#hes getting a fic soon i hope that makes up for it ;-;

[wwinterwitch]

friendly introductions – bucky barnes

summary: bucky unexpectedly shows up at your apartment, and he's brought a few people with him pairing: bucky barnes x fem!reader (ft. the thunderbolts*) word count: 3.4k tags: thunderbolts* shenanigans, spoilers here and there obvs, slight miscommunication, big happy dysfunctional family in the making, google translator was used for the russian words (sorry), kissing, little bit of angst and little bit of fluff notes: i just saw the movie yesterday and as soon as i got back home i decided to write this, which is loosely connected to this fic i posted recently. i just loved the thunderbolts* so much they mean the entire world to me right now. perhaps more fics are coming in the future because i have lots of ideas!!! as always, i hope you enjoy

please reblog and/or comment if you enjoy!

all masterlists | marvel masterlist | part 1 (not strictly necessary to read this one tho)

“Sorry for such short notice,” Bucky mutters as soon as you open the door for him and the rest of the entire group. You could tell he’s been having a pretty rough time just by looking at him. Hair messy, frowning more than usual, dirty clothing and a cut on his left cheek. The rest of the people he’s with don’t look any better. It wouldn’t take an expert to figure out they’ve been in some kind of combat and, most likely, they didn’t come on top. 

“It’s okay,” you quickly reassure him, leaving the door open until every single one of them were inside your apartment, closing it behind them. “Can I ask what happened?”

“We…uh, got our ass kicked, basically,” he replies, sounding quite exhausted. 

You take a second to look at the group. Unfamiliar faces of people you could only assume are in the superhero/villain/whatever business. There’s a blonde woman who immediately leans against one of the walls of your living room, trying to get some sort of rest after the fight. The other woman stays by the entrance and you can’t help but admire how cool her suit is. There’s algo a guy in a red suit and he looks absolutely huge and terrifying, but the smile he sends your way with the silly little wave he makes as you make eye contact gives you the impression that he might not be as intimidating as you initially thought.

And then, your eyes focus on the other person in the room.

“You,” is all you say, your voice sounding anything but welcoming.

Everyone turns to look at Walker, who offers you an awkward smile. “Yeah, hi.”

“You two know each other?” the blonde one asks.

“Unfortunately,” you reply, keeping your eyes on the guy at all times. You know enough about John Walker to be stupid enough to let him out of your sight. “Listen, I don’t know what just happened to you guys, but in case Bucky hasn’t warned you already, you can’t trust this piece of shit.”

Noticing you’re starting to get a little heated by his presence, Bucky wraps an arm around your waist from behind, just in case you decide to go over him and confront him for everything that has happened in the past. “It’s okay. He’s here to help.”

You turn to look at him like he just said the most absurd thing you’ve ever heard in your life, but he simply stares back at you with a serious expression, nodding as if to emphasize on his previous statement, trying to let you know you can actually trust the guy. When you turn back to look at Walker, he raises both hands in the air as a sign to further prove that he’s harmless.

“I’ll be keeping an eye out,” you warn him, pointing your finger at him. 

“That’s fair,” he nods.

“Whoa, she’s feisty!” you hear the excited voice of the guy in the red suit as he lets out a short chuckle. “I like her already!”

You feel Bucky’s grip around your waist tightening. “We’re just here to get some cover and figure out our next move.”

Suddenly remembering the fact that all these strangers are standing in various spots in your living room, you get away from Bucky to walk over to your couch. “Oh, so sorry! What a terrible host,” you attempt to joke a little in hopes of lightening the mood, quickly removing your laptop and various papers scattered across your couch. “Please, take a seat!”

None of them move at first, but they eventually accept the invitation and walk towards your couch to sit down. All except Walker, who decides to stay in the same spot he’s been since he entered your apartment. Not like you care, so you just let him stand there on his own.

A few awkward introductions later and you already know everyone. Alexei, Ava and Yelena. One a total stranger and the others slightly familiar to you due to them being related to Natasha. You couldn’t bring yourself to say her name out loud, though. If you struggle to think about her without bursting out crying, you can’t even imagine what it would be like for her dad and sister. Last thing you want is to cause them any discomfort.

“And how exactly do you know each other?” Yelena asks you and Bucky after you introduce yourself to them too.

“Former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent,” Bucky replies before you can say anything, and you can’t help but turn to look at him with a slightly confused expression. “We’ve been friends for a very long time.”

Friends. Sure. Whatever. If that’s what he wants to call it…

After what happened last time you were in D.C., Bucky was constantly making trips to New York to visit you. You’re not officially dating, but it’s established that you’re exclusive. Long distance isn’t ideal, but you’ve made it work so far. Probably the happiest months of your life. But now…you hear him introducing you as his friend. It’s not really a big deal. Technically you are friends? It shouldn’t affect you as much as it does, but…you’re internally fuming right now.

Still, you decide not to say anything regarding that. He’s always been quite a reserved person, so perhaps he didn’t feel comfortable enough to share that information with them just yet. “Can I get you anything to drink?” you decide to ask, looking at everyone else.

“We’re not-”

“I’m sure a glass of water won’t kill anybody,” you say, immediately cutting Bucky off.

There’s a brief silence before Ava speaks. “I’ll have a glass of water. Thank you.”

You look at Yelena as she shortly nods before you focus on Alexei. “Do you perhaps have something else other than water?”

“Dad,” Yelena warns him.

You ignore that short interaction. “Something like what?”

“Like vodka,” he replies simply, like it’s a normal request. Perhaps the russian accent and the fact that he does look like a walking Soviet propaganda adds context to it.

“Dad!” Yelena repeats herself, this time in a louder voice, before hiding her face in her hands. The scene of her getting embarrassed by her dad’s behavior is actually hilarious.

“Two glasses of water and one glass of vodka, got it.” Then it was time to acknowledge Walker again. Even when you deeply hate the guy, you still want to be polite. “Do you want anything?”

“Uh…just water,” he mutters, still unsure on how to really talk to you. It’s ironic how quiet he is right now, considering he had a hard time shutting his mouth when you first met him. “Thank you.”

You offer the group a smile before excusing yourself to go to your kitchen, leaving them momentarily alone. Bucky was about to speak, wanting to initiate a debate on what their plan is going to be to fight against someone as powerful and seemingly invincible as Sentry, but Yelena speaks before he does.

“Now, would you mind telling us how you really know each other?”

Bucky looks immediately confused. “What do you mean?”

“You know I was trained to be a spy since I was very little.”

“Surely you don’t say it enough,” Walker mutters, earning an unamused look from her.

“That must really bother you, Mr. I-was-in-the-military,” Ava chimes in, rolling her eyes.

Ignoring both of them, Yelena decides to continue. “I’m very good at reading people, Bucky. She almost wanted to punch you in the face when you said you two were friends, which let’s me know the comment upset her,” she says, tilting her head to the side. “Why is that?”

“Ah! That’s your lover!” Alexei comments with pleasant surprise.

“And you didn’t introduce her as your girlfriend?” Ava says shortly after, giving him a disapproving look. “No wonder she would want to punch you in the face.”

“Yeah, that’s not cool, man,” Walker agrees from his spot in the living room.

Alexei’s cheerfulness dries down, nodding. “I agree. It’s not very nice.”

Bucky scoffs, crossing his arms across his chest in a defensive manner. He couldn’t believe these people were judging him over something he thought was meaningless. It was just a way to keep his private life private. Why should they know he’s dating anybody? They’re not his friends to be sharing information like that with them. And it’s not like they’re ever going to see you again anyway. Why is this such a big deal?

“Whoever I date or don’t date it’s not your business,” he simply replies.

Ava scoffs this time. “Don’t bring us to your girlfriend’s flat then.”

“When did you guys became a thing?” Walker asks this time, looking like he's thinking back on it in hopes of remembering any indication that might've gave it away.

He pinches the bridge of his nose, getting more and more exasperated. “We barely got out of that fight against Valentina’s experiment and it’s a matter of time before we have to face him again. Why are we even talking about this?”

“Oh, Bucky,” Yelena shakes her head in a condescending manner. “You’re right, we do not care about your lovelife. Thinking about it makes me sick, actually. But she looked really hurt by what you said, so perhaps you should go talk to her and make things right.”

The other three agreed with Yelena almost immediately, and Bucky just stood there looking at them in disbelief because why are they giving him their input on his relationship? Why is Yelena giving him advice? Why are they getting involved in Bucky’s personal life?

But instead of arguing, he decides to listen to them and heads towards the kitchen. He walks in just in time to see you pouring Alexei an entire glass of vodka as he requested, the other three glasses of water already filled.

“Oh, good. You’re here,” you say nonchalantly, like what Yelena said about you wanting to punch him in the face was just something she misread in your body language. You surely don’t look like you're thinking about violence right now. “Could you help me with the drinks, please?”

Perhaps Yelena was wrong, but just in case she wasn’t, he decided to ask about it. “Are you okay?”

You let out a quick and confused chuckle as you store away the almost finished bottle of vodka. “Why would I not be okay? If you’re asking because you brought them here, I think they’re actually very nice…aside from Walker, of course.”

“No, I mean…the way I introduced you to them,” he says in a soft voice, walking closer to you. “I probably shouldn’t have said you were my friend.”

There’s a brief pause between you, until you’re eventually shrugging. “It’s fine.”

“Is it?” he insists, standing right before you as he grabs your hands in his. “Talk to me.”

You hesitate a little before eventually giving in. “I mean, you can’t expect me to be thrilled to hear you introduce me to a bunch of people as just your friend.”

Bucky sighs. Yelena was right. “I’m so sorry,” he says almost immediately, giving your hands a light squeeze. “I just met these people and I highly doubt we’ll keep in touch after this. I didn’t want to share that information with them. We’re not exactly…close like that,” he explains himself, looking genuinely sorry for what he said. “I should’ve considered how that would make you feel, or at least tried to explain why I did it as soon as I could. I didn’t mean to hurt you or downplay what we have.”

You can tell he’s genuinely sorry, understanding his reasoning behind it. Perhaps you forgot to put into perspective the fact that they’re just super people Bucky has been forced to work with. Not necessarily friends. “It’s okay, I understand.”

Bucky nods, but he still looks absolutely defeated. “I feel terrible,” he mutters. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

You let go of his hands, wrapping your arms around his neck instead. “It’s okay, babe,” you repeat, offering him a soft smile to let him know you forgive him. “I understand you didn’t feel comfortable sharing that with them.”

“I promise I won’t do it again.”

“You’re not obligated to disclose anything with anyone if you don’t feel like it,” you say, just to remind him to do whatever it feels right to him. “But I’m glad we had this conversation to hear each other’s perspective.”

He nods again, still uncertain. You lean in to give him a reassuring kiss before deciding to move away from him to get back to the living room with the rest. He hands the glasses of water to Walker and Yelena, while you hand the other glasses to Ava and Alexei.

The last one takes a big gulp of his glass, letting out a growl of approval. “Smirnoff! Not that Absolut der’mo!”

“I adore him,” you say to Bucky, letting out a quick chuckle as you watch the guy drink the entire glass of vodka in less than two seconds.

“It’ll pass, trust me,” he mutters back to you.

You gently hit his arm as a way of telling him to not be rude, immediately focusing on the cut on his cheek, dried blood around the wound. “I should clean that.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

“I do worry, Bucky,” you insist, patting his shoulder before pointing to one of the two chairs at your small dinner table. “Take a seat. I’ll be right back.”

You excuse yourself to go find the first-aid kit to clean the wound on his face. By the time you get back, the group has already started discussing some sort of strategy regarding some ‘Sentry’ person you don’t know absolutely anything about. Perhaps you’ll ask Bucky to give you a proper update on what the hell this whole thing is all about next time you’re alone.

As obedient as ever, Bucky was already sitting on one of the chairs you previously pointed at before leaving, so you walked over to him to attend to his injury. Even if it was a small, almost insignificant little cut, you wanted to take care of him in any capacity you could.

You were gladly surprised when you feel one of his arms wrapping around you, keeping you close as you stand next to him cleaning the dry blood with a small cotton ball before disinfecting the area, finishing it off with a small bandage above the cut. 

The whole entire time you took care of Bucky’s wound, the group was talking about their strategy. Just listening to them was enough to figure out why Bucky didn’t think they’d stay in touch once it’s time to part ways. More than half of their interactions are more bickering than actual communication. They clash almost constantly and they don’t seem to agree on much. They’re quite honestly a complete mess. But still...even when it’s difficult to see how a group like this could work, they oddly do. There’s just something about them. Perhaps they’re the prime example of how opposites tend to work together perfectly. 

“Done,” you whisper to him, not warning to interrupt their conversation.

“Thanks, doll,” he whispers back, giving you a smile.

After a few more minutes of planning, it was finally time for them to get back out there in hopes to put an end to the threat that seems to loom over New York (and perhaps the entire world). You accompany them to the door, all of them saying their goodbyes to you.

“Thanks for letting us hide here,” Yelena says with a polite smile, offering her hand for a handshake as a way to further prove her gratitude. 

“Oh, it’s really nothing. I’m glad I was able to help out,” you reply, accepting her handshake. “And…you know, good luck. You probably don’t need it, obviously, but just in case…”

“You’re adorable,” Ava comments with a smirk, patting your shoulder as her way of saying goodbye.

Alexei doesn’t even say anything. He just straight up walks towards you and wraps his arms around you, lifting you off the ground as he gives you a tight hug. It certainly takes you by surprise, but you pat his back as a way of returning the hug, hearing how Yelena and Bucky are frantically telling him to put you down immediately.

The three of them are already outside your apartment and it’s time to face Walker. He just says a quick “thank you” before walking towards the others that wait for Bucky in the hallway, knowing you probably don’t even want to address him. For now, you decide not to say anything to him. If you do see each other again, perhaps then you’ll try to figure out if you can look past the awful things he has done.

Now Bucky is the one who stands before you and all you can do is hug him as tight as you possibly can, almost not wanting to let him go. You know he’ll be fine. You know he’ll come back to you. But still, you can’t ignore the knot forming at the pit of your stomach, anxiety and fear consuming you at the thought of something happening to him.

He senses how you feel, hugging you back just as tight. “Please be safe,” he whispers.

You break the hug, looking up at him. “I should be telling you that.”

The comment makes him smile softly because it sounds like you're reprimanding him for what he just said. Immediately after, he's placing a hand at the side of your face, gently stroking your cheek with his thumb. “I’ll be back before you know it, okay?”

“Okay,” you nod, still as anxious as you were before. The fact that you still don’t fully know what they’re up against makes your situation worse. If it’s anything remotely similar to an Avenger-like threat, you have plenty of reasons to be afraid. “Just…just take care, please.”

“I will,” he replies, giving you a kiss so sweet and gentle that it practically takes your breath away. He knows you’re worried like never before and he wants to make sure he’s able to give you as much reassurance as he possibly can.

After a few more seconds of him just looking back at you with a soft smile on his face, he moves back from you, knowing he has to leave already.

“Promise you’ll be back soon,” you blurt out as he’s leaving your apartment, still fighting the urge to just yank him back into the apartment to keep him from going back out there.

“I promise you I’ll be back, darling,” he says without any hesitation, knowing he’ll do anything he possibly can to keep his word.

Finally, he closes the door of your apartment, leaving you all alone in there as you try to calm yourself down until everything is back to normal again and he’s here with you. Until he’s back in the safety of the arms of the person he cares most about in this entire world.

You focus on the four empty glasses, the lingering presence of everyone, the trail of dirt their boots left on the floor, the chair Bucky was sitting on just seconds ago...you can only hope they stay safe. Meanwhile, you decide to clean up the living room as a way of distracting yourself.

On the other side of the door, Bucky is turning to look at the group, rolling his eyes when he sees all of them grinning and nodding their hands in approval after witnessing him being so lovey-dovey with you, discovering a sight of him they probably didn’t even know existed.

“Not a single word,” Bucky warns them, immediately walking in between them to get to the elevator.

“What? We can’t say you two looked disgustingly cute back there?” Yelena jokes as she follows after him.

"Who knew that was hiding beneath all that...grumpiness," Ava comments right after.

“I said not a single word,” he repeats, trying to act like he wasn’t feeling terribly embarrassed right now. Or like he didn't find the teasing slightly entertaining. Just slightly.

“I mean, you did look cute,” Walker agrees.

“So cute!” Yelena emphasizes.

Alexei wraps an arm around Bucky’s shoulders, much to his discomfort. “That was adorable. You, my friend, had the eyes of love looking at your zhenshchina!”

“And you had to make it weird,” Ava mutters after Alexei’s comment, just as the elevator doors are closing. translations: der'mo (shit), zhenshchina (woman). again, i apologize if the translation is wrong, i don't speak russian

[engenlvr]

some random girl | alexia putellas

summary : you go to test alexia and she fails miserably

tags + a/n : age gap, implied smut, downbad!alexia, spelling mistakes cause this was rushed, i don’t think there’s anymore to add but idk. anyway a quick little fic while i finish my other one. also two posts in less than a week who am i

word count : 1k

everyone knew that alexia didn’t have a huge social media presence.

if she posted it would always be about club or country, the world barely saw alexia do a media dump and when she did the they went crazy. you’ve been begging alexia to post more ever since you met her but still nothing.

the two of you never posted a picture together so when the fans thought you two were together it was all speculation. either from a picture of you at one of barcelona’s games but you were never seen talking to her only some of the younger girls.

you’d post a story on instagram of the two of you but it would be your hands or a picture of you guys standing next to each other waist down.

and alexia well there was only one post of you that she tagged you in and that was when you first became friends other than that she’d post what like a picture of your hand that’s it.

what you and alexia posted was enough for them to speculate but not nothing concrete.

you guys were careful cause well alexia could be paranoid cause she knew what her fans were like. if you guys went out it was in the parts of barcelona that people didn’t really know about unless they were locals.

after being together for a while you both decided that if one of you wanted to post the other they could. at first you thought a soft launch would be perfect. drive the fans crazy a little seeing as nothing could make them say that it was alexia confidently.

but when you saw the new tiktok trend you just had to do it with her, skip the soft launch you started and skip right to the hard launch.

everything was set up, phone on alexia’s kitchen counter all you needed was for her to come back from training. when you heard the familiar sound of door opening followed by the sound of a her bag being thrown to the floor you knew it was her and that it was time.

“ale baby, come here for a second”

she didn’t reply but the sound of her footsteps becoming louder was confirmation enough and soon enough her figure appeared.

the second you could see she was in the frame you knew it was time.

“think fast i’m some random girl” rushing out the words as quickly as possible before throwing yourself at her. placing your lips on hers in hopes that she push you away or something literally anything.

she done the opposite, in fact she pulled you closer deepening the kiss. making you forget about the video completely. her hand went under your thighs lifting you up from the ground and placing you on her kitchen island.

it wasn’t until she moved from kissing your lips to your neck that you remembered only cause the camera was in your eyesight again. the kiss almost made you forget again but you pushed through the pleasure you were feeling.

her kissing your almost made you want to forget about it “ale—alexia, you were meant to push me away” trying to sound as angry as possible but failed as you laughed and well you could never be mad at her.

“mhm, okay”

that was her only response before getting back to it.

in all honestly it didn’t even seem like she fully heard what you said, she saw you come towards her to kiss her and then the kiss was all that was on her mind. making her forget what you said immediately.

you tried hard to push her away but she only held on tighter.

“i’m serious”

she pulled away “you think that when i have an opportunity to kiss you i wouldn’t take it.”

“but you heard what i said and ignored it so you failed”

“amor, all i saw was that you were going to kiss me and i’m not saying no to that. and am i really failing if i got to kiss you”

you looked at her for a second, taking in her appearance. hair still damp from her shower, a pair of shorts that did her justice and simple top that you swore she made look designer with how good she looked in it.

but now all you could think about was kissing her.

placing you’re hand on her cheeks as you pulled her in for another kiss that was ten times more needy that the last. you felt her hand tug at you’re shirt which you gladly took off and her soon following suit.

your hands now in her hair tugging at her roots each time she’d kiss you with more desperation. she slowly made her way down between your legs, placing kisses on the way.

you threw your head back already anticipating the pleasure that you were about to feel, and just when she was about to touch you where you needed it most. you remembered.

you remember about the camera set up on the counter and how this couldn’t be posted if you let her continue.

you pushed her away from you causing her to groan in annoyance, hoping down from the counter to grab your phone and turn it off. before talking alexia’s hand and going to her bedroom to finish want you started.

you didn’t post the tiktok till a day later. and it was safe to say it was a hit getting over a million views in an hour. the comment made you laugh. you haven’t even told alexia that you were posting it not really caring about what would happen afterwards, and to be fair she did say you could post whatever of the two of you now.

wosofc : people called me crazy for thinking that we’re together but i was right

ellie : alexia i don’t blame you if she was my gf i’d be the same

vickyyylopezzz._ : tell me how you get alexia to do tiktok’s with you now

vickyyylopezzz._ : i’ve been begging her to do a tiktok for a while and this was not what i meant i’m now scarred for life now

barcafem4life : omg i’m never gonna shut up about this

steph : how did you get alexia to do this. she barely had any social media presence and now this

kat : i don’t know who i want to be more

janafernandez3 : i’m coming over we’re doing a tiktok right now

alexiasgf : this is the hardest soft launch i have ever seen it’s like she ditched it completely and was like alexia’s my girl and i’m gonna show the world and i don’t blame her.

the next day at training alexia didn’t hear the end of it as the team especially the youngsters wouldn’t stop teasing her. when they first talked about it she was beyond confused and then they showed her the video and the all teasing made sense. this definitely wasn’t the alexia they knew.

all alexia knew was that they wouldn’t shut up about it for a while but it was worth it if you were happy.

[muqingslover]

Hbnnnghhhgg sensitive!Caleb and MC playing just the tip 😩 please the idea lives rent free in my head

[ this request set something off in my brain and oh my god anon your idea just bought real estate in my mind as well and took a life of its own into a full blown fic *sweats* ]

If you had to choose one word to describe Caleb it would be needy. With a capital N.

While he may not have the proper...'training' yet to last long without cumming he makes up for that in raw stamina. He could go at it with you for hours. No matter if he's a shaky, sweaty and whimpering mess by the third round.

