slowly toward the door. Lifting his now empty hands in surrender, he acted as though the sight of him covered in another mans blood would scare me away.

To be fair, it likely should have.

"My apologies for disturbing your rest, my lady," he called, stopping a handful of paces away from me. "These men intended to kill you and steal what valuables they could find."

A cool breeze curled around us, ruffling my nightgown and reminding me sharply of my state of dress.

"Come. Let me help you clean up," I said gesturing inside. He removed his muddy boots at the door before stepping over the threshold. With infinite care, he took a seat at my kitchen table.

As I set a candle before us, my heart pinched at the familiar feeling of him in my space. It still felt right to have him here, but...was he here because he wanted to be or because he felt some sort of obligation?

For long moments we were silent. Adar watched as I shuffled around grabbing a pitcher of water.

"They followed you...on the road," he stated as I fetched a cloth and a bowl. How could he possibly know that?

Unless...

"I presume your knowledge comes from having followed me yourself?"

"Indeed. Tell me, how was your stay in Imladris?" He asked as I filled a small basin with water. I paused mid-pour.

"It was quite helpful," I answered, and a small hum came from my guest.

"You surprise me, my lady," Adar murmured, "I expected you to deny it."

Carrying the cloth and bowl to the table, I looked at him curiously.

"Why should I deny it? Lord Elrond is my friend." I watched as he dipped the clean cloth into the water. "All I wanted was advice."

He let out a rough huff of laughter tinged with bitterness.

"How best to kill the Uruk who'd deceived you, perhaps?" His voice was deadly quiet, his eyes sharp and pain-laced. My heart thumped at the confirmation, but...I still couldn't muster any regret about loving him, even after he'd killed two people in my yard. "He and I have met upon the field of battle. Though it was in another Age, I still remember how many of my children I lost at the hands of Herald Elrond and his illustrious High King. Each of their names is seared into my mind as if it had been only yesterday. I imagine that the extermination techniques he passed to you were efficient and creative...?"

"I inquired about matters of the heart, actually. He's been married before. I haven't."

Adar looked surprised at that, but I held his gaze unwaveringly. My conversation with Elrond had given me a boost of confidence I sorely needed.

Taking the damp cloth carefully from his stunned fingers, I wiped the last of the nearly-dry blood from his cheeks, holding his head steady with my other hand.

"Thank you for saving me," I murmured, but I made the mistake of dropping my gaze to his lips before meeting his eyes again. I hadn't realized how close I was to him. At such close proximity, it was easy to see how his pupils dilated when he glanced at my mouth. Was he remembering the kiss like I was?

Once the last red drop had been removed from his skin, I set the cloth aside and took a chance. Slowly, giving him the chance to refuse me if he preferred, I leaned in and pressed a soft kiss onto his lips. I kept it as chaste and brief as I could.

He remained stationary as if frozen in place, looking at me wide-eyed when I finally pulled back. My heart plummeted into my stomach at his expression.

"I apologize," I breathed, "I should not have taken such a libert–"

Adar grasped the back of my head and slanted his lips hungrily over mine. Melting into his grasp, I surrendered as easily to him as I had the first time he kissed me.

"I was a fool to leave you before," he breathed when he finally came up for air. "I will not make the same mistake again."

Like a man starving after a long period of fasting, Adar claimed my mouth once more, his movements both hungry and loving at the same time. My thoughts all faded away as I returned his affection, and my mind became a sieve only capable of focusing upon the points of contact between us. All else fell away.

"Your lips have haunted me," he admitted once we became desperate for breath. He skimmed the pads of his thumbs over the offending skin as gently as a morning breeze. "I was gone mere hours before I could no longer fight the urge to return. Every step, every breath that drew me farther from you made me feel as though I was being ripped apart from the inside out, so I turned back."

We'd likely missed each other by a matter of minutes, but I could not regret my time in Rivendell when it had been so valuable.

"When I found you gone, I berated myself for my cowardice and tracked your path," Adar explained as he leaned close enough that our noses just barely brushed against each other. His hands slid down my shoulders and my back, gathering the loose fabric of my nightgown in his grasp. "Even more foolish was I for suspecting that one as gentle as you would make such a sojourn for nefarious purposes. I owe you more apologies than breath will allow."

Grasping at the clasps of his armor, I smiled up at him and spoke in a much breathier voice than I'd anticipated.

"No matter. I'm quite sure you can make it up to me." His eyes flashed roguishly at my bravery, and as I began to remove his armor, his lips connected with my jaw. Nips and kisses seared a path down my skin as I managed to remove his armor. Adar lifted the hem of my nightgown slowly in his grasp, revealing my figure bit by bit to the fledgling sunrise and flickering candlelight.

Our hands moved faster, then, separating clothing from skin in a flurry of desperate fingers. We were both mostly nude when I found my curiosity spilling from my throat in a rough almost-whisper.

"If you thought I had gone to Rivendell to ask how best to kill you, why did you come back? Why did you save me?" With great self-control, Adar pulled his lips from my pulse where they had lingered and looked into my eyes with a mix of pain and devotion.

"Because...after all the millennia I have endured, if ever there was one person to bring upon me my destruction, though it would have pained me, I would have been honored for it to be you," he confessed, and the tears which had filled my eyes finally dripped down my cheeks. He kissed them away, but his words did not cease. "I would have accepted defeat from nobody else. If you were the one to plunge a knife into my back, I would still have drawn you close enough for mine lips to taste yours just once more before finally embracing my end."

Nearly delirious with desire and the potency of my own love for him, I shook my head.

"I would never hurt you–" I pleaded with him hoping that he would believe me, but his mouth slanted over mine again, swallowing my desperate protestations and stealing the breath from my lungs.

"I know," he whispered when he finally allowed me to regain my breath. Looking into my eyes as he soothed me, a tear dampened his own lashes. "Shh, I know you would not, meleth-nin."

When I threw my arms around him, burying my face against his shoulder, he embraced me without hesitation. With ease, he lifted me into his arms and carried me to the bed, sitting upon its edge whilst I clung to him. Readjusting myself in Adar's lap, I straddled him, settling my damp core against the tent in his trousers. His hands gripped my waist as he looked into my eyes.

By that point, we were beyond words, hands exploring one another as we each drank breath and sounds from the other. My hips gave an involuntary roll, but were stopped by his grip.

"I adore you," he began, "and I would love nothing more than to continue down this path. However, having followed you, I know that you have had very little sleep over the last few days."

I opened my mouth to protest, but he swallowed my words with a kiss. Damn, that was much too effective!

"I swear to you, I will lavish you in pleasure when you wake, but I fear that you could not take me now without dire consequences for your health." That was a damn bold claim, but before I could say so, a yawn betrayed me, and I was forced to recognize that he was right. "Come, let me hold you, and I will make you sing when you wake."

Reluctantly, I let him reposition me so that we could lie down together. Admittedly, that being held like that was so pleasant that I was out in moments, but not without hearing a string of words I didn't recognize. My last thought before I lost the fight with my eyelids was to wonder whether it was Black Speech.

I very much looked forward to waking up.

~*~*~

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@asksizworld @bigblissandlove1 @gandalfthepimp @horta-in-charge @zoya-olenko

[fleet-of-fiction]

Jake Kiszka // Female Narrator

Part Five

After a blinding light eradicates mankind, you're left in a desolate and empty world. A year of solitude eliminates all belief that anyone else was left behind. Until a chance encounter on the side of the road. Jake is injured and fighting for his life, but his presence brings a renewed sense of hope. Touch starved and lonely, you need him. And undoubtedly, he needs you too.

"It would be the last man on earth that would end up being mine..."

Explicit sexual content Sex (penetrative & oral) /Foreplay /Blood / Injury / Hunting. / Intense emotions / Death.

Day 469 ~ Jake

The house sat at the top of a steep incline, up a winding driveway that had begun to be reclaimed by nature. Cracks in the cement where little shrubs had started to grow and leaves that were never blown away. Neglected and abandoned.

It reminded me a little of Josh's house. With pristine edges and white walls, coveted by obscure works of art. Book shelves that were gathering dust and kitchen utensils left out on the surfaces as if the owners had just stepped out of the room.

Amelia seemed to know where she was going. "I found this place a couple of months after I moved into Grandma's cabin."

She led me down a narrow corridor, flanked by a bank of full length windows overlooking a sweeping back yard that was shrouded by trees. Photo's of the family who once lived there sitting on the wall opposite, happy faces forever immortalised for no one else to ever see.

"I hit every house within a 10 mile radius. Looking for supplies, anything that I could use. Food, toiletries. And I was about to leave when I noticed this..."

She stopped at the end of the corridor, leaning against a nondescript door. Her face sincere as she ran hands up my arms, coming to rest around my shoulders.

"We have to take whatever joy we can find in this world." She said, "And if we're lucky, we'll take back some of the joys we had before."

I'd known nothing but joy since I'd almost died. There wasn't a single moment I'd had with her that hadn't made me question whether I would take any of it back to have the world filled with every other person I'd ever loved again.

It was something I'd wrestled with. The notion that I could happily exist in a world I'd come to hate simply because she was in it with me. I was thinking about Josh again when she opened the door, simply because I'd been reminded of him. And the certainty within which I knew I wouldn't take any of it back, even if it meant having him back, drew a conflict within the likes of which I'd never known before.

But it was all for nothing. As I stepped into the room she'd been eager to show me, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I loved her enough to never want the old world back.

"Amelia..." I gasped. "What in the...fuck."

Mounted on an oak panelled wall were an array of vintage guitars. A brazilian board 1959 Gibson Les Paul. Shining in the last rays of the afternoon sun. I reached out and touched it, trembling as my fingers remembered what it felt like to know strings. A custom Fender strat in dark red with a black mottled pattern that looked like spilled paint if you looked too closely. A plain red stratocaster and an acoustic Martin dreadnought with a mahogany neck.

"I know that you said you didn't play anymore. Not without your brothers. But I think you should play again. For them. To them. And maybe somehow, I don't know how insane it might be, but maybe they'll hear you. Wherever they are..."

She was nervous. Biting her lip and wringing her hands in the sleeves of her sweater. Anticipating that I'd reject the sweetness of her idea, of this perfect gift.

"You brought me here because you knew that I would love it, didn't you?" I asked, although it wasn't really a question.

"Is that so bad?" She replied, opening her arms as if I would somehow be mad at her.

The room was decked out with framed vinyls. Some were so old I'd never seen them before. There were a few more guitars leaned up against the opposite wall and a beaten up drum kit in the window. It looked as if it had been played to death, with the cymbals hanging off and the kick drum looked as if one more pound on it would tear it right in half.

"It's not bad at all, why would you think that?" I pulled her into me, her little body slotting into my embrace like it had always meant to be there. "Just because I said I didn't play anymore doesn't mean I wouldn't love this."

She rested her head against my shoulder. Let me sway her back and forth a little. Everything was so eerily quiet. Up here the wind howled a little more than it did around the cabin. It sounded like ghosts were singing to us, begging me to pick up one of those fine old ladies.

"Maybe I'm selfish. Maybe I just wanted to hear you for myself." She looked up at me, resting her lips on my jawline.

"Plenty have paid for the privilege." I replied, "What will you pay me for a private show?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I saved your life. This is you paying me, sweet thing."

She laughed and buried her face into my neck, kissing me there and holding me tight around my waist. Familiar and wholesome. Like she hadn't tried to push me away at all in the beginning.

She was the most incredible woman I had ever known. Her fears were like shadows now, she had this uncanny ability to turn them into her most beloved passions. Once she had been afraid to love me. And now, the ways in which she loved me were making me feel unworthy of it.

"Sometimes I don't think you realise how much you saved me." I told her, casting my eye on the acoustic. "Not just from that car wreck. But from a life of misery."

Of course I would play for her. If not her, then nobody. She made herself comfortable on a shaggy looking bean bag, folding herself into it and resting her head against her curled fist as she regarded me. I pulled the mahogany acoustic down from the wall, not wanting to tend to wires and amps just yet.

I considered coming up with something on the fly, but it had been so long since I had tinkered with strings that my mind began to wander so far away I couldn't make them work. I strummed a little, hearing the notes play out and something weird happened. I thought I'd never feel this ever again, this visceral wave that washed over me to the point of almost growing hard as I felt the back of the guitar against my groin.

Her eyes widened. She wasn't prepared.

"How does it make you feel, to have an audience again?" She asked softly, seductively.

The strings needed tuning a little. I turned the keys at the top of the neck, plucking out chords until they sounded pitch perfect.

"Sexy." I replied, "I always felt sexy whenever I went out on stage. They made me feel sexy. Kinda the same way you are now. Knowing they want to fuck you every time you play for them."

I didn't realise how much I missed the adrenaline. The feral cries of a crowd. Their voices rising in unison. Lights and screaming and the feeling that I might ascend with their love. I'd been someone in my life before. I'd known what it felt like to open my eyes and know I was doing something I loved completely. I hadn't felt like this in what felt like a life time.

"This is who you are, Jake." She uttered, sliding her hand down the curve of her hips. "You can't run from who you are forever."

I felt as if I didn't deserve her. For all she had done for me, for how incredible she was. There was no crowd that could ever compare to the way I felt in that moment playing for her.

"I can't sing our songs like Josh could." I confessed, "I'd be a poor imitation. But I'll try."

I couldn't hold the same power with my voice that my brother could. The part of me that had promised never to play again still sat in the shadows whispering to me that it would never be the same. But louder than that was Amelia's face watching me strum out the first chords of a song that meant everything to me.

"What's it called?" She asked.

Day 469 ~ Amelia

I knew he would love it. I'd all but forgotten about the little music room at the back of the big house on the corner of the road that led into Lafayette. It had meant nothing to me the first time I'd ventured in there. There was nothing in there that was of any use to me.

But today, it was like seeing the sun peek out from a grey cloud. I'd gone from doing everything in my power to ensure that he was never necessary to me, to doing everything in my power just to see him smile.

"It's called Broken Bells." He replied, "Josh used to say that it was about seeing that when things sometimes feel broken most of the time they're just lessons sent to help us see that everything will be alright in the end. I really wish he could be here to see that he was so fucking right."

What would I have done if he hadn't felt the same? I could feel myself dying a little inside at the melancholy way he played. His face expressing his grief. He played so hauntingly beautifully, in a way I hadn't really been prepared for. He closed his eyes and didn't even need to look at the way his fingers moved across the strings. He knew them, and they responded to him so lovingly. Almost as if they were an entity all of their own, able to come when he called.

If he hadn't have loved me in return I'd have been driven mad by it. Every rational bone in my body broken if I'd been forced to live beside him unrequited. I began to understand how lucky and fortunate I was as he began to sing. That he and I were somehow fated. And it wasn't just a coincidence that he was driving past me that day. He was creation and I was necessity. He'd made music for a world that needed to hear it and I'd treated them when they were sick. And for some unfathomable reason, we'd been left behind to exist together in this empty world.

But empty didn't have to mean broken. There was nothing but love in the world again. Nothing but this painful song that made tears spill from my eyes as I watched him and listened. What if this song was the only one being played? And the only one being listened to? I had hope that if anyone else had been left behind that they had somehow managed to find each other and find love within it.

"That was...beautiful." I sobbed, laughing at myself for crying at it.

He put down the guitar and came to me. Launching himself into the bean bag, the scrunchy sound of tiny styrofoam balls moving around as he wiggled into the space beside me.

"It always got an emotional reaction whenever we played it." He sighed, trailing soft palms down the side of my face. "It felt like people resonated with our songs for all different kinds of reasons. But with Broken Bells it always felt we were all on the same page. All of us feeling the same thing at the same time."

How could I have ever doubted him? This beautiful man with his beautiful music?

"I was just thinking, while you were playing it, that I hoped that somewhere out there that other people were listening to songs for the first time. That they'd found each other and found love, even in a world seemingly broken." I countered, feeling the heat of that familiar rush when I knew he was about to make love to me.

"If they aren't, then we have to love for all of those who can't." He said, trailing kisses down my jaw line.

Sometimes it felt silly. The things we said to each other. Things in the dead of night. In the cold light of day. In the middle of the afternoon when he was at his most sleepy, when he would linger in the kitchen looking to score a bowl of stew or soup before curling up on the couch with a book before he would fall asleep.

Even now, I could feel him nuzzle in. Our bodies entwined on the bean bag lazily tracing his thumb over my nipple as he sucked the flesh on my neck into perfect little shapes of his mouth.

"So, you really do like it?" I checked, just wanting to hear him say it one more time.

"Oh, yeah." He yawned, "That Les Paul is coming home with us for sure. And maybe I'll come back for the Strat, too."

I was wearing the black yoga pants I saved for hiking. The ones that I wore to collect fire wood. To muck out the horses and clear out the chicken coop. I never felt particularly sexy in them, or desirable. It felt almost like we'd become accustomed to seeing each other in our most desolate states.

