#hes been biting me all through the final three paragraps IDJSEIUHFEUISHFUSEIFSEUFHSFHS

[alienaiver]

Released

Howard Link x gn!reader

“I grieved you.” you let out, all your emotions clawing their way out of your body in strained convulsions and shaky breaths.

“I know.”

He repeats it, several times as he tries to comfort you with his touch. The hand by his chest is still clenched and it takes monumental effort to release the tension and spread out your fingers. You let them travel up past his collarbone, his throat – taking a pause by his pulse point. You need to feel it with more parts of your body – until it finally reaches his jaw, his cheek. His skin is still as soft as it’s always been, showing no signs of decay.

warnings: spoilers for chapter 247 of the manga, mentions of death and grieving wordcount: 1.6k content: angst turns fluff, sfw, hurt/comfort, happy ending, genderneutral reader, bodypositive and poc friendly reader, no use of y/n, canon compliant, not beta’d, ive put reader in as a links lover from before he “passed” and just learning that hes back and alive in the recent chapter so their reunion basically, links makes my brain go brrrr like my freezer after ive taken out an ice cream,

notes: I RUSHED TO WRITE THIS AFTER CHAPTER 247 HELLO?????? DID U SEE ALL LINKS BEAUTIFUL SMILES?!??!?! reader’s role isnt described as neither exorcist or science member or nurse so you choose, honestly i cant say much abt this work except that i just wanted to kiss link.,......... <3 and get this scenario out of my beautiful head bcos it has been ROTATING

When Kanda makes the announcement, you immediately latch onto his choice of words, following his eyes to where they’ve trailed to the window.

And there he shows up. The man you’ve been grieving for months now.

You freeze and air gets hard to breathe. It’s like there’s no oxygen around you as your throat constricts and lungs burn. What? How?

Allen reacts first, opening the door and looking at him. Howard Link’s pose is incredibly relaxed and a smile you rarely saw appear on his face is so casually planted there that you almost want to drag out your weapon to make sure this isn’t an Akuma or some kind of clever disguise puppeteered by Leverrier.

But Allen’s eye doesn’t react. He simply runs to him and you gasp when they almost fall off of the balcony.

You stay behind as they all converge closer to him, your hand still wrapped around the handle of the measly dagger that Tiedoll gave to you when you first joined him going rogue from the Order, “to protect yourself.” He’d said.

You help Tiedoll prepare the food, anything to not be close to him right now as you try to process that he’s there, alive. You’re not sure he saw you before you sneaked to the kitchen but knowing him and his skills, he’s most likely seen you before he even approached on Kanda’s behest.

You don’t look at him all through the food and the talk, staying focused on eating and listening to all the information that Allen is giving out. You flinch at the mention of Link being targeted and killed again, tensing up through your entire spine, swallowing your bite thickly and schooling your expression as best as you’re able.

At his confession you audibly gasp and can’t stop your eyes from looking directly at him before it’s too late. You’re overwhelmed by the radiant smile he gives off. It’s like your heart is beating again for the first time since it stopped beating the day he passed away. He catches your gaze immediately, as if waiting for your eyes to finally look at him. You feel heat in your cheeks as he holds it, though you can tell that he’s not looking at you anymore, but through you.

He's only pulled back when Allen pinches his nose. You can’t help but laugh – their antics back to what they used to be. When food is finished, you make Kanda help you clean up. He huffs and puffs but relents in the end, stacking plates and leftovers expertly in his arms. In the kitchen he grunts at you, “I won’t get involved.” He states and you look at him with question marks in your eyes, head tilted. He pouts at your obliviousness with furrowed brows, “talk to the fuckin’ dog.”

Then he leaves you to dry the last dishes he finished washing, the door closing behind him and leaving you alone for the first time since finding out that Link is very much alive and well.

Your hand clenches around the plate in your hands. You’ve seen four new expressions on his face you’d never been graced with before in the span of an hour. Your eyes can tell that it’s him but your heart wavers. You fear you don’t know the man outside with the face of the man you love.

  When you reemerge back in the living room, a hush falls over them all. It’s so obvious that it’s painful and you feel like you’re suffocating. Maybe you are.