You just feel too damn good for him to not get addicted.

The signs of his body aching for more are ingrained in your brain by now and you don't miss the way he slowly guides your body to settle back against the couch. It had began as an exchange of sweet kisses but soon enough he had his large frame hovering over yours.

His hands explore anywhere he can physically reach, pressing harder against you without even realizing as he softly gasped between hot kisses. The next thing is without a doubt—

"Please." There it was.

"I need you, please let me have you" The begging.

"I'm doing good..Yeah?” He murmured breathless, his swollen lips brushing against yours before he nibbled on it. There was an obvious damp spot on the sweater pants he had on, which was only getting larger the longer you denied him.

You kept on torturing him for minutes on end by only allowing Caleb to grind on your legs over the fabric. It ached so badly he felt as if he was losing whatever was left of his sane mind.

“Let, let me take it out? Please? Just your thighs, please baby, just— It hurts so badly,” Caleb pleaded his case once more. His purple eyes dazed as they locked into yours, swirling with desperation and hope. He pressed his boner further against your legs, praying to whoever was willing to listen to the prayer of filthy sinner like him to please grant him this one more wish.

Your permission was all Caleb needed and without wasting a single moment he was pulling down his pants, along with his boxers, to release his swollen, throbbing cock from its confinement. There was no doubt the man would be reaching his limit rather quickly tonight, but that's just what you loved about him. So deliciously sensitive.

His hands grasped your ankles to place them over one of his shoulders before he slipped his cock between the soft skin of your thighs, sliding it back and forth with ease thanks to his precum making it a slick mess. His eyebrows were furrowed and his jaw tight as he bit down onto his lip a bit harder, thrusting quickly to try and relief himself with the chance you so kindly granted him.

However, you could tell by the frustrated whimpers leaving his throat that this wasn't quite enough for him— Not after he's had a taste of what heaven feels like. And well, can you blame him?

When one of his thrusts accidentally catches on the edge of your wet pussy the man almost topples over. He lets out a loud, strained gasp as his hands clutched into tight fists next to your head and he leaned over closely to you. Caleb needed to physically stop for a minute to keep himself in check, muscles visibly taunt with the strain of your last 'order'— He was an obedient man, if only just for you.

Seeing your poor boyfriend struggling made you want to take pity on him. Though, it wasn't quite enough to make you let him off the hook easily.

After all, he knew how to properly ask and you knew he would.

"I...I need more, just a bit more—" He nuzzled his face against yours like an oversized puppy while his cock pressed into your underwear, drenched with both his and your own slick. "J-Just the tip, please? Hm?"

"Please, please please-“ Caleb tried again with a voice so pathetic even the man himself couldn't deny how far he had fallen. Still, your permission was much like giving a parched man a cold glass of water; Nothing else mattered.

One of his trembling hands reached down for your panties, his thumb pushing the fabric to the side and he nearly salivated at the sight of you spread out so tantalizingly. Caleb could drown in your body if he wasn't so close to burning. He presses forward, the neglected tip spreading your entrance just enough for him to feel his head spinning at how welcoming your soft walls are.

"Hahh...Fuck.." His grasp on your thighs tighten, trimmed nails digging into the supple flesh as he tried to keep himself from burying his cock all the way deep into you and his head tilted back both in bliss and restraint. Never in his life had his self-control been tested like it's being right now. He pulled out slowly only to press again, this time going slightly deeper without (really) meaning to and causing the both of you to moan a bit louder.

He felt your soft little hole clenching around him when he tried to move again, as if you didn't want him to pull out, and just like that Caleb was as good as gone. His body lost its strength and he fell forward, covering your frame with his while his thick cum coated your insides in white. His strong arms pulled you in closely at the same time he plunged his cock deep until it pressed right into your cervix.

"Mm'sorry, s-sorry..." He mumbled between whimpers against your ear, barely tangible. You felt something wet against your shoulder and by roughly prying him away by his hair what you found was the pathetic mess of a man your boyfriend was— His lips slightly parted, skin flushed all the way to his ears, tears escaping his dazed eyes and mixing with the blood dripping from his nose and onto your stomach. Your pussy was so warm and wet he couldn't even feel bad about slipping, his hips pressing further as if he was trying to pry your womb open without even knowing what he was doing.

Next time, he promises it will be just the tip. Trust him, won't you?

[hedwig221b]

On the topic of OG Hale pack fics, any super good sterek ones that really focus on Stiles and the pack but have the flavor of your Derek? I love your Sterek fics but man I'm always sad the Hale Pack doesn't feature more prominently. (Og hales being derek, boyd, erica, issac, jackson, and peter.)

yk you should really ask the op @homemadesterekpie since she actually wrote that beautiful post

Stop Crossing Oceans by greenleaf

"There are no absolutes, Scott! No hard rights or hard wrongs! The world doesn’t fucking work that way and we can’t afford to think like that, because people are going to die! We signed up for that the moment we got involved with all this!” “We? We?” Scott hisses. “Don’t you think you? Don’t forget that you’re the one who dragged us into that forest the night it all started, Stiles. So if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s yours.” Something inside Stiles cracks, so strong and so deep that he practically hears it.

My Mother Told Me by Renmackree

Stiles joined the Emissary program to help Alpha wolves settle into their new roles and to follow in his mother’s footsteps. She had always told him he was destined to run with the wolves, but he thought she meant Scott and his pack. Instead, Stiles finds himself sent to Thingvallavatn, Iceland, with Alpha Derek Hale. It's clear the Alpha is hiding a part of him that Stiles can’t reach, but when a monster comes to threaten the pack, it’s always great to have someone in your corner with a little mischief up their sleeve

Choice by Omni

Derek knows what it feels like to not really have a choice, what it's like to be manipulated. He'd never take away someone's right to choose freely. The fear of even accidentally doing so is enough to hold him back from acting on his own feelings. Stiles has never had a problem making his own choices, and fuck anyone who would try to tell him he can't. (Or: Stiles gets bitten by a different alpha, but of course would prefer to have Derek as his alpha. And also just, you know, have Derek.)

The Comfort of Coming Down by MadcapRomantic

Stiles isn't the only human in the pack, but, more often than not, he's the most vulnerable.

Derek Didn't Know What To Do But Maybe Stiles Did by tiedtogetherwithadagger

He let his head fall onto Stiles’ shoulder with a sigh of relief. He wasn't losing his pack, at least not tonight. Erica would be okay. “Thank you,” Derek exhaled into Stiles’ hoodie. “Always,” Stiles said.

The Human of the Pack by smilingbuckley

Slowly, Derek's pack starts to act nice to Stiles and accept him in the pack after Scott basically abandoned him to have his secret moments with Allison.

The Boy Who Tamed the Sourwolf by AllTheseSquaresMakeACircle

Stiles is used to being second tier in everyone's life. How easily people forget him and move on to bigger and better things. Used to always being in someone's shadow. Leave it to Derek Hale to shatter those expectations.

Go Away, Scott by HelloWhyTheFuckAmIHere

After the incident at the warehouse, Stiles is fed up with Scott. He finds himself drawn into Derek’s pack and in the process, drawn to Derek himself. With the Alpha Pack closing in, Derek needs to learn how to trust his pack and those around him. And who better to help him than Stiles?

Protect and Serve by MoonlitMemories

Stiles discovers the Nemeton starting to grow again in the preserve on Hale land. What does that mean for the pack? More importantly: why does the Nemeton seem so attached to Stiles?

Anthracite by LupusScintilla (inkandblade)

It's been a quiet few years, and the McCall Pack has grown and settled. But, when the Hale Pack return to Beacon Hills they find Scott isn't as welcoming as they had hoped. Soon they, Stiles, and Lydia, find out that not everything about the McCall Pack is as it has always seemed.

also if my fics make you sad then maybe write your own with all the characters that you want ❤

[masterlist link]

[abyssyby]

hi! same anon who asked for dragon!sylus building a nest! i just read the little twins intro and i just wanna say i adore your writing so much. seeing your posts brightens my day so much, and your work provides lots of comfort. i'd love to know how the realization of the little twins relationships with hats came about. please take care of yourself ♡

hi dear! i got ur request, and since i have a pretty long queue, i can't promise that i can get to that soon, i hope you understand (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡ meanwhile, i have a fic where sylus kind of makes a special space for u, its called messy spaces, if youre interested! thank you so so much for your kind words, i appreciate every single one 🥺💗 please take care of yourself as well, anon!!

i really wanted to answer this ask bc my favorite thing is gushing about the little twins’ itty bitty quirks & preferences!! i’d mentioned it before in a reblog, but here’s a little bit more detail hehe

sylus x reader | lucian kyros luke & kieran | parents!au, crow family, how the little twins feel about hats <3

— little twins at 3 weeks

Sylus had bought them baby bonnets when they were born, to keep their heads from getting cold and to distinguish them from one another (the hats are embroidered! with each initial on the back, and colored tiny cat ears on top).

“Cold, angel?” he murmurs to Kyros when he starts to shiver on his chest during kangaroo care. He’ll never admit it, but he was so excited to finally see the kids in it. He really didn't have to, you were sitting on the bed watching when his eyes lit up at the idea and he got up from the armchair.

He places the bonnet on Kyros’s head, wraps him up in his romper, and swaddles him before handing him back to you.

“Oh! darling, look at you!” you coo, and the baby smiles ever so slightly at your voice. “Papa finally give you your special hat?”

sylus is beaming with pride. “It’s cute, isn’t it?”

you agree. “Does Lucian have one?”

Sylus goes to get Lucian from his bassinet only to find his bonnet on the pillow instead. “Hm, slipped off?”

He places it back on his head and watches as the little face scrunches into a sour frown.

“Sy, can you get the mittens too?” you call, holding Kyros's hands to keep him from scratching his face. Sylus turns away from Lucian to grab them for a split second only to return and see the bonnet off his head again, further away from him now.

Sylus guffaws when he realizes. Your ears perk, “What is it?”

He gathers Lucian up in one arm and the beanie and mittens in one hand then slides into bed beside you.

“Watch,” he simply says and places the hat in place on Lucian’s head.

He hates it. Lucian's lips twitch at the feeling. He squeezes his eyes shut and uses his mittened fists to paw at his cheeks before punching upwards at the hat, popping it off effectively. Your laughter is melodious as you fawn at him. “No hats, papa!”

Sylus grins, watching his finger dip into the chub of Lucian's cheek before taking the bonnet away. “Then what shall we use to warm your head?”

The solution comes to you naturally as your eyes trail the movements of Sylus's fingers over Lucian's cheek. You take his hand gently and guide it to curl around the baby’s head, covering his ears from the cold. Lucian doesn’t protest, only melts back into comfort at the palm as his pillow.

You nudge sylus. "You don't mind, do you?"

He shakes his head, already lost at the little life he holds. He whispers, “Built-in feature.”

You giggle. A kiss is pressed to his temple and your cheek is smushed against his. "You're a good papa."

Sylus shuts his eyes at the words and leans even closer to you. You sit there for a moment, marveling at your twins before he breathes softly. “So, Lucian hates hats.”

— twins at 3 months

"This is for Lucian." Kieran says, presenting the stuffed green dinosaur to Sylus like it's a rare auction piece. Offering it like a knight would a bested beast to a king. and Sylus is deeply amused, "Sure, just don't get it near Kyros." Both Luke and Kieran peer into the two bassinets and hover. Kyros had just recovered from his sickness (which shook the household to its core), so they didn't want to risk bringing the stuffie fibers into his space for him to inhale. The issue lies in figuring out which twin to give the gift to and which twin to avoid. Especially when they looked exactly alike. "This is Cian." Luke points at the wriggling baby, bright-eyed and blinking slowly. "I can feel it." But then the other one coos, loud and resonant. Kieran shakes his head then, "This is Lucian. He's loud." "Eh?" the baby Luke is pointing at counters, voice just as loud. "Huh..." It's Luke who inspiration strikes. He takes the pieces of clothing from the fresh laundry pile nearby and places them on the twins at once. The little brown bear beanie sits on the head of the first twin. This one blinks up at them in amusement, wriggling his limbs at the attention they give him as they watch him do something with the hat. They count to five. When it's still on, they smile— "Hi, Kyros!" The yellow duck hat is placed on the second twin, who grimaces. And the big twins are too slow— Lucian had already shaken the hat off and is now wailing. Panic was an understatement. "I see you found him," Sylus is immediately coming up behind them, already taking Lucian up in his embrace and rubbing his head to help erase the sensation, having done it a hundred times before. The twins apologize, but Sylus waves his hand in dismissal, admitting he'd also used the same method to tell them apart many times before. When Lucian is calm, he accepts the gift and pardons whatever crimes his brothers had committed against him. Their next gifts from the big twins are embroidered onesies— one reading "HATS!" and the other: "NO."

this was super fun to write!! hehe but yes— it's silly but lucian just doesn't like the weight & feeling on his head, while kyros doesn't mind <3

thanks for sending in this ask!! (⭒•͈ 𓎺 •͈ )

✧˚ ⋆｡ read more with the little twins here || more sylus thoughts ✧˚ ⋆｡

[sansaorgana]

— MOTHER'S LOVE

PAIRING — Na-Baron Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen x fem!Reader

SUMMARY — After arriving on Giedi Prime to marry Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, you find out the secret his family was hiding from you – he has a daughter. You quickly realise he has no idea about fatherhood but you step up to take care of the little girl.

AUTHOR’S NOTE — OH MY GOOOOD Anyone still remember me and my fics?! 🤣 This one is a bit different because it includes Feyd as a single dad lmao However, it's not super fluffy either. They're Harkonnens, after all, and the Reader is not exactly a good person either. 🙈 I googled some canon info on Dune Wiki but I didn't follow the events 1:1 (as usual).

WARNINGS — arranged marriage, Feyd's traumatic past mentioned, Feyd being a kinda neglecting father (he cares in his own way and don't worry, there is no actual abuse), Lady Margot is 💀 and it was no accident, Reader is power hungry and greedy (and she adapts to the Harkonnens quickly)

WORD COUNT — 7, 290

ENGLISH IS MY SECOND LANGUAGE.

MOTHER'S LOVE

You didn’t have many expectations before arriving on Giedi Prime. You knew that your husband-to-be was a brutal man but you were old enough to be aware of the fact that most men were this way. You were quite excited in a way because you knew what your union would bring and what your union would eventually make you – an Empress.

Your father had been a close friend of the Emperor and he had been helping him to prevent the war with the Harkonnens who were holding too much power and resources for their own good. However, after a few incidents in which the Emperor had chosen not to show your father proper respect – your father had drastically changed the side of the conflict. He was a wealthy and powerful man as well and connecting your family with the Harkonnens was granting them to win the upcoming war with the Imperial forces quite easily. It was a matter of time when it would happen.

You were supposed to marry Baron Harkonnen’s nephew and heir, which would make you an Empress one day. It was a vicious union; born out of greed for power instead of any love or affection. In fact, you hadn’t even met Feyd-Rautha personally but you had heard rumours about him.

As it had been mentioned – you knew he was brutal. But you also knew all men were. Your own father had turned his back on the Emperor so suddenly and treacherously, after centuries of the families working together. Had it not been brutal as well? Brutality came in many different shapes and forms. 

Your father’s wealth and army were helpful but not significant enough for him to dictate any conditions. For his help, the Harkonnens had offered only one important thing – you becoming the future Empress. However, all the glory would be theirs and your father would remain nothing but a close friend, expanding his wealth freely. You often wondered how much the Emperor must have had disrespected your father for him to choose the Harkonnens to be his new overlords. However, you did not complain.

You wanted to be the Empress.

But in order to become her, you had to survive the Harkonnens and Giedi Prime first.

You were greeted with all the honours on this unfriendly, deathly planet. However, your husband was not a part of the greeting committee. Neither was his uncle, whose health was decreasing lately. Many suspected he would die soon, which would make you a Baroness much quicker than expected, however you were not sure about your future husband’s approach towards your union. If he wasn’t so keen on marrying you, he could change his mind the moment he no longer had to listen to his uncle. That was why you hoped to get married before Baron Harkonnen would die – to secure your position on Giedi Prime as Feyd-Rautha’s lawful wife.

People who greeted you on Giedi Prime were mostly servants of different ranks. You could distinguish them by robes but they all looked very similar if not identical. They were sickly pale, some of them had pitch-black eyes and they were all bald. The servants of the lowest rank looked like clones and you suspected that was what they truly were indeed. They had their necks marked with tattoos indicating their low status.

Servants of higher ranks looked more proper – their clothes were nice, their facial features were more natural and they actually talked to you, meanwhile the low rank servants remained silent and avoided your gaze.

You were taken to your new chambers inside the huge and black fortress in the heart of the planet. You were given a whole wing and a huge bedroom that had not been occupied in decades – ever since Baron Harkonnen’s mother had died.

“Won’t I be quite lonely here?” You asked a male servant who was showing you around. You didn’t like him already because something about his creepy smile and observing eyes was sending shivers down your spine.

“What do you mean, my Lady?” He tilted his bald head slightly and blinked a few times as if he was a robot experiencing a glitch in his system.

“The whole wing of the fortress is all for me?”

“Well, you have guards and servants here, my Lady,” he pointed out.

“They are not… equal companions, are they?” You explained, trying not to sound too cruel. But servants on Giedi Prime probably found your statement to be extremely gentle. They were used to much worse treatment from their masters.

“You are not the only inhabitant of this part of the fortress, my Lady,” the man told you, a little nervously.

You furrowed your brows.

“Care to explain?” You tried to hide your insecurity by looking around the room and pretending to admire the black furniture. 

“Countess Marie has her room nearby,” the servant explained and you smiled slightly when you found out there was, after all, some female Harkonnen around who would perhaps be a friend to you.

Your first thought was that she was Count Rabban’s wife – your future husband’s sister-in-law.

“Oh! There is some countess?” You asked, excitedly. “How old is she?”

“She…” the servant took a deep breath in. “She is six, my Lady.”

“Six?” You asked, your smile dropping as your heart froze inside your chest. “She’s… She’s a child?”

Many awful things you had heard of the Harkonnens but child-brides had never been any part of those stories.

The servant must have immediately realised what you were thinking.

“Oh! No, no, my Lady, she is not a wife…!” He assured you. “She is… Family,” he explained, mysteriously. “Either way, I shall leave you now to rest after long and exhausting travel. I will send a maid for you later to bring you dinner and keep you company, my Lady,” the servant nodded and left the room as the rest of the servants left behind him. The guards stayed behind the heavy doors to make sure you were safe… and to make sure you were no danger either.

You took a deep breath in as you looked around. Everything seemed to be so big and scary on this planet but you promised yourself that you would survive and adapt to it and you didn’t plan on changing that.

After dinner, when your maid left you to sleep, you sneaked out of the bedroom to walk around a little and to explore more of the fortress. You promised the confused guards you’d be back soon enough but you also asked them to search for you if you wouldn’t come back in a long time since there was a big chance of you getting lost. They agreed to it and you walked away, very proud of yourself.

As you were walking down the dark and empty corridor, after a short while you felt somebody’s presence around you. A pair of eyes following you around, which made you swallow thickly. Your heart pounded fast but as you looked behind you, no one seemed to be there. You thought it was your brain playing tricks on you in this unfriendly environment and you tried to remember that the Harkonnens were your new family and they would not hurt you.

Gathering the courage again, you calmed down and continued your walk when – suddenly and out of the darkness – you heard a giggle.

A childish, girly giggle with a hint of malice despite its innocent sound. You froze, widened your eyes and looked around.

“I’ve imagined you differently,” a girly voice announced and when your ears found the source of it, you turned around to face it.

The girl turned on the orb of light she was holding. But it was not in front of you – it was behind you. You turned around once more and she chuckled, visibly proud of herself for playing tricks on you.

She had to be Countess Marie the servant had mentioned earlier – she was around six years old and she surely had Harkonnen blood in her. Her eyes were bright blue and her skin was snow-white. However, she was not bald – she had long and blond hair, which was braided. Her clothes were black and she had a small dagger attached to her hip.

“Countess Marie, I assume,” you extended your hand towards her in a friendly manner. “I am (Y/N) of the House (Y/L/N),” you introduced yourself.

“I know who you are,” Marie shrugged her arms and allowed the orb of light to float around her freely now as she took the dagger out and began to play with it.

It made you feel uneasy as you retreated your hand which she hadn’t shaken. She wouldn’t actually hurt you, would she?

“O-oh, yeah?” You asked. “Well, that’s nice… You see, I had no idea about you until a few hours ago,” you cracked a smile.

“I’m not significant. I’m a bastard,” the girl shrugged her arms again. “And I promised not to bother you but I was curious,” she admitted.

“Promised not to bother me?” You were surprised. “Honey, who did you promise such a thing and why?”

Honey, you had called her – despite her demeanour, she was still a little girl and it was difficult to see her as anything else.

She didn’t seem to mind, though. In fact, she ignored that.

“I promised my daddy and grandpa not to bother you,” she explained.

“Oh, I see,” you nodded, assuming that she treated the Baron as her grandfather. “Are you Count Rabban’s daughter?” You decided to ask more openly now.

She widened her eyes at your question.

“No-o,” she shook her head and hid her dagger. “I’m a Harkonnen,” she told you, proudly.

You began to understand the situation and you couldn’t help but grow angry – how could they hide this fact from you?!

“Well, darling, either way, it is late already and you should be in bed,” you extended your hand towards her again but she took a step back. You retreated your hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s simply not a good time for little girls to be outside their bedrooms.”

“Daddy says I can go to bed at any time I want as long as I am up early for my training,” she explained and then she looked down. “Or… Are you changing the rules now?”

“I am not changing any rules between you and your daddy, it is not my right to do so,” you explained, softly. “However, I would sleep better knowing that you are safe in your bed,” you said.

“What do you care?” Countess Marie asked.

“How could I not, angel? Come on, let’s go to bed,” you nodded your head and she eventually agreed although she also rolled her eyes.

She showed you where her chambers were and you watched her walk past her guards and back into her room. After that, you went back to your bedroom as well but you couldn’t sleep at night.

How could they hide from you that your husband had a daughter?