But when he slipped them down around the curve of my ass and hitched me around so I was facing away from him, I was glad that I'd worn them. The way he pressed his hard on into my back and continued to roll my nipple around between his fingers as he breathed harder into my ear was the blessing I'd needed to know that I'd done the right thing.

We were both tired from the hike. Our bodies crying out for rest. The afternoon sun began to slip away, making room for cloud and darkness. I was acutely aware that there was no power in this house. No electricity. No running water. No heat. It was in my mind to interrupt his ministrations with these facts, but as his hand slipped below, coming up into my entrance from behind, I lost all manner of speech.

"You gonna let me thank you properly?" He asked, slaking two fingers inside me slowly. "Be my good girl and let me show you how much I love you?"

I was in no mood to protest. I watched the light outside fade as he ran stripes up my slit and into my clit. Whispering obscenities and freeing himself one handedly as he played with me. Letting his cock rest between his stomach and the curve of my ass, leaking a little against our flesh.

"Can you feel it?" He breathed, "How much I love you?"

It was all I could feel. There was no house. No darkness. No eerie silence as the wind rushed through the trees. Howling like there was someone out there to hear it. Only Jakes breath, the bean bag as it shuffled beneath us, and the sound of my untamed scream as he penetrated me.

He didn't try to quieten me. Buffeting my wild moans with deep thrusts that came like chasms to break me in half. Each time he bottomed out, he savoured it. Taking the briefest of moments to feel me clenched around him before pulling back slowly. The need to fuck and the need to sleep battling it out for supremacy.

"Pretty fucking grateful, aren't you?" I replied, leaning my head back into his waiting mouth.

When he was like this, all in need and eager to satisfy any way that he could, I often thought back to how it had been that first time. On the ground in the mud, knees caked in it and the earth beating in time with us. And how in the time since, we'd leisurely made love on the kitchen floor some mornings. In the shower, just stroking each other to pass the time. Him, on top of me, in the bed we now shared. And me, arms around the trunk of a tree whilst he fucked me from behind out in the woods even though it was still a little cold out there.

"For this pussy? Always." He purred into my ear, like he was serenading me.

I knew that I'd never tire of it. The way he felt inside me. The way he fit so perfectly. I never felt so full, like something had been made just for me. He wasn't just rhythm and blues, he was equipped to make me quiver with the mere mention that he might take me right there and then.

I'd lament it later on. How all my lovers before him had been lacking. How I'd swiped left and right, attended blind dates and settled when I shouldn't have. For men that couldn't make me cum or men who couldn't text me back.

"Mmmmm..." I murmured softly, arching against his quickening pace. "It would be the last man on earth that would end up being mine..."

The gentle laughter that expelled from his mouth against the shell of my ear was like summer rain. Teasing my senses, touch taste and scent. His hair was sweat drenched at his temples, as it often was when he fucked me, and I could taste the salt of it in his kiss.

"She speaks so highly of me." He breathed, "Now let her know no other man will ever have her..."

He would claim me. Over and over again. Even when there was no other to counter his claim. I let his hand wrap around my throat, edging me to the distance it would take to push me over the edge of the world. Thrusting into me so hard my entire body shook. I knew the bean bag had ripped at some point, sending the tiny little white foam balls scattered across the room. But I didn't care.

I'd keep finding them in strange places for weeks afterwards. As he rolled me onto the floor and continued to pound me, vicious and unrelenting. He'd never silenced my mewling cries before, content to let them ring out into the ether.

But not this time. It was like his gratitude couldn't be satisfied until he could hear the one sound he desired. His body raged on top of mine, our clothes half on and half off. His sweaty palm came to rest over my open mouth. Muffling my cries to a dull humm. His eyes silently pleading with me to let them die. And to just listen...

"Hush." He encouraged, resting his mouth against the back of his hand as he continued.

There it was. Against the backdrop of the breeze outside. The sound of how wet I was. His cock hitting my satiated pussy. Moist flesh against moist flesh. The most inconceivable feeling washed over me. This man, the only man that ever was, wanted to silence my mouth only to better hear the sound of my pussy being fucked.

And the drop of his eyelids as he listened had me in another state of being. Half closed and fucked with desire for the way it slipped in and out, wet and completely his.

"Thankyou, my love." He whispered, before he allowed himself to cum.

I was never certain if it was for the music, or the way I let him fuck me. I didn't really care. I let my own orgasm rise moments later, the two of us breathless and spent on the gutted belly of that old bean bag.

Day 470 ~ Amelia

We hunkered down for the night. Choosing to make our way back at first light, gathering all the blankets we could find and sleeping on the couches that were, quite simply, more luxurious than any couch we could have gotten in the cabin.

Jake took the one opposite me, falling asleep first. His gentle snores lulling me into my own dreams. It felt like no time had passed at all before my eyes sprang open, the red of morning creeping in.

I rubbed my eyes and stretched. Taking a moment to recall where I was. This place was eerie, even in daylight. And I wished that there were something, anything...that would remind me that people had once lived here. The ticking of a clock, perhaps. Or the grass being cut outside. I could have laid there a little longer, still tired and drowsy, but I was eager to be gone.

I kicked off the blankets and expected Jake to be laying there, ever the one to wake up last, but my heart fell into my stomach at the sight of the empty couch. Blankets still left precisely where he had kicked them off.

"Jake?!" I called, expecting his voice to filter down the hall from the music room.

Silence.

"Jake?!" I called again, pulling on my pants and shoes as I made my way through the house.

I expected to find him gathering up all the instruments he wanted to take. Agonising over which ones to take now and which ones to come back for. But there was nothing but the aftermath of what we'd done. And all the guitars were accounted for.

"Jake, this isn't funny." I cried, checking behind the curtains like a child playing hide and seek. "Jake, I'm being serious now!!!"

Panic began to rise in my chest. My heart soaring, making me dizzy as I flew through the house. Room after room coming up empty.

"Jake!!!" I screamed, running now. "Jake please!!!"

Had I ever given myself permission to imagine this, I would have driven myself mad. That one day he would simply vanish, like everyone else had, and truly I would have walked to my death in that moment. I had no desire to live in a world void of the man I loved.

"JACOB!!!" My voice broke on his name as I fell out of the door and into the back yard. "PLEASE!!!!"

I fell to my knees on gravel. Crying. Racking sobs expelled from me as I took fists full of tiny pebbles that cut into my flesh as I squeezed. I felt as if I couldn't breathe. My chest was tight, all the horror of him disappearing coursing through my veins as tears spilled down my flushed cheeks.

"Jake, I can't do this...you have to come back..." I begged, broken and beyond redemption.

In a matter of moments I'd gone from waking up, to screaming on my knees. I'd have thought it a nightmare had I not already endured one. The reality of this feeling was one I knew. Only this time, intensified by a love that had known no bounds. I could live in an empty world before I'd ever known him.

Not anymore.

To be Continued...

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@caprisunsister @thewritingbeforesunrise @takenbythemadness @katuschka @its-interesting-van-kleep @lvnterninthenight @writingcold @jakekiszkasbuttsweat @edgingthedarkness @velveteencatch @lyndz2names @nina-23-45 @itsafullmoon @vikingisthenewsexy @char289

[erinhime83]

This probably comes as no surprise to the people involved in this story, lol.  I happened to hear Sk8er Boi by Avril Levine yesterday on the radio – they sometimes play songs that you haven’t even thought of in years and this happened to be one of them – and listening to it, I realized that it was very much a Jin and Jacey song.  And my Gifted muse is always ready to take flight at the smallest touch, so…yeah.  Considering this is a time when my muse is very influenced and not really focused on anything, it absolutely took off.

Granted, it was mostly thinking about plans we had and the old story and all that (and generally getting squishy), but since I’m in the process of aging up all my stories, my mind immediately went into trying to figure out how to age up these characters as well.

Luckily, its not too terribly hard to take a high school story that doesn’t involve the high school itself and remove that aspect of it.

Jacey Morgenstern – The story takes place right after Jacey (and Eve) graduate college, and Jacey’s just returned home and trying to figure things out.  I never really had a plan for her future, since that never really matter in the story before, so right now she’s just sort of job hunting and hanging around her parents’ house.  I originally had her going to college locally, with her staying home, but have decided that she went to college close, but far enough that she had a dorm room/apartment.  She’s just return home on the weekends to hang out/do laundry. 

Jacey is an Earth Gifted, with a specialty of metal.  (I originally had it where specialties were rare even among the Gifted before remembering that they all had a specialty in some fashion.)  She’s actually unaware of this fact, discovering it within the story, and thinks that she somehow has a weak Gift, since most Earth Gifted deal with rocks and plants.  She used to play volleyball in high school until she injured her knee during a game (she landed on in wrong).  But that was fine, since she was planning on quitting because weird rumors started circulating about her within the team.  She desperately wants to be ‘punk’, but her nature doesn’t really allow her to be.  And she has a weird obsession with penguins.  Her life goal right now is getting into the penguin enclosure at the aquarium her father works at, but has yet to succeed.

Jacey had a big crush on Jin in high school, but never really acted on it because she’s socially awkward and shy, especially when she was in high school.  She’s since come out of her shell, but still thinks he’s a bit out of her range.  She’s a bit of a Candor fan girl, excited at the idea of this talented rock/metal band coming from her school.  She  crushed on Jin before she found out he was involved in the band, though.  Eve probably got annoyed with how much Jacey talked about Jin and pined over him, lol.  But he ran with the slightly more popular kids, and she was just…there, so she figured she’d never have a chance with him.  At least until she managed to run into him at the aquarium break room and started a friendship with him.

Jin Lee – Jin is @anijeltaventry’s, so I’ll throw out the ideas I have for what I’m thinking for him. Jin was forced to go to college by his uncle, who has Expectations of him (of course he does), but opted to go to community college instead because he doesn’t believe himself worthy of a four year college.  But his main focus is his band, Candor, and he wants that to be his career.  But that hasn’t really happened yet, so now his uncle is forcing him to get a job.  But Jin decides to stick it to him, knowing what sort of job he’s expected to get, and opts instead for a job at the local aquarium, where he helps out at the penguin enclosure *cough cough*.

Jin is a Fire Gifted, although he’s unaware of it himself.  Fire Gifted tend to have a bit of an anger issue (and as a result, tend to burn themselves out at an early age), but Jin’s sort of mellow, all things considered.  He does get angry/annoyed easily, but thanks to his strict uncle/upbringing, he’s learned to control that rage because there’s never any point in getting angry like that.  It’ll just serve to make things worse later.  The result of this is that he as remarkable control over his Gift once he does discover it.

In my head, Jin had a crush on Jacey in high school, much like Jacey had one on him.  However, he viewed her as way out of his league, being smart and kind and pretty, and doubted she’d be even remotely interested in a delinquent like him (how wrong he was).  He ended up settling for someone in his own circle of friends, who he dated up until recently.  I’m pretty sure he saw a future with her, and probably had a plan in his head to propose as some point.  The problem was that this girl thought the whole Candor thing was just a high school phase, that everyone would eventually get over and eventually get Real Jobs.  She had Ideas for the future that he couldn’t really deliver on, so she ends up leaving him by telling him he’s not good enough for her.  Which, understandably crushes him.  It probably also causes him to question everything with Jacey, despite the fact that she doesn’t give two shits about any of that (and expects Candor to hit it big at some point anyway).

Eve Thibeaux – Eve is @callistochan87’s character, so I don’t really have much to say on her (because the one time I did, I got her all wrong, so I’m not even trying, lol).  She grew up in one of those Extreme Christian households, and ended up a little ‘rebellious’ as a result.  (Rebellious as in she’s not religious in the slightest.)  She managed to convince her parents to allow her to attend the same college as Jacey despite the fact that it’s not a Christian college (and despite the fact that they don’t like Jacey) on the grounds that it was close by and she’d be able to come home on the weekends.  Again, not sure what she studied for, and I figure she’d either be working at Dean’s family’s bookstore, or else going back to her Masters?  But this time, she’s staying at home, or doing it online.

Eve is a Water Gifted, with a specialty in condensation.  Which doesn’t sound impressive until you realize that they could make an absolutely massive and destructive storm system if they train enough.  Even mostly uses her Gift nowadays to water her plants.  (When they get kidnapped or they need to fight using their Gifts, she’d create fog as a smokescreen.)  The problem with her Gift is that her family views it as a sign of the devil (one reason they don’t like Jacey), so while it’s a relatively weak Gift, the problem is that she has one at all.  However, her parents allowed her to be trained by Mr. Morgenstern since nothing worked to get rid of it, and it’s through him she discovered her specialty.

Dean Cassidy – (Callisto-chan)  Dean has always been a character that’s just…there.  We each created two ‘main’ characters each – one being our actual main character and then just a second one because – and Dean happens to be a throwaway character created just for the hell of it/to give Eve a love interest.  So I really know next to nothing about him, lol.  As far as I can tell, Dean had a conservative upbringing as well, although not as bad as Eve’s.  They debate books a lot, and Dean has an obsession with music.  I’d almost wager Dead is Candor’s biggest fanboy, honestly.  Eve likes him because he seems like a Good Christian Boy on the surface, but in reality, he’s just Some Dude.  I see him as working at his family’s bookstore with the idea that he’d take it over someday (and probably turn it into a music store.)

Dean is a standard Wind Gifted with nothing really special going on with him other than the fact that he’s the only Wind Gifted in the story, lol. 

The big thing with Dean (and this is just my thoughts, not official) is that I had the idea that it’d be hilarious is the overly conservative girl was the one with the steady boyfriend at the start of the story, so right now, I see them as high school sweethearts.  But neither of them have plans on actually getting married, especially since neither of them want kids (or at least aren’t in a hurry for them).  It’s another way Eve gets back at her parents, since she’s living in ‘sin’ and all that nonsense.  Dean doesn’t really give two shits about any of it as long as he gets to continue to have a relationship with her in some form.

Amber Scott – (Anijel) Again, Amber was created to be the second character, so I don’t have too much on her, sadly.  She used to be the girl Jin was crushing on before getting with Jacey, but now she’s just a Friend.  She’s a popular girl with all the popular tendencies.  I see her as have a YouTube channel with make-up and fashion tutorials, done in a way to explain how things are done and not to be condescending.  She’s also Candor’s manager, and she’s currently engaged to the lead singer, Mark Riley.

Amber is a Water Gifted, with a specialty in ice.

Now the big thing with Amber is that she happens to actually be the bridge connecting Jin and Jacey without them realizing it.  She obviously ran in the same group as Jin since she’s always been involved ,with Candor, but then she was also friends with Jacey and Eve when they were growing up, only growing apart when they entered high school and Amber’s interests started shifting to more stereotypical things.  They still remained on friendly terms, however, although Jacey never knew of her involvement with Candor until later.  And Jin obviously never knew Amber was friends with Jacey.  She’s sort of pissed when she learns that they liked each other in high school and attempts to play matchmaker.

Theodore Hargrave – Teddy is my second character, so I have a bit more understanding of him, just not a lot of information.  Teddy is Jacey’s older maternal cousin, and the two of them grew up together as his parents were not Gifted and sent him to the Morgensterns often to ‘train’.  He recently started an internship at the Van der Aart Corporation within their research department, and his unwittingly helping them with their experiments on Gifted people.  He ends up being one of the people working on Jin when the trio gets kidnapped and eventually becomes their inside man after playing villain for a little bit.

Teddy is a standard Earth Gifted, and Jacey grew up thinking he was more powerful that she was because of it.

Grace van der Aart – Grace is the main villain of the story, being the CEO of the Van der Aart Corporation and the one heading the experiments done on Gifted people.  She hated the fact that she was outcasted growing up, since there aren’t that many Gifted people in the world, and she experiments to see how the Gifts work in hopes of being able to unlock Gifts in people born without them.  She thinks she has something when Jin’s Gift awakens, since they typically come about when people are young.  Jin, however, was a late bloomer and the damage had already been done before he had a chance to activate his Gift.  So he never had that flaring rage that brought it out before then.

Grace herself is a standard water Gifted.

Overall, I love how these designs turned out!  Admittedly, I didn’t really do anything to them other than a few outfits tweeks (I think thanks to Eve having a Christian upbringing, I keep wanting to put her in a skirt, and I have to remind myself that no, she would be in pants.)  I do think I draw Jin’s vest longer each time I do it, but eh.  As long as he looks punkish, it’s all good. 

[fieldofdaisiies]

gwyn x balthazar | 3k words | warnings: none | masterlist

Beads of sweat glisten on his forehead, tracing paths down his face as he leans over the wooden block, his finger tips carefully gliding over the already smoothed surface. A low breath parts his lips. 

It is boiling hot inside the room, his shirt already discarded somewhere on the floor. He meticulously studies his work of art before he adds some final touches. 

The young Illyrian cranes his neck, rolling back his shoulders when he is done. The weathered wooden workbench, worn by years of use, groans when Balthazar leans against it, his eyes following the marks on top of it — they serve as memories of the countless pieces he has already made. The scent of timber, of oak and sawdust lies in the air, his favourite scents in the world and it draws a small smile to his lips. 