 Link then gets up from his seat on the floor, dusting off his pants before he clears his throat. He then gathers his courage and looks at you and says your name for the first time. your breath hitches and you can only manage a meekly nod when he nods towards one of the rooms to the sides, his eyes begging for you to go with him and talk.

Allen says something that you don’t catch as you walk in through the door, your hand tracing the door frame before Link closes the door behind you.

None of you say anything for longer than you can count. Your eyes are locked on his chest and how it rises up and down with each breath he takes. They’re leveled and controlled, but they confirm that he’s alive. He’s really here with oxygen in his lungs and a beating heart. Your hands clench into fists by your side.

His breathing pattern changes, telling you he’s about to say something. You bite your underlip and raise your gaze to look directly at him – he flinches but remains posed. Out of your peripheral vision you see his fist clench and unclench, reaching out towards you before retracting again. He then wills himself to relax and smile at you.

This is the fifth expression you’ve never seen on his face. It suits him, but that’s not what you’re focusing on, your eyes locked to the way his lips move, tasting his words before he lets them out in the open.

You can’t take this. Your heart is beating rapidly, your hands and your back is sweaty from the strain of all your emotions and the way you clench your jaw is starting to hurt. In frustration you lift your fist to punch him and as it stands high in the air, you catch his gaze – his smile widens. That stupid, handsome smile. Your hand collides with his chest in a much slower and gentler pace than what you first intended and you instantly feel his body heat traveling to you and you sigh, biting the inner part of your cheek before your head follows your hand towards him and rests on his chest. A sob is threatening to leave you but you inhale deeply instead.

Not many moments pass before he wraps his arms around you, his head resting on the crown of your head. Without embarrassment he noses your head and breathes in your scent, hugging you tighter to him. He seems to relax much more now that you’re touching him.

You’re not. Your spine is locked and you’re rigid in his embrace, refusing to take in the scent of him, the feel of him. He died.

The sob that’s been lodged in your throat since you saw him on the balcony finally breaks free and all the muscles that you’d tensed up spasm before they relax. He coos at you and rubs gentle circles into the small of your back.

You move your head from his chest and towards his neck, your lips ghosting over his pulse point. You’re so close that you can feel it beating against your lips and the first tear roll down your cheek, wetting your lips. If he feels the wetness on his skin, he doesn’t say anything.

You whimper softly before you finally push yourself closer to him, your lips pressing into his skin, arms wrapping around him, clenching his shirt as if your life depended on it.

“I grieved you.” you let out, all your emotions clawing their way out of your body in strained convulsions and shaky breaths.

“I know.”

He repeats it, several times as he tries to comfort you with his touch. The hand by his chest is still clenched and it takes monumental effort to release the tension and spread out your fingers. You let them travel up past his collarbone, his throat – taking a pause by his pulse point. You need to feel it with more parts of your body – until it finally reaches his jaw, his cheek. His skin is still as soft as it’s always been, showing no signs of decay. They’re warm, like the rest of him. He’s always been a furnace. He pulls his head away from the top of yours and finally, finally locks his lips with yours.

Your breath hitches at the moment of contact and you stand frozen, eyes still open to be sure he’s real and doing this. His own eyes are closed and his brow is relaxed. The kiss is featherlight, like he’s unsure if he’s allowed this touch. You close your eyes and relax as much as you’re able. It’s only when you push further into him that he redoubles his efforts and pulls you impossibly closer, a whine escaping his throat as he continues to kiss you.

He’s here, he’s alive and he’s kissing you like it’s the only thing he’s been thinking of since he came back from the dead. You chance a look at him again and see how his brows has furrowed. He’s frustrated he can’t be closer to you than this right now and you can’t help the laugh that bubbles from deep within you, a place you’d thought had withered and rotted. Happiness blooms in you as his hands travel up to caress your cheeks.

This is the Howard Link that you knew, you know this now.

It’s just Howard Link without the chains binding him, the one able to express his wants more clearly than when he was shackled and controlled by another will than his own. This is the man that you love, finally able to do what he wants, to love who he wants without the heavy weight of guilt looming over every kiss, every chance meeting at the library, every cake secretly baked with you in mind.

Howard Link feels freer to make his own choices than he’s ever been, and he’s choosing to side with you. You smile into his lips before you run your hand through his hair, messing with his braid. He pulls away and with a breathless chuckle says your name. You hands travel to his nape with a warm smile, "welcome back."