You demanded to see your husband-to-be after breakfast, although you were advised against by many servants. Mornings were for Feyd-Rautha’s combat training and he should not be interrupted.

However, you could not wait for the meeting. You demanded to be taken to him and the guards had to follow your command although you could see they were not happy about it.

You rushed behind them through the corridors full of servants and Harkonnen noblemen that were turning their heads to take a better look at you. They were curious about you because you were a foreigner, a daughter of the infamous and treacherous Lord but you also stood out with your normal looks that seemed to be exotic on Giedi Prime.

When you arrived at the training grounds, you crossed the nearly magical border between the interior and exterior. Now, you were exposed to the radioactive sunlight, which caused the world around you to be black and white. You knew that the fortress was shielded from the deathly amount of radiation but it was not making anything outside colourful.

The very first sound that greeted you was an animalistic roar coming out of a warrior’s throat. He was standing in the middle of the courtyard with a dagger in his hand as a muscular slave-warrior in front of him kneeled down and fell over after his own throat had been sliced open. The victorious warrior raised his hand to show off the bloody knife and a smaller, clean knife raised behind him. You squinted your eyes and spotted Countess Marie cheering and mimicking the man in the middle.

“That is Feyd-Rautha, my Lady,” the servant whispered to you.

Your heart skipped a beat. Your future husband looked terrifying, especially in black-and-white. His eyes were snake-like, his head was bald and his body was very muscular yet flexible. He spotted you and after a while of hesitation, he walked towards you quite angrily, which caused all the servants to take a few steps back but you stayed in your position, refusing to show fear so openly.

The closer he was, the more handsome you were realising he seemed to be. It was nearly unnatural for a Harkonnen to be so attractive but here he stood – right in front of you. Young, healthy, strong and attractive in a mysterious and fascinating way. He was a perfect warrior – of that you were sure.

But would he be a perfect Emperor?

“Why are you interrupting my training?” He asked. His voice surprised you – it sounded very deep and unsettling.

“I couldn’t wait to meet you,” you answered.

“You are interrupting my training,” he pointed out.

“Surely, you can take a little break to meet your future wife?” You cracked a smile.

Feyd-Rautha seemed to be confused. Finally, his little girl emerged from behind him with a big grin on her face.

“Daddy, don’t be so grim! Lady (Y/N) is nice!” She announced and you breathed out of relief. For some reason, this little menace seemed to like you already.

“Oh, yeah?” Feyd-Rautha tilted his head at you and smirked. “Well, nice little things don’t last long on Giedi Prime, haven’t I told you?”

“Your daughter seems to be doing well, na-baron,” you dared to say and he squinted his eyes.

“I don’t raise her to be nice. And you should not bother with her at all anyway,” he explained and sighed a little. “Nevermind, you have interrupted my training already. Let’s go and talk somewhere,” he pointed at the doors leading back inside the fortress.

“Can I go with you?” Countess Marie asked.

“No,” Feyd-Rautha told her. “You go back to your room and attend your classes.”

“But–”

Feyd didn’t bother to listen to that, though. He walked past his daughter.

“How about you coming to my chambers after your classes and we’ll get to know each other better then?” You asked the girl with a smile.

“I can’t visit other people alone in their chambers except for my daddy,” she widened her eyes. “He doesn’t allow that. It’s dangerous,” she added and you furrowed your brows.

He seemed not to care much about this little girl but then, when it came to certain aspects, he was nearly overprotective.

“I will talk to him and if he still doesn’t allow it, we’ll invite some servants as well, how about that?” You asked her and she nodded with a smile.

You reached out to caress her face but she flinched, so you took a step back again.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered.

“It’s fine but he doesn’t allow strangers to touch me,” she explained. “Unless they’re servants who help me change clothes and all that – unless it’s necessary, you see.”

“I see,” you nodded. “Well, see you later, Marie.”

“See you later, Lady (Y/N).”

After that, you hurried back inside the fortress to enter it through the same doors your husband-to-be had entered a few moments earlier. In fact, they were still open because Feyd was holding them for you with an annoyed expression.

“Sorry,” you smiled awkwardly at him when you finally were both inside the fortress. Here, where colours were visible, he didn’t seem to gain much more colours himself. His skin seemed to be a bit less white and his eyes were the same shade as Marie’s but that was it. He was still mostly black-and-white.

“You don’t have to befriend her,” Feyd-Rautha announced. “She is a bastard,” he explained. “If we don’t produce any heirs, she might become my na-baroness but I don’t think this will happen. Noblemen here wouldn’t accept a female leader anyway,” he shrugged his arms.

“How can you say that?” You asked him. “Let me be clear, I do not know much of you or your history but I do not accept the way you treat your daughter or me. Why is she not significant? Why was her existence hidden from me? Are women only objects here? Pawns? I am aware we hold less power on Giedi Prime but I was not told that women have no rights here,” you crossed your arms.

“Do not be daft,” Feyd-Rautha rolled his eyes and leaned on the black marble pillar inside the hall. “After my seventeenth birthday a Bene Gesserit witch used me to manipulate the bloodlines. It is an accident I barely remember,” Feyd-Rautha said. “I don’t like being out of control and at that moment I had none. She became pregnant with my child and wanted to raise Marie as another Bene Gesserit witch. Some sisters of that order are more loyal to the Harkonnens than their convent – that’s how I found out about my daughter. I killed her mother and her husband. I wanted to kill the girl, too, but I took her in to raise her as a warrior instead. After all, she’s my blood,” he shrugged his arms.

Both him and Marie tended to shrug their arms a lot – showing off how little they cared about literally everything. It was quite… adorable.

“You changed your mind because she is your child,” you pointed out, pretending not to be moved by the story. In fact, it terrified you that he admitted so openly to murder the mother of his child, although you were aware of the rumour that he had killed his own mother.

It would be very easy for him to kill you off, too, eventually…

“She is,” Feyd-Rautha nodded. “Us, Harkonnens, we have different ways of raising children than you, that’s it.”

“I don’t want to interfere or change your ways,” you explained. “But I refuse to pretend she doesn’t exist. As you said, she is a bastard and a girl, therefore she is no threat to me or any children I will bear,” you announced and he raised his eyebrows as if he was a little surprised and impressed.

As usual – he shrugged his arms.

“Can I spend time with her alone? Can I touch her?” You asked, more carefully now. “I feel like this child is not being hugged enough.”

“Harkonnens don’t hug,” Feyd growled.

“I just don’t understand why–”

“You can,” he interrupted you. “As my future wife, you can but the rule exists for a reason. It is to protect her and I don’t want you to extend the exception to other people as well.”

“Protect her from what?” You asked, furrowing your brows.

“My uncle,” he answered and a long silence occurred.

“I see…” You took a deep breath in. “I… Well, it was nice to meet you, finally,” you admitted. “I must go now, the wedding takes place in a week from now and I have lots of preparations.”

“Don’t lock your bedroom doors in the evening,” he whispered and you raised your eyebrow at him. “I’ll claim you tonight,” he said casually.

“E-excuse me?” You asked.

“You heard me well, pet,” he smirked.

“The wedding takes place in a–”

“The fuck do I care about the wedding? You’re mine now,” Feyd shrugged his arms and walked away, leaving you scared and confused.

What if he claims you and then throws you away, accusing you of being spoiled and unfit for marriage? That would be a disaster.

Marie came to your chambers in the afternoon and you watched her go through your things with a smile on your lips. Perhaps it was a little rude of her to be so nosy but you were simply glad there was at least one ally in this fortress that you had. And, for some reason, despite her odd nature, you found her rather amusing and adorable.

“I’m glad your father allowed us to spend time together,” you said.

“Yes, it is now only you and him I am allowed to be alone with,” she pointed out. “It’s as if you were my mummy,” she said and your smile dropped when you remembered what he did to hers.

Did she know about it?

“My mother’s dead, you know?” She asked. “She was a bad person and daddy had to kill her.”

“I… I know,” you admitted. “Don’t you miss her?”

“I don’t remember her,” Marie shrugged her arms. “And she was a bad person. Bad people shouldn’t live,” she explained.

“Who defines bad, Marie?” You asked, curiously. After all, it was an odd thing to hear such a thing coming from a Harkonnen.

“Daddy does,” she nearly rolled her eyes, as if you were asking silly questions. “What is that?” She pointed at a white veil you had brought with yourself from your homeplanet.

“It’s for the wedding,” you explained.

“They’re going to laugh at you,” Marie chuckled. “Brides don’t wear such things here.”

“Oh? And what do they wear?” You asked.

“Different types of veils but not this… Whatever that is. And the colour is awful as well,” she pointed out.

“It’s lace, Marie. And it’s white,” you explained, patiently.

“White is a colour for servants,” she said and threw the veil away as you realised that, in fact, most white clothes you had seen on Giedi Prime were on the backs of servants.

“I don’t want people to laugh at me,” you admitted. “Will you help me?”

“Sure, I can. You’re going to be an Empress one day, you can’t look ridiculous!” Marie exclaimed and you chuckled. “What? You think I’m funny?” She asked.

“No, darling, I think you’re quite adorable,” you admitted and opened your arms.

She hesitantly approached you and you hugged her but she remained stiff as if she didn’t know what was happening. Perhaps Feyd was right and the Harkonnens didn’t hug.

“Why are you calling me these things?” She asked and you furrowed your brows. “Honey, darling, angel… I don’t understand,” Marie said.

“That’s how we address children where I am from,” you explained. “They’re nice things to say.”

“But I am not nice,” Marie protested and winced a little.

“Yes, you are, darling,” you assured her. “You’re a very nice little girl. A strong warrior, too, I am sure. But these two don’t have to contradict each other.”

“I would have to ask daddy about that,” Marie sighed and went back to looking through your things.

You watched her with a smile although there was a sense of dread rising with each given moment as well since you could feel the time passing and inevitably bringing you closer to the nighttime.

Feyd-Rautha was incredibly precise. In fact, a week later, on the day of your wedding ceremony, you were already carrying his son – the unnaturally advanced Harkonnen technology was able to confirm that on the night before.

You were both shocked and impressed by that and also by the fact Feyd was announcing that to everyone already during the wedding ceremonies and all those noble Harkonnens were cheering proudly instead of accusing you of infamy and adultery.

You wore red for that day – and so did little Marie. You were holding her hand by the wedding table and she was telling you funny facts about the scary Harkonnen noblemen surrounding you, which made you feel less intimidated by them. It was obvious to everyone that she had grown attached to you very quickly and everyone wondered why but you didn’t need to be a genius to know. You were coming from a planet where children were being treated well, like children instead of small adults being trained, and you knew they needed attention and affection to feel safe and loved. You were giving Marie all the things no one had ever been giving to her.

Whatever Feyd was thinking of that you had no idea. He was mostly excited about his son and heir you were pregnant with. As a husband he was treating you in a similar way he treated his daughter – he was rather indifferent but showed that he cared at times.

Oddly, you weren’t scared of him – you could sense that he was treating you like a business partner in a sense. After all, the two of you would rule the whole empire together one day. You had to work it out somehow.

During your wedding party, he left you for a while for a meeting with his uncle and a strange Bene Gesserit woman that came from an outer world. You thought she was a usual wedding guest but apparently she also visited to deal with some business here and you tried to hide the fact that it annoyed you how you were left out of this meeting.

“What do you think this might be about?” You asked Marie.

“I don’t know,” she shrugged her arms. “I’m technically a Bene Gesserit, too, you know?”

“But you’re not being trained, are you?”

“No, daddy doesn’t allow that. They’re bad people,” she shrugged her arms. “Can we eat more cake?”

“Absolutely!” You smiled widely.

Two weeks later you were in Marie’s chambers, reading history books to her. Bored in the fortress and not being given any real duties because of your blessed state, you replaced half of Marie’s tutors and you were teaching her yourself whatever you were able to.

She seemed to be quite distracted on that day, though. She was lazily playing with her dagger and looking out of the window as you were reading to her about other planets.

“How do colours look like outside Giedi Prime?” She asked suddenly. “I mean, outside. If I were on a different planet,” she explained.

“You don’t remember?” You asked and put the book down. Marie shook her head. “Well, it’s very colourful. Depends on a planet, of course, some are mostly green, some mostly yellow, some mostly blue. Some have lots of forests, some have lots of water and some have lots of sand.”

“Why?”

“It depends on temperatures and minerals that can be found on those planets. When our ancestors were colonising the universe, they were shaping the planets to inhabit them but there were limits within each of them. For example, you cannot make Giedi Prime look like Arrakis because of how different their suns are,” you explained. “Why are you asking, darling? Would you like to go and see a different planet? I might convince your daddy to let us leave to my homeplanet after the baby is born. Would you like to go with me?”

Marie shrugged her arms and looked away again.

“Will my brother look more like you or my daddy?” She asked.

“I certainly hope he will be a mix of both. Like you are a mix, are you not, honey? You have beautiful hair,” you smiled at her and caressed the blonde braid.

“I hope he has hair, too,” Marie smiled but her eyes remained sad. “Do you think he would like me?”

“Would? I’m sure he will adore you, Marie!” You caressed her cheek and her lower lip trembled. “What is it?”

“They haven’t told you,” she sniffled and you shook your head, feeling your heart sink deeper into your chest. “That Bene Gesserit lady who came when you married my daddy… She was here for me. They will take me soon with them and train me at their convent.”

“But you said your daddy didn’t want that,” you gasped.

“Well, now he has you and the baby,” she shrugged her arms but it was obvious that she cared.

She cared very much.

“Marie, I won’t let them take you away,” you cupped her face and looked deep into her bright eyes, so identical to her father’s. Yet so different – they weren’t so cold and empty like his.

Now, they were scared.

“How?” She asked, sadly. “You have no real power here,” she reminded you and it felt like a slap that even a child could see the truth about your position.

Usually, you were only seeing Feyd in the evenings inside the chambers you were now sharing with him as his wife. He hadn’t particularly asked for it but you had just moved in there and he hadn’t said anything negative about it.

You were sitting up in your bed when he entered and took a look at you before starting to take off his gear.

“How’s my son?” He asked.

“Is that all you care about?” You asked, angrily. Your unusual answer surprised him, so he turned his head around with furrowed brows.

“What else should I care about?” He inquired.

“You have a daughter as well,” you reminded him and he sighed, looking away again and going back to undressing himself. “I know the way she was conceived was far from ideal but it is not her fault.”

“I have told you not to bother yourself with her,” he mumbled out.

“What?!” You jumped out of the bed and crossed your arms. “If the child I’m carrying was a girl, would you treat her the same?”

“It would be different,” Feyd rolled his eyes. “I didn’t want Marie to spend time with you because my uncle said she could ruin our union. Apparently, he wasn’t wrong but in the opposite way. She’s not ruining our union because you hate her. She’s ruining it because you started to think you’re her mother,” Feyd growled angrily. “But she has no mother.”

“Because you killed her!” You were growing frustrated with his logic. “And now you’re sending her away! You said you hated Bene Gesserit witches! You told Marie that they were bad people and now you’re sending her away to them!”

“Has she told you?” Feyd was annoyed by that as he stepped out of his gear, wearing nothing but his underwear now. He never bothered with wearing pyjamas to bed, so he just passed you by and laid on the bed with a relaxed sigh, as if you were not in the middle of an argument.

The funny fact about him was that he couldn’t really argue – he wasn’t used to people disagreeing with him. Not people who were of lower status than him at least. And, as his wife, you unfortunately had a lower status because you were a woman.

“I don’t want Marie to go. She has to stay,” you stood above him with your arms still crossed.

“I am her father, the decision is mine. I didn’t want to send her there but they came here, they explained they needed her. She’s a part of their program. If we don’t listen to them, Bene Gesserit might turn their backs on us and we need their support if we’re going to take over the imperial throne,” Feyd explained and reached his hand out to touch your belly a little. “The medic said you shouldn’t get too emotional in your state, so calm down.”

But him telling you to calm down had an opposite effect, obviously.

“She’s not a part of a program!” You slapped his hand away, watching his eyes darken with anger. “She’s a child, Feyd! And fuck those Bene Gesserit witches! Fuck them, we don’t need them!”

“We need a religious institution to control the masses,” Feyd’s jaw clenched.

“Then we’ll create our own religion to replace theirs. We’ll turn people against them. I don’t want to be an Empress of an Empire I don’t have full control of. The Bene Gesserit are too dangerous and too independent.”

“Not if Marie becomes their Reverend Mother one day,” Feyd smirked.

Oh, so they already had a plan. The Baron must have come up with it. Men loved to plan out women’s whole lives like that.

“If I was her, I wouldn’t help us even a bit. I would hate us for sending me away,” you spat out, angrily.

“Such a vengeful little thing, just like your father, hm? Treacherous little snake, you would turn your back on everyone just for the sake of it,” Feyd moved up and now his face was so close to yours that your noses were nearly brushing each other.

“And you’re any different?” You asked but you answered before he could. “Yes, you are. You are different because I could never be so indifferent towards my own child. She loves you, how can you not see that? She calls you daddy, she mimics you, she wants to be like you. She trains with you, she cheers when you’re in the arena, she’s so proud of you. She believes every single fucking thing you say to her and some of those are malicious lies. Do you even realise how lucky you are to have her in your life?” You asked and kept looking at him with anger.

Feyd went silent, though, and you could see his facial features softened a little.

“It is not something I’ve been trained for,” he admitted.

“What?”

“Being a father,” he admitted. “I’ve been trained to kill and endure pain. To rule and obey my uncle. That is all I know. I always assumed that my future wife would raise my children. I don’t know how to do that.”

And in that moment you pitied him but you knew he would hate your pity, so you tried not to show it.

“I know,” you reached out to cup his face and he flinched just like Marie had flinched in the beginning. However, he allowed you to touch him and you cracked a smile while caressing his cheeks softly. “I know, darling, but I am here now and I can be a mother to her. I want to be a mother to her. If you send her away now, I will never forgive you. And neither will she,” you whispered.

“Some things I cannot control. They demand her to go with them,” he swallowed thickly, looking up at you with mesmerised eyes. You enjoyed that feeling.

“They demand? They demand you? You’re Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen. You can tell them to go fuck themselves. If you don’t, that will mean that you won’t be able to protect our children either. I thought I married a strong man who would lead a whole universe one day. A ruthless leader, no compromise,” you caressed his cheeks some more, knowing perfectly well that you were manipulating him in the process.

“You’re different than I’ve expected,” Feyd confessed, his lips now brushing yours in a way that was making you feel tingly.

“I’ve heard that before,” you smiled and leaned in to finally close the gap between you two with a passionate kiss. You hoped he would listen to you.

Only time would tell.

You were with Marie in the courtyard when you saw the mysterious ship arrive and land nearby the fortress. You recognised it immediately – it belonged to the Bene Gesserit order.

Marie looked up at you with big, scared eyes. She could be a bold little girl with a dagger attached to her hip but in times like this she was just a terrified and lonely little baby. You didn’t want her to feel this way. Not now and not ever.

“I won’t let them take you,” you mouthed out but she looked down, unsurely. 

You held her hand and squeezed it tightly to walk her back inside and go to her room but on your way you were stopped by a servant telling you that Countess Marie was expected in the great hall where Baron Harkonnen resided.

You nodded at the servant and changed your route to go to the place where they were expecting Marie. However, you wouldn’t leave her alone there. No, you would go with her and try to defend her as much as you could. 

The room was huge, dark and nearly empty. The Baron was floating above everyone maliciously, connected to all sorts of machines and devices that were increasing in size with each given day. Speaking of his days – they were surely counted. Both you and Feyd couldn’t wait for the one when he would simply die.

Feyd was there as well, with his hands crossed behind his back. He looked nervous when you and Marie arrived as some old Bene Gesserit woman was standing there and staring at the little girl.

“There she is, Marie Fenring, Margot’s daughter,” the Bene Gesserit greeted her and Marie clinged to the black skirt of your dress.

“She’s a Harkonnen,” Feyd pointed out.

“Such a shame your wife is carrying a son. Your combination was unexpected and unplanned in our program but it certainly is interesting,” the woman continued. “Such varieties can enrich our system.”

“What are you doing here?” You asked, rudely, as you put your hand on Marie’s shoulder.

“Forgive the young ones,” Baron Harkonnen coughed as he mumbled out. “My nephew and his wife need a lesson or two about manners,” he tried to laugh. “Of course, you can take the little one with you. Let’s get it over with.”

“No, she cannot. I do not allow that,” you took a step ahead to hide Marie behind you.

“You know I don’t need permission, na-baroness,” the Bene Gesserit smirked. “Don’t make me use The Voice on you when you’re in such a blessed state,” she added with irony.

“If you do that, I’ll kill you,” Feyd barked at her. “If you touch my wife or my daughter, you’re dead,” he threatened.

“Calm down, boy!” His uncle scolded him.

“I am far too important and powerful to be scared of you. Do you think you can kill off a Bene Gesserit sister like me with no consequences?” She laughed at him as she raised her eyebrow cockily.

“That is exactly what I can do as your Emperor,” he tilted his head.

“You’re not one yet, are you? And you won’t be one without our help,” the woman was growing angry but her frustration was aimed at your husband instead of you now.

“We don’t need your help,” you moved closer to Feyd and Marie reached out her little hand towards her daddy. He didn’t hold it, so she clung to his suit with it as she was holding onto your skirt with the other. “My husband and I do not need help from anyone and the days of your sisterhood are being counted just as much as the Baron’s or the Emperor’s. Nobody is going to tell us what we can or have to do. The new order is coming and it’s coming soon,” you stated.

“Such insolence! My Baron, have you heard that?!” The Bene Gesserit looked behind her to look at your husband’s uncle but he was coughing uncontrollably and the servants were already helping him to float out of the room.

She realised that Baron Harkonnen wasn’t in power anymore. You straightened your back when she laid her eyes back at you.

“You do not have friends amongst the Harkonnens anymore,” Feyd said, calmly.

“Unless you cooperate,” you added with a smile.

“Cooperate how?” She asked.

“Let’s start with not taking our daughter away,” you said without thinking and then you felt your cheeks heating up when you realised you had called Marie your daughter.

You hoped it wouldn't make the little Countess or her father angry.