Smiling has become difficult in the days and weeks that followed after the Blood Rite — he has been too haunted by the memories, of what he had to endure, what he had seen and what he had to do. The wounds still lie deep, carved into his heart, and will probably never vanish again. His chin lowers to his chest, and Balthazar closes his eyes, and releases a loud breath. 

Closing his eyes is another thing that is difficult for him. Because when he does, the memories come back as well. 

Most nights, he can only sleep when taking some herbs that help him — some sort of sleeping powder that helps him enter a deep slumber. The groaning of the injured whose wounds have not yet healed and the wails of those who have lost their sons are also adding up to make sleep, for any reasonable length of time, impossible. Balthazar hasn't experienced proper sleep throughout the whole Blood Rite and now also in the weeks after, he hasn't found proper rest.

When his chin starts to quaver, his heart beating a little faster, Balthazar opens his eyes. 

It is now over three months after the Blood Rite and it hasn't gotten any better. The memories, the pictures, the sounds, everything is still there, still imprinted on every fibre of his body. He would have never thought that it would get too him that much. That these memories would stay with him for that long. That they would haunt him day and night, but somehow they do, and he can't shut them out of his brain. 

It only gets better when he is here. He woodcrafting space has become his save haven, his sanctuary where he can escape and find a bit of solace and peace. When he carves, time seems to stand still, and he becomes immersed in his craft. The scent of the wood calms him, grounds him, and at least he can relax a bit when he is here. 

Balthazar lifts his gaze, glancing outside the dusty window and knows, telling by the position of the moon and the stars, that it is already quite late and he should head to bed. He probably won't sleep much again, but he also can't stay up all night. He needs the rest. 

The haunting memories, although the prevail, are not the only thing on his mind — there is also the female with the eyes that reminded him of the ocean. 

He wanted to thank her, really thank her. She had saved his life, and he needed to properly thank her for this. It had been the Blood Rite, saving someone's life is not a common thing in there. 

Additionally, he has never seen such beauty before and knew that when his eyes landed on her, that this was love at first sight. She hadn't felt the same, apparently. She looked scared and shocked and then she ran at the first chance she got to do so. Ran away from him. Fled. 

And he can't blame her for it. Balthazar gathers that she must have thought he is just an Illyrian brute like all the others…Which he obviously can't blame her for. Obviously, she thought so. They had been in the Blood Rite and how would she have known that he is not like the other Illyrians? 

His height can be intimidating, he knows this, and most likely he had blood somewhere on his body, or maybe all over his body. 

Of course she was scared. 

If only he had a chance to see her again, to thank her properly, to see her eyes one more time. But he doubts this is possible. How would he ever find her? Seeing her again, is wishful thinking and a sliver of hope he does not want to dwell on. It will only frustrate him, and he can't deal with any more pain at the moment. 

Balthazar cleans his tools and gently lifts the woodcraft into his hands before placing it on a different table, observing it silently for a long moment. He is not fully focused, rather takes this moment to level his breathing and calm his spiralling mind. 

Balthazar brushes his hands down his thighs, cleaning them of the sawdust and only then starts looking for his shirt into which he slips when he finally finds it. Exhaling a deep breath, Balthazar puts out the faelight and then locks the door behind him. 

A gentle breeze sweeps over the dark landscape of Windhaven, ruffling Balthazar hair and carrying the scent of the fresh and cool evening air. 

His steps make the grass rustle softly beneath his feet as he heads home. His gaze is downcast, broad shoulders slumping slightly as he drags his feet over the ground. 

In the weeks that followed the Blood Rite, Balthazar often thought about moving back to his mother and sister. But he decided against it, wanting to prove it to himself that he is strong enough to do it on his own. 

He sometimes regrets this decision, thinking it would be much easier to return to a place where he knows he is not alone. He does not like being alone, does not like having no one to talk to when he returns. But he deems moving back to his old family home now not as an option — not anymore. He has to manage it on his own…and he will do it. He can do it. 

Windhaven is calm this evening, almost peaceful, almost homely. 

But all of a sudden, something rustles loudly in a nearby bush, the one right beside his house, capturing Balthazar's attention. His gaze fixates on the source of the sound, a tiny kernel of unease sparking inside of him. 

"Hello?" he calls out, his voice hoarse and groggy from not speaking for quite some time and from all the sawdust clogging his throat. 

"Hello? Is there someone?" he calls again. 

Maybe it is his silly best friend who apparently has nothing better to do than drool after Balthazar's older sister or annoy him in some sort of way. 

Balthazar shakes his head when he gets no answer, but the thing rustles again and the young Illyrian turns towards the bush with a low groan. He is not in the mood for any silly business now, only wants to go home and lie down. 

His steps are slow and languid, but determination is burning inside of him. He is not in the mood for any stupid foolery this evening, so whoever is hiding there should just leave and let him be. And he will make sure they leave, no matter how rudely he has to talk to them. 

Balthazar heads for the bush, shoving the branches apart, wanting to confront whoever is hiding there. 

His breath gets caught for a moment, and time seems to stand still. Balthazar's lips part, his eyes widen in shock. His whole body goes cold, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

What he is met with, is nothing he would have expected and for a split second everything inside of him coils and a feeling of fear seeps into every fibre of his being. 

The being that looks like it is trapped in the bush in front of his house, has a face that looks like it was crafted from dried, weatherworn bone, its skin somehow discarded, a lipless mouth and too-long teeth held by blackened gums, slitted holes for nostrils. Its eyes are nothing more than swirling pits of milky white and Balthazar, despite really wanting to, can't look away. 

At his young age of twenty four, he has never seen anything like this and shock comes in waves. Although running might be the best idea, his feet are rooted to the ground and he finds himself unable to move. All and everything he can do is stare. Peeking above the ragged neck of its dark robes is a body of veins and bones, as dried as the texture of its face. 

The thing stares right into his face and Balthazar can only stare back, right into the swirling pits of milky white. Its dark, tattered robes are so thin that the hard knobs of its spine can be seen. 

A cool breeze blows over his skin and fetches Balthazar back to the moment he finds himself in. When he finally catches himself, Balthazar finds himself asking, "Who are you?"

He was born brave and confident, and this might come in handy in this moment. He was always taught to not back down, to show his brave side, and this is what he does now — stupid or not, that question is open for the future. "And what do you want in front of my house?"

It almost looks like the being grins, as the lipless mouth parts and the corners of it lift. 

"Balthazar Attas of Illyria, finally we get a chance to meet." 

The being's voice is at once one and many, old and young, and beautiful and grotesque. A shiver courses through Balthazar's body, but he stands his ground, but despite his bravery, apprehension is like a storm inside of him. How the hell does this being know his name? 

It makes a sound, deep in his throat and a wind blows through is tattered robes. The being shivers as it stretches its long and bony arms from its body, speaking in a loud and clear voice. 

"A fateful encounter awaits you, young Balthazar. A moment, a chance, you have to grasp. Big things are coming for you, great possibilities you were born for. And that is not your only destiny. Your path shall intertwine with that of your soul's counterpart. You need to look beyond the veil of common, of ordinary, through the shadows and into the light. You shall not seek with your eyes, but with the glowing ribbon inside your chest. Be open for the unexpected, the surprising and wonderful. A grand journey awaits you, Balthazar of Illyria. Be ready for it, embrace it."

Startled, Balthazar's hand clenches around the branches of the bush, they all break and in one swift movement the being is freed of its trap, turning, its long cloak flowing. 

"We shall meet again, Balthazar of Illyria. The greatest Illyrian lord of them all."

In the next second it is gone — almost like it was there. Almost like he imagined it. Almost like he is dreaming. But he is not dreaming. He is wide awake, his back clammy with cold sweat, his fingers till holding the broken branches. And his heart racing like a wild stallion. 

Balthazar is left in a state of complete bewilderment, his mind swirling with confusion and shock, his eyes still trained on the empty spot where the being had been only a few seconds ago.

"What the actual fuck?" he breathes, his hand coming up to check his temperature. Has he caught a fever? Was this a fever dream? Or is he going mad?

He brushes his hands over his damp forehead, through his curls. 

A breeze dances over his skin, but Balthazar shivers for a wholly different reason. Maybe he took a too hard blow during the Blood Rite and now his mind is going insane. 

The young Illyrian closes his eyes, drawing in one deep breath, then another, and another. 

His chest is heaving. Balthazar shakes his head, deciding to just ignore it for this moment. Whatever that has been, it should no longer bother him — it is gone now, and hopefully won't ever return. Maybe this being was caught in a fever dream. Whatever it said to him was anyway to cryptic for him to understand. It had spoken in fever, he knows this, and it is nothing he should mull over. 

Balthazar is about to head for the entrance door of his hut, when he catches snippets of a hushed conversation floating on the air. "Am I really not allowed some rest?" he groans in a voice barely above a whisper. 

But despite his confusion, the shock that still runs through his veins, and the exhaustion, curiosity pricks his senses, and he decides that today has already been something else, and that he should just rely on his gut feeling and draw closer to the source of the voices, or at least listen closer. 

His footsteps are silent on the dirt path as he peers around the corner of his hut and spots a group of males huddled together, their voices barely audible above the wind and the rustling leaves.

Tension is thick in the air, Balthazar can feel that, as he is peeking around the corner a little more, his large wings tucked in behind his back. 

He wants to know what they are talking about. There have been so many small uproars in the weeks and months after the Blood Rite — there had been unease and tension before, but it reached its peak with two females winning the Blood Rite, and another one, Feyre Cursebreaker's sister nearly winning. It is outrageous, something the males of the Illyrian mountains will never accept.  Devlon let them win, is what everyone says, the war lord now under heavy attack and only able to leave his home with his loyal Illyrians as his guards. But Balthazar remembers Feyre' Cursebreaker's sister, Nesta. He knows she had the will and power to win this, knows she and her two companions rightfully won. 

The conversation in front of him turns a little more tense. Balthazar's heart quickens, a mix of concern and curiosity swirling vividly in his mind. He knows that these males mean no good, he knows them, most of them had been friends with his father. And he also knows that they harbour ill intentions toward someone. Not someone. Lord Devlon. 

A lump the size of a peach has formed in Balthazar's throat, and he has a hard time swallowing around it when his camp lord's name reverberates through his mind. What are they planning? Should he warn Devlon? But what would he say? Hey, I heard some warrior companions say your name and they seemed like they have ill intentions? 

That probably won't do much, as most males —and obviously also females— here in the camp have started to develop negative feelings towards their lord.

Balthazar scans the faces of the males gathered there, observing the expressions etched upon their faces, trying to make out what exactly they are saying, but it is impossible. 

Chills creep over his skin, his face now pressed against the cool stone of his hut. A hint of fear tugs at his core, but yet he is too nosey to pull away — maybe he can just catch fragments of the conversation, more than the name of Lord Devlon…

A sudden jolt courses through Balthazar. A hand, unexpectedly tight, grips his shoulder, sending a shockwave of terror through his entire being. Startled, Balthazar whips around, his heart racing like a wild stallion. 

Before him stands no other than Lord Staroff, his features masked by the shadows of the night. 

A moment of tense silence hangs in the air as their eyes meet, and then lord sneers. "Up so late, Balti? Shouldn't you be in bed at that time, boy?"

Balthazar's mind races, contemplating if he should reveal what he has spotted, or if he should keep calm. Maybe Staroff should know, but then again, he is also not one of the good males up here. Hardly anyone truly is. 

"Once again at a loss of words, huh, boy?" Lord Staroff raises his brow, a mocking glint in his eyes. "I really wonder how you made it out of the Blood Rite alive. You can barely form a sentence under pressure." He gives Balthazar a once over, tips his head and licks over his lips. "Go to the bed now, there is nothing here to see, little one."

A flicker of curiosity burns within Balthazar, letting him wonder if Lord Staroff is part of the conspirators group. It is a wild guess, but it would also make a lot of sense. Said lord has always envied Devlon. Balthazar is happy he has not revealed that he had heard their conversation. 

"It is where I was heading anyway," the young Illyrian finally says, his voice calm, but stern.

The older Illyrian male raises a brow. "Of course you were." He pats his shoulder. "But let me tell you one thing, if I catch you sneaking around again, I won't be so kind again and let you leave. I will do to your wings the same exact thing that should still be done to the females, are we clear?"

Staroff's warning is loud and clear, and still reverberates through Balthazar's mind when he slides into his bathtub moments later, his eyes closing, and all thoughts and happenings of this day and also those of the Blood Rite colliding in his mind. But there is also fury, untamed anger, about what the Illyrian male had said about the wings of females. It burns like a fire within him. A fire that wants to seek revenge. 

~~~~~~~ tag list: @a-frog-with-a-laptop @brekkershadowsinger @moonlightazriel @callmeblaire @headcanonheadcase @waternymphia @autumndreaming7 @devilsfoodcake22 @readercacau @sv0430 @bubybubsters @cyntia-ktn

[thenixkat]

they got Booster to the hospital and find out that he's dying. His crew also somehow fixed his suit or got him one that looks like the real one

Local Asian dude directing the local STAR labs was able to repair a lot of Booster's suit and Skeets

Folks get told that Booster's from teh future which may give hints to why he's stick and how to help him. Man fixed half of poor Skeets

a mob is attacking the hospital to attack Booster Gold b/c the public hates superheroes

Booster got another haircut and also lost weight due to his illness

local nurse admonishes Booster for being a public superhero and donating money to charity instead of helping people anonymously and I gotta ask lady do you have the same feelings for regular actors and other rich people?

The person running the hospital wants to throw out Booster who is deathly ill and still injured b/c he's a 'disruptive element'

meanwhile the mob breaks into the hospital to attack an ill and injured man

Trixie is pressured to put on the costume that STAR labs made to go rescue Booster

the crowd is literally trying to murder Booster. With the logic that no superheroes means no supervillains. ANd like, yall could take that energy and try to murder supervillains instead of just…assuming that supervillains would just retire if there were no superheroes around to stop them

pork queen. pork queen. Man comics hate fat people. Like just utterly laothe fat people existing

ok Asian dude's name is Jack heh Booster punches security

how the fuck did the security for an airfield not owned by the military get a fucking sonic canon for the security guards to use?

Jack fumbles a bit on Skeets prononus but remembered

ok looks like were gonna get Booster telling his story from his perspective

ugh the way its phrased

I assume the writer just kinda hates poor people. To phrase Booster not wanting to wait another year being poor as shit b4 he could begin supporting his family with his career as 'wanted to be rich and famous as soon as possible' damn.

damn the whole squad looks disappointed to hear that Booster's a criminal from the future. Like their respect for him for all of his heroic deeds just took a nosedive find out he did some crime

but also how they keep describing Booster's turn to gambling as just being impatient wanting fame and fortune and then spending mush less panel space explaining how his family was poor as shit and he wanted to support them is just such an iffy way to tell his story

…is Ripley Hunter…Rip Hunter?

yes that is the Rip Hunter. Just chillin in the past going to university and inventing a time machine

yeah like perhaps not wanting his family to starve for another year was something he wanted. (also a later retcon that retells Booster's origin also has his mom with a heart condition that he wanted money to fix) also I have to imagine given his father was a gambling addict who ruined the family, and something his mom hadn't been shy talking about, that the decision to start gambling wasnt a lightly made one

so if Booster, who used a finished version of this very time machine to come back in time helped with the final touches to make the time machine more like its supposed to be would that not be a fucking paradox?

Granted he's also apparently Rip Hunter the inventor of the time machine he used dad so who the fuck knows. I dont belive in the stable time loop there's too many fucking variables

apparently Gotham cleans up its industrial pollution issues several hundred years in the future

what do you mean that Booster's forcefield was constantly on protecting him from fucking bacteria.

like what does that mean for Booster's gut flora and other symbiotic bacteria if he was eating modern day food? also no! that's a silly explanation b/c we know that Booster took his costume off sometimes

also… past food should have given Booster hell of diarrhea until his system adjusted to it

so after Booster ran away his mom got sick and died and his sister had to move b/c she couldnt afford rent

but also sir yer really surprised like you werent the breadwinner until you dipped

[here-have-some-stories]

Massacre Masquerade Chapter 11

Chapter 1 Chapter 10

Warning: This chapter has descriptions of blood and gore. If you aren't comfortable with that you can either skip the paragraph or not read. There is a tiny bit during the second paragraph, and a lot during the fifth paragraph because that's the entire point.

Leon immediately ran over to the now collapsed ceiling, Deacon and Bailey following close behind him. As Leon approached he saw two people dragging themselves out from under the wreckage. One of them had a giant gash down their arm and the other one's leg had already started to bruise badly all over. Leon was willing to bet that it was broken, probably in more than one place. The two people appeared to be shaken up pretty badly and in a lot of shock, as expected, but other than that they were just injured, but fine. Leon watched tensely, but nobody else crawled out from under the roof. 

Around him, people were screaming once again. They were running around trying to get away from the new crime scene. Someone in a clown themed suit appeared to have gone into a panic attack at the sight of some blood slowly seeping out from under the ceiling. A couple of people had somehow gotten into an argument during the commotion and were now screaming at each other. 

Leon noticed Bailey was standing close to his side, practically touching him, and Deacon was standing slightly behind him. Bailey had her fingers in her ears trying to block out the noise. Leon wanted to reach out and touch her, reassure her that things would be alright, but didn’t know how she’d react. In addition, he didn’t fully believe things would be fine.

It took a couple of minutes, but the inspectors finally managed to push their way through the panicked crowd and to the scene. Leon watched as they gathered around the fallen portion of the ceiling and they all grabbed onto the edges of it, lifting it off the people. With their combined strength they did manage to lift it a couple inches, but it was enough to move it to the side to clear. It took each inspector a lot of effort and exerted all their strength to the task, but they managed it. 

Leon noticed Deacon blanch and look away, and he was tempted to do the same. All eight people who had been stuck under the ceiling, were lying there, not moving. A lot of them had giant cuts all over their bodies that were heavily bleeding out, and had dark black and blue bruises all over their bodies. One of them must have been holding a glass before the disaster, as it had smashed and pieces of glass were now deeply embedded into their hand and arm, blood flowing heavily from the wounds. They could all now see where the pool of blood seeping out had come from, and it was the most disturbing sight out of all of it. One of the victims' skulls had been completely smashed open. The ceiling must have hit them at a certain angle and with a lot of force to achieve something as gruesome as that. With their head one hundred percent cracked open, blood seeped extensively from it. Leon was pretty sure he could see the person's brain past the broken bone and blood. This time he did look away. He also became aware of Bailey gripping tightly to his arm. She had her eyes closed and was taking in measured, controlled breaths, trying to stay calm.

Leon felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Deacon. His friend gently led him and Bailey away from the horrific sight and Leon offered no resistance. He wanted to get away from there as soon as possible. 

People were still panicking, and not knowing where to go, most of the building's occupants were still running around. People were still trying their best to stay away from each other and the scene, and with that came a lot of people banging into each other. As Deacon moved Leon and Bailey through the crowd, someone banged heavily into Bailey, making her fall to the ground. 

Bailey was already on the brink of having a meltdown, and the little crash was about to bring her to her breaking point. She shakily began to stand up, using Leon’s leg as a way of support. Tears were already starting to blur her vision, but despite this, she managed to spot something a couple metres away from her. Wiping her eyes, she half crawled, half crouched towards it. She picked it up and showed it to her brother and her friend.

“What’s that?” Deacon asked.

“I don’t know,” Bailey mumbled. “I found it on the ground. It’s smashed real bad but it looks like a remote or something.”

“Do you think it has something to do with the ceiling?” Deacon asked. Almost everyone in the building had concluded already that the roof collapsing was not an accident. Leon looked at Deacon.

“Don’t you think that's a bit of a stretch?”

“Maybe,” Deacon admitted. “But it could also be right. Maybe the remote made the ceiling drop or something. Then whoever did it dropped the remote and let everyone crush it with their big fat feet.”

“It’s still a stretch,” Bailey said.

“But it could still be true,” Deacon pointed out, sticking to his theory.

“Lets move to the side,” Leon suggested. They were standing practically in the middle of the crowd and had been bumped into multiple times. He was starting to get sick of it. Bailey nodded her agreement and they moved their conversation against the wall. At least now they were a bit of a distance away from the people, both dead and alive.

I know this was kind of a weird place to cut the chapter off, but the next part of their convo is apart of the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and if you read that part, enjoyed the graphic descriptions of blood. At least I hope it was graphic. That was what I was trying to achieve so yeah. If you have any comments or feedback please give em because I love reading them. If you have any story suggestions that you want me to write, you can send me an ask and I'll eventually try to get to it. Just read my pinned post first because that gives out the shit I will and will not do. Once again, I hope you enjoyed it, have a good day, byeeee.

[manawari]

Revenge Of The Death Hunter | Solo-Leveling Regression AU!

"Mr. Sung!!"

Jin-woo snapped out of his daze and found an old man waving his hand at him. He raised his hand to return the gesture, albeit awkwardly. "Uh, hello?"

The man clicked his tongue in disdain. "Aish. . . Am I a stranger to you? What's with you this morning? Did you not eat breakfast?"

"I. . . I have." Jin-woo nodded.

"Leave that kid be, Mr. Kim Sangshik. I'm sure he just slept late." chimed in another man. He gazed at Jin-woo up and down then huffed. "Are you even a strong hunter? Everyone seems so happy to see you."

Sangshik chuckled. "Hehe. . . I guess you don't know since he came around right after you quit. That guy's nickname is — the weakest hunter of all mankind."

Then, something crushed inside of him. Weakest? Of all mankind?! Jin-woo was astounded. Ashborn sent him to a timeline where he was the weakest hunter in spite of already being an E-Rank? This was too far! He was originally an S-Rank for Pete's sake. . .

From the strongest hunter to the weakest hunter. How was Jin-woo supposed to be powerful to take on the Monarchs?

If Jong-in and Tae-gyu were here, they would be laughing at him. Jin-woo started to hate Ashborn for giving him a body that was the exact opposite of his physique in his old life.

"Weakest? Not the strongest?"

"Now look here, that's what you would call an S-Rank Hunter like Choi Jong-in. Sung's the 'weakest hunter'. He's always getting injured even in E-Rank Gates!"

"The weakest?!"

"Probably the weakest of us all."

"Is he really that weak?"

Jin-woo groaned and walked away. He did not need to hear two geezers poking fun at him as though he wasn't present. If he was in his original body, he would make those two men eat their words.

He made his way to the stand and spoke to the man. "Excuse me? May I order a cup of coffee?" Jin-woo cringed at the sound of his voice. No, he did not sound like a nerdy highschool boy back then!

"Ah, Mr. Sung Jin-woo. I'm sorry to say this, but all the coffee has just run out. . . " The man replied.

" . . . " I can't even get a cup of coffee. . . Geez, this sucks. Jin-woo thought, then he ran his fingers through his long, tousled locks and left the stand.

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Sung."

"No worries. . . I'm okay." Screw this shit!

First, two old men talked trash right in from of him. Now, there was no more coffee left for him. What could Jin-woo had done to receive such a predicament? He could've handled it fine if those words were from his friends. These people needed to stop picking on him.

"ARGH! JIN-WOO! YOU'RE HURT AGAIN!!"

Jin-woo was startled at the aggravated yell from none other than Lee Ju-hee. However, she looked quite younger than the first time he saw her. She was wearing a brown coat over a red turtleneck and a small back on her right shoulder; her orange hair remained long and loose on her waistline.

"Oh. . . Hello, Ju-hee." He said. "It's nice to see you here."

She scoffed. "Of course, I am! But that's not the issue here! What happened to your face this time?!"

Jin-woo reached up to touch his face and felt a patch on his cheek, as well as the other one. Geez, what happened to him in this timeline? Sure, he was reckless when he was an S-Rank hunter, but not to the point he would show up visibly injured.

"It, uh. . . It somehow ended up this way, haha. . . !" He managed to make out a reply.

This was the first time he had seen Ju-hee this mad. She usually held a composed demeanor. Perhaps in this timeline, knowing he was an E-Rank Hunter, Ju-hee must've witnessed horrid things in his face all the time.

"Were you even hospitalized?" Ju-hee asked him as they sat on the stack of plywoods.

"Yes," nodded Jin-woo. "It was an E-Rank Dungeon. But I was the only one who got hurt."

"What?!" Ju-hee gasped. "How's that even possible?"

I don't know. I just made that up since I am known as the weakest hunter around here. Jin-woo spoke his supposed reply in his head, but he had to keep going when he got injured like this. "All of the others were high-ranking, so they didn't bring a healer with them."

"Still. Just because they themselves are confident, they won't get hurt. How could they not take a healer along?" Ju-hee said.

"It's all right. It's my fault since I'm weak, so. . . " Jin-woo chuckled. Deep inside, he wished he could throw up for admitting that he was weak. "I'm used to it. You know this already, Ju-hee."

Ju-hee fell quiet.

Jin-woo sighed and got up. "Well, looks like it's time to head into the gate. Let's get going, Ju-hee."

"Okay. . . "

The two of them joined the accumulated hunters in front of the blue gate in the constructing building. He found Song Chi-yul in front of them. The man wore a broad grin on his face with his hands on his hips. Jin-woo couldn't help but feel his mouth twitch in amusement at the sight of Chi-yul's two arms. He remembered meeting that man with only a right arm since the other one was torn off by wolves in a dungeon.

"Listen up everyone!" Chi-yul declared. "I'm sure we're all looking to have a good time and hit the jackpot today. That said, even though I'm not in any place to say this," he cleared his throat. "I'm thinking about taking charge and being the party leader. How's that sound to everyone?"

"Song, you're the highest rank out of everyone here!" Sangshik grinned. "I approve."

"Yeah, we can count on Song. Let's see those skills."

"Yes, I'm on board, too."

"Me too!"

"Me too!"

Jin-woo smiled. Besides Chi-yul having a good reputation among his acquaintances, he was also Hae-in's mentor in swordfighting. He was the person behind the immaculate prowess Hae-in wielded with a sword in her hand.

Could he still be teaching her in this timeline?

"We'll be counting on you, Mr. Song Chi-yul," Jin-woo concurred.

"All right then, let's head in!" Chi-yul shouted and stepped closer to the dungeon. Others cheered incoherently.

Sangshik turned to Jin-woo. "Sung, keep yourself behind us, so you won't get hurt. Take it easy!"

I'm not a young boy, geez. Jin-woo internally sighed. "Haha, okay. . . "

"Come on, Jin-woo!" Ju-hee called as she entered the blue gate.

Jin-woo sighed, following the healer in tow. The dungeon sent a different sensation to him — stranger than the ones he had entered in his first life, yet heavier for his current physique. So this what it felt like being a low-ranked hunter. . .

For once, he felt chills. Not the kind of thrill he wore whenever he was about to conquer a dungeon. In this world, he was a wimp, a laughing-stock, and an unworthy hunter to everyone's eyes. It seemed Jin-woo still had a long way to go before gaining his true strength to conquer the Monarchs.

Nonetheless, he was going to give his all today. He needed to prove these people otherwise. What they were seeing now was just the tip of an iceberg — the more determined he was, the faster he would reach his endeavors and protect his loved ones.

He might have the body of an E-Rank, but his spirit remained an S-Rank.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

< prologue

next >

[13meigo]

A snake’s plaything | Fifth year || Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 7 | Obsession

'As you may have heard about the happenings earlier this day. For those who haven't, I will explain, two second-year students and one seventh-year student were brutally attacked by dark entities in the school. We do not know how they got into the school but we will fix this problem as soon as possible. For now, tho the classes will be held as usual but students are only allowed to walk in pairs or with more people. We suspect multiple entities. If you see them, notify a teacher immediately. ' Headmaster Black explained while standing behind a podium. Violetta couldn't believe her ear. How in heaven's name could these creatures enter Hogwarts? Hogwarts was the safest place she knew.

Everyone in the great hall exchanged concerned looks. Violetta didn't even hear that some students got attacked. She looked to her left. Amit was staring at his empty plate. The whole evening she hadn't seen him eat. Something was going on with Amit. Violetta ignored the speech Black gave and turned to her friend.

'Amit, what is going on?' She asked worriedly.

'I saw them...' He mumbled. 'I saw them attacking the seventh year boy. They ripped his face apart.' Violetta looked shocked. It wasn't even December and now students were getting injured? This wasn't the welcoming start she expected. She was sure that those entities were from Ranrok and his people. Violetta grabbed Amit's hand.

'Listen, the teachers will figure it out. Maybe you can tell them what you saw.' Violetta spoke while having her head close to his. Someone saw that from across the hall. Sebastian's hands clenched around his knife.

'You may go now to your dorms and your house teachers will explain everything tomorrow morning.' Black said and with those words, the students stood up to leave the hall.

Suddenly Amit jumped up and knocked the table. The glass from the person sitting next to Violetta tipped over and spilled red juice all over Violetta's white blouse. Violetta tried to back away but it caused it to spill all over her chest area.

'Oh my god I am so sorry!' Amit stumbled over his own words and tried to wipe the drink off her chest with a cloth. Violetta stopped him. She didn't want him to touch there especially not in the great hall. The students around her started to make their way out of the hall. Violetta stood up and saw charlotte walking past her. Violetta grabbed her arm.

'Charlotte we need to go to the toilets. I need to get the juice out!' Violetta said and tried to cover her chest. Charlotte looked at the spill.

'How did that happen?'

'Amit happened.' Violetta said and tried to not show her anger.

'Okay, I will go with you!' Her friend said and quickly they exited the hall and walked towards the toilette near the stairs to the dungeons. This area here was completely empty off students.

Violetta entered the toilets and held the door open for charlotte, but she stood in front of the door.

'I will wait here and watch in case an entity should be outside.' Charlotte said and pulled out her wand. Actually, this wasn't such a dumb idea for her.

'Good then, I will leave the door open, and in case one is inside the bathroom I will yell for you.' Violetta said she started to feel the stain cooling against her skin. Her friend nodded and Violetta left the door ajar. She quickly hurried to the sink and unbuttoned her blouse. She tried to hurry because she got such a weird feeling of danger around her.