“I see,” the Bene Gesserit woman nodded and clasped her hands. “You’ve adapted quickly. Not many people believed you would survive here but I was one of the few who knew your father’s true nature. We knew that if you were at least half a viper he is, you would adapt here very well.”

“Oh, thank you,” you gave her a fake, charming smile.

“I know that some of my sisters are more loyal to the Harkonnens than our cause,” the woman revealed with a mysterious smile as if she was threatening you with controversial secrets.

“I suggest befriending them then,” you nodded with a smile. “ Quickly, if I were you.”

She left after that, clearly uncomfortable. You could see how she was itching to use The Voice on you but she had to be terrified of Feyd’s threats.

When the heavy doors closed behind her, you felt Marie’s hold onto your skirt loosening. You looked down and realised that Feyd was holding her hand after all – you had no idea when he had begun squeezing it but it warmed your heart.

“Thank you…” Marie’s lower lip trembled.

“Harkonnens don’t cry,” Feyd scolded her.

“Yes, they do,” you crouched down and hugged little Marie. She wrapped her arms around you and you caressed her hair. “Little Harkonnen girls can do whatever they want,” you added and patted her back.

“As long as it’s something father and mother allow,” Feyd added and you cracked a smile. He seemed to be fine with you becoming Marie’s mother.

“Yes, as long as mummy and daddy approve,” you moved away a bit and fixed Marie’s hair.

“Will you really be my mummy?” Marie asked with eyes full of tears.

“Of course, honey. My sweet angel, my darling,” you kissed her cheeks.

“What if I become a bad person like my real mother?” She asked and you went silent for a while. You didn’t know what to say to that.

“You won’t,” Feyd put his hand on her shoulder. “You’re not her,” he assured her and she smiled.

A maid interrupted you all as she was looking for Marie because her tutor had been waiting for her. So, you wiped your girl’s cheeks from tears and sent her away with the maid so she could attend her class.

“What if she finds out the truth one day?” You asked Feyd.

“What truth?” He squinted his eyes.

“That her mother wasn’t exactly evil. That you didn’t have to kill her, it was just the fact that your ego was hurt so much because you had been used like thousands of noble men before you,” you teased and caressed your belly to remind him of your pregnancy in case he would get angry.

“Oh, please,” Feyd laughed, though. He approached you and stood so close that his nose brushed with yours. He liked to show you affection like this, you had realised that lately. Rubbing your nose with his carefully as if he was an animal sniffing the scent of his mate. He was an animal in many ways, after all. But you would domesticate him, of that you were sure.

Just like his daughter, he just needed a little attention and affection.

“She won’t mind,” he assured you. “She’s going to be my daughter raised by you. Brutality and treachery won’t make her flinch,” he added proudly and you chuckled before caressing his cheeks gently.

“Why should they?” You whispered and kissed him lovingly.

You were sure now that by his side you could feel safe and he would protect you and your family even if it was someone as powerful as the Bene Gesserit to threaten you. 

MASTERLIST

[xlostinthedreamfics]

In a Good Way: Chapter 1 (Yunho Fic)

Pairing: Jeong Yunho x Female Reader

Word Count: 7.6k

Playlist: In a Good Way - Faye Webster

Warnings: NSFW, 18+, smut, cursing, mentions of alcohol (This story does not reflect who the members are in any way.)

Summary: Nice guys are not your type, too angelic, too holy, too boring until one of these nice guys gets under your skin. What you have been wanting has been in front of you this whole time, and if you don’t act quick, it might just miss you.

Note: I originally was going to make this a one-shot, but I think this needs 2 chapters! I hope you enjoy this; it's one of my favorites so far 🤭

You scrolled aimlessly through your texts, just waiting for his notification. You groaned loudly, throwing your head back against your best friend’s couch. “What is it?” You felt the spot next to you dip, seeing a concerned Yeosang next to you, followed by a curious San on the other side. “It’s nothing, Hwa just hasn't texted me.” Groans from both sides of you erupted, “Y/N, we told you to leave him.” Yeosang sighed, his fingers massaging his temples. “You know you don’t deserve to be treated like that.” San shook his head, slapping his hand against your thigh. “Food is on the way, a nice hot meal will make you feel better! Yunho should be coming soon.” Your head snapped over to San, “Yunho? I thought it was just going to be us three.” Yeosang nudged you softly, “Be nice, Yunho is a cool guy.” You sighed, your head falling back against the couch again, “I’m sure he is.”

You had no issue with Yunho, quite the contrary, Yunho was among the nicest people you’ve met. Sure, you didn’t know him well; he was Yeosang’s friend, not yours. But the times you have spoken to Yunho, it felt like you couldn’t be your sarcastic, unhinged, natural self. He was too nice, too good for your crude jokes. “Wait!” San got up from the couch, pointing at Yeosang, then at you. “Yunho! He’d be perfect for you.” Yeosang looked over at you as he covered his mouth, “San is on to something.” You pulled yourself up from the couch, walking over to the bathroom, “Not going to happen.” You closed the door behind you, your phone clutched up to your chest. Maybe I should just call him. 

Seonghwa, the guy you have been infatuated with for the past six months. You met him at the coffee shop by your apartment. He was the new barista behind the counter. You couldn’t help to make frequent coffee runs, having conversations with him while you picked up your caramel latte every morning. He beat you to it by finally asking for your number, texting you to hang out that same night. Let’s just say you both got acquainted really well that night, and you considered visiting your coffee shop twice a day. Seonghwa loved to hear all the crazy adventures you got up to with your friends, your recent trinket obsession, songs that reminded you of him, and he wanted to hear anything you had to say, minus conversations about defining the relationship between you two. He always followed with, “I’m just not ready right now,” or “I want to be the best version of myself for you.” San and Yeosang said they knew guys like him, aka a total fuck boy as San likes to announce everytime you vent about him. He wasn’t bad, most of the time. Sure, he made promises that he couldn’t keep and would ignore your texts or calls at times, but when you did see each other, it just felt right. And maybe you weren’t the relationship type? Maybe something casual like this was okay, too.

Ring. Ring. Ring. “Hwa-” The voicemail message played, making you hang up before the beep. It’s fair to say your last relationships or situationships were not the best either. You never had anything amazing to compare them to. Was there even such a thing as true love, loyalty, or genuine interest? Yeosang said it could be your taste in men, but you just liked what you liked, and it just ended up being men with commitment issues, but great in bed. You stormed out of the bathroom, bumping into a tall figure just outside the door. You glanced up to see a smiling Yunho looking down at you, “Hey, Y/N.” You half-smiled, walking around him. “Hey Yunho.” You made your way back over to the couch, slumping down next to Yeosang. “Pizza will make you feel better.” Yeosang handed over his plate to you, a delicious and hot pepperoni slice just waiting to make you happy. “Thanks.” You held onto the paper plate, watching as the rest of the guys grabbed their food before turning on the movie. This was a regular thing for you, Yeosang and San: movie nights. It was San’s turn to pick the movie, and just your luck, it was a romance drama. “San, am I going to cry?” San hushed you, nuzzling into the armchair next to you, his eyes focused on the TV. You glanced over at Yunho, sitting so proper on the other chair, neatly eating his pizza. You rolled your eyes, glancing down at your phone, still no text back from Hwa. 

The movie ended, and San was holding onto the throw pillow, wiping his tears as the end credits appeared. You’d be lying if you said you paid attention the whole way through; most of the time was spent checking your phone. “Why would they not end it on a happy note? Why did you show us this?” Yeosang sighed, chucking a pillow at San. Yunho laughed, “I kind of like when that happens, sometimes happy endings don’t always happen, just like real life.” You wanted your happy ending with Hwa, was that too much to ask for? Your phone began to vibrate suddenly, Seonghwa’s name lighting up on the screen. “Oh, guys, I gotta go. See you later!” You snatched your purse, running out the door of Yeosang’s apartment, straight to the elevators. 

“Seonghwa, hey.” You reached the lobby, walking out towards the exit. “Hey, sorry I didn’t text back. I was hanging with some friends, but maybe we can see each other later tonight?” You headed toward the train station, zipping up your jacket as the chilly night air hit you. “Sure, yeah, just let me know what time.” 

—--------

You waited up for Seonghwa until 2 am and knocked out, realizing that he wasn’t going to come over like he said. You peeked over at your phone, no notifications, just one from the group chat with San and Yeosang.

San: Get home safe!

Yeosang: Are you home now?

You squinted your eyes, the beaming rays of the sun filling your room. You rolled over on your stomach, texting the group chat back. 

You: Sorry, guys, I came home and fell asleep. I’m alive and well. 

You dropped your head back onto your pillow, happy that it was Saturday, but the heavy feeling in your chest was not leaving. You wondered why you let yourself be toyed with so much, you didn’t want to believe that Hwa was a fuck boy. When you’re together, it truly feels like there’s no one around but you and him. You can be yourself with him, talk about the most random shit, laugh until your stomach hurts and ride his face until you can’t feel your legs. It was perfect, but the multiple efforts of asking him what he thought about you both and what he wanted just left you feeling more empty and disappointed. He would say how much he wanted you and cared for you, then would ignore you for days, just to call you in the early hours of the morning to come over and rail you to sleep. It felt like a cycle of your highest highs and your lowest lows. You knew he would be working at the coffee shop today, and you needed a latte. You got dressed, heading out the doors, just a few blocks away from your favorite coffee shop. The shop had a live DJ on Saturdays, so it was busier than on other days. You headed toward the counter, not spotting Seonghwa anywhere around. “Morning! What can I get started for you?” The worker greeted you at the counter, “Just a medium caramel latte, please.” You glanced around the shop, focusing back on the worker to pay. Maybe he wasn’t working today; you made your way to the pickup area, waiting for your drink.

“Y/N?” You looked over to see Yunho, a baseball cap resting on his head, a very casual boyfriend aesthetic he had going on today, not a strand of hair out of place, not one wrinkle on his clothes. You waved at him, pursing your lips as he walked over, “You come here?” He nodded, “I do, usually on the weekends when I have time. I live right around the corner. What’s your go-to drink here?” You continued to scan the room behind Yunho, “Caramel Latte, you?” Maybe he was starting late today? “Latte for Y/N!” You jumped a bit, walking over to the counter to grab your drink. You glanced up, taking a long sip, your eyes catching a familiar face. There he is. You were about to make your way to Hwa but stopped when you noticed him hovering over some other girl, playing with her hands, making her laugh obnoxiously loud. “What the fuck?” You said out loud, causing Yunho to turn his attention toward you. 

You threw your sunglasses over your eyes, storming out of the coffee shop. The worst part of this all was that you knew Seonghwa would deny it. “Y/N!” Yunho followed after you, his pace picking up faster to catch up. “Are you okay?” You waved him off, “I don’t need saving, Yunho, I’m fine.” Yunho chuckled nervously, “I’m not trying to save you, I just want to make sure you’re okay.” You stopped at an intersection, waiting for the pedestrian signal to mark, to walk. “I’m fine, Yunho, don’t worry about me and my mess. Go back to your perfect morning.” You sighed as you made your way across the street, leaving a confused Yunho behind.

—--------

As soon as you got home, you slammed your coffee cup on the counter, abandoning it for the rest of the day. You got back into your bed, wrapping yourself in your bedding. You were tired of feeling like this, so fucking over it. Your phone vibrated, Yeosang. You ignored it, rolling over to the other side, shutting your eyes as if you could force yourself to fall asleep right now. The phone stopped vibrating, and a few messages followed. You reached for your phone, opening up your notifications. 

Yeosang: Y/N?

Yeosang: Yunho told me you ran out of the coffee shop?

Yeosang: Did something happen with that Seonghwa guy?

Yeosang: Do me and San have to beat his ass?

You laughed at the image of them storming into the coffee shop to kick Seonghwa’s ass, the chuckles making the heaviness in your chest feel a little lighter. You knew if you didn’t respond to Yeosang, he would send San to your door since he was only a few buildings down from you. 

You: Yeah, I’m okay. I’m going to end things with him. 

You sent that last part without even thinking, like your subconscious wanted you to admit it, admit that he wasn’t good for you. You swiped over to Seonghwa’s message chat.

You: Come over today? I want to talk to you about something.

He responded quickly this time.

Hwa: Yeah, I’ll come over after my shift. 

You read this message over and over, contemplating what you were going to say once he was in front of you. You paced your room, practicing, “I think it’s best if we just stop, whatever this is.” You stared at yourself in the mirror, nodding in approval. “Yeah, just straight to the point.” You sat at the edge of your bed, you’ve been doing this for the last few hours, and you finally made yourself hungry. You reached into the cupboard for some popcorn, a quick snack while you looked over the food delivery app to get some type of noodle dish. Your phone buzzed, a text from Hwa.

Hwa: On my way!

You rushed to fix your bed, pick up around your apartment, and get into more comfortable clothes than the jeans you were still in from earlier. After you placed your food order, Seonghwa knocked at your door. “Coming!” You shouted out excitedly, forgetting that you were about to end things with him. Your stomach fell to your ass as the realizination hit you. You opened the door to a smiling Seonghwa who immediately wrapped his arms around your waist, kissing the side of your neck and then your lips. “I missed you.” He spoke against your lips, slipping his hands under your shirt. “Seonghwa, I wanted to talk to you.” He pulled away slowly, sitting on your couch before pulling you onto his lap. “What’s up?”

“I went by the coffee shop today.” His eyes gleamed up at you as he ran his hand up and down your thigh, squeezing it playfully. “You did? You should’ve told me. I would have paid for your coffee.” You placed your hand over his to stop him from playing with your thigh, and he frowned, “Is everything okay?” You sighed, pulling yourself up from him, “I saw you with that girl Seonghwa.” You looked at him with defeat in your eyes, no energy to scream, shout, or plead for his apology like you used to do. “Babe, that’s just my new coworker. It’s not a big deal.” He patted his lap for you to sit back down, “You believe me, right?” You watched him, his big eyes beaming up at you as he pulled you back down on him. He placed a kiss on your lips, wrapping his arms around your waist. 

—--------

You knocked on Yeosang’s door, hearing his footsteps move closer, finally letting you in. “Hey! What are you up-” You looked over at Yunho, who was sitting on the couch, looking up from his phone to face you. “Oh, hey Yunho.” Yeosang shut the door behind you, “We were just chilling, thinking of catching some lunch in a bit if you want to come.” You shoved your hands in the pockets of your jacket, nodding to Yeosang. “Sure, I could go for some food.” You took a seat in the armchair, tapping along the armrest. “So?” Yeosang sat on the couch beside you. “Did you end things?” You noticed Yunho peeking up from his phone, looking at you before returning to his phone again. “The weather app said it was going to be sunny today.” You peered over at the window, trying not to look at Yeosang, who was sighing in disbelief. “Y/N, you said you were going to end things. What happened?” You slumped your shoulders, looking down at your hands. “We talked things through, okay? We’re good now.” 

“It gets to a point, Y/N, where he’s going to expect your forgiveness every time, it won’t even mean anything to him.” Yeosang shook his head.

“Look, Seonghwa gets a bad rep, but he’s a great guy. He cares for me.” 

“He seemed to care about that girl yesterday, too,” Yunho mumbled under his breath, causing you and Yeosang to snap your heads over to him. “What?” Yeosang asked, not knowing the whole situation that had happened at the coffee shop yesterday. “Yunho, I didn’t ask for your opinion. Thanks.” You got up from the couch, pulling your bag over your shoulder. “I forgot I had something to do. I’ll see you later, Yeosang.” You headed out, frantically making your way toward the elevators. Just when you think you’re living happily on your delusional cloud about Seonghwa, someone throws reality in your face again, and this time it was goody two-shoes Yunho. 

Even after you and Seonghwa talked it out, even after he had you bent over your bed, and even after cuddling you to sleep, the hole in your chest grew bigger. There was no chance you believed that he wasn’t flirting with his coworker, but you also believed that he cared for you. Yunho didn’t know shit, he shouldn’t have said anything to begin with. The rest of the day, you stuffed your face with leftovers and rotted away in your bed, ignoring every possible text from Yeosang and San. Why were you deciding to deprive yourself of actual happiness, you didn’t know; you felt stuck in this endless cycle with Seonghwa and with yourself. 

There was a knock on your door, your heart beating quickly as you became startled by the noise. You walked over to the door, looking through the peephole, and saw Yunho waiting patiently for you to answer. “Yunho?” You opened it up, seeing him with a bag in his hand. “Yeosang and San were going to check in on you. But I offered to go since I wanted to apologize. I bear wine and some amazing pho? San told me you can never turn down pho.” He held the brown paper big in front of you, smiling as you snatched it from him. “Come in, I guess.” You scooted over to let him in, shutting the door behind him.

“This could’ve just been a text, you know? But thanks for the pho.” You peeked into the bag, pulling out the wine first, popping it open. “I'd rather do it in person.” Yunho looked around your apartment, “Oh, cool, you play?” He pointed at your guitar in the corner of your living room. “I dabble.” You poured the wine into two cups, handing one to Yunho. He grinned, taking it from you. “Listen, Y/N, I’m sorry about getting involved earlier. I just know how it feels. You deserve a good guy who-” 

You took a sip from your cup before cutting him off, “You don’t know what I deserve. You don’t even know me, Yunho. You can’t come here and think your advice will be some saving grace. Can you just please go?” You downed the wine in your cup, placing it in the sink behind you. 

“I just-” You walked over to the door, opening it for him. “Have a good night, Yunho.” He nodded, placing the cup down on the counter before walking out. “I’m sorry.” You shot him a thumbs up, closing your door in front of his face. “He just thinks he’s so righteous all the time, doesn't he?” You opened up the bottle, drinking it straight from the spout as you plopped down on your couch, eyeing the guitar in the corner, not remembering the last time you felt happy enough to play.

—--------

You avoided going to Yeosang’s for a few days, you had let him know you were a little busy with work and hoped to hang out sometime during the weekend. Anything to avoid a confrontation about your situation with Hwa and to avoid seeing Yunho. Literally, who does he think he is? You shook off the annoyance, reaching for your phone as it vibrated in your pocket. Yeosang.

“Y/N!” Yeosang shouted through the phone, “What are you doing Saturday?” You sat down on your couch, mentally going through the calendar in your head. “Hmm, I don’t think I’m doing anything, why?” You heard San’s giggle in the background, “We’re planning a surprise party for Yunho at my place! You’ll come right?” Yeosang pleaded as you sighed into the phone, “There’s going to be plenty of alcohol!” You heard San yell from the background, causing you to snicker. “Fuck, San knows what I like.” Yeosang chuckled, “Is that a yes?” You paused, biting down on your lip. “Fine, but I’m just going for the booze. Not for Yunho.” Yeosang groaned on the other end of the phone, “This enemies-to-lovers is truly taking too long.” You scoffed at him, “Never. Going. To. Happen. Bye.” You hung up, throwing your phone across the room, landing it on your bed. 

You could never say no to a good party, maybe you could bring Seonghwa this time to finally meet your friends. You’ve asked him before, but something always came up. You got up to fetch your phone again, shooting him a text.

You: Hwa, my friend Yeosang is having a party at his place on Saturday. Come with me?

You smiled at the idea of Seonghwa coming with you, socializing with your friends, drinking together, and having a good time with your favorite people. You waited a few minutes with the chat open, but no response. As the rest of the week passed by, Hwa never answered your question, just went around it to talk about something else. But now it was Saturday, and you weren’t sure if you would have a date for tonight. You called him up, the ringing continuing until he picked up at the last moment. “Hey, babe, I’m a little busy. What’s up?” You scanned through your closet, trying to figure out what to wear. “Hey, did you ever see my text about my friend Yeosang’s party tonight?” You pulled out the black skirt toward the end of the rack, the perfect piece that made you feel sexy. “Yeah, sorry I didn’t reply to that. I don’t think I’ll be able to go, I had made plans with some friends. But I can come over later tonight?” You felt your energy dip as you threw the skirt onto your bed, lying down next to it. “Yeah, that’s fine. Have fun.” Your smile faded, and you clenched your jaw tightly. “You too, babe. I’ll see you later.”

I guess you will be going dateless tonight. You sighed as you hung up the phone, lying with your thoughts for a few minutes. You sat up, looking over at the short skirt next to you, snatching it up in your hands. “Fuck it.” You were going to make sure you had a good time regardless, getting up to get ready for the night. After much struggle in picking shoes, doing your hair, and makeup, you were finally ready to have some drinks and forget about your worries. You headed out the door, zipping your leather jacket to brace for the chilly night, thinking how warm you will feel after some whisky is in your system.

You pulled up to Yeosang’s apartment, texting San to open the door since Yeosang was not answering. “Hey Y/N, you clean up nice.” San joked. “Shut up.” You smirked, nudging him playfully as you walked toward the kitchen. There were a good number of people already here, Yeosang’s EDM playlist blasting through the speakers in the living room. “Yunho should be coming in a few!” Yeosang shouted out to the guests, preparing for the surprise. You rolled your eyes as you made your way to the bottles lined up on the counter, pouring yourself a drink. “Okay, you’re ready to party,” Yeosang smirked at you, wrapping his arm around you, toasting his filled cup with yours. Before he could take a sip, he reached for his phone. “Shit, he’s on his way up.” Yeosang headed toward the rest of the attendees, “Everyone hide, he’s coming up!” 

You stood, leaning against the counter, not budging. San crouched behind the kitchen island, “Y/N, get down.” You glanced down at him, exhaling sharply as he took hold of your hand, pulling you down next to him. Yeosang turned off the music and the lights, waiting by the door until a knock was heard. You could see the excitement on his face as he yanked the door open, “Surprise!” He turned the lights back on, the group of people springing up from their hiding spots, including San. You got up slowly after seeing the biggest smile on Yunho’s face as he covered his face shyly. “What?” He was so surprised as his friends came around him, hugging him one by one. You crossed your arms over your chest, taking another drink from your cup. He has it all, a good head on his shoulder, a great moral compass, amazing friends, god’s favorite. 