Violetta turned the water on and felt the temperature with one hand. Then she proceeded to wash out the stain.

Violetta saw the red juice drain down the sink and she rubbed the material together. She was still pissed by Amit. She never saw him so panicked. Maybe he was just traumatized.

While she proceeded to somehow wash her blouse she heard running. Violetta looked up and towards the door. It was still ajar but the corridor was bitch black.

A shiver ran down her spine. Suddenly she realized how cold it was since she only wore a bra on top. Violetta dropped her piece of clothing in the sink. She pulled her wand from the waistband of her skirt.

Something watched her.

'Charlotte?' Violetta asked with a shaking voice. Something was wrong.

The candles in the bathroom began to flicker. There were hissing noises behind her. Violetta turned around just to see the lights going out on the window sill that was between two rows of toilets. Something red shimmered in the reflection of the window. Violetta saw herself and something shimmering red on the wall and mirrors by the sinks. Oh god, it was behind her.

When Violetta turned around she was pushed back by an unseen force. With a yelp and a loud crash, she landed on the cold floor tiles. Her wand was knocked out of her hand.

Violetta looked up and saw what looked like a red swirling worm made from ancient magic. Violetta realized too late that this thing came crashing down on her. Quickly she closed her eyes and covered her face.

'Confringo!' Violetta felt this heat all over her bare chest, arms, and stomach. That voice.

Violetta opened her eyes and pushed herself from the tiles. She looked at Sebastian standing in front of her protectively. She saw sparks of glowing ashes float around until they landed on the cold tiles.

Sebastian turned around and looked down at her. His eyes widened when he saw her. Violetta noticed him staring and covered her breasts. She turned red in the face. Something in his eyes made her feel like prey. There was this darkness again, this hunger.

'Why did you follow me?' Violetta asked while standing up. Sebastian's eyes were glued onto hers.

'Why aren't you wearing your blouse?' He answered snarkily and put his wand away. Violetta looked over to her wet and stained blouse. She opened her mouth to say something but he interrupted her.

'Actually, I know. Your friend Amit spilled it over you.' He spoke with a despite. Violetta felt a hate brewing in her.

'What is your damn problem?' She asked angrily and let her arms sink. 'For months you are acting like a cunt to everyone around you! Even to your friends!' Sebastian didn't answer this and just took off his pullover and held it toward Violetta. Underneath his pullover, he wore a white shirt that fitted perfectly for him. The first two buttons were open and she could see a bit of his bare chest. Violetta stared at the piece of skin and became even redder. Her heart beat like crazy. What is happening to her?

Unfortunately, Sebastian noticed her staring, and a dark smile formed on his lips.

'If you don't want it, I will put it back on.' He said and started to lower the pullover.

'No!' Violetta yelled and grabbed it from his hand. She quickly put it on and began to blush even harder if that was possible.

Sebastian laughed.

'Yes, I thought so.' He said in a dark voice and looked her up and down. 'I knew you couldn't resist me.' Violetta suddenly realized what he was trying to do. With all her might she pulled herself out of the trance he put her in and finally snapped out of it.

'The hell are you talking about? I just took your ugly thing because mine is wet.' Violetta said with growing anger in her voice. If he thinks that she is that easy he is wrong. Even Sebastian didn't expect this reaction and looked at her a bit surprised. Violetta went to the sink and grabbed her wet blouse and then she walked to the door to pick up her wand.

When she picked her wand up she pointed it at him and looked him straight in the eye.

'I have no idea for who you are taking yourself but you are for sure a ridiculous little boy hunting after something he will never get.' Violetta spoke with fury and turned to the door. Sebastian's eyes darkened and his smirk turned to anger.

While Violetta exited the toilet she heard him yell.

'I want my pullover back tomorrow or else I will personally get it back.'

Now Sebastian stood there alone in the cold room. This anger in him quickly turned to something else. A smile appeared on his lips.

Oh, how he loved it when she resisted like that while torturing herself. A plan formed in his head. He will break her. No matter the cost.

If you enjoy the content please leave a heart and follow to not miss any updates! xx Meigo

[salsflore]

random f/o + ship thoughts

help. get me out of this hell!!!!

alhaitham

not averse to touch, but its not his main way of expressing affection. prefers acts of service and quality time over anything else.

leaves her notes when he’s gone. simple things like “don’t forget to bring your jacket before you leave.” or “i’ll be back late, no need to wait up for me.”

has a consistent, healthy bedtime routine somehow?? will often remind her to go to bed just so she doesn’t stay up too late. (she does anyways)

realistically i don’t think we’d have many hobbies in common, so they’d probably co-exist in silence and do their own thing instead ...

surprisingly amazing at helping her deal with her overthinking or #issues because hes just so... logical. shes like "ohgh...shjsk...." and hes like "No." and shes like "ok thanks i am cured now"

he runs colder so they use different blankets + neither fully likes or dislikes cuddling to bed, but enjoys some space. will let her hug onto him anyways, though

mika’s experimental-breakfast victim. rip

random but probably the type to change his icon once and then never again. would leave his profile(s) blank. loser

childe

heavily prefers calling over texting. likes to send her silly voice messages to update her of whatever he’s doing right now ++ pictures of the stuff he finds interesting

after a long day at work or while trying to sleep, he’ll cling to her. calls it his way of recharging. she is forced to deal with it, unfortunately ...

likes to brag to her about random stuff, even the most mundane of things. like "yup. i got the last one before they ran out of stock! i’m so cool.."

often got scolded for returning home bloody/injured or something. he’ll brush it off sometimes and be like “umm ?? but its not MY blood, therefore-” but he’s careful about it now, lest he upset her (again)

enjoys having matching household items with her, e.g slippers or toothbrushes??? likes to buy useless household products

sort of annoying about being married. very much a “my wife” kind of guy

diluc

initially very hesitant about showing his scars to her. enough so that he wouldn’t even take his gloves off. she’d be like “haha hey you can remove them!” and he’d be like “haha! no. i would rather die btw” but he gets there eventually okay!!

i think i mentioned this before already but after the tavern closes she’d pop in to keep him company + help out as he cleans and makes preparations for the next day.

god... probably has a picture of me in a locket like a loser...

sends home gifts whenever he’s away for work. like a bouquet of flowers or something. or 5,000 cats

will let her try out new hairstyles on his hair + she helps him brush through it after a shower.

he doesn’t fully get her sense of humor but will play along with it just to appease her.

zhongli

similar to childe in the sense that he’s also a “my wife” guy. a little more subtle though. he doesn’t do it intentionally and gets bashful when confronted

is an adeptus, so he doesn’t rlly require sleep? only started having a regular sleeping schedule bc of her.

often asked to help remind her of stuff. he has excellent memory so might as well. he does it everytime without fail :3

touchstarved and very much enjoys being held. would rather die than admit it, however.

painfully dense. everytime she tries to jokingly flirt with him or something it just goes riight over his head...

has a whole collection of valuable shinies because. you know. silly dragon...

like childe, sends updates w/ photos during the day (but he’s awful at taking photos. reminds me of a certain cat-loving heir..)

[sleeping-on-cracking-ice]

Hello! Can you write something with female Y/N and Chishiya? She helped him with something and is injured after that. She fell or burn her back or hit her head, but pretends that nothing happened since she think he doesn't care and the injury it's getting worst by days, Chishiya didn't notice at first and he just don't understand why Y/N is not talking with him but lets it go, then the day of game comes and they both have to play and Y/N faints few hours before registration. He is panicking suddenly aware of his own feelings towards her and he is SO worried and feels guilty. I hope you can add a lot of angst but fluffy end? I'm sorry if this is messy, english is not my first language 😭 Thank you!

Of course! And don’t worry your English is great 😊 I hope you enjoy! ❤️

Panicked Confession | Shuntaro Chishiya

{Alice In Borderland Masterlist}

Character(s): Chishiya (ft. Kuina, Usagi, Ann, Hatter)

Summary: You get badly burnt while saving Chishiya in a game, but made sure he knew nothing about it. Just before leaving for the next game, you pass out and Chishiya finds you, causing him to panic

Warning: swearing, burn injury, vomiting, fainting

Word Count: 4.9k

*reader is female

“Shit! Guys come on!”

You, Chishiya, Kuina and Usagi rushed through the bottom floor of the building. Flames were curling in the air around each side of you, quickly closing in to eat you alive.

All four of you had almost completed the game, being the only players left after the last puzzle of the building. It was a diamond game, a game of intelligence. You were lucky to have been with Chishiya, as Diamonds games were his specialty.

You were all sprinting across the room, together in a tight pack so the flames don’t manage to touch you. You were panting, feeling your lungs collapsing in on themselves, but you had to press on. Only a few more steps before you could jump through the glass window at the end of the room, which was quickly being engulfed.

Suddenly, you saw Chishiya, who was running next to you, trip on a loose bit of debris laying on the ground inconveniently. You looked back and saw him holding his ankle in pain.

Of course, just your luck.

You all stopped abruptly, skidding along the floor and looking back to Chishiya in fear. He saw you all, his eyes widening.

“What are you doing?! Go!” he called out, wincing in pain.

You looked towards Kuina and Usagi, watching as thoughts spiraled around their heads to figure out what to do. The flame was too close behind Chishiya for it to be safe, if someone was to help him, they would have to risk their life doing so.

Both Kuina and Usagi shook their heads and looked away. They turned away from Chishiya and began jogging towards the window again. You froze. There’s no way they would just leave him like that.

“Guys!” You called out to them. They turned to you with fearful expressions painted on their face. “What are you doing?!” You asked, fear and worry dripping from your words. You had to make up your mind soon or you would be burned to a crisp.

Kuina motioned for you to come to her. “Y/N, there’s no time! We have to go!” you could tell she felt awful about this decision, but you weren’t giving up just yet.

You looked back at Chishiya laying on the ground. He was staring at you with a worried expression, wanting you to hurry up and leave him. You couldn’t leave a friend that easy to die. You had to at least try.

You let out a big sigh and lifted your aching legs to race towards Chishiya. He began yelling at you the moment you started running. “No, no, no! Go Y/N! What are you doing?!”

You ignored his shouting and quickly knelt down beside him to lift his arm around your shoulders. You weren’t going to lose anyone else, you promised yourself that after your friends died in the first game you played after appearing in the Borderlands.

Chishiya kept arguing and shaking his head as you tried to lift his body. He was surprisingly heavy for someone his size. “Y/N, go! There’s no time! You can’t save me!” he at screamed you, becoming more desperate with every plea.

You continued to ignore him and began dragging him along towards the window, where Kuina and Usagi were already working on breaking the glass with debris from around them. “You’re not going to off yourself that easily Chishiya as long as I have a say in it,” you rasped out, struggling to keep upright with the extra weight on your shoulders.

As your heart pounded in your ears and you felt the fire become hotter and hotter around you, you suddenly felt an incredibly sharp pain across your spine. The sensation spread all through your body, from your head to your toe, making you cry out and almost collapse to the ground, but you stayed strong.

Chishiya had given up arguing with you, using his good leg to take a bit of his body weight off your pained shoulders. With his help, you managed to move much quicker, limping and staggering your way towards Kuina and Usagi, who had broken the window and were now waiting for you to come, yelling at you to hurry up.

You didn’t look back; you didn’t want to see how close the flames were. You knew it would do nothing but make the situation worse.

As you neared the window, you slowed down as Kuina ran out to help you lift Chishiya up and out of the window. You were relying completely on adrenaline at that point, having lost all of your strength through running and carrying Chishiya.

You managed to lift yourself through the cracked window, earning a few cuts from the leftover glass on the way, and collapsed onto the grass ground below you. A large barrier from inside the room (probably manufactured for the games) closed over the destroyed window as you fell, being lucky to be the last out of the four of you to escape. The flames were locked in, unable to harm you.

The four of you laid on the grass, panting and trying to regain your breath. As your adrenaline calmed down, the pain of your large burn mark set in. You covered your face with your hand and silently screamed against it, trying to drown out the searing pain somehow. You couldn’t worry the others, not after what just happened.

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

The next couple of days was nothing but a struggle for you. As soon as you arrived back from the game, you stumbled your way to Ann’s medical room. She took a closer look at your burn wound, applying whatever she had to try and reduce the chance of it getting infected. But unfortunately, that didn’t reduce the pain.

After allowing Ann to wrap a bandage around your upper back to protect the wound, you slowly made your way back to your room on the upper floor. You didn’t want to rush yourself in case you made your wound worse, so you took your time in getting there.

Unfortunately, it was a bit too much time, as you managed to bump into Chishiya who popped out from around the corner. A small panic raised within you; you didn’t want Chishiya to see you like this! It’s embarrassing enough to like someone you had no chance with, but for them to see you stumbling and holding onto the wall because you can’t even keep yourself up? No, not today.

You stood more upright than before, giving Chishiya your best fake smile. “Hey Y/N,” he said, walking past you. You breathed a sigh of relief. Well, that wasn’t too bad.

You started to walk again before you heard Chishiya call out from behind you. “Oh, wait Y/N!”

You turned around, biting your tongue so you didn’t let out a yelp of pain as the skin on your back twisted with your movements. “Yeah?” you acknowledged him.

He gave you a half-hearted smile. “Thanks again, for earlier. I would’ve been a goner if you hadn’t risked your life like that for me,” he said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. You’ve never seen him thank someone before, so you were shocked.

“Oh, it was no big deal! We should all help each other out, considering we haven’t really got anything else other than each other,” you said, smiling happily. You felt all giddy from him acknowledging the fact that you risked yourself for him.

“Yeah, but it was still pretty cool of you. Even Kuina and Usagi were willing to leave me there,” he chuckled as his own joke.

You laughed and shook your head at him. “I’m sure they were just doing what they thought was best for everyone else in the moment.”

Chishiya nodded and gave you a small wave. “I’ll see you tomorrow night then! Hatter let me know in the meeting this evening that you and I are together again. I’m glad though, because you seem to have the skill and brains to get through some tough games.”

You were flattered by his compliment. “Thanks, you too though! We would have burnt to a crisp if it weren’t for you during that diamond game tonight.”

The small talk was killing you. You just wanted to get back to your room and wallow in the silence that engulfed it. At least there, you could suffer from your burn wound a little louder than out in the public eye of The Beach.

Chishiya laughed at your statement. “No, I’m sure with you there it would’ve been fine,” he said back, making you smile wider.

“I’ll see you later then,” you exclaimed, waving a hand at him. He waved back with a grin on his attractive features before he turned around and continued down the hall with his hands tucked into their usual spot in his hoodie pockets.

You let out a big sigh of relief. That was close. You felt the pain seeping through your body the longer you stood there, hoping for Chishiya to just end the conversation. You felt guilty, it may have looked like you were trying to escape, since you were slowly backing towards the corner. Hopefully, he didn’t notice.

You stumbled the rest of the way towards your room, wincing and hissing in pain on the way. It felt like Ann didn’t do anything at all, but you couldn’t blame her. She had extremely limited resources and could only leave to search for more every few weeks.

When you finally made it to the door of your room, the familiar number engraved onto the middle of it, you gripped the handle and walked inside.

You collapsed onto your bed onto your stomach. There was no way you would be able to sleep on your back with this kind of pain, so you had to resort to either on your side or on your stomach.

Let’s just say, you had a restless sleep.

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

You were hoping after a night’s sleep that the pain from your back would have disappeared at least a little bit. But you couldn’t have been more wrong. If anything, it had become worse. You probably managed to roll onto it a few times during the night, reopening any part of the wound that had sealed up over the time you’ve had it.

It took you far too long to get out of bed in the morning. You groaned and moaned in frustration as you crawled your way out of the duvet, almost collapsing off your bed. You felt rather pathetic, but who wouldn’t after not being able to do the simplest of tasks from a wound.

As you were walking to your closet to look for something to wear, you remembered you had to go see Ann again that morning. She had told you last night to return to her medical room the next morning so she could reapply a new bandage onto you, in case the other one gets bacteria or blood on it during the night somehow.

You quickly put on your usual swimmers to wear around the hotel and the black hoodie that you wore most of the time when you got cold. You didn’t want to risk anyone else seeing your wound. The gaping burn mark across your upper back was bound to attract unwanted attention.

You made your way down the hall to go see Ann again. There was nobody in the halls around the rooms due to it being close to noon. You slept in longer than you expected.

You slowly walked down the couple of flights of stairs, making your way to Ann’s medical room on the lower floor. The walk down to the lobby felt longer at that moment than it ever had.

You approached the door with the red cross along the front of it, indicating the medical room. You were about to lift your hand to turn the doorknob before you heard a loud voice yell from further down the corridor.

You shifted your eyes and saw none other than Chishiya striding down the hallway with his usual cocky smirk painted across his face. Of course, you had to run into him out of all people.

“Y/N! Wait!” he yelled as he jogged up to you.

You stayed silent, waiting to hear what he had to say. You wanted to ignore him and just walk into the medical room to see Ann to avoid any kind of questioning or suspicion from him, but you knew that would only make him more curious.

“Hey, you alright?” he frowned, questioning you. He reached out to place a gentle hand on your forearm, but you flinched away before he could touch you.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” you answered, trying to sound normal. The piercing feeling that your wound brought you began to make its way around your body again, making you slightly shift and shake. ‘Of course, it just has its moment while I’m talking to the one person that I don’t want to look like a weakling in front of,’ you thought to yourself in your head.

Chishiya frowned at your flinch, but seemed to shake it off quickly, moving onto something else. “So anyway, where were you this morning?” he asked, leaning closer to you.

“I-I was in my room. I had a late sleep in,” you said, gripping the doorknob to the medical room.

“Oh, weird. Do you remember what we talked about yesterday?” he said with a smirk on his face.

‘Oh shit, he’s mocking my bad memory,” you thought, feeling embarrassed.

“Um… no? Should I?”

“You, Kuina, Alice, Usagi and I were going to meet up this morning to steal some food from the kitchen and take it to the rooftop. You didn’t show up near the pool where we said we were going to meet!” he exclaimed. He was laughing, obviously not caring too much about your forgetfulness.

You thought for a second. You did recall having that conversation. You guessed that you forgot about it because you were so focused on trying to reduce the pain from your burn. Even if you did remember, as if you would’ve been able to run away from the chefs in the kitchen after taking the food with this injury.

“Me and Kuina even knocked on your door. You must have been really knocked out if you didn’t wake up from Kuina’s loud yelling.”

He then raised his eyebrow and smirked. “Unless you were hiding from me?”

Your could tell he was obviously joking, but he wasn’t far off from being right. That has been your intention since last night, but trust Chishiya to figure you out quickly enough.

You heart rate picked up from his accurate accusation. “Uh, sorry Chishiya, but I really have to go,” you mumbled out, giving him a quick fake smile before walking into the medical room and closing the door behind you.

Chishiya’s mischievous smirk fell from his face. You didn’t even give him a chance to say goodbye, and you seemed oddly nervous from his accusation that you were avoiding him. He felt somewhat hurt. Were you trying to avoid him?

He shook off his suspicions and continued down the corridor to the lobby to find something to entertain him for the meantime. You wouldn’t try to avoid him, would you? Perhaps he’ll confront you about it later.

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

You were laying in your room reading a book when you heard the usual ring of the bell that was Hatter’s signal for everyone to move down to the lobby to prepare for the night’s games.

“Shit! Is it that late already?” you asked no one, glancing over at the digital clock on your nightstand.

You panicked and saw it was the time that you would head out to games. You said to yourself earlier that you would give yourself an early mark so you could get down there at the right time, considering you would be slow due to your condition, but you got distracted by your book and lost track of time.

You rushed to your feet a little too quickly for your body’s liking, causing the pain of your wound to shoot across your back without mercy, making you yelp in pain and fall forwards.

You managed to catch yourself before you face planted into the ground. You let out a few deep breaths, trying to regain your strength while the piercing pain became worse from your insistence.

You pushed yourself off the ground, placing your foot underneath you and attempting to stand to your feet. You had to make it to the cars at least, you knew if anyone found you at The Beach during game time, they would mark you a coward, or worse: a traitor.

You cursed under your breath and let out pained sobs as you tried to get to your feet again. But unfortunately, your body just wasn’t on your side at that moment.

Your feet gave out underneath you and your head pounded, causing you to feel dizzy and suddenly nauseated. You leant forwards as you emptied the contents of your stomach out onto the floor, gagging on the taste of it in the back of your throat.

Your eyes began to feel heavy, not being able to take the pain and stress you were under. You managed to roll yourself to the side so you wouldn’t land in the pile of vomit and lay yourself across the floor safely before you face planted.

“Fuck,” you rasped out, feeling helpless at that moment.

You couldn’t do anything as your vision narrowed, passing out from pain on the floor of your own room, no one around to help you.

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

“Hello again everyone! I would like to say a few words before we all get into our groups and drive to our games!”

Hatter’s usual booming voice thrusted across the crowd in front of him. Another night, another gathering. Just like every other day.

Chishiya stood at his usual spot in the back, leaning against the cement wall and rolling his eyes at Hatter’s words. He never seemed to have anything useful to say. Just some preachy words that created false hope.

‘How about for a change, he gave us some advice? It would probably spare some people a few headaches,’ Chishiya thought to himself.

He stood on his toes and tried to search the crowd for the top of your head. He was becoming anxious. You would usually be down in the lobby by now.

He was more nervous due to the way you’ve been acting all day. Usually, you two were joined at the hip twenty-four seven, but the only time he saw you that day was in the morning when you walked into the medical room.

He wondered why you were going in there. You never went to Ann unless it was for something drastic, but you seemed completely healthy and unharmed.

As the time ticked on, Chishiya became more and more worried. You would never skip out on a game; you were too afraid of being caught by the executives for that.

Hatter finished off his nightly speech with the list of groups and which number wristbands go where. Chishiya didn’t even care to pay attention as everyone began making their way towards the entrance of the hotel where they would pile into the cars and drive off to the games. He ran the opposite way, clambering up the flights of stairs to reach the level your room is on. If you had to be anywhere, it would be there.

He powered his legs into a sprint, having to brush his white locks out of his face once or twice due to them getting in the way. He eventually arrived at your room, stopping and panting to regain his breath.

He knocked on your door quietly at first, not knowing if you were asleep or something. “Y/N?” he called out through the door. “We need to head off to the games. Did you not hear the bell?”

When he received nothing but silence as an answer, he took it upon himself to walk in to see if you were there. He opened the door and peeked his head around the side, being careful in case you were indecent for some reason.

As he walked in further, his heart dropped as he saw you laying on the ground passed out.

“Y/N!” he exclaimed, rushing over to your body and kneeling beside you. He lifted your head onto his lap gently and immediately checked your neck for a pulse. A small feeling of relief flowed through him when he felt the beat of your heart on his fingers.

“Oh my god Y/N, what’s happened to you?” he stressed, tapping your cheek with his hand to see if you would wake. He was beginning to become more worried as time ticked on. He glanced over at the clock on your nightstand and saw that it was getting later. He had to wake you up before registration closed for all the games.

He lifted you up from under your arms, using all his strength to pull you into your small bathroom. He placed you gently on the tiled floor, stuffing a towel underneath your head for support. He quickly shifted your body around, trying to look for any source of injury that caused you to pass out. He froze when he noticed a few stains of blood on the back of your hoodie. He quickly lifted the hem of your shirt to see what was causing the stains.

His eyes almost popped out of his head from the sight. He gasped at the huge burn wound on your back, stretching across from your shoulder blades to your waist. The bandage that Ann had wrapped around it had come loose, hanging off your abdomen carelessly. His heart filled with guilt as he examined it more closely. Why didn’t he look after you?

He immediately put two and two together and realized that you had probably passed out from the pain of the burn mark.

He stood up from his position on the floor and grabbed a small cloth from your towel rack, running it under the water from the tap. He knelt back down next to you and carefully placed the wet fabric against your wound. He was so afraid of hurting you, but he had to do what he could to make you better for the game.

“Oh, come on, please wake up Y/N,” he breathed out. Stress and anxiety filled his tone, making the air more tense.

“Please wake up, please be okay. I love you, please don’t die Y/N,” he suddenly felt small tears gathering in his eyes as he stood up quickly to refresh the cloth that he was using to clean the burn.

He felt his hidden feelings begin to pour out of his mouth. He couldn’t handle the strain seeing you like this was having on his emotions.

He brought the cloth back, but this time he turned you over slightly so he could place it on your face. Your eyes were still shut tightly, not showing any indication of opening.

Chishiya ran the fingers of his other hand along your cheek, tapping softly on your skin, hoping that you would wake up from the physical contact. He felt desperate. He has never felt this helpless before, not even in games.

He allowed his few tears to fall down his cheek, lifting your head and pressing his forehead against yours. “Please wake up, we have to go. Just wake up and I’ll take care of you,” he mumbled out with shaky breaths.

He didn’t know what else to do. He could do nothing but hope.

A few minutes passed with Chishiya just holding you and pressing the cold cloth onto your face, trying to make you open your eyes. And eventually you did.

Chishiya breathed in a huge sigh of relief when he saw your eyes flutter open slowly, dazed and confused. He smiled and kept the cloth pressed to your face, caressing your cheek with his thumb.

“Oh, thank god,” he breathed out, wrapping his arm around your shoulder and bringing you into his chest for a close hug. You groaned loudly at the contact as Chishiya accidentally placed his hand on your wound.

“Chishiya, be careful,” you rasped out against his chest. He flinched away immediately and apologized.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up,” he said, lifting you up under your arms again. You groaned, not being able to stand up on your own yet. Chishiya kept you close to his chest as you leant against him.

He managed to clean you up with you leaning most of your body weight on him. He helped you wash out your mouth and clean your teeth to get rid of the taste of vomit and reapplied the bandage that had fallen off your wound. He did it all with such care and concern, being afraid of hurting you or overwhelming you with anything.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at the games?” you asked after you had finished rinsing your face.

“I noticed you weren’t at the lobby when Hatter called everyone, so I ran to your room and found you,” he answered, fixing your hoodie on your back from when he had to lift it to clean your injury.

“So, everyone’s gone?” you asked with a worried expression. Chishiya nodded, leaning on the sink next to you to check your face to see if you were alright.

“But if they find us, they’ll mark us as traitors!” you exclaimed, fear filling your head.

Chishiya placed his index finger on your lips to shush you. “Shh, only if they can hear us. We can just stay in here and be quiet, and hopefully no one suspects that we’re missing,” he said, smiling to calm you down.

You searched his eyes for any uncertainty but chose to let it go and just listen to him. “Okay.”

You both sat side by side on the floor of your small bathroom, Chishiya running his hand up and down your arm to keep your anxiety away. After a while of comfortable silence, you spoke up.

“Thanks, Chishiya, for helping me. If it weren’t for you, I’d still be lying on the ground next to a pile of my own puke,” you laughed at yourself.

Chishiya giggled. “It’s okay. I care about you Y/N, I couldn’t just leave you there.”

You looked at him with sparkling eyes, being taken back by his statement. “Really?” you asked, not believing him.

He smiled lovingly and caressed your cheek with his fingers. “Of course, I’d do anything if it was to help you.”

You thought you would have a cute moment together, but that flew out the window when Chishiya slapped you lightly across the cheek. Not enough to hurt you, but enough to bring a shocked expression onto your face.

“But next time, tell me when you’re hurt instead of trying to hide it from me like an idiot! You really think you’d be able to hide something like this from me?” he scolded you like a mother, but you giggled at his reaction.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you next time. Why did I ever think I could keep something from someone with an intelligent mind like yours,” you teased, leaning closer to his face.

Chishiya raised his eyebrows. “Hm, thanks, I guess? Not sure if that was a compliment or if you’re poking fun at me.”

You chuckled. “Take it however you want,” you whispered. You finally closed to space between you, allowing your lips to clash against his. Chishiya let out a shocked sound, but quickly melted against you and accepted your kiss.

You both sat on the floor of your bathroom, moving your mouths together while Chishiya tried hard to place his hands on you without touching your burn mark. You appreciated his care, but he ended up having to awkwardly place them on your upper arms, rubbing up and down them slowly.

You pulled away first, making Chishiya chase your lips as you moved away, making you giggle. “There’s my thank you gift,” you said cheekily, leaning away from him and back into your seating position.

Chishiya pouted at you. “That’s it? That was barely a kiss!” he argued, trying to move closer to you, wanting more of your affection.

“Chishiya, your tongue was in my mouth. I think that clarifies as a kiss,” you stated, placing your hand on his mouth and pushing him away gently. “Maybe let down that tough guy persona more often and take care of me, maybe then you’ll get more kisses.”

Chishiya leaned back and frowned. “Fine, but don’t expect this to be the norm now. I’m not going to let you control my personality just for a bit of affection.”

Well, that was a lie.

Author’s Note: Every Chishiya fanfic I’ve written has had some sort of angsty moment in it 😂 this man is going through it

[songmingisthighs]

[21.57] mafia!wooyoung × reader

⇀ nothing's as concerning as wooyoung's 180° change, it's all or nothing for him. And you ? You just became his everything.

⇁ tw : violence, mafia life

⇁ part. 1 / 2 / 3

⇁ disclaimer : the author does not support any and all criminal/illegal acts. the narrative written in this story is purely fiction out of the author's imagination. the things written here does not portray real mafia life nor is the author aware of how the mafia life is like. the author is a hermit loser.

Five days went by and you still haven't regained consciousness and Wooyoung had not left your side for even one second.

Neglecting not only his duties but also his own well-being. He wouldn't leave you for a single second, afraid that if he does, someone might come in and finished you off. So he had San be on standby in the guest room, taking his place for when he needs to shower or go for a bathroom break. Said man even attempted to spoon-feed Wooyoung when he found out that his friend had denied the food his house staff brought to him, to which Wooyoung finally gave in and feed himself after San tied him up in his chair and threaten to feed him mother bird style.

When Yeosang came back in the day after you were first found, Wooyoung almost stab one of the nurses when he tried to take you to get checked.

"Seriously? I brought my machines and staff here and literally, within the first 2 minutes here, there are no signs of gratitude and you almost injured one of my staffs? Are you freaking high again?" Yeosang nagged after pulling the petrified nurse to the side.

Honestly, Wooyoung felt bad for scaring the man, but he had to hold onto you no matter what. You have to be within his peripheral vision because the last time he (stupidly) let (drove; shove) you out of his sight (turned all cctvs off which then directly caused you to get kidnapped), he almost didn't get the chance to regret what he did (and said) to you.

But Wooyoung wasn't gonna let other people know that he has remorse. Heck no.

He's the Jung family head mafia and there isn't anyone allowed to know how he's actually like.

Except you.

Right after you wake up.

So instead of letting Yeosang's staffs take you away, Wooyoung swooped you in his deceptively strong arms and put you on the gurney.

Once he's sure that you're secured, he looked at Yeosang and his staffs with narrowed eyes, "no offense, man, but I don't trust any of them," Wooyoung then look to his men who's stationed by his door, "get their details and do thorough background checks on them," he said before pushing the gurney down, forcing Yeosang to personally help him.

He made sure that his men were stationed at every entrance, ran background checks on every staff that entered his place, heck even put out a curfew for everyone including his visiting friends.

"Dude, you gotta get out of here, you look like a zombie," San said as he entered the room, walking towards Wooyoung who had moved his desk closer to the bed where you lied motionless. He slightly cringed when he saw the needles that poked through the skin of your hand.

Without looking up from his work, Wooyoung sighed and shook his head, "she could wake up any second, I wanna be here when she does" he muttered, eyes flitting to your form on the bed for a second.

San approached his friend, leaning both hands on the table, "Wooyoung, you missed 3 important meetings, 2 briefings, and you haven't delegated workloads other than security details for your own place, the organization will be in shambles soon," he said sternly.

Hearing facts behind his words irked Wooyoung, he knew about the current vulnerability in his organization because he's only been taking care of you since you came back to him. He didn't want to be reminded of his previous neglect.

He was about to tell San off when suddenly a voice chimed in.

"You should go do your job, Wooyoung," you called, coughing a little from scratchy throat.

It took him some time to fully realize that you had woken up after five days. He immediately run to your side and help you sit up, ordering San to get you a glass of water.

Once your throat had been soothed by the water, Wooyoung held your hand in his, kissing the back side of it multiple times to express how glad he is, "thank God you woke up, I-I don't know what I'd do if you don't," he choked, feeling tears start to brim on his eyes.

You initially didn't pull away from his touch nor his affection, maybe it's the fact that you had just woken up, maybe you think you're hallucinating, because the Jung Wooyoung you knew would never talk to you or treat you like this.

Though it hurts, you pulled your hand away from his grip, cringing a bit, "F-funny you say that, last time we spoke you said you wanted me dead," you muttered bitterly at him.

Sensing that this is a personal conversation, San slipped away before hearing anything else.

Wooyoung stared at you with sad eyes, "No, baby, I would never," he reached forward, trying to take your hand in his once again. But you scooted further into the bed, your eyes started watering, "liar," you choked out, "you said you've been planning my assassination since the beginning and you wanted to go through with it,"

"I-I did, didn't I? I can't deny I've said that to you, but please, losing you was the hardest thing that ever happened to me-"

"Well what about me!?" You exclaimed, cutting him off, surprising him at the tone you used.

By now tears had streamed down your face, your hands were clutching the blanket on your lap tightly as you began sobbing, "f-for a year, I've been nothing but understanding to you and your actions, I've done nothing but try to stay out of your way, all I asked in return was to be treated like a human being, but you couldn't even do that now, could you ? I even had to get kidnapped by whoever's after you for you to finally give half a fuck about me," you were choking the words out, your raw emotion evident with the way you speak.

Wooyoung never once seen this side of you, the side that is so raw and vulnerable. Sure, he'd occassionally hear your soft sobs through the en suite bathroom or came across your quivering figure in the gardens. But never once did you bore yourself to him like this.

Despite knowing that you might push him away, Wooyoung climbed into bed as quick as he can and enveloped you tightly in his arms.

At first you tried pushing him off with all your strength, not wanting to be comforted by him. But he held on, he knew his way around people's movement so using his knowledge against you was an easy feat.