Yunho made his rounds with each person, finally reaching you in the kitchen, his smile dropping slowly as he approached you. “Y/N, thanks for coming.” You downed your drink, pouring yourself more. “I came for Yeosang, but happy birthday.” You motioned your cup up to cheer his empty hand, walking over to the couch. The drinks continued throughout the night, and before you knew it, your vision was blurry and you were spilling your secrets to some guy you thought was San, but San was on the other side of the room, cackling at you. You patted the guy's arm softly, “Sorry about that.” You covered your mouth to hold in your laugh, walking over to San, pushing him playfully. “Fuck you.” San shook his head as he laughed, “Should we all take a shot?” He looked around for Yeosang and Yunho, dragging everyone to the kitchen as he poured each of you a healthy double shot of tequila. 

“I hate tequila.” Yunho frowned at his shot glass. “It’s your birthday, and all you have been drinking is Sauvignon Blanc.” Yeosang teased, passing you your shot. “Damn Yunho, don’t get too crazy now.” You mocked him, laughing as his eyebrows furrowed, watching him down the shot immediately. You stared in shock, eyeing everyone else as you all took your shots down soon after. “Happy Birthday, Yunho!” San shouted, grabbing onto his shoulders, shaking him excitedly. Yunho laughed, his sour face from the tequila still present. You stayed in the kitchen as Yeosang and San made their way back to the living room, fighting over which song to play next. Yeosang was keen on playing Alan Walker while San wanted to switch it to Charli XCX. You poured yourself another whisky drink, knowing that you shouldn’t drink anymore. Yunho lingered around you, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge. 

“Water, Yunho? On your birthday? You’re so lame.” You chuckled, taking a sip from your cup. “I just know my limits.” He waved his hands up, opening the water bottle. You glared at him, “Are you saying, I don't?” Yunho laughed, “You’re putting words in my mouth.” You leaned back against the counter. “You think you’re better than everyone?” Yunho took another drink from his bottle, stepping in front of you. “This made-up narrative you have of me? Where does it come from?” Your blurred vision became clearer as you stared up at him. “Is it made up? You’re telling me you’re not some goody two-shoes, church boy, who can never do wrong?” He frowned, watching you intensely as you continued. “You always want to be captain, save a hoe or something, put your two cents in where it’s not needed because you think you know so much.” You expressed mockingly, taking another sip of your drink. 

“I don’t have to explain myself to you if you clearly don’t want anything to do with me.” Yunho leaned his arm against the counter behind you, his face hovering close to yours. You shrugged at him, eyeing his lips as he spoke, his large hands fully engulfing the water bottle in his hand. You felt yourself swallow down the urge to pull him closer, to feel his warmth against you. “Would it kill you to have some fun?” You smirked, passing your semi-full cup towards him. He stared down at the red solo cup, placing his water bottle down on the counter, reaching for your cup. He stared at you as he took a large gulp from your cup, his face not even flinching, not like when he took that tequila shot. The residue of the whisky on the top of his lip, you found yourself wiping it away slowly, licking it off your finger. Yunho let out a small exhale as he watched you, gripping the cup in his hand. 

You wrapped your hand behind his neck, pulling him closer until your lips touched. The mix of hate, alcohol, and curiosity between you both. Before your lips could mold into his, he pulled away swiftly. “Y/N.” You looked off to the side as you sighed, pushing him back away from you. “I guess you can’t have fun.” Yunho moved slightly closer, but still giving you your space, “As much as I want to kis-” You shushed him, his face growing blurry again. “Don’t even worry about it.” You crashed onto the couch, reaching into your bag to pull out your phone. It was about 1 am now, you swiped onto Seonghwa’s chat.

You: Meet me at my place?

Hwa: I’ll be there.

You smiled as you clutched your phone against your chest, stuffing it back in your bag as you pulled the bag over your shoulder. “Yeosang!” You shouted out to him, and he was sitting on the floor playing some drinking game with a few other people. He glanced over, blushed cheeks and a smile on his face, oh, he was drunk. You laughed, “I’m going to head out.” Yeosang frowned, “Already? I’ll have San walk you home.” You shook your head, reaching for your leather jacket, “No, no, it’s okay. Seonghwa is going to meet me at my place. I’ll share my location.” Yeosang nodded, waving you off. You said goodbye to a drunk San who was snuggled up with a bag of chips, singing along to the music. “I can walk you home, Y/N.” He stopped singing, his eyes trying to focus on you. “It’s okay, don’t worry, you keep singing.” You patted his shoulder as you made your way out of the apartment, to the elevator, and out the door. The chilly air hit you immediately, pulling on your jacket as you began to make your way to your place. You stumbled slightly, feeling someone hold you up instantly, balancing you. You whipped your head around, “Yunho?” You pulled your arms away from him quickly. “Don’t touch me.” You dusted yourself off, continuing to walk. You stopped in your tracks immediately, “Yunho, stop following me, you creep!” You glared back at him, stomping forward. “I just want to make sure you get home safe, okay? It’s late.” 

“I am capable of getting home, thank you, but no thank you.” You held onto your shoulder bag, trekking down the sidewalk, trying to focus on not falling over. After a few minutes, you were sure Yunho stopped following you, but as you turned around, he was about half a block behind you. “Yunho, please. Just go back to your party!” Yunho slowly caught up, “I am not going to feel okay if I don’t know you made it home safely.” Yunho insisted, his cheeks turning a pink shade from the chilly air. “I’m like 3 blocks away now, okay? I’ll be home in no time, now go.” You sighed loudly as you continued to hear the steps behind you. You were just a block away from your house, feeling your phone vibrate in your jacket pocket, Seonghwa. You answered quickly, “Hi.” You smiled into the phone, glancing up to see him walking toward you on the opposite side of the sidewalk. “I see you.” He giggled, making his way to you, wrapping you up in an embrace. 

He pulled away, standing in front of you as he stared at Yunho, who was just a few feet behind you. “Who’s that?” He asked, furrowing his eyes at the tall guy in front of him. “That’s Yunho, Yeosang’s friend. He-” Yunho moved toward you slowly, “I’m walking her home, making sure she gets in safely.” He smiled at Seonghwa. “Well, I got it from here now.” Seonghwa wrapped his arm around you. “Do you?” Yunho asked, eyeing you. “Are you going to be okay, Y/N?” You sighed, nodding, “I’m-” Seonghwa chuckled, “Listen, I’m here now. My girl doesn’t need your protection, so you can go.” Seonghwa glared, trying to pull you into your apartment building. “Your girl? I wouldn’t have guessed that.” Yunho snickered, stuffing his cold hands into his jacket pockets. “What the fuck does that mean?” Seonghwa let go of your hand, making his way closer to Yunho. “If she were my girl, I wouldn’t have let her go to a party by herself and walk home by herself, too, but that’s just me.” He shrugged. Seonghwa took hold of the collar of Yunho’s jacket. “Well good thing, nobody fucking asked.” Hwa laughed, shoving him back. “Let’s get inside now, Y/N.” 

You looked back at Yunho as you made your way inside, holding Seonghwa’s hand tightly. As soon as you got into your apartment, Seonghwa led you to the bed, your drunk self lying back, kicking off your boots. Seonghwa sat on the chair in the living room, tapping his fingers on his thigh anxiously. You noticed he wasn’t lying on the bed with you, sitting up, you stared at him from across the room. “Babe?” The frown on his face caused you to sober up ever so slightly. “Everything okay?” You pushed, glancing down at the small rip on your tights. “Is something going on between you and that guy?” He spoke softly, staring down at the floor in front of him instead of you. “What?” You scoffed, replaying the kiss from earlier in your head, gulping down the guilt. “No, he’s Yeosang’s friend. I don’t know him that well.” Seonghwa nodded, exhaling as he finally looked up at you. “Y/N, please be honest with me. The man walked you home, almost wanted to start shit with me. Did something happen between you?” 

The guilt spread on your face, hoping it wasn’t noticeable. “We kissed.” You mumbled under your breath, feeling your eyes water. You peeked up to see Seonghwa still like a statue, not moving, but the clenching of his jaw was obvious. “I was drunk, I still am. I-It didn’t mean anything, Hwa.” He nodded, running his fingers through his hair as he leaned back on the chair, looking up at the ceiling stoically. “I mean, I can’t say anything. You’re not my girlfriend.” The words stung deep, like a knife twisted in your chest, twisting and twisting. Your breath quickened, like a switch was turned on in your head. The uneasiness, this guilt, the heavy feeling that you had for the past few months, building in your chest. “Hwa.” You cried out, watching him get up from the chair to finally face you. “I don’t trust easily, Y/N, you know this. It takes so much for me to let anyone in because it somehow always leads to disappointment. Which is why I lingered so much on the thought of us being together. I can’t do this, I’m proven right every time and I’m so fucking tired.” You felt the tears fall instantly, steaming as they ran down your still-cold cheeks.

“Yeah, I fucked up and kissed him. I’m sorry. But what about all the times I caught you flirting with other girls, the messages in your phone that you played off as jokes?” You felt the anger bubble inside of you. “Own up to that, Seonghwa.” He bit down on his lip; you could tell from his eyes that his thoughts were running a mile a second. “I’m done, Y/N.” You jumped up from your bed, seeing him walk toward your door. “Are you serious? You’re going to guilt-trip me and then not even take ownership of your mistakes? You’re a fucking coward Park Seonghwa.” You shouted out, following behind him, shutting the door in his face. “Fuck!” You yelled out to the door, making your way back to your bed, missing it and sliding down to the floor. You lay on the scratchy rug, the tears welling up as you gazed up at the ceiling; you felt everything but nothing at the same time. 

—--------

The sun peeked through your curtains, making you stir in your bed, pulling the sheets over your head. Your head pounded, just what you needed, a hangover. You pushed the duvet off of you, glancing down at the outfit you wore yesterday still on your body. You didn’t bother to change or take your makeup off after Seonghwa left, instead, you sobbed into your pillows and fell asleep that way. You sighed deeply before pushing yourself to get up to change your clothes and wash your face. Your brain hadn’t seemed to have processed everything that happened; you knew you would get messy when you drank, but still did it anyway. Instead of having a good time at the party, you were left with misery as a party favor. You looked at yourself in the mirror, streaks of mascara down your cheek. “You’re such a mess.” You chuckled at yourself, splashing the cold water in your face.

You decided that you would stay in, watch movies, and order takeout until the unforeseen future; you had no motivation to see anyone or anything, not even the sky. You sat in your living room, watching a random 80s rom-com from the stack of movies you had. Bad boy meets good girl, can’t help but fall in love with her, and cannot hide his true feelings. “A bunch of bullshit!” You shouted at the TV, groaning as you leaned back on the chair. But this was your life for a moment, at least you thought so. It was day 3 of moping in your sadness and refusing to see the daylight, full vampire mode, until you were reminded that people cared about your well-being. Your phone rang, Yeosang. You placed the phone to your ear, holding it up with your shoulder as you shoved more popcorn in your mouth. “What’s up?” Yeosang laughed on the other end, “I haven’t heard from you since the party, that’s what’s up. Why haven’t you been answering my texts?” You tossed a kernel up in the air, missing your mouth completely. 

“Right. Well, let’s just say things are shit.” You tossed another kernel up in the air, catching it this time. “Why? What happened?” You sighed, placing the popcorn to the side as you curled up in the chair. “Seonghwa ended things.” You heard Yeosang exhale on the other end, “I’m sorry, Y/N.” You played with your hands, holding back your tears, “Thanks. I’ll get over it, he wasn’t good for me anyway.” You took a deep breath, your mind replaying the fight with Seonghwa over and over. “Why don’t you come over? We can order some food, and play Mortal Kombat? I’ll let you win.” Yeosang snickered. “I always win, Yeosang. What do you mean?” He scoffed. “No, you don’t! Come here and prove it.” You smiled, breaking out into a giggle. “Fine, I’ll come over. Be there in a few.” You hung up, glancing at the state your apartment was in, but having no motivation to clean it right now. 

—--------

The days locked in your apartment made you miss the warmth of the sun, although the air was still chilly. You made your way to Yeosang’s apartment, clicking on the elevator button. You watched as the numbers descended, finally pinging to the lobby. You slid into an empty elevator, pressing Yeosang’s floor, watching the doors close slowly. “Hold the elevator!” You heard someone shout out, usually you would be an ass and pretend you didn’t hear that but you held your hand out for the person. “Thanks.�� Ugh, shit. You stared up at Yunho as he made his way in the elevator. “Great.” You mumbled under your breath, standing in the corner on the opposite side of him. “Hi.” He spoke, biting down on his lip as you ignored him. 

“Why are you here? I thought I would just get to spend time with my best friend alone, guess not.” You sighed as the elevator moved slowly. “I didn’t know you had plans with Yeosang, I’m sorry. I don’t have to stay, I’ll just go.” Yunho spoke softly, looking over at you. “Now you want to listen to me.” You smirked, shaking your head. “What did I do?” Yunho turned to face you. “What didn’t you do?” He furrowed his brows. “Well, maybe you should tell me.” You laughed, looking down at your hands. “I’m not going to bother.” Yunho scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest, “There you go again.” You glanced over at him. “What does that mean?” The lights from the elevator flickered as it halted to a complete stop, the number on the screen stopping at the 7th floor. You clicked on the buttons, none of them making it move. “Fuck.” You whined, smacking your head against the wall of the elevator. “We’re fucking stuck. How wonderful.” Yunho moved toward the buttons, holding down the emergency button, and the operator picked up. “Hi, we’re in an elevator on 3214 North Emory Street, and it seems like we’re stuck.” Yunho continued explaining to the operator the situation you were both in. “Okay, we’re sending someone over, could be about 30 to 40 mins. Try and remain calm, they will get you out shortly.”

“Remain calm?” You felt your breath quicken; this was the worst time to be claustrophobic. “Hey, deep breaths okay?” Yunho came to your side, sitting you down next to him, his hands holding yours. You nodded at him, feeling your breath slow down. “I’m good, I’m okay.” You glanced down at your hands, both of you pulling away quickly. You couldn’t help but laugh, “What is my life?” You leaned your head against the wall, closing your eyes. It was silent for a few minutes until Yunho spoke again. “I’m sorry for that night.” You opened your eyes, looking over at him. “This is like your 5th apology to me, I think.” You smirked, playing with the rings on your fingers. “If you accept it, I’ll stop.” Yunho chuckled, watching you fidget with your rings. You rolled your eyes, looking over at him. “That’s no fun.” You smiled.

“I think I should be the one to apologize.” Yunho gasped playfully, receiving a nudge from you. “I’m serious! I’ve been such an ass to you, you’re just a good guy and I crucified you for it.” He held his hand up to his chest, “Damn crucified? You’re playing up this church boy role, huh?” You grinned, “Well, aren’t you?” Yunho nodded, “Sure, but it’s not the only thing I am.” He tapped his hand on his legs, “You paint me out to be this saint who could do no wrong. But I’ve done wrong, I can be bad too.” He laughed, playing with the material of his pants. “Oh really? Bad boy Yunho exists? Do tell.” He peeked over at you, his smile fading. “Well, I wanted to punch your boyfriend that night, that’s for sure.” You felt the pressure on your chest again at the mention of Seonghwa. “He’s not my boyfriend.” You responded quickly, biting down on your lip. “He ended things with me that night.” You confessed, staring at Yunho, who had a sad frown on his face, “I told him that we kissed, and he lost it. I mean rightfully so.” Yunho huffed, “He didn’t deserve you.” You shuckled lightly, “You love to say that when you don’t even know me and what I deserve, Yunho.”

He leaned his head back, “I don’t need to know you, to know that you deserve a good guy to treat you well. Someone who will bring you your favorite food, walk you home at night, apologize, take accountability, and will hear you out even if you want to bite their head off.” You couldn’t help but laugh, “Yunho, you’re describing yourself. What are you on about?” Yunho scooted closer to you, his legs brushing against yours. You looked down as his hand traveled to yours. “It means I should’ve kept kissing you that night.” You both stared at each other for a minute, like the heat between you was building as he inched his face closer, kissing your lips softly. You didn’t pull away, instead, you placed your hand on his cheek, pulling him into a deeper kiss, the smell of his cologne penetrating your space. His lips lingered on yours as he kissed the corner of your lips, your cheeks, and back to your lips again. “I’m-” You put your finger up to his lips, “I swear, Yunho, if you apologize one more time.” You threw your leg over him, straddling him now, your arms wrapped around his neck. You kissed him again, not wanting to ever stop. 

He held you close to him, his hands on your lower back as he kissed you with such need, a craving for more of you. You ran your fingers through his hair, feeling his lips trail down your neck, placing kisses on your shoulder, licking your skin delicately. You bit down on his bottom lip, tugging it playfully, a smile appearing on his face before he crashed his lips on yours again, his tongue slipping into your mouth. You moaned softly against his mouth, tugging at his hair lightly, feeling him grow beneath you. You felt your hips move against him slowly, an ache burning in your core as you kissed down his neck, sucking at his skin roughly, as he exhaled a groan. You slipped your hands into his coat, tugging at it for him to take it off. He obliged, doing the same to your jacket. His hands slid down the back of your thighs, squeezing them tightly, his fingers creeping under your skirt, up toward your ass. You pulled away from his neck, staring into his eyes as you rocked against him, causing his mouth to drop open as he watched you. 

Beep. “Hey guys-” The operator spoke, causing you and Yunho to jump up instantly. “We have firefighters on their way up to let you out, give them like 5 minutes, okay?” You gulped, fixing your hair and your lipstick. You reached for your jacket from the floor and put it back on. “Thank you.” You stared over at Yunho, his hands adjusting himself as he reached for his coat, too. You both peeked at each other, giggling coming from both sides of the elevator, as the elevator doors opened up in front of you.

[pip-see]

Originally this was supposed to be a nicest fic where they went to an author meet and greet that Lin Ling likes but ig it turned into this so like the beginning of how Lin Ling found the books series.

Lin Ling clutched onto things like a desperate man trying to stay a float in harsh and dark waters.

Moon had been one of those things. She had given him strength with her words and Lin Ling felt like he made it through the days just only by seeing her face through flashing pixels through a screen. Hearing her voice saying words of encouragement made him feel like he had ample energy to go on with life and live.

She had given him hope and Lin Ling clung to it with all he had.

Moon had been the main thing that supported him through the last two years of his life, the other thing beside her was not as well known and popular as the hero's. But rather a simple books series.

Lin Ling had thought it childish at one point that he clung desperately to words written on paper. He still thought that but not as much as he did before.

-

He saw the books in a small little bookshop window the place was squeezed in between a tiny Arcade and an out of date record shop. The books were worn in use, the spines creased, the pages an soft mix of white and yellow. Lin Ling had taken interest as soon as he caught the glimpse of the book.

Lin Ling walked in the shop without thinking, grabbed the book that was on display, and began to read the synopsis that was on the back.

He didn't notice the shop keeper had walked out from somewhere in between the shelves, but a small graying lady looked at him and smiled. “ I enjoyed that series when I was quite young,” she said, her voice startling Lin Ling, making him jump and almost drop the book.

“I'm sorry I didn't mean to disturbed you.” He apologized, his heart going back to a steady pace after the sudden scare. “It's just that the cover fascinated me.”

Blue and white intricate details were wrapped around the spine and cover of the book emitting a whimsical and calming vibe that Lin Ling had been drawn to immediately at the sight.

“You're fine dear. You're actually the first customer to come in here today in no bother at all really” The lady gestured to the book. “Did you read the summary? If it doesn't interest you I can help you find something more suitable for you. I know people nowadays aren't interested in Found family books.”

His grip tightened about the book but he didn't make a move to put the book back.

Lin Ling shook his head. “No, it's interesting. It's just I was never much of a reader before.”

“Ah,”She shook her head in understanding. “ I understand. Those books are very beginner friendly. A little hefty read with four books in the series but quite compelling.”

Four books in the series, she said and Lin Ling thought of his steadily draining bank account and knew he couldn't afford that. The book was interesting, the summary had drawn his attention and the quick flip through of the pages seemed that the writing style was simple and easy. But four books seemed like a lot which meant a lot more money.

The lady must've seen something flick in his eyes and she spoke up. “There on sale. Everything's on sale.” She looked sad as she said this and Lin Ling felt back about accidentally bringing it up. “We're closing at the end of this month. Not enough attention and we used to have. 130 Yuan for all of them.”

130 Yuan wasn't bad, maybe it stopped him from getting the expensive ramen he got for lunch but he could go to the cheaper one.

The ramen was good in his stomach but the books would cure boredom. And as much as his boss wanted him to work, Lin Ling wanted something for himself. Something that he could enjoy. Something to forget what he did at work and then sneers he received from his boss and co-workers.

He wanted something that was entirely his own.

He grabbed the other three books and put them on the checkout counter.

“I'll buy them.”

[it-happened-one-fic]

Swimming - Azul

Author Notes: Happy MerMay twst fandom! It's suprisingly to think this is my third MerMay writing a fic for this fandom. But with this one, I got one for each of the Octavinelle boys! There wasn't much of a thought behind this one other than Azul being embarrassed about his mer-form and the tweels being butts. As per usual, Reader is gender-neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Type: Gender-Neutral Reader/ sfw/ fluff/ MerMay 2025/ romance implied

Word Count: 1714

Swimming through the deep waters of the Octavinelle aquariums was not the plan that I’d had for my Friday, but here I was.

Floyd and Jade were the ones who’d let me in, gave me the potion, and now swam alongside me. Laughing not-so-subtly at my awe-stricken face as I looked around at the undersea beauty that surrounded me.

Fish flitted away from me, fearful of my unexpected presence as I explored the plants and rocky caves that had been placed to make the tank more hospitable.

“The real thing’s prettier, ya’ know,” Floyd’s voice came from beside me, causing me to turn with a half-amused grin to face the merman that drifted through the water alongside me.

I had known exactly why they’d invited me here in the first place even without his words to prove it just now. Floyd had been bugging me to come and spend summer break with them under the sea for quite some time now. This entire venture was quite likely their way of tempting me into giving in to his, and no doubt Jade’s, whims.

“You know Azul doesn’t want me coming with you. He’s pointed out a million reasons that it wouldn’t be a good idea,” I fought to spin around to better face the merman who was soon joined by his amused looking brother who sliced through the water with far greater ease than I imagined I ever could.

“That’s just cause he’s shy, Shrimpy,” Ever the pest, Floyd swam under me just as I’d gotten spun around. Leaving me looking up at Jade, who picked up exactly where his brother had left off.

“Indeed, I’m sure Azul would be perfectly thrilled if you were to come with us. After all, he’s already mentioned you at least twice to Mrs. Ashengrotto over the phone.” Jade’s words were delivered with a far-too-pleased smile that told me he wasn’t supposed to be telling me anything that had just spilled from his lips.

Which, to be honest, made what he’d said even better.

“He’s been talking to his mom about me?” I questioned both of them with a smile, half-touched and half-amused.

My question earned me a laugh from Floyd as his webbed hands cupped my shoulders, and he began to curve up and around me with glimmering eyes.

“You should hear him, Shrimpy! He could go on for hooouuurs,” I laughed at Floyd’s dramatics. Watching as he grinned delightedly and finished circling me to take my hands in his far larger, webbed ones.

“Come on! There’s something you still need to see,” His eyes were alight in a way that spoke of mischievousness, and I felt my eyebrows arch. 

But I had little time to prepare before we were taking off once more. This time with Floyd tugging me along with him as I flailed inelegantly through the water in a desperate attempt to keep up and not just get dragged along.

Jade, on the other hand, zipped right past me. Pausing only for a moment with an amused grin on his face as he watched my struggling before he sped onwards. Ever-poised and never offering a hand to help me out of my current predicament.

But we reached our destination quickly, and Floyd let go of me as I looked at the cave-like structure in front of me curiously. It was larger than the other decorations had been and practically filled this entire section of the tank.

“Many of the fish and other aquatic creatures like to hide in here. I would imagine quite a few of our finned friends are in there right now,” Jade had at some point slipped up behind me.

He leaned around me as he gestured towards the dark entrance of the cave with a too-polite smile that told me there was far more to this cave than a few fish even as he continued, “Go ahead, Prefect. This will, without a doubt, be the most interesting part of our adventure for today.”

I frowned slightly, noting the way he cooed his words at me with a healthy amount of suspicion before Floyd glided in front of me. Effectively distracting me from his brother as he spoke up.

“There’s a lot of caves like this in the Coral Sea. Me, Jade, and Azul used to play in them when we were little,” So saying, he darted towards the hole in the rocks, leaving me to paddle after him as Jade swam along. Perpetually and annoyingly amused.

Floyd darted along, taking the curves with such confidence that made it seem like he swam through here everyday. And, to be fair, I supposed it was possible that he did. Just not terribly probable.

I opened my mouth to call out for him to slow down only to be stopped by Jade, who tugged me to a stop and held up a single finger to his mouth with a knowing smile.

“Floyd?” Azul’s voice called out from just around the corner that Floyd now swam around with a lazy grin cast back my way as Azul continued to speak, “It’s about time you got here. I thought you’d ditched me, again, and were going to leave cleaning the tank up to me.”

Jade nodded at me with a tell-tale grin before swimming off in front of me. Leaving me to hesitantly follow after as he rounded the corner. Already speaking as he looked up at where I presumed Azul was, “How cold. As if we would abandon you to such a task.”

I paddled over to the rocks’ edge, letting my fingers curl over the smoothed edges of the strangely realistic aquarium piece as I peeked around to look at the three mermen.

Jade and Floyd swam around the impressively large cave in lazy spiraling circles, never glancing back my way even though their smiles spoke of knowing far more than they let on. They were relatively small, taking up little room, while Azul….

Well, I’d seen him when he’d been in his merform while overblotted, so I’d already known he was large, but I’d forgotten exactly how huge he was. He made Jade and Floyd, who were already far larger than the average human, look teeny. Rather like toys, in comparison.

Azul practically filled the cave all on his own, with his eight tentacles splayed. Each wiping a different surface of the cave with some sort of cloth as he cleaned.

Gone were his glasses from his face, and his body was now black and gray with purple undersides to his tentacles as he gestured annoyedly towards the twins while he spoke, “You would in a heartbeat. You’ve done it a thousand times now. Both of you.”

I gaped up at him, half-amazed by what I saw, until I noticed Floyd subtly gesturing for me to enter the space with a wide grin on his face that was accompanied by a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it wink. 

I hesitated, wondering exactly how Azul would react before slowly swimming forward. I didn’t know whether to announce myself or remain silent and simply watch the three of them.

I didn’t end up having to make a decision, though, since Azul turned with a suspicious frown, as if he somehow sensed that something was amiss, and spotted me at impressive speeds.

His pale blue eyes widened, and his mouth opened. His jaw working furiously as he tried to find the ability to speak. 

But he was frozen. Staring at me in horror and causing me to hold my hands up as if I were surrendering. At last he found his voice once more, “A- Angelfish!”

“Now, Azul. Don’t ink, and let’s be reasonable,” Jade’s calm, but amused voice sounded from overhead, and Azul’s reaction was immediate.

His eyes narrowed, and he was whirling to look towards the two eel twins in annoyance and betrayal while Floyd simply swam closer. Unafraid of the larger merman as he bopped him on the nose playfully, “Now there’s no reason for Shrimpy not to come home with us for summer break~”

“You-!”

“Don’t lose your temper, Azul. You wouldn’t want to scare our darling little Prefect, would  you?” Jade’s ever-calm voice intoned over Azul’s shriek, and the octopus merman froze again.

I pressed my lips together as I watched Azul cycle through a myriad of expressions as he pointedly avoided looking my way as a red flush took over his body. And distantly, I recalled Floyd telling me that octopuses would sometimes change colors with their emotions.

The only question was whether red meant anger or embarrassment.

“You’ll both pay for this,” I blinked at the perfect venom in his words. Almost impressed at how vehement he sounded.

And at odds with him, Floyd shrugged, “And you’ll thank us later when you finally get to introduce Shrimpy to your mom.”

I blinked before feeling myself smile as I looked up at Azul, “You want to introduce me to your mom?”

Azul tensed and looked my way in what I could only describe as pure panic while both of the tweels grinned at me. Both proud that I’d honed in on what Floyd had said quite so quickly.

“I- She’s been wanting to meet you since I happened to mention you one day. She’s probably just curious about why a magicless student has been allowed to come to school here.”

I blinked, almost impressed with his quick explanation despite the fact that I could tell that his words were an excuse even without Floyd’s snort of amusement.

“Soo, does that mean I can come with you three when you visit home?” I lifted my shoulders slightly as I smiled at him. Honestly curious as to how he would react, and his mouth opened. And then closed. And then opened again.

“Well… I suppose if YOU would like too….”

“Yay! Field trip with Shrimpy!”

“Congratulations, Prefect, it looks like you’re coming with us.”

I shook my head in silent amusement at all three of them. Not really having the heart to let them know that I hadn’t been overly concerned about it.

Even if I did have to silently admit to myself that spending summer vacation with friends, rather than on my own, was a welcome change in plans.

But they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

[alltimecharlo]

Oh nooooo can you pleeeeease write a part two to that unrequited angst prompt?? I read it and am in PAIN. Like maybe where Will figures it out and starts pursuing Mack and working to prove to him that it's not just him, Will just didn't realize it till it was gone?

of course!!! there's no way i could leave our boys like that :'). fic under the cut!! 🩵

Mack doesn’t expect the coffee.

It’s just sitting there at his stall one morning, lid dotted with little hearts in blue Sharpie. Not his usual order either—this one’s the one he gets when he’s feeling low. Sweet and warm and too indulgent for anyone but someone who knows him way too well.

He stares at it. Then he stares across the room.

Will’s not even looking at him.

Well, no, that’s a lie. He’s not looking now, but Mack catches the tail end of a look—that half-panicked flick of Will’s eyes away as soon as Mack turns.

Interesting.

The coffee keeps showing up.

Different every time, but always right. Always something he’d want. And Will’s always acting just a little too bright, a little too careful around him now. Like he’s trying to not scare him off. Like Mack’s a cat he’s been feeding on the porch, hoping he might eventually come inside again.

Toff notices first.

"Why is Smitty treating you like you’re made of spun glass?" he mutters during a warm-up stretch, eyes trained on Will who’s tying his skates like the laces have personally wronged him.

"Dunno," Mack lies. He knows exactly why. He just doesn’t know what to do about it.

Because it took everything in him to step back. To stop orbiting Will like he was his own private sun. He’d done it. He’d finally pulled away before he cracked down the middle. He wasn’t going to embarrass himself anymore. Wasn’t going to beg for something that wasn’t his to have.

But now Will is acting like he's the one with something to prove. And Mack’s already tired. He doesn’t have the energy to get hopeful again. Not if he’s wrong.

It comes to a head after a game. Mack’s half-stripped, running a towel through his hair when Will sidles up to him.

"You, uh… thirsty?"

Mack blinks. Looks down. Will’s holding another drink out to him. This one has Mack’s name spelled right. And a smiley face.

"Trying to buy my affection with caffeine?" he jokes, mainly to avoid examining the feelings stirring in his chest.

Will’s ears go pink. He looks down, then back up, biting his bottom lip like he’s fighting with himself.

"I just… I miss you," he blurts.

Mack freezes.

Will presses on, voice rushed and awkward, "And I know I’m probably too late. You’ve probably moved on. I just—I didn’t see it. Not in time. I didn’t know I could lose you and now I—fuck, Mack. I think I—I like you. More than I should. More than friends should. I get it if you don’t feel that way anymore. I just needed you to know."

Mack stares.

Then he starts laughing.

Will looks like he’s been shot.

Mack steps forward, cupping Will’s jaw before he can do something stupid like walk away, and says, softly but firmly, "You’re such a fucking idiot."

And then he kisses him.

Hard.

Will makes a surprised sound and then sinks into it like he’s been waiting his whole life. Mack fists his hands in the back of Will’s jersey and tugs him closer until there’s not a breath of space between them.

Someone whoops across the room. Probably Delly.

Mack doesn’t care. Will’s got his hands in his hair and is making the kind of soft noise that makes Mack’s knees go a little weak, and for once, for once, it doesn’t hurt to want him.

It just feels right.

"I was never over you," Mack says when they pull apart, forehead resting against Will’s.

Will grins, dazed. "Cool. So… you’re saying the coffee worked?”

Mack groans. "You’re lucky you’re cute."

Will just kisses him again, smiling so wide Mack feels it in his bones.

♡

[consistencynevermether]

Hiii!! I love your Vere series so much, I was wondering if you could write a fic of a protective Vere?? Plot and context up to you!! I just want to see Vere being protective over the reader, please and thank you! 🫶

Heyo! I hope this is what you imagined, I tried to focus on protective vere buuuut I did also use your ask as an opportunity to include little sprinkles of the new vere scenes in the updated prologue. I hope you enjoy it!

content: verex gn! reader, swearing, cannon typical violence, this is set IN A BROTHEL so that context is in the background, but the entire fic is SFW.

word count: 1.9k

You were in a dangerous position. For the past few weeks, you had been tracking Elyon, the highborn owner of the most popular brothel in Eridia. Usually, you were smart enough to stay as far away from his people as much as possible. But there had been a lead on your curse, and it led right to Elyon potentially having met a client with the same curse as you. You had been trying to corner him for the past two weeks and try to get more information about this mysterious individual, but Elyon was slippery. He avoided your every attempt to talk. He probably knew if you got him alone, you wouldn't allow him to walk away from the conversation. Eventually, he had to confront you and offered to meet you for a drink in one of the rooms of the brothel he ran. It was his territory, and you were walking in blind, but it was your only option. 

This is how you found yourself in your current situation: in the most well-known brothel in Eridia, surrounded by people who looked as beautiful as they did dangerous. It seems like their work at the brothel wasn't the only work these people did for Elyon. You felt the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. The woman to the left of you had some sort of electric-based magic coursing through her fingertips and gave you a dangerous smile when you glanced her way.

The entire room smelled strongly of incense, and the black marble tiles gleamed under the candlelight. The scent of blood would easily be covered up. And those sheer red curtains wouldn't even need to be cleaned. There were 8 people in the room with you, each one looked like they could kill you. The two exits were blocked, and there wasn't a window for you to jump out of.

Fuck. 

You reclined on the red velvet couch, you were sitting on, trying to act as casual as possible. Fighting them all was useless, but maybe if you surprised them, you could slip out one of the doors. Killing one of them as soon as they approach might cause some pause in the others you could utilize to escape, but it could backfire if they all charge instead. You could-

Your train of thought was interrupted as you felt an arm rest around your shoulders. You kept completely still, only moving your eyes to see who the fuck had snuck up on you. 

To your surprise, the face next to yours was a familiar one. Vere. You could practically feel yourself untense in relief. Not only because you had an ally here, but because your pride didn't feel as injured as it did a second ago. Having one of the other people in the room sneak up on you so completely would have been embarrassing. Oh, and they would have probably killed you. But you already knew how powerful Vere was. If he didn't want to be detected, there was no point in looking. 

“Well, well, well.” Vere smirked, “I didn't think you were the type to frequent these establishments. Color me surprised.” 

You flashed a sarcastic smile, and Vere returned it with one of his own. 

Honestly, Vere could make as many jabs as he wanted at you, because his presence had shifted the power dynamic in the room. You could see the confidence drain out of the other people in the room, all of them now weighing whether they could fight Vere and live. It seemed all of them came to the logical conclusion that they couldn't, as you watched them physically shrink back while fake smiles graced their faces. 

“What are you doing here?” you questioned.

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here?” Vere responded. “Of all the people I’d expect to be stupid enough to get trapped in a place like this, you'd be last on my list.”

“Oh, can I take that to mean you think I'm smart?” You teased.

“Hardly. But the first time we met, you walked right past me, yet you get entraped by this little place? Ridiculous. They didnt even steal your key.”

Vere paused for a moment.

“…did one of these people steal your key?” 

You let out a defeated sigh and explained the situation to Vere. How you had been trying to corner Elyon for weeks and consistently failed. And that failure had made you desperate enough to walk right into his trap. As you recalled your tale, you could see Veres' eyes begin to narrow, the polite smile never leaving his face. You knew him well enough to know he was getting annoyed.

“Well, since we're here, and Elyon did offer this room to you, might as well utilize it.” Vere smiled.

You, on the other hand, made a sour face. 

“I do not have any interest in partaking in any of these services,” you snipped.

You had just told Vere how you had lost an important lead, and that's where his mind went? The cavalierness of it all annoyed you. 

“Oh, get your mind out of the gutter, I meant drinking all of Elyon’s expensive wine.” Vere laughed. 

Alright, maybe you didnt mind the idea.

One of the people working here had already grabbed two glasses and a nice bottle, a smile plastered on her beautiful face. Technically, none of them had attacked you, she was probably trying to play this off as a misunderstanding now that you had Vere sitting next to you.

The woman began to sit down right next to you, so close that her silken dress lightly grazed your knee. Before she could fully sit, the hand Vere had around your shoulders shot out, grabbing her arm harshly. You knew the grip all too well from when you first met Vere, light, but with enough force to know that if he wanted, he could shatter her bones.

The polite smile faltered just slightly, but she quickly recovered.

“Allow me to pour you both a glass from here,” she said, smoothly attempting to stand and pour you a glass.

“Amellia,” Veres' silken voice cooed. “If their glass is rimmed with poison, I will kill you and your brother.” 

Vere finished his sentence with a large, fanged smile, and the woman's pale skin turned about three shades paler. 

“If you're worried,” the muscular man spoke up, “allow me to get you some fresh glasses.”

Vere lightly waved his hand, signifying to the man to do so. 

“You know her?” you questioned.

“I know everyone,” Vere responded. “Though apparently it does not go both ways. She nearly did something quite stupid.” 

In one quick motion, Vere shifted to lie his legs across your lap so he could lounge on the couch, using a pillow to prop his back up so he could still look at you while he used you as his personal rest. 

The mood in the room changed once again. Before, the tension in the room could be cut with a knife, everyone waiting with bated breath to see what Vere would do. He was your friend one day and could slit your throat the next, it wasn’t shocking to you that nobody in the room made a move till they knew exactly what he was doing here. And that motion seemed to solidify to everyone here that you were off limits. You even heard a few whispers between them, wondering if “Elyon knew about this”. Within 10 minutes, the room had been nearly completely vacated, only the man with the fresh wine glasses entered, and he left promptly, the beautifully polite smile never leaving his face. 

“Hey,” you started, “thank you for helping.” 

Vere gave you a sly smile. 

“How will you ever repay me?” he questioned, tone slightly mocking.

“What do you want?” You shrugged.

You knew Vere well enough that he would probably ask for something stupid, or something that puffs up his ego. You had already allied yourself with him, helping him get free of the Sinobium in exchange for his help in lifting your curse. He already had what he really wanted from you.

After a short pause, Vere spoke up again.

“I want you to answer me a question.” 

“If it's about my curse, I will dump this wine over your head,” you warned.

“It's not that.”

“Then sure.”

Another pause from Vere, as if he was taking time to word the question. After a few seconds, he turned to you to ask.

“Does all this,” he gestured to the room and himself, “really not entice you? Even a little?”

Clearly he was referring to this type of establishment and the offer he made you the first day you met.

“It doesn't really matter how I feel about it, I have more important things to do. I'm not going to throw away my chances at being free or my life for a moment of fun with a stranger.”

“I'm not a stranger.” Vere huffed. 

“You were when you offered,” you replied.

“So, would your response be different now?” he smirked, clearly back to making bad jokes to get a rise out of you.

“So sorry, you already got your one question. Too bad.” You smiled.

Vere rolled his eyes, but you could tell he wasn't actually annoyed. 

“Hey, I'll talk to Elyon. Make him speak with you,” Vere promised, his tone finally having a hint of seriousness to it. 

You couldn’t help but feel a tug at your heart. It had been such a long week, and you were so frustrated, and angry, and tired. And here Vere was, not only keeping you alive, but helping you fix your curse. Just like he promised. People could say whatever they wanted about Vere, he was a damn good ally. Nothing could convince you otherwise, no matter how cagey he could be about the circumstances of his imprisonment. Which you found understandable, it wasn't any of your business. 

“Thank you.” You lightly squeezed his thigh as you spoke. “Really, that means everything.” 

“Whatever mysterious curse you have, I'm sure you'll be free of it soon. Then you can focus on other endeavors,” he smirked. 

You chose to politely ignore his attempt to bait you with another lecherous joke, and instead topped off his cup with more wine. 

“We’ll both be free.”You assured him. 

A moment of softness in Veres' eyes. A silent understanding between you both.

“I can't protect you from the Sinobium,” he admitted, through gritted teeth. “But everyone else? I can protect you from everyone else.” 

“Well, if I can protect you from the Sinobium, and you've got everyone else, it seems like we have all of our bases covered,” you joked.

“Nobody can protect me from the Sinobium,” Vere barked, his laugh bitter.

“Has anyone tried?” 

The silence after that question stretched uncomfortably long. 

“Well,” you began, trying to lighten the conversation, “I actually do have a plan on accessing the enchanted items records kept by the Abbess, if you'd care to hear my pitch.”

Veres' ears perked up at the mention of a plan that would get you more information on his collar.  “Well don't keep me in suspense, tell me everything.”

[kyokutsu-sama]

Little Flame

Kyojuro x f!reader

A/n: As I said in the previous post, I would bring something happier to compensate for the previous angst fic (I have to stop listening to sad songs😭😅)

I hope you like this one (I want to write more about him so badly😮‍💨)

Tw: Smut

The Flame Hashira was returning home, exhausted after having spent the whole day training. At least he didn't have any missions for tonight, which would allow him to rest. He sighed tiredly as he took off his shoes and haori and putting his sword against the wall.

"Little flame! I'm home!" He warned in a cheerful voice, heading to the living room

You were just getting dressed after getting out of the shower when you heard his voice. You smiled when you knew he was back, but since you didn't know when he would arrive earlier, you ended up taking a shower and putting on your sleeping shorts and one of his shirts. You were thinking about asking him out since sometimes you lacked quality time due to your lives as Hashira.

Kyojuro took off the top of his uniform and placed it on the arm of the couch before sitting down and feeling his body relax for a moment. He was still a little sore and tense from the hard training. You arrived in the living room soon after, finding him there. He turned his face when he felt your presence and gave you a big smile. The welcoming one that always made your heart melt.

"Look if it's not my dear wife!" He looked at you as you approached him. "How are you, my dear?" He hugged you as you sat on his thighs

"Better now that you're here." You smiled and he kissed your cheek and lips

"I'm glad to see you too, little flame."

"You could have told me you were coming here, I would have dressed better and we could go out to have some fun or something."She suggested

"I'm sorry, love, but today I'm feeling tired to go out. I prefer to be by your side and by the way, you look beautiful in whatever you wear." He said, looking at the shirt you were wearing and seeing that it was his. "Especially when you wear my clothes."He winked

"Oh Kyo, you're always so cute." You put your arms around his neck and hugged him, feeling his arms around you too

"It's because I always make a point of pleasing you, and speaking of which, did you see the flowers I left on the vase this morning?" He asked, and you pulled away from the crook of his neck and looked at him with a smile

A large bouquet of sparkling, blooming sunflowers had been left in the vase by the entrance this morning. He had left shortly after sunrise, leaving a kiss on your forehead before going to work. He had stopped by a florist first and decided to buy a beautiful bouquet of flowers to make up for his early absence.

He had left them in the vase by the entrance, and as soon as you woke up and saw them, you couldn't help but smile, especially when you read the small note.

"I'm sorry for my absence, my little flame. I brought sunflowers for you because I know you like them.

Love you."

He always made such beautiful surprises. He was such a beautiful soul. The beautiful soul you fell in love with.

"I loved it, they were so beautiful. You always have a nice surprise up your sleeve, don't you?"

"Anything for you, my love." He smiled, kissing your cheek, cutely

"Well, since we're going to have to postpone our departure, are you hungry? I can make you something, I mean, you've been training all day."

"No, that won't be necessary. I didn't want to give my lovely wife any trouble." He ran his hand over your face, tucking a lock of hair behind your ear

"You don't give me any trouble, Kyojuro. I'll do everything for you, my love." You kissed his forehead

"I know, but I think the only thing I need now is you, although a bath would also be useful now. I'm all sweaty and if you keep hugging me you'll stink too." He said, but you just giggled

"I don't care." You settled yourself on his lap, placing one knee on each side of him "But you already took a shower and you smell so good."