It took you a while, you still struggled for a bit but you eventually gave in, letting his arms wrap around you and tucking your head under his chin. By now you had somehow situated between his legs, him carefully minding the IV on your right hand as he pulled you in deeper (as if it's possible).

"I know that I don't deserve it, heck, I deserve nothing from you after putting you in hell like that, but I sincerely apopogize and I will do anything and everything I can in order to gain your trust and maybe..." he pulled back slightly and tilt your chin up so he can meet your gaze, "...we can go forth and build a relationship?"

Stranger things had happened in your life but this, by far, is the strangest. Never in a million years would you ever thought that you'd be able to see the great Jung Wooyoung blush like a high school girl. It's honestly cute.

But not as cute as when he bit his lips to prevent his mouth from tearing due to the large grin that bloomed on his face once you gave him a nod, agreeing to him after leaving him nervous for a solid 5 minutes.

[mochegato]

Even the Losers

Chapter 7

Chapter 1     Chapter 6

Marinette rubbed her head as though the action might actually have an effect on her throbbing headache.  It hadn’t any time she’d tried it in the last hour, but it gave her brain the illusion that she was doing something to help other than just waiting for the painkillers to kick in.  The action also gave her something to focus on other than the pounding hangover from not getting nearly drunk enough last night.  Because somehow despite the massive amounts she, Jason, and Roy had drunk last night, all of her problems still existed.  Utter bullshit, that.  And now she still had to deal with all her problems and felt like crap on top of it.  Double bullshit.

She adjusted her sunglasses again, fighting the urge to squint because squinting hurt.  Although honestly, she wasn’t sure which hurt more, the florescent lights, the sunlight beaming through the hotel windows, or squinting.  She was sure there was some way to settle the glasses on her face to block out all light, she just hadn’t been able to figure it out.  She now realized why people significantly smarter than her wore those godawful, ugly glasses that wrap around their head and cut out all sun.

She took a deep breath and braced herself for the full blast of a suspiciously sunny Gotham morning. Gotham has like three sunny days a year and one of them is today?  What the Hell did she do to Tikki to deserve the last few days?  She wandered out of the hotel still contemplating revenge. How does one get revenge against a god anyway?  How many ways can she destroy cookies?

She didn’t get more than a few steps before she sensed someone in front of her.  She weaved slightly to the left but quickly realized there was someone there too.  She weaved to the right and finally looked up when she realized there was someone there. There were people all around her, taking pictures of her, shoving phones in her face as they yelled questions at her.

She stumbled back a few steps and blinked at the group of reporters that had apparently been camping out in front of the hotel for her.  She quickly plastered on one of Adrien’s patented PR smiles and nodded to them. She tried to push through them, expecting them to move out of her way, as they did in Paris for Adrien.  But reporters in Gotham clearly did not show the same respect that Parisian reporters did because none of them moved out of her way.  

Her smile strained slightly as she looked to the one in front of her.  “Excuse me, please,” she requested in the most sickeningly sweet voice she could manage.

The reporter sent back an excited smile.  “Ms. Dupain Cheng, would you care to comment on your relationship with your family? Perhaps explain why Gotham hadn’t had the pleasure of your presence before?”

Marinette looked the reporter up and down.  She looked at the group surrounding her, noting how they had closed the circle to the point of touching her.  She’d been to raves with more personal space.  She moved to push through a small gap between reporters, but stopped when they quickly closed the gap.  Marinette gritted her teeth and widened her smile.  “There’s a reason we’ve chosen not to speak about this and that reason was NOT to discuss it in an exclusive with you at this exact moment.  Now if you will excuse me, I would very, very much like to get some coffee.  I’m sure you can understand the difficulty of starting a day without it.”

She gave them a conspiratorial smile, hoping if they felt like they were in on the joke they would let her through. Instead, her response emboldened the reporters, who started shouting out her name and more questions.

“Will you attend more Wayne functions now?”

Marinette didn’t even know which reporter shouted the question to address them if she wanted.  She huffed and decided to give up on pleasantries.  She was hung over.  She was hungry.  She wanted coffee.  “Why would people change a relationship that doesn’t involve you because you know about it?” she grunted as she tried to push through the cracks between people.  

The reporters closed ranks tighter around her, making it impossible for her to break through without injuring someone, which she was sure was the plan of at least a few of them.  Whether it was to get a more salacious story or to sue Bruce Wayne, she wasn’t sure.  Probably both.  She looked back to the hotel lobby hoping the concierge would see her predicament and help her, but he was determinedly ignoring the scene in front of the hotel.

She set her jaw and prepared herself to create a scene channeling her best imitation of an irate Chloe Bourgeoisie.  She’d deal with the fallout later.  Right now, she needed to get out of this situation before someone actually did push a little too hard and tiny gods decided to curse the city.  She opened her mouth to yell but instead heard someone else’s voice boom through the crowd.

“I think my sister told you to leave her the fuck alone.”

Marinette looked around to try to find the source of the voice but couldn’t see past the wall of reporters.  She didn’t have to wait long for him to push his way through the crowd like a wrecking ball, not worrying about injuring anyone as he shoved his way through.  Jason stopped in front of her with a smirk.  “She just says it in a much more polite way than I do.”  He held up a bag and a tray of coffee.  “I come bearing gifts so you don’t have to deal with this shit out there somewhere.”  

Marinette shot him a grateful smile and turned back toward the hotel.  “That sounds brilliant.  Thank you.”

Jason winked at her.  “I got you.”

They didn’t stop or even look at each other until the elevator doors closed behind them.  Marinette leaned against the wall and finally took a full breath.  She looked over to Jason with another grateful smile.  “Thank you. I wasn’t expecting that and I…” She looked down for a moment to collect her thoughts.  “I wasn’t prepared.  I’ll do better next time.”

Jason’s eyes softened.  The press was a lot for all of them to get used to.  None of them had taken naturally to it, especially Gotham’s press.  They at least had the advantage of starting young and knowing what to expect, not to mention since they were kids, the press didn’t have a lot of chances to get to them.  Marinette had just been thrown out there without a life preserver.  Bruce didn’t even send any guards.  “Don’t worry about it.  I thought you could use the save.”

Marinette laughed and narrowed her eyes at him.  “That was a socially acceptable version of a kidnapping.  I had no way of getting out of that without exposing that there is no relationship.”

“Should have just exposed it then,” he shrugged, not remotely nonplussed by her comment.  “I just thought you could use some sustenance after last night.”  He held up the bag for her as they exited the elevator and made their way to her room.  “I know you must be used to fancy French food so I got a variety of food from the best bakery in town.  And I didn’t know how you take your coffee or if you prefer tea so I got both and lots of sugar and creamer.”

Marinette giggled as she opened her door.  “You’re not wrong.  My parents owned a patisserie.  I grew up on the best baked goods in France.”

Jason blinked a few times at her before setting the drinks and food on the coffee table.  “That’s it, next family reunion is at your place.”

“Not so sure that’s going to be a thing,” she said quietly.  She reached for one of the croissants and ripped off a small piece, popping it in her mouth.  “Not really sure I count as family.  That’s kind of been made clear.”

“Yeah well, we didn’t know and we’d like to get to know you, if you’re okay with it,” he said biting off a chunk of cheese Danish. “Look, I’m not looking for family dinners and brunches and shit, I just… want to make sure you’re okay.”  He looked up at her earnestly for a moment before his eyes turned mischievous.  “Although if you grew up in a bakery, I might want all that at your parents’ place.”

“At least you’re asking.  That’s something anyway,” she grumbled as she took another small bite.  

“Speaking of family, where is model boy?”

Marinette puckered her lips in disapproval as she watched the crumbs fall from Jason’s mouth as he spoke.  She looked away before she snapped at him.  “He and Max went apartment hunting.”

“Without you?” Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Neither of them were suffering from a raging hangover that took double the normal dosage of painkillers just to take the edge off of,” she said pointedly.

“Coffee,” Jason grunted, motioning toward the coffee. “Lots of coffee and food and water.” He pushed the bag toward her. “Not the bird bites you’ve been taking.”

She studied the croissant in front of her with a furrowed brow as though it had some kind of answers for her.  She nearly dropped it when she heard a knock on the door. She looked through the peephole and gasped, flinching back from the door.  Jason immediately jumped up and ran over to her.  “What is it?  Another reporter?”

“No,” Marinette rasped out, her eyes never leaving the door.  “Worse.” Her heart started racing and her breathing became labored.  She wasn’t ready for this.  She wasn’t ready to speak with him.  What was she supposed to say?  How was she supposed to speak with him?  She didn’t even know how she felt yet.  She hadn’t sorted through this all yet.  Tears threatened to fall from her eyes.  She wasn’t ready.  This was happening too fast.

She flinched visibly when he knocked again. He’d had time to prepare.  He’d had time to think this through.  He knew how he felt about this.  He’d had time to plan and prepare.  She had none of that and here he was on her doorstep.  He knew about her and she knew nothing about him. He was ready and she wasn’t given that chance.  

She was just expected to deal with it.  She was just expected to handle it.  She was just expected to accept it.  He’d created this entire situation and she was left to pick up the pieces and move on.  And now he was here.  He was on her figurative doorstep in person and now she had to deal with it, on his timetable, according to his preference, because yet again it all had to be done on his terms.  Her preferences didn’t matter.  Her feelings didn’t matter.  Her opinion didn’t matter.

“Want me to kick their ass out?” Jason offered already reaching for the handle.

Marinette shook her head and let out a calming breath. He thinks he can come in after twenty years gone and act like everything is fine and expect her to play nice, he has another thing coming.  He wanted a detached relationship?  She could do that.  She’d seen it enough growing up with Adrien and Chloe’s parents.  She knew how to play the game.

She shook her hands to get the tension out before finally reaching out to open the door.  “Mr. Wayne.  This is an unexpected pl… experience,” she stuttered.  She mentally grimaced.  She was showing weakness.  She needed to be strong.  She plastered on a clearly fake smile.  She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of being weak.  She wouldn’t cry for him.  She hadn’t cried because of him in the twenty years he’d been absent, she wouldn’t do it now.

Bruce took a breath.  “Marinette…”  He froze for a second.  He hadn’t thought hard enough about this.  He knew what he wanted to say, what he wanted to tell her, but he hadn’t thought about how to tell her, how to lead into it.  “I was hoping to speak with you,” he rushed out, wincing internally at the sound of it.

“Well, that’s a first,” she scoffed before she could stop herself.  She slapped her hand over her mouth and mentally berated herself.  What was she doing?  She was supposed to be calm not cruel.  She was losing this game!

Jason grinned and propped his arms behind his head as he kicked out his legs, the very picture of relaxed.  “I like her.  I’m keeping her.”

Marinette shot him an appreciative smile but Bruce did a double take, frowning at the sight.  His mind raced as to what it meant that Jason was there.  Was it good?  It was good, wasn’t it?  She was getting close to one of her brothers already.  But that brother was Jason, and despite the fact that he loved Jason, he was well aware their relationship was still contentious at best.  Not exactly the best brother for her to get close to. And he was already encouraging her hostility against him.  Not that he didn’t deserve it, he knew he did, it was just that any of the other brothers would help mitigate that hostility.  Jason would fan it.  “Jason, what are you doing here?”

“Brought baked goods and coffee,” he answered casually, a smirk making its way onto his face.  “You?”

Bruce let out a heavy sigh through his nose and smoothed out his face.  Getting annoyed now would do nothing for his goal.  If Marinette was connecting to Jason, getting frustrated with him would just push her further away.  “As I mentioned, I was hoping I could speak with Marinette about the… situation.  I wanted…”

“‘The situation’,” Jason mocked shaking his head at Bruce.  God was he always this bad with his kids?  He thought it was just him.  “Way to sound sincere, B.”

Bruce’s lips pursed until they were no longer visible. He didn’t need Jason sabotaging him right now.  He was doing a good enough job of it on his own.  “I’d like to speak with Marinette on our own, please.  Why don’t you go home?”

Marinette’s eyes went wide and her chest clenched. She didn't want Jason to leave.  She wasn't ready for Jason to leave.  Once Jason left it was just her and him.  Just thinking about it suddenly she couldn't breathe.  Suddenly the air felt too thin and too heavy at the same time.  No.  She needed somebody else here.  

Jason shot a look over to Marinette, letting his eyes pass over Marinette like he hadn’t been noting her body language.  He let his eyes wander for a second before returning to Bruce with a tilt to his head.  “No.  I’m witnessing this, unless Pixie tells me to go home.”

Marinette could have kissed him… on the cheek. Because he was her br… it was complicated.  But she was beyond grateful he had spoken up for her.  She let out the breath she’d been holding and raised an eyebrow at him. “Pixie?”

“Small, violent,” Jason grinned at her.

Marinette laughed and playfully narrowed her eyes at him. “Fine, whatever, Goliath.”

Jason leaned back again.  “Oh, no, that one’s already taken.  By a dragon bat, no less.”

Marinette’s face scrunched in confusion.  She tried to search through her Americanisms for what a dragon bat could be.  It had to be a species of bat right?  Maybe? But then again it was American English so for all she knew it could be a flower.  “A what?”

“Jason!” Bruce admonished.  He was really not looking forward to trying to explain what a dragon bat was or how Damian came to be in possession of one.

Jason rose up enough to grab one of the croissants and shove half of it into his mouth before he spoke.  “I’ll introduce you sometime, or Damian will have to actually… which he won’t.  I’ll show you a picture, you seem like the kind of person who likes terrifying animals as long as they’re fuzzy.”

“I… fair,” Marinette conceded easily.

“If I can bring us back to the topic at hand,” Bruce interjected loudly, cutting off any more discussion of dragon bats.

“Family bonding, right?”  Jason cut him off with a pointed look.  “Isn’t that what we were doing?”

Bruce glared at Jason for a few seconds, which did nothing to wipe the smug smirk off his face.  Giving up on Jason, Bruce focused on Marinette.  “At the gala you mentioned you didn’t plan on being in town much longer, leaving today actually.  I was hoping I could convince you to stay a bit longer.”

Marinette examined him with a dour curiosity.  She cocked her head to the side.  “And why might that be?  You don’t need me here to make an announcement that we prefer to keep our relationship private, hence they didn’t know about me.”

Bruce let out a deep sigh.  That was fair.  It was a fair response.  Sabine had warned him she would be suspicious of him.  “This isn’t for the public,” he assured her.

“Isn’t it?”  She blinked a few times at him, her face blank.  “Are you sure?  It feels like it is.”  She turned to Jason.  “Doesn’t it feel like it is to you?”

“It does indeed,” Jason nodded in agreement, keeping eye contact with Bruce as he did.

“Jason…” he started threateningly.

“Oh, I’m sorry, were you relying on me to make fixing your fuck up easier for you?  Wrong kid.  You’re looking for Dick or Tim… actually I wouldn’t rely on Tim for help explaining why being an absentee father isn’t actually that bad.”

“Jason, I think it’s time for you to go home,” Bruce growled.

Marinette straightened up and moved between him and Jason.  She wasn’t going to let him bully Jason for standing up for her.  “I don’t think so.  So far he’s the only member of my family I like.”

“Ooh, you should totally give Cass and Steph and Duke a chance too,” Jason offered with a faked enthusiasm as though the confrontation with Bruce didn’t just happen.  He kept his eyes on Marinette but relished the increasingly frustrated scowl on Bruce’s face as they ignored him.

Marinette nodded.  “I’ll consider it.”

“Oh and Alfred… and I guess Tim too.  He’s a prick but he’s alright I guess,” Jason continued.

Marinette blinked at him.  It was like a never ending list of people.  An ongoing list of people he had taken in after walking away from her.  A long list of people he’d cared about and for without having to be pressured into it by the press.  A mile long list of people he wasn’t pretending to care about.  “How many brothers and sisters do you have?”

“We have a lot,” Jason corrected her.  They were in this together and he’d remind her of that as many times as she needed.  “Alfred isn’t a sibling though.  He’s like a grandfather.”

Marinette paused at that.  She hadn’t considered that.  Another grandfather figure.  Another grandfather that didn’t want anything to do with her.  Sure now Grand-père Roland loved her but for the first fifteen years, he’d known about her and didn’t care.  Maybe it was her.  It had to be her right?  Two grandparents, that isn’t coincidence.  That’s a pattern and the only commonality was her.  She pursed her lips together to focus on something other than the tears welling up behind her eyes.  “Sounds like the kind of person who definitely would have known about me.”

Jason’s eyes widened.  “I… don’t know the answer to that,” he answered slowly.

Marinette nodded, slowly going numb.  “So, what I’m getting from this so far is I have a another grandfather-type figure that knew about me and didn’t feel any kind of interest in me and a ton of people that my father decided were worthy of his love and affection when I wasn’t.  So it isn’t that my father didn’t want to be a father, just that he didn’t want to be my father.”

“That isn’t…” Jason started.  This was going down the wrong path.  He was trying to show her he had her back, not remind her about the pain.  But instead, now Marinette was getting hurt, remembering the pain.  She’d lost her sass and impertinence and now was moving toward hurt.  And she was blaming Alfred.  Alfred was one of the only good things about being a Wayne!

“Jason!  I think it’s time for you to go home.  Now!” Bruce roared.

Marinette contemplated Bruce coldly, numbness consuming her fears and insecurities and morphing into cold, analytic contemplation.  He was blaming Jason.  Her frustration wasn’t because of Jason or anything he said. Her pain wasn’t because of Jason, it was because of him, because of his decisions.  And instead of taking responsibility for it, he was blaming Jason.

Jason blinked a few times, no longer certain of his role in this interaction.  He looked back and forth between Marinette and Bruce, noting Marinette’s hardening features.  She was getting ready for a fight.  He could see it developing, but he wasn’t at all sure Bruce did.  He held up his hands in surrender and sat back down calmly. “I promised I wouldn’t leave unless Pixie asked me to.  I intend to keep my promise to her,” he said calmly.

Bruce glared at him again and faced back to Marinette, a fake smile plastered on.   “As I was saying.  I’d like a chance to get to know you, if you would let me.”

“And how many members of the press did you want to be there when you do?” she inquired sharply.

Bruce sighed and rubbed his forehead.  “That’s not fair.”