"So what? I can always take another one." You rested your hands on his shoulders and bit your bottom lip, suggestively. "Besides...I wouldn't trade the sight of my lovely husband's body all sweaty after a whole day of training. You

look hot like that." You whispered on his ear, teasigly, and he chuckled

"Only my wife to flatter me like that."He grabbed your waist and kissed you

You wrapped your arms aroud his neck as you kissed him back, savoring the sweet and soft lips of your beloved. How you missed his soft lips.

"And how was your day, my love?"He broke the kiss for a moment, looking at you

"It was good too but being without you was the worst part."You pouted and he smiled, cupping your cheeks

"Oh, my dear wife missed me? I'm sorry for making you wait for me. I'll take care of you now."He kissed you again

The slow, sensual way he claim your lips make you feel your skin warm, his hands ran down your body toward your hips and you gasped into his mouth when you felt the bulge in his pants beneath you. He grinned against your lips as he noticed the way you grind against it, you drew a trail of kisses from his reddened cheek, passing through his jawline and reaching his neck to leave light bites. He grabbed the waistband of your sleep shorts and taking his hit, you lift your hips to help him to push the shorts and panties down and throwing them on the floor.

You lift your face from his neck and kissed his lips again in a heated make-out session, you unbuttoned the shirt and when you were about to take it off, he stopped you.

"Don't, I wanna see you using my shirt."He said, breathless."You look so pretty wearing it, baby."He praised, holding your waist and claiming one of your breasts in his mouth and kneading the other with one hand

You released soft moans, feeling his lips leaving sucks and kisses, licking around the sensitive nipples and pulling it slightly, giving you shivers. His touch started to get needy and sloppier then before, he could no longer hold back the desire that was taking over him. It was too many hours without you, he was so needy at that moment.

As his mouth took over your breasts, one of your hands grabbed his hand that was on your waist and slid it between your legs so he could find your already wet and needy slit. You grabbed his shoulders and shuddered when you felt his fingers spreading the viscosity through your folds.

"That's it... Right there, Kyo." You hissed, your head lolling back as you felt his thumb playing with your clit

He lightly nibbled on one of your nipples before letting go and looking at you and watching you writhe in pleasure as he put two of his fingers inside you.

"I can tell you missed me. You're so wet, baby." He said, looking at his fingers covered in your arousal

"Did you think about me while I was away?"

"Yes...Ohh I missed you so much" You nodded, letting out a some cries

You rolled your hips against his fingers, your walls clenching his fingers inside you as they went back and forth. You slid your hands up to his chest, resting them there and digging your fingers into his skin as he added the third finger. Your mouth opened to release the lewd sounds he liked to hear as you felt his fingers going deeper, he brought one hand to the back of your neck to kiss you.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, returning the intense kiss he was giving you. He rubbed the bud with his thumb again and that was the last straw to make you come.

You hummed against his lips, feeling the emptiness inside you as he pulled his fingers, slippery and dripping. His pants already had a visible puddle from the mess you had made and that he had almost made too. He felt so turned on by all of that. He broke the kiss and brought his fingers to his mouth, sucking shamelessly in front of you and smiling.

"You. Taste. Absolutely. Delicious." He punctuated the words between licks, ending with a kiss on your lips

You could taste yourself as his tongue tangled with yours, and that only made you want him inside you even more. Just like you had spent all day thinking.

"Mmmh, Kyo... I need you now." You said between the kiss and he chuckled softly

"I know, I know my lovely wife."He muttered, lifting your hips enough to unclasp his belt and unbuttoning his pants before pulling them down along with underwear."I shouldn't have neglected you for so long. Let's make up for the time we lost, far from each other, okay?"He passed a hand over your cheek, looking from your eyes to your lips before kiss them

You lowered your hips again and rubbed your bare cunt against his cock, muffling some low groans and moans from him during the kiss, especially when one of your hand went between your bodies, to stroking it. He was sensitive and the way her touch suddenly stimulated him made him gasped.

"Oh my dear..."He hissed, biting his lip and tilting his head back

You kissed his exposed neck sending shivers through his body. You rested a hand on the back of the couch and the other hold the base of his dick as you slowly sit on him. You rested your forehead on his shoulder, enjoying the feeling of having him, filling your needy hole and letting you feel every vein brush against the wet, sensitive walls.

He whimpered when he looked down and saw you taking him deep inside your sloppy, tight cunt, the sensation of being inside the warm and moist hole, made him wanted to be like that for the rest of the night. Not that you didn't try that before cause he never hide that he loved to stay inside your warm cunt for hours. And you love having him too.

You adjusted yourself on top of him, placing both hands on his shoulders as you began to bounce on him slowly. He roamed his hands over the skin of your thighs, towards your waist and keeping them there, digging his fingers when you started to increase the pace little by little.

"You're doing so...good, my dear." He hissed

You wrapped your arms around his neck, kissing him and savoring the soft, addictive lips of the man who drove you wild. It was a hot kiss, yet intense and intimate at the same time. Your hips rolled on top of his lap, taking him deeper and making his body shudder beneath you. He usually stayed on top, but he never refused when you asked him to be the Dom one or simply turned him over and took control. He just accepted and enjoyed it because he simply loved it when you dominated him. His body was yours, yours was his, you belonged to each other. There was love, care, and intensity even in the smallest actions with each other.

And he simply loved having you in his arms, letting you show him how much you loved him. He loved it when you showed your feelings for him, because he was also intense and honest when it comes to show you his. He pulled away from your lips and brought his mouth to your breasts, making you take off the shirt to your elbows and arching your chest against him to give him more access. One of his arms wrapped around your waist and his other hand massaged one of your breasts while his mouth sucked the other. You brought a hand to Hashira's golden, disheveled hair, keeping his head against your chest, his tongue ran over the other breast and giving it the same treatment. He pulled away from your nipples with a string of saliva to slid a hand down to your sensitive clit and rubbed it in circles, watching as your eyes rolled back and your mouth opened to moan.

"Kyo... mmmh I feel so close."You dug your nails into his shoulders and feeling a few tears roll down your face

"Yeah? My good girl is coming?" He took his free hand to hold your chin and bring it to meet his face, looking at you with a smile. "I can see your tears of pleasure, little flame. Am I making you feel good?"He wiped them away and you gasped

"Yeah...you're making me feel so good..." You hummed, feeling more tears running down your cheeks and your walls clenching."I love you, Kyojuro."

"Me too, angel. I love you." He kissed you, rubbing his fingers faster and making you moan against his lips

Your climax came and took over your entire body, your chest pressed against his as you squirt on his leght, wetting his thick thighs beneath you and feeling the drops run down the inside of your thighs. He pulled your lower lip with a grunt when he felt you clenched around him, more and more. He moved his hands to your waist and supported his feet on the floor so he could thrust into you from below and watch you tilt your head back. You were feeling too overstimulated but he seemed too focused on achieving his own pleasure.

You knew how he was - everyone did - if he had a goal, he wouldn't stop until he achieved it. You loved his energetic and motivated side.

"You want me to fill you, huh? You want me to cum deep inside you?" He asked breathlessly next to your ear and you nodded, frantically

"Yes...please, fill me up, Kyo."You sobbed in despair, hugging his body close to yours

You rolled yours hips to meet his thrusts, even though your legs were shaking. He held your body, thrusting deeper and faster, feeling his cock twitch inside you and not taking long to fill you with his warm cum until you were dripping out on his leght and making a mess on the couch too. You kept your head in the crook of his neck, catching your breath and feeling his chest rising and falling equally breathless.

He ran a hand through your hair, caressing it and occasionally placing kisses on the top of your head, which made your heart melt. His gentle manner was always welcoming.

He closed his eyes and sighed, slowly coming down from his high and feeling his body soften after the intensity and heat of the previous moment. You pulled away from your husband's neck, looking at his face, brushing away some golden strands of hair from there. His bright eyes slowly opened shortly after feeling your touch, he leaned forward to capture your lips in a chaste kiss to which you responded, holding his cheeks on your hands.

"It's good to be with you again, my love." He muttered softly, after pulling away from your lips for a moment."Your presence, your face, your voice, your touch, the way your heart beats." He brought a hand to your chest, his eyes following his hand for a moment before returning to yours again. "I love everything about you."

You kissed him again and he ran the hand over your nape, deepening the kiss. You had to kiss him for a moment because once again you went speechless due to the beautiful words he always had to say to you. You felt lucky to have him in your life, he had all the good qualities any woman would want. But he was yours, yours to be by your side and to love each other every day.

"I love you so much." You muttered and he smiled, placing a kiss on your cheek and hugging you

"Me too, honey. So, so much." He rocked you slowly in his arms

"I hope they don't steal you from me for too long again tomorrow." You joked and he laughed

"Well, in that case I must give you some good news."

"What good news?" You pulled away from the hug and looked at him, who was smiling

"Tomorrow is my day off." He announced and you smiled

"Oh, that's great!" You kissed his forehead and then his cheek a few times."It means I'll have you all to myself."

"All to yourself, baby."

"That's good to hear."

"Yeah," He nodded, running his hands up and down your waist."but now we should go take a shower. I'm sweaty and so are you and we'll have to put the shirt in the wash."

"Okay," You took off the sweaty and wrinkled shirt, throwing it to the side and placing your lips close to his ear. "But you have to promise me there will be a second round, okay?" You whispered seductively

He closed his eyes, feeling his cock harden again inside you just thinking about the things he would do to you during his day off. He chuckled and shifted his hips a little beneath you, taking a shaky breath from you. You thought he would take care of your request right there but instead, he lifted you up a little to pull away from you, making you hum softly as you felt empty again.

His eyes went down seeing the mess below and further inciting him to go on a second round with you.

"I promise, my little flame," He kissed your hand where you had the ring he put on when you two got married. "I promise not only one more, but as many as you want. We'll have the night to ourselves and tomorrow." He added and you smiled.

He picked you up bridal style and stood up, you wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed his rosy cheek.

"That sounds good to me." You whispered and he smiled."I will love every minute with you."

[violent-little-thing]

Watching With the Angels

Word Count: 1267

Summary: Liam left one last letter for Sloane, to be delivered on her wedding day.

A/N: This came out of many shared braincell conversations with @violencelittlething. I may have broken my own heart coming up with this. Future fics will be fluff haha.

_________

It was just after dawn in Aretia. Soon, Riorson House would be abuzz with florists, decorators, musicians, and guests for Dain and Sloane’s wedding. Sloane Mairi, baby sister of the group, was getting married. Joy and grief sat beside each other, as they so often did. Everyone was so excited for Sloane and Dain, having watched them fall in love and seen how committed they were to each other. But just like at Violet and Xaden’s wedding, there would be people missing. Lord and Col. Mairi. The Cardulos. The Tavises. The Durrans. Fen Riorson. Quinn. Liam.

That last one hit the hardest, of course. Because he was supposed to be there. He was supposed to have made it out of Basgiath with the rest of their little family. He should have been by his sister’s side, giving her some words of wisdom. He should have been teasing his future brother-in-law, giving him one last reminder of the sword and shovel that awaited him if he ever hurt Sloane. He should have been putting the finishing touches on the wooden carvings he would have undoubtedly placed throughout the ceremony space and on each table. But he wasn’t. That broke Xaden’s heart and he didn’t need to use his second signet to know that Sloane was feeling the same way.

Taking a deep breath, Xaden knocked on Sloane’s door. Sloane came bounding up, beaming with joy as she opened the door. “Xaden!” Surprise flashed across Sloane’s eyes.

“Can I come in?”

“Um, it’s not time to walk me down the aisle yet. You know I’m kinda missing the gown and the flowers and all that?” Seeing the look in Xaden’s eyes, his usually determined stare mixing with a touch of something that looked oddly like nerves, she let him in.

“So, not that I don’t love your company, but why are you gracing me with your presence so early in the morning on my wedding day?”

“I have something for you. It’s from Liam.”

Sloane’s eyes widened. “W-what? How?” she stammered.

Xaden’s face softened a bit and he remembered the grieving girl who entered Basgiath all those years ago. She had come so far. Dain had helped with that, helped her see how special and powerful she was, that she was life and she had so much to look forward to. “It’s a letter. He gave it to me in case he didn’t make it to your wedding.”

Xaden held out the parchment and Sloane took it, stepping back to sit on the sofa along the wall of the room. She stared at it, almost afraid to unfold it. While she had plenty of letters from Liam, ones that she’d read and reread so many times that she could recite them, this new one had a sense of both importance and finality. She took a deep breath, settled in, and began to read.

Dear Sloane,

Happy wedding day, little sister! I wish I was beside you, holding your hand. I wish I was walking you down the aisle. I need you to do something for me. I need you to feel joy and love today, not grief. You can remember me and I selfishly want you to, but don’t be sad for too long today.

I know Xaden, Bodhi, Garrick, and Imogen will have made sure that your groom is worthy of you. You deserve everything good. You deserve a man who is kind to you, who treats you like you’re something precious, who is fiercely loyal to you, who would burn down the world for you. I hope he challenges you and brings out the best in you, like our parents did for each other. And if that ever stops, I’m sure Malek will let me haunt him.

This is the part where I should tell you that it’s not too late to run if you have doubts. Don’t settle for anything less than the man of your dreams. But if this guy made it through the gauntlet of our friends, he must be a winner. So this is also the part where I tell you, my little spitfire, to remember to be kind on the hard days and remember that building a beautiful life together may require the occasional compromise.

I’m so proud of you, Sloane. I always have been. No one has ever had a better little sister. I’ll be watching with the angels, today and forever. I love you.

Forever your big brother,

Liam

As she read the last of Liam’s words, Sloane’s body shook with sobs. She wanted her brother with her so badly. She wanted her parents. She wanted to not be the last Mairi standing. “It’s not fair,” she whispered softly, shoulders shaking and tears streaming down her face.

“I know.” Xaden. She’d almost forgotten he was there. He sat down next to her, pulling her into his arms. “Shh, I’m here. I’ve got you.” Xaden wasn’t known for being affectionate with anyone other than Violet, but his loyalty to Liam and therefore to Sloane took over. Liam would want his sister to be comforted and it wasn’t as if Xaden could go get Dain — Tyrrish tradition was that the bride and groom saw each other on their wedding day at the altar and not a moment before. Even if Xaden might have considered Sloane’s emotional distress to be above tradition, Bodhi, the self-appointed keeper of Tyrrish customs, wouldn’t agree. So Xaden held his brother’s sister, softly shushing her cries, knowing that he could never make up for Liam’s absence but trying to all the same. Sloane cried into Xaden’s chest, letting his steady presence ground her. Eventually, she pulled away from his chest, sniffling as she looked up at him.

“Thank you. To have a piece of Liam with me today means everything.” Her bottom lip still quivered as she spoke.

“I wish I had more to give you,” Xaden told her honestly.

“At least you gave it to me before I had my makeup done,” Sloane joked. “Imogen would have your head otherwise.”

Xaden scoffed. “Of course I gave it to you before then.”

“You say ‘of course’ like it would be obvious to every man. Have you met your best friend Garrick?”

Xaden had to give her that. As smooth as he’d been with the ladies before he and Imogen finally admitted their feelings for each other, Garrick could be a touch oblivious when it came to women.

“You know if you’re not okay, it’s not too late for me to tell Aetos this whole thing is canceled.” Xaden was mostly jesting.

Sloane rolled her eyes at Xaden. “We’ve had this talk, Xaden. He loves me.”

“I know. That’s the best thing about him.” Sloane crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes. They had indeed had that talk before. Multiple times. And she’d had similar versions of the talk with Bodhi, with Garrick, and with Imogen. While they had accepted Dain into their family — some more begrudgingly than others — their loyalty would always be to Sloane and she couldn’t deny that she loved having such protective friends.

“Mini Mairi! We’re here and we brought the bubbly!” Imogen called out as she and Violet let themselves into the room. “Get out, Riorson. It’s girl time!”

“Fine, fine. I’ll be back when it’s time to walk down the aisle.” Xaden kissed his wife and squeezed Sloane’s shoulder before leaving the women to get ready for the day. As he walked back to his room, he paused for a moment, looked up, and murmured “I got this now, brother.”

[millersbby]

my cherry pie cutie pie

summary: where joel had a bad day. you try to help with a sweet treat and warm meal but he really is just a grumpy tired old man after all.

warnings: grumpy!joel (with good reason) no outbreak!joel, cursing, no use of y/n, pet names, fluff, slight angst, argument.

my note: haii first fic on here lmk what u think and what i can improve on ! be nice tho >:(

listen to cherry by ldr :)

it had a been a great day for you to say the least.

you had spent the entirety of the warm summer day cleaning. while that may not be the most exciting of tasks it didn't matter because you were also making a delicious pie. cherry pies weren't your favorite but they were his. baking was more than a love language to you. it was a way of giving back. not just to friends and family. but to a man that deserves it.

while you were prancing around the kitchen in your white tank top and long flowy skirt, joel was running errands.

that morning he woke up at 7 sharp to you snoring softly with your hair made a mess. he could feel his mood sour since the second he woke up. like he had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. nevertheless, he chuckled at the view, pressed a soft kiss to your temple and whispered a "goodmornin' baby" before he quietly freshened up with a shower and left your house leaving you in your warm bed cuddled up with your orange cat. the one he said got in the way but always ended up feeding and giving treats to.

he was off work that friday but had errands to run so he decided it would be better to get them out of the way sooner than later. he was tired shitless since he had been working late.

he knew you would have some sort of pastry for him to try when he got back and that's what he would spend the entire day anticipating. seeing you wait for his reaction hoping that just like every time, he would enjoy every bite and still ask for seconds.

he arrived at the construction supply store as he needed white paint for a white wall in your room you wanted him to paint for you. as you said it wasn't the right shade of white. he wasn't sure what that meant but was willing to fix what you thought needed fixin. as long as it kept you happy.

he was in and out of the store in 20 minutes and placed the can of paint in the bed of his truck before driving away to the grocery store. he only needed to pick up some meat for grilling and a couple spices.

by this time you were awake. you had risen to no joel next to you. you checked your phone and opened it to a message from him.

"came to run some errands. fed the cat and left some oatmeal on the stove for you. be home in a couple hours. i love you" -2 hrs ago

you decided to also start your day. you had breakfast, took a shower and did daily tasks like making the bed and did a few dishes. you wanted to have some lunch ready for him when he came back so you prepared some sandwiches loaded with lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and condiments. you prepared a pitcher of iced tea and got to working on some made from scratch pie.

you cleaned as you went and by this time it had been about 5 hours since joel left your home. the pie was in the oven and you had some sandwiches and iced tea waiting for him in the fridge.

you heard joel's truck pulling in.

he walked into the house but he looked as angry as ever. as he placed the grocery bags on the counter you ask.

"hey baby what's wrong?"

"stupid motherfucker at the store didn't shut the paint tin right n' there's white paint all in the bed of my truck" he replied. low and angry.

you furrow your brows and walk out to the parked car to see the damage done.

it was definitely worth being angry about.

you walk back into the house and to lighten up the mood say,

"atleast we know it's the right shade of white, right?" chuckling. he doesn't laugh, all you got was a side eye and sigh that made you feel awkward. then his phone rang. he emits another sigh.

"alright man ill go in. alright no problem, be there soon" he hangs up the phone on his boss and his hands rub his eyes as if hes only just imagining the day ahead of him.

you look at him like you were asking what happened. without having to ask he only says

"theyre makin me go in, something about mark bein too sick to go"

"oh, well i made some sandwiches for you to have around this time ill pack one for you" you say enthusiastically as if it was fate you had food ready for him.

"oh it's no use i'll be late if i stay here any longer. i'll buy somethin near the site." he says almost dismissing you.

"well okay, love you!" you say as he paces out of the door. only to be met with a shut door behind him.

"he didn't mean to close it so harshly."

"he didn't hear me."

it wasn't hard to convince yourself, he was having a bad day and now they even call him into work. you were understanding.

it was around 7 pm and you had a nice dinner ready.

you cooked the meat joel had planned to spend the day grilling outside along with oven roasted veggies and mashed potatoes. you were starving but still wanted to wait for joel to come back from work to enjoy your food and dessert together.

you decide to put on a movie while you wait for him, only to end up falling asleep.

you woke up 30 minutes later to joel taking his boots and coat off. you jump up to give him a hug.

"i missed you" you muttered into his neck. he smelled of man. you loved it. you didn't ask about his day. he was almost glad. he didn't want to talk about how he was counting down the hours to just come home and relax.

"i did too" he says low, voice aching with a tiredness not even sleep could fix .but you didn't wanna let go. you had spent the entire day anticipating him getting home what more could you ask for than a hug and dinner with a side of chit chat.

you finally let go.

"i made you dinner and some pie too!" you were excited to be in his presence. to marinate in his smell and give him the gift of a full stomach after a long day. he was excited too, but to relax. he wasn't feeling conversational and had forgotten about the tart sweet cherry pie waiting for him.

"alright alright let me go shower." he said as he walked down the hallway. you expected him to want to eat as soon as he got home. you as well were very hungry.

you grab his arm and as he turns around you exclaim "oh, don't you want to eat first? foods still warm! and i set the table, ooh! and i bought some napkins with lil cherries on 'em thought it fit the-" you say with a smile but he's quick to cut you off.

"can i not just shower really quick? it'll only be a minute" he almost had an attitude.

"well okay don't be too long though!" you say sarcastically as he just walks into the bathroom.

you don't think much of the encounter as you have been justifying his mood with the day he's had. you try to understand.

you finish plating the food just as he get out of the shower. he looks unreal. a salt and pepper man with wet hair, an old tee and pajama pants is a view you'll never get tired of.

"look at you old man, looking as handsome as ever" you say smoothly as you smile and reach out to hug him. he doesn't hug you back.