Marinette’s mouth dropped and she shook her head at him incredulously.  “Wow. Way to pull the rich, white guy entitlement card. ‘I know everything about this situation has been unbelievably unfair to you, but now I’m being inconvenienced in the mildest way possible and I don’t like it,’” she mocked. She rocked back on her heels and narrowed her eyes at him.  “Rest assured M. Wayne, I do not intend to speak out against you.  Your reputation will not be harmed by me.  Tell the press whatever you want.  I won’t contradict you.  You can relax.”

“Marinette…” he started, unsure of where to go. Everything she had said was so far from the truth, he didn’t know where to start.  Her view of the situation was so skewed, he didn’t know how to put it back on kilter.  His shoulders sagged in defeat.  “This has nothing to do with the press.  I had put plans in motion to get in contact with you before any of this started.  Mr. Fox will confirm that for you if you don’t trust me.  You seem like quite an impressive young lady and I would like to get to know you better, if you’ll give me the chance.”

His tone was contrite and quiet, but Marinette wasn’t done being upset yet.  She wasn’t ready to move on and let go of the anger.  “And if I wasn’t, you would continue to ignore me?  If I was a problem child, if I had social issues, if I couldn’t find a job, you’d continue to treat me like I never existed?  I’ve finally done enough to gain your attention. Oh thank you so much for letting me know.”

“That isn’t what I said,” Bruce rushed to assure her. “I meant to compliment you not say you had to earn my attention.”

Marinette pursed her lips and looked over to Jason. He was looking back at her with sympathetic, concerned eyes.  She let out a long sigh and looked away from them both.  “Look, I meant what I told the press earlier.  I had no intention of you seeing me at the gala.  I had no intention of anyone finding out about me. I didn’t even know there was anything to find out when I made the plan to come here.  And I have no expectation of anything about our relationship changing.”

Bruce perked up slightly, but focused on keeping his body language the same, so she wouldn’t see the difference.  That was an opening; expectation instead of intention. It wasn’t that she intended not to change it, it’s that she didn’t expect it.  “I do,” he assured her, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice, keeping it calm and even.  “I would like to change our relationship.  I would like the chance to explain and try to start to make it up to you.  If you would like to try.  

“If you’re open to it, I can extend your reservation until you are ready to move on, or if you would prefer, you are more than welcome to stay at the manor.  I would love to have you stay with us but I understand that may be overwhelming.  Or, WE has have some flats available, with multiple bedrooms.  You and your friends could stay there for a while.  Your friend is going to need a place to stay while he looks for an apartment, right?

“I’ll leave the choice to you.  Whether we pursue a relationship, if you stay, where you stay; they’re all your choice.  Here,” he handed her a paper with several numbers hand written on it. “These are my numbers; office, home office, cell phone, manor.  You can use any of them to contact me.”

Marinette took the paper impassively.  She squeezed her other hand in an effort to keep the tremble from being too obvious.  “Thank you, M. Wayne.  I will consider your words.”

Bruce nodded, letting the very formal use of his name wash away.  This was still progress.  This was still movement in the right direction, even if it wasn’t as much as he would want.  He knew it could take a long time.  He knew he wouldn’t be able to fix this today.  “Thank you, Marinette.  That’s all I can ask for.  And I’m sorry for ambushing you here.  I tried to call and text you all yesterday to set up a time to talk in person so you could prepare but it seems like your phone was off.”  

He let out a small breath seeing her eyes widen at his admission.  That had to be a good sign.  Maybe he actually said the right thing for once.  He nodded to her and left her to think, hoping Jason would urge her to call. He seemed to want a relationship with her as well.  Hopefully, he would realize this was the best way to get that.

Jason sighed and looked up at her as soon as the door closed behind Bruce.  “How are you feeling?”

“I’m not.  It’s… it’s a lot.  I think I want to be alone,” Marinette said absently staring at the numbers in her hand.

Jason nodded.  “It is.  I understand. If you want to talk, at all, about anything.  About where to drink in town, best burger, anything, give me a call.”  He gently took the paper Bruce had handed her out of hand, letting her decide if she gave it to him or not.  When she let go, he put his number on it as well.  “I only have one number, but now you have it.”

Marinette nodded at him.  “Thank you, Jason.”

Jason hesitated briefly.  “For what it’s worth, if you decide to stay you should take him up on the flat.  The hotel is stupid expensive and WE offers the flat to visiting collaborators all the time, so it’s not like it’s all that special… if you want to avoid being treated special.”

Marinette nodded at his words, barely taking them in as her mind tried to fight the numbing process.  Jason watched her tentatively.  “You look like a hugger,” he said uncertainly.  “Did you… do you want a, um, a hug?”  

Marinette looked over at him and blinked a few times, not sure how to take his words, partly because he seemed unsure of them himself, but partly because things were having a harder time permeating her brain right now.  Jason took her curious look as doubt.  “Oh come on. It’s fine.  I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t mean it.  Trust me.  I tell Dick to fuck off enough when he tries to hug me.  I have no problem saying no to hugs I don’t want.  I’m offering because I mean it.”

Marinette blinked a few more times but finally nodded vacantly.  Jason pulled her into a warm, comforting hug.  After a few moments he pulled away.  “It will all be okay.  No matter what you decide, it will all be okay.  And no matter what you decide, I’m here.  Nobody’s replacing you as my sister.  So get ready for some completely inappropriate Christmas presents this year.”

Marinette smiled absently at his joke, her eyes never meeting his.  “Thanks, Jason.”  She leaned against the door after she closed it behind him and slid down it, staring blankly at nothing.  The room felt colder than it was before, but she couldn’t manage to care enough to get up and get a blanket.  She thought there might have been ambient noise going on around her but none of it registered.  Nothing registered.  Not the numbing sensation that was rapidly overtaking her body from her fingers and toes up to her head until she stopped feeling anything.  Not even the point she was staring at.  She didn’t know how long she stared at the nothingness before black overtook her vision and she passed out.

Chapter 8

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One-shot for Gruvia Day/Greige Day/Gruvia Family Day 2021

Summary: Coming home from a mission is always better when there's someone waiting for you.

Word Count: 2,483 words

You may also read it on FanFiction.net and AO3! Check out my master list for other Gruvia fics.

Tag List: @shampooneko @fbflame94 @juviaafullbuster @unvalley @gruviaftw11​ (Wanna be tagged, lemme know)

“Mommy, we’re back!”

Looking for her blue head of hair had become second nature to him, so he quickly spotted her among their friends as she stood up to gather the running Greige into her arms. He followed right after, though a lot calmer.

“I finished my mission with Daddy!” the four-year-old boy with dark blue hair exclaimed as he reached his mom, still a little breathless from running. “I made big blocks of ice for the party, and Daddy crushed them to make snow cones for everyone!”

Greige prattled on excitedly, demonstrating each point with his hands and arms and making Juvia smile. Arriving at her side, Gray put his arm around his wife’s shoulders and kissed her temple. She embraced him back, giving him a quick squeeze before letting go and turning back to their son.

Gray chuckled. It seemed like ages ago when Juvia would welcome him with a half-hug, half-tackle to the ground while shouting, “Gray-samaaaaa!” Now, all her attention was on their son.

“That’s great, darling,” Juvia told Greige as they all sat side by side, with both of her boys on either side of her. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

Gray rolled his eyes. It was so like Juvia to get worried over a simple mission of making ice sculptures and snow cones for kids at a birthday party, even though she was the one to spot it on the job board.

At first, she got really excited as she saw it as an opportunity for family bonding. But with her six-month pregnant belly, Gray wouldn’t risk it even if it was just an easy and harmless mission.

It ended up being a father and son bonding with his little ice mage apprentice.

“Relax, Juvia. As if I would let something happen to our son,” Gray answered after taking a gulp of the ice-cold water waiting for him at the table. Mira passed by and set a hot bowl of udon in front of him, giving him a light pat on the back.

“Of course you won’t, Gray-sama,” his wife answered with a smile. “But Juvia will always worry for you two. It’s just the way it is.”

She turned to Greige and held his elbow to pull him closer but was surprised when he yelped in pain.

“Greige-kun? What’s the matter? Where does it hurt?” Juvia asked in a concerned voice, trying to look for any bruise or cut on his son’s well-covered body.

Gray also turned to look at him with worry. “Did you get injured, buddy?”

“N-nothing. I’m okay, Mom,” Greige answered, squirming from Juvia’s fussing and a bit embarrassed about his outburst.

“Don’t ‘nothing’ me, young man,” Juvia said in her stern mommy voice that meant business. She rarely used it to both Gray and Greige, so both of them knew better than to defy her in any way when she was in one of her moods.

And being pregnant, those mood swings escalated tenfold.

Greige let Juvia remove his outer coat, allowing her to quickly spot the source of the problem: a scratch on his elbow. It wasn’t that deep or big, but it definitely should be cleaned, or else it would get infected.

Suddenly, Juvia snapped her head towards her husband and glared at him with her fierce blue eyes.

“Gray-sama! You said you won’t let anything happen to our son!”

Gray gulped and scratched the back of his head. All they did was make snow cones, how the hell did Greige get that?!

“Juvia, I swear, I didn’t let him out of my sight! I don’t even know where he got that,” he answered as he moved to Greige’s other side, examining the wound. “Besides, it’s just a small scratch. It’s no big deal.”

He immediately regretted his words the moment they came out of his mouth. He felt goosebumps prickling his skin as Juvia’s glare intensified.

Really, this woman means the world to him, but she could be scarier than Erza sometimes.

But before he could appease his wife, Greige said in a small voice, “This was from yesterday.”

Juvia turned to their son. “Yesterday? What happened? And why didn’t you say anything about it?”

With his head bowed, Greige mumbled something he couldn’t hear. Gray was about to ask him to speak louder when he saw him chance a glance at the pink-haired girl just three tables away from them...

And blush.

Holy Mavis.

He knew that look. He used to steal glances at Juvia with that look.

But his son was just four years old!

“What did you say, Greige?” Juvia’s voice broke through his thoughts (and internal panic), and he tried his best to focus on his son’s answer instead of his pink cheeks.

“I-I... scraped my elbow while Nasha and I were trying to hide from Aunt Lucy,” Greige answered, and Gray swore his son’s cheeks flushed some more.

Okay, he and Greige need to have a long talk when they get home. He was just four, but who knows what ideas and thoughts were running through his head now? Better nip it in the bud while it was still early.

And maybe he would tell Juvia tonight, but he had to be really careful because it might trigger the waterworks. And God knew how extremely sensitive she was, especially now that she was pregnant. Just last week, they ran out of milk, and she bawled her eyes out over it.

“Next time, be more careful, darling,” Juvia said, seemingly oblivious to what just happened and already arms-deep into her first aid kit.

Juvia had always been like that whenever he returned from a mission. She would have a first aid kit by her side and a glass of cold water and a serving of whatever the meal of the day was already ordered for him. At home, there would always be a feast.

He had to thank her failproof Gray-sama radar for always getting the timing of his arrival right.

She started dabbing alcohol on Greige’s wound while blowing at the spot to ease the pain. Greige flinched a little, but he put on a brave face while his mom cleaned his wound, his eyes traveling now and then to the nearby table where his bubbly friend was busy playing with her mom’s keys, unaware of his stolen glances.

That talk was definitely happening the moment they get home.

“All done!” Juvia exclaimed, lightly patting the band-aid she placed over the abrasion. “Now, for the finishing touches.”

She puckered her lips and lowered it to Greige’s elbow to kiss the boo-boo away, as she always did whenever her son injured himself. But just when her lips were a mere inch away, Greige saw Nasha looking at him with her big brown eyes, causing him to push his mom’s lips away from him.

“Ahh, stop it, Mom! I’m a big boy now!” Greige blurted, crimson cheeks and all.

Lisanna, who was delivering some drinks to a nearby table, smiled widely and ruffled Greige’s hair. "Aww, you are so cute, Greige-kun!" This made the boy even redder.

Surprised, Juvia locked eyes with Gray, and he tilted his head towards the table where his rival’s family was staying. She saw Nasha looking at Greige, and she looked at her husband and raised one of her eyebrows.

“Okay, Mommy understands,” she told Greige as she smiled at him and smoothed the band-aid on his elbow. “But promise me one thing, darling.”

Greige looked up at her and waited.

“Promise me that even though you’re a young man now, you won’t give Mommy a grandchild yet, okay? Mommy’s too young for that.”

Greige just continued looking at her, brows furrowed in confusion. Gray, on the other hand, almost choked on his udon and shouted, “Juvia!” at his giggling wife.

“Really, I can give Mommy a grandchild? How?” their son asked, excitement twinkling in his eyes.

Gray took a gulp of cold water before turning to his son. “Alright, that’s enough. Greige, don’t listen to your mom. And Juvia, stop putting ideas into your son’s head!”

Juvia covered her mouth with her hands. “Juvia’s sorry, Gray-sama. Juvia just thinks it’s so cute that Greige-kun already has a --”

“Greige?”

A little girl’s voice interrupted them, and they all turned to look at Nasha, who had quietly made her way to their table. Gray stole a glance at his son and saw him giving the girl the tiniest of smiles.

Just like the smile he used to give Juvia when he was still fighting his growing feelings for her.

All of a sudden, the innocent-looking girl jumped on Greige and locked his head under her arm, a mischievous smile on her lips. “Aunt Juvia, Uncle Gray, can Greige and I get some ice cream?”

“Ow! Let go!” Greige exclaimed, suddenly finding himself in a headlock with a giggling Nasha. He escaped her grip and glared at her while his mom answered, “Of course, sweetie. Just don’t go far and don’t take too long.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Nasha excitedly answered, dragging a sulking Greige after her. “Come on, weirdo. Let’s get some ice cream!”

“But I just ate a snow cone!”

“Whatever, you’re coming with me!”

Gray followed the two kids with his eyes, watching them hold hands as they made their way to their Aunt Mirajane.

That was his son, alright. Before long, he would be all grown up and meeting Nashas from different worlds and seeing snow dolls of Nasha and having enemies conjure up fantasies of him and Nasha in a perfect, happy world and --

“Relax, Gray-sama,” he heard his wife say, bringing him back to Earthland. “It will be a long time before all your thoughts would come true.”

His wife’s Gray-sama radar probably got an upgrade as it apparently developed mindreading powers now. And since when did his mind start running off to fantasy world? After all these years, Juvia’s powerful imagination must have rubbed off on him somehow.

Gray stretched his sore muscles and popped the joints in his neck. “Don’t joke about grandkids again. It’s scary.” He placed his hand at his wife’s round belly. “‘Sides, we’re not yet done having kids.”

Juvia looked at him, the most beautiful smile gracing her face. “Juvia knows. Now, get naked.”

“N-now?” Gray stammered, surprised at his wife’s sudden request. Sure, he would love to try having more kids, but --

“-- so Juvia could examine you thoroughly for any wounds. And change your bandages,” she continued, eyes feigning innocence. But he could see a small smile tugging at her lips, satisfied with the little joke she pulled.

Gray rolled his eyes and took off his shirt. He let Juvia’s light fingers explore his body and carefully remove the old gauze wrapped around his broad chest. “It’s almost healed already,” he remarked.

Juvia just continued applying antiseptic on his injury, not looking up at Gray. His wound was by no means fresh, but it was a deep gash he got from one of his missions with Team Natsu. He threw himself in front of a kid to protect her from one of the bandits, which earned him a cut over his breastbone. Good thing Wendy was with them; it could have been fatal if she didn’t treat it right away.

“Still not totally healed. Gray-sama should keep the bandages clean to avoid infection.” She looked up at him and added, “And Gray-sama should be extra careful now that our family is growing.”

Despite her steady tone, he could see her eyes glimmering with unshed tears. He remembered the first time she saw his injury and how she tried to muffle her sobs so that Greige wouldn’t think something was wrong.

Gray wiped the tears that escaped her eyes and kissed her forehead tenderly. “I will. And no matter what, I will always come back home to you.”

Juvia nodded and gave him a small smile. She wrapped fresh bandages around his chest in silence.

“All done now, Gray-sama.” She patted her handiwork and started putting all the stuff back inside the first aid kit. When she was done, she stood up and was about to return the kit to Mira when Gray thought aloud, “How come she does it for Greige but not for me?”

Juvia turned to look at him. “Are you saying something, Gray-sama?”

Gray looked at her sheepishly while scratching his cheek. “Ah, nothing.”

“Juvia’s sure she heard something about doing it for Greige but not for you. What is it?”

Gray’s cheeks turned pink. “Well, it’s just that...” He puckered his lips towards her.

“Eh?” Juvia asked incredulously. “Juvia’s not sure she understands what Gray-sama’s talking about.”

Gray sighed and picked up his shirt. “Forget it. It’s silly.”

Juvia sat beside him again, thinking aloud to herself. “Hmm. What does Juvia do with Greige that she doesn’t do with Gray-sama?” After a few moments, her face lit up. “Aha! Does Gray-sama want Juvia to kiss his boo-boos too?”

Gray’s face flushed some more, but he couldn’t help the smirk from crawling on his face. “Well, you used to do it, right? I’m just curious how come you don’t do it anymore.”

It was now Juvia’s turn to blush. She put her hand over her mouth and said, “Is Juvia hearing this right? Gray-sama wants Juvia to kiss his body right in the middle of the guild?”

Realizing what she was saying, Gray suddenly burst out, “What? No! I was just asking!”

But it was too late. Juvia’s lips were already pressed onto a scar by his collarbone.

“Does this still hurt, Gray-sama?” She then moved lower to his chest where the bandage started, and kissed it softly. “How about here, hmm?”

Gray froze as Juvia’s lips traveled even lower, now kissing his hard abs covered by his bandages. He clenched his fist as he could feel something else hardening.

“Is Gray-sama feeling better now?” Juvia asked in a sultry voice, looking up at him with those beguiling eyes, a tiny smirk on her luscious lips as if challenging him.

Oh, she was definitely teasing him.

But why did she have to look this sexy?

Around them, he could hear some of their guildmates snickering and hollering.

“Get a room!”

“They’re being lovey-dovey again.”

“Give your wife what she wants, Gray!”

He was flustered alright, but he only knew of one way to turn the tables on his wife.

He grabbed her shoulders and straightened her so that they were at eye level with each other.

“You missed a spot right here,” he said, pointing to his lips. But before she could react, he angled his head and kissed her full on the mouth.

That will teach her, he thought.

Amid all the teasing, gagging noises, and catcalls, a little boy eating his ice cream a few tables away yelled, “Eww, Daddy and Mommy are being gross again!”

***

Happy Gruvia Family Day, loves! 😘