"now that i think about it im not all that hungry, sugar go 'head n' eat without me"

"can't you atleast try my food? doesn't it look great, i made your favorite pie too"

you weren't upset he didn't want to eat, it's that he didn't consider the time you spent and the work it took to make the food. not that you would ever complain, you enjoyed the process. that doesn't mean it wasn't tiring. you wanted to feel rewarded by him and the faces he would make when eating the dishes you prepare him.

"i’m real tired darlin' im sure it tastes just fine."

"just fine?!" it wasn't the use of words that pissed you off, it was the tone. he was dismissive.

"you know what i meant." his patience started to run thin. all he wanted was to relax.

"i waited all day for you!" you raised your voice slightly without noticing.

"i never asked you to do that! i never asked for all this, did i? i'm sorry i have a job and a life i need to take care of! sorry i don't spend my days sleeping and bakin lil cakes!" he didn't mean to yell, he hadn't even noticed he did until he saw your eyes pool with tears at the thought of him thinking you had no life. that you had no struggle or purpose other than being in the kitchen or in bed sound asleep.

although that's not what he meant, it is certainly how you took it.

you didn't want to keep arguing. but you were hurt. you took a deep breath as a tear fell down your face.

you walked away.

you went to your bedroom as your appetite disappeared into thin air leaving joel in the kitchen regretting his words. it was never in his intentions to say something so cruel and it was definitely never in his intentions to make you feel the way he did.

you did your nightly routine not even wondering what he was doing or where in your home he was. you just knew you didn't want to speak to him. you cared for him, you cooked for him, you even baked a pie flavor you'd never eat if he weren't there and he still found a way to make things your fault.

you slid into your bed and as you were about to shuffle over to turn the lamp off you hear a knock at the door.

"hey darlin? can i come in?" his voice was low, regret spilling out of his lips with every word.

"what do you need joel" you were angry, and hungry.

"brought you a lil somethin, can't let my girl go on into bed hungry"

you get out of bed to open the door and find joel with a wooden tray. on it was the food you prepared, re heated with two slices of pie on the side. each with their respective plates.

"i’m real sorry sugar, had no idea what was goin through my head speakin to you that way." he puts the tray down on your vanity and pulls you in for a hug. "do you really think i have no life? baking and cooking makes me happy but it's not all i do." you asked quietly.

"i was pissed off at the wrong person today, i didn't speak out of sincerity i spoke out of emotion, of course i don't believe what i said." you could feel the regret was really settling in.

"it's okay joel, i understand today was a rough day" you knew his attitude didn't come from no where. "don't matter sweetheart, you didn't deserve that, that's for sure" he reassured

you pull away slightly from the hug and his lips meet yours. it was a well needed kiss. you lead him to your bed as he picked up the wooden tray, careful not to drop anything "shall we feast?" he fakes a british accent.

"feast we shall." you mock.

it was the sweetest ending to any day.

[sequinsmile-x]

The Dominoes Cascaded in a Line

Emily refused to call it a booty call, even though that was exactly what it was starting to feel like. 

A one shot in my series of unrelated kissing prompt fics

-x-

Hi besties,

Hope you're all okay <3

It's been a while since I wrote some smut, and the kissing prompt 'slowly kissing down the body' from the list I've been working from seemed like the perfect opportunity.

This is just soft and sweet and them.

As always, let me know what you think!

-x-

Warnings: 18+, smut

Words: 3.2k

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

She missed him. 

It feels nothing short of ridiculous since they’d spent all day at work together, but they hadn’t had a chance to be them. They were Hotch and Prentiss when they were working - FBI agents skilled in behavioural profiling amongst so many other things - and there was no room to be Aaron and Emily, a new couple who hadn’t even had a chance to go on their first date yet. It was slowly, but surely, driving her insane. He’d finally asked her on a date, something she’d been waiting for much longer than she cared to admit, and they’d had to rearrange three times already. Twice because of work, including the case they were currently on, and once because Jack was sick. Aaron had apologised and apologised, as if she’d ever be angry over him being a good father, and as if he had any control over the nature of their work, and she knew he was just as frustrated as she was.

They still spent all their spare time together, just like they had before they’d tipped over the fine line between friendship and more that they’d walked like a tightrope for years. They would snuggle on his couch after Jack went to bed, and she’d kiss him and he’d kiss her and it was everything she’d ever thought it would be. Except for the fact that he never let it go further than kissing. 

He told her, that very first time he pulled away when she’d rolled her hips against his, desperate to feel something, to stoke the fire sparking in her blood, that he wanted to do this properly. He wanted to take her on a date and buy her dinner, and take her home. She found his desire to be a gentleman as frustrating as she did endearing, and even though they were half away across the country, even though the bed in her hotel room left a lot to be desired, she was running out of patience. 

She looks at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and tugs at the hem of her pyjama shorts, making sure the dark green silk is lying just right against her skin, and the straps of the matching cami top, and she smiles when she hears a knock on her hotel room door. 

Right on time. 

She had a plan. A plan she’d started when their date was cancelled again when Penelope called Aaron to tell him about this case. She’d packed the nicest pjyamas she owned - thinking lingerie might be a step too far if things didn’t quite go as she wanted - and as soon as it became clear they were packing up for the night, she sent Aaron a text and asked him to come to her room at 10 pm. 

Emily refused to call it a booty call, even though that was exactly what it was starting to feel like. 

She blows out a slow, nervous breath as she walks through her room and opens the door, briefly checking the peephole to make sure it was Aaron and that she wasn’t about to answer the door in her tiniest pyjamas to Dave, and she smiles as she pulls it open. 

“Hi,” she says, looking him up and down, pressing her lips together to try and contain her smile at the way he looks her up and down, swallowing thickly as his eyes linger on her legs, on the peak of skin that stands out between the hem of her cami top and her shorts. She clears her throat, unable to stop her smile from getting wider this time when their eyes meet, and a flash of embarrassment passes through his, “Want to come in?” 

Aaron nods and kisses her cheek as he passes her, his hand on her waist, the green silk she’s wearing almost as soft as her skin as his palm rasps against it, “I feel overdressed.” 

It feels stupid as soon as he’s said it, but she laughs, making sure the double lock is in place on the door before she turns to look at him, her arms crossed over her chest in a way that makes him ensure that he keeps eye contact with her to stop his gaze from wandering. 

“Well, I’d say I’ll let you go back and change so we can have a pyjama party,” she says, walking over to him, her tongue peaking out to wet her lower lip as she looks him up and down. There was something so very him about the fact he’d been in his room, still in his suit with only his jacket and tie missing. It makes words that she’s sure are too early to say settle on her tongue, the taste of them sweet before she swallows them back down, “But I’m worried I’d scare you off,” she quips, leaning in to kiss him before she steps back and nods towards the desk in her room. There are snacks - chips and candy she’d bought from the gas station - and a bottle of wine, along with two plastic cups, “I thought since our date keeps getting cancelled, we could make it happen here.” 

He smiles softly at her, his hands on a respectable spot on her back as he pulls her closer. He’d been frustrated by their date being cancelled too, annoyed that after he’d finally been brave enough to ask her out that life had kept getting in the way. He knew she was placating him, that she knew it was important for him to do all of this in the way he thought was right, and it made him impossibly more in love with her. 

“Em…”

“I know what you’re going to say,” she says, wrapping her arms around his neck, chasing the shiver she causes when she scratches his scalp. “You’re going to say that you wanted to pay for our date,” she smiles, and her eyes spark with an edge of mischief he once worried he’d never get to see again. “You know you gave me $20 earlier for coffee for everyone?” She says, and he nods, “Well, I bought everyone coffee, and then used your $20 to buy this feast.” She smiles as she nods towards the desk, and then she scrunches her nose up, “Although, the wine cost $6 and just says ‘wine’ on the label,” she says, a fake shudder running through her as he laughs at her, “So I don’t hold out much hope for that.” 

He knows he won’t win this battle, that he didn’t really want to, but he presses his lips together anyway, a voice in the back of his head telling him that she deserved more than this. 

“Are you sure?” He says, pretending that he can’t see the desire written across her face, “Are you sure you don’t want dinner in a nice restaurant and flowers and everything else?” 

“I want you,” she says, unhooking one of her hands from around his neck to stroke her knuckles down his cheek, “As long as you want this too, that’s all I want,” she says, leaning in to stamp her lips against his, “I just want you.” 

The second that follows feels like the longest of her life, but then he leans in, his lips insistent against hers, and she doesn’t know if the sigh she releases is one of desire or relief. 

She presses her chest against his, feels the scratch of the buttons on his shirt against her skin, and she hums, her grip on him tightening as she leads him towards the bed. It feels like his hands are everywhere, his self-imposed embargo on touching her anywhere other than her back or hips long gone. It’s overwhelming, perfect and everything she wanted it to be. The back of her knees hit the bed and they come to a stop. 

He pulls back from the kiss and presses his forehead against hers, “You’re so beautiful.” 

She huffs out a breath, something she thinks is meant to be a laugh, and she rubs her nose against his, stamping a brief kiss against his lips before she pulls back just enough to look at him. She studies him up close, maps out lines on his face and specks of gold in his eyes that were still new to her, features that one day would be as familiar to her as his dimples and soft smile that felt like it was just for her. 

“You are too,” she says, leaning in to kiss him, taking the opportunity to undo a few of the buttons on his shirt, her breath catching in her chest when the first of his scars are revealed, faded to a faint white line now, a part of the tapestry of his skin, the places where he’d been stitched back together. She traces a finger over them, her eyes finding his again when he gasps, and she smiles, leaning in to kiss the scar at the top of his chest, “So beautiful.” 

As she pulls back, his hand slips under her cami, and for a moment, she thinks he’s going to palm her breast, thinks she’s going to feel the roughness of his calluses against her sensitive skin, but he doesn’t. Instead, he runs his fingers across the burst of scar tissue just beneath her ribs, tracing lines he’d only ever read about. It’s still numb. She’d spent countless hours touching it to try to feel something other than pins and needles, a numbness she thinks she could have easily lost herself to if it wasn’t for him.

“I…” he says, unsure what he really wants to say, if there are enough words for this. They’d both been hurt so badly. Both torn apart by monsters made of flesh and bone, monsters who had been nothing more than men. They've been to the brink and back, survived awful, terrible things to make it to each other, and he likes to think thats why they work so well, why he can already see forever with her. “I’m so glad you’re here.” 

She smiles and her cheeks ache with it, love and joy and want rushing around her so fast it makes her dizzy, and she nods, aware of everything he wants to say but won’t yet, and she rests her head against his. 

“I’m glad too,” she says, three words that aren’t the three words she wants to say, but they’ll do for now. She kisses him quickly - too quickly - and then she pulls her cami over her head, smiling when the seriousness around them disappears the moment it hits the bed behind her, the desire that had preceded it making a quick comeback. She sits on the bed and drags him with her, kissing him as she unbuttons his shirt the rest of the way, growling in frustration as she pulls back when she just can’t do it quickly enough, her hands not quite working with her. “Do you have another shirt with you?” 

He nods, “Yes, why?” 

She pulls at both sides of his shirt, and the buttons scatter, the sound of them hitting the ground muted by the cheap carpet beneath their feet. He raises an eyebrow at her, and she shrugs, biting his lower lip ever so slightly, “I’ll buy you a thousand shirts.” 

He shakes his head and kisses her before he encourages her to lie down, his hands soft but encouraging at her waist. He looks at her so tenderly that she thinks that with anyone else would leave her feeling exposed, something that would be absurd since she was half naked, but with him, it makes her feel empowered, a blush breaking out across her skin that he tracks with kisses. He kisses her neck and then her sternum, taking a moment to kiss the brand mark on her breast before he moves on, acknowledging it without making a point of lingering there, and then the scar beneath her ribs. By the time he kisses her stomach, his lips half catching her skin and half the silk of her shorts, she’s writhing beneath him, her fists tight around the overstretched sheets under her. 

“Aaron,” she gasps, lifting her head to look at him, her eyes blown black as they meet his, her breath caught in her chest as she looks him up and down, his shirt still hanging off him and his pants and belt still firmly in place, “You’re wearing too many clothes.” 

He smiles and nods, and he shrugs off his shirt, letting it fall to the ground with the buttons she’d torn off it, and he gets to work on his pants and shoes whilst she lifts her hips just enough to take off her shorts. He playfully narrows her eyes at him when he almost trips over taking off his pants, but it removes any lingering nervous tension in the air around them, reminding them that, above all else, they were best friends, that they knew each other better than anyone else ever could. 

She’s grateful that they’d had the - annoyingly awkward - conversation about practicalities before their date was cancelled for the first time, because it means they don’t have to have it now, it means that when he joins her on the bed, laying over her but making sure he’s careful to not rest all his weight on her, the only thing she’s thinking about is him. She gasps as he notches against her, and he grabs one of her hands, linking their fingers together by her head as he uses the other to hitch her leg around his waist, his touch tender yet firm. He rests his forehead against hers, and they look at each other as he pushes forward.

She gasps at the stretch of him, her breath skipping across his face as his skips against hers. She can feel him everywhere, pressure from all sides, and she swallows thickly, her lungs stuffed full of desire and want she thinks she could drown in. 

“Aaron,” she says, squeezing his hand, “Move,” she chokes out, her hips shifting against his, desperate for something, her skin fizzing with everything she was already feeling, “Please move.” 

He does as she asks, and she moans, dragging him in for a kiss in an attempt to be quiet, a small part of her brain vaguely aware that one of the team was sleeping in the next room, although right now she couldn’t remember who. Aaron squeezes her leg and groans against her, pulling away from the kiss to bury his face against her shoulder, his lips against her collarbone. 

She loses herself in it, and he does too, and even though it’s the first time, it doesn’t feel like it. It feels like coming home, like this was where they were always going to end up. Wrapped around each other in a town with a name neither one of them would remember when they looked back on this, instead focused on how they’d made each other feel, how they’d finally made it to this. 

“You feel so good, sweetheart,” he mutters eventually, part of a trail of praise tattooed against her skin that she doesn’t hear every word of as her hearing gives way to white noise. Her breathing gets faster, all of her focus on how he’s making her feel, “So good.” 

She grasps at his back, her nails digging in as she rolls her hips against his, and a noise she doesn’t recognise escapes her when he slides in impossibly deeper, “Fuck, Aaron…” 

She doesn’t have to ask him, and she's glad because she doesn’t think she could. His hand shifts from her thigh, and all it takes is a ghost of his thumb over her clit and she’s gone. She tips over the edge with a breathless gasp, holding him as close as possible as if he’d move even if he wanted to. 

“Fuck,” he exclaims, clenching his teeth as he feels his hips start to stutter, “God, sweetheart-”

She cups his cheek, makes him look at her as he comes, her forehead against his as she kisses him, swallowing down the way he grits out her name like a prayer. 

He places his hand on the bed next to her and rolls them, letting her lie on top of him as they catch their breath. She places her hand on his chest to steady herself, and she kisses him, cupping his cheek as she sighs contentedly. 

“That was…” she starts, shaking her head as words fail her, lingering pleasure in her veins making her brain misfire as she looks down at him.

“I know,” he replies, his hand skipping up and down her back, “I know, sweetheart.” 

“I’d thank you,” she quips, kissing him again, “But I think that would be inappropriate,” she says, and he laughs, something that makes her kiss him again, “I’ll be back in a minute.” 

He nods and kisses her one more time before she stands up, stretching as she walks towards the bathroom. She makes quick work of cleaning herself up, desperate to be with him again, to not be away from him for too long, and she can’t help but smile when she opens the door to find him standing just outside. He kisses her, squeezing her hip as he passes her to use the bathroom himself. 

She grabs the bottle of wine from the desk as she passes it and unscrews the lid, taking a swig directly from the bottle as she sits back down on the bed. She grimaces at the taste of it and glares at the label as if it would somehow improve the quality. She doesn’t look up when she hears the bathroom door open, and she sips the wine again.

“The wine is disgusting by the way,” she says as he joins her, moving just enough for him to pull the covers back and slip them over both of their laps. 

“I’ll have you know thats the best wine you can buy at a gas station with someone else's $20,” he says, winking at her when she smiles up at him.

“You’ll stay tonight?” 

He hates that she feels the need to ask, that she’d been treated badly enough in the past to do so, but he brushes past it for now, stores the feeling away to ask her about another time. He nods and kisses her forehead. 

“Of course,” he says, wrapping his arms around her shoulders to tug her closer when she sips the wine again, passing over the bottle to his waiting hand, “There’s no where else I’d rather be,” he thinks he falls in love with her all over again because of the way he smiles at her. He leans in to kiss her and pulls back just enough to speak, “You were right.”

She furrows her brow and tilts her head at him, “About what?” 

He kisses her again, “About the wine,” he says, winking at her, “It’s terrible.” 

[nick-writes-stuff]

Every Second of Every Day

Thanos / Choi Su-bong x gn!reader

summary: You break up with Thanos after a particularly messy fight, and to protect yourself, you try to cut ties completely. Of course fate would lead you both to the same death game. You both struggle with your emotions for each other and hope to repair your broken relationship. ~ 9.4k words (chat i may have gotten carried away)

warnings: drug use, descriptions of suicidal thoughts/attempts, verbal arguments, canon-typical violence

A/N: Welp. It's here. I don't know where this came from bc I thought I had no motivation to write at the moment but here this is. idk what is coming next nor when, but we'll figure it out. Also guys I am just a SUCKER for father figure!Gi-hun like it's just iconic and I definitely snuck some into the fic. hope you all enjoy!!

Part of you wished you would never see Choi Su-bong again after that night. The night that you had come back to your apartment to find him rooting through your belongings to find money to buy drugs. He claimed that you had told him he was able to use your money, that you had graciously offered to spot him the cash after he blew his savings on that crypto scam. 

The money he was referring to was all of the tips you had been saving since you started your current job. Your job didn't pay very well, and you were paying off your student loans as well. Your financial situation wasn't great, but you rarely took anything from that stash. It was meant to be a savings fund for very important things and emergencies. You had originally started it to save enough for your security deposit for the apartment, but more recently you had been budgeting the money to plan a trip for you and Su-bong for your upcoming two year anniversary.

That anniversary would never come. You've replayed that conversation in your head a million times. Was there something you could have said to make it end differently?

“Are you fucking kidding me, Su-bong? I never would have agreed to that.” You asked. Your voice was uncharacteristically calm for the situation, but there was a sharp tone behind it.

He rolled his eyes at you. “Listen, you definitely did do that. Anyway, I'll pay you back once I do that set next weekend. Were you really going to use it before then?” He asked, hardly seeming concerned by your anger. He was more focused on counting the bills.

You scoffed. “You aren't taking it. Give it to me or I'll call the cops.” You said. Thanos laughed like he genuinely found you funny. You were not amused. Your eyes narrowed at him, glaring daggers at him. 

“You're too funny.” He said after his laughter ceased. His comment sounded more like a jab than a statement.

You took a deep breath. “You know, I was going to use that money to do something for our anniversary.” You said. Your voice was strangely calm. You were restraining yourself from letting all the feelings you had bottled up over the last year. 

“Babe, I already told you. I'll pay it back next week. I don't see what the-” He said, clearly getting annoyed with you. 

Before he could put the money in his pocket you snapped, “If you take that money, we're done.” 

Thanos seemed offended. “Really, an ultimatum? That's not fair and that's toxic as fuck.” 

You chuckled bitterly. “As if this whole relationship hasn't been toxic.” You muttered under your breath. Your jaw clenched, trying to avoid breaking down. “Su-bong, I love you but I can't do this anymore. You either hand me the money right now, or you take it and never come back here or talk to me again.” You said. You couldn't handle this anymore. You didn't deserve this treatment. 

Thanos looked you over before shoving the money into his pocket. “You'll come to your senses soon enough.” He spat, shoving you out of the way and slamming your door shut behind him.

You stood there in quiet disbelief, realizing the weight of what just happened. Tears ran down your face almost involuntarily. Two years of your life and love and effort and time down the drain, but you felt some form of relief now that you had stopped it.

And you didn't let up. Within the hour you had called your landlord and asked if he had any other apartments available for rent. You had a decent rapport with him, so he was willing to work with you and draft up a lease and even cut you a deal on the rent given the situation you were in.

By the next day when Thanos had bothered to come back and try to salvage the relationship, there was no answer when he knocked. He wasn't looking to commit a crime and break in, so he left. Unbeknownst to him, you called off work and moved your belongings out yourself.

Soon after you switched your phone number. You worked with your coworkers to let you switch your shifts to times that you normally never worked. You were willing to work nights for a month or two until Thanos got the message if he decided to try and find you at work. 

Later that week when he was really strapped for cash, he returned to your apartment. When he knocked, he was greeted with some kid fresh out of college it seemed. That was when he started to realize how much he fucked up.

It started off small. He got wistful when he would send you a picture of something funny he saw at the club. He opened your messages and sent it like it was an instinct, not realizing his mistake until the red exclamation point popped up, joining the countless other undelivered messages he had tried to send.

He changed his wallpaper back to the default. He couldn't bear to see the selfie of the two of you at one of his shows mocking him every time he unlocked his phone, but he also couldn't bear to choose anything to replace it. 

At first he went on a bender, desperately trying to quiet the self-loathing and anger and despair. It didn't work for long. The thoughts were too loud. He had thought you both had a good thing going and you ended it out of nowhere.

That's what he told himself at first. He wanted to believe it was your fault. He wanted to write off the pain he was feeling but he knew deep down it was him. He fucked up. He loved you. He didn't act like it sometimes, but he did. He was blinded by his own desires and greed and it wasn't fair to you.

Nam-gyu tried to console his friend, but it was more of an attempt to get him deeper into the downward spiral he had been heading on. If Thanos had a change of heart, it could jeopardize his investment. Because that's always been the main goal of his interactions with Thanos. Sure he was fun to be around but it was mostly because he saw potential in him. 

After a particularly nasty fight with his mother about two months after you broke up, he found himself on the Han River bridge, looking over the railing where the reflections of streetlights flickered on the inky black water below.

Would you even care? If you were happy he was gone, he didn't think he would blame you. He was an asshole and he knew it. You had put up with his bullshit more than anyone else and he finally pushed you away like he had everyone. 

He hated the idea that you would give up on him, but he knew he deserved it. He didn't know what he had until you were gone. 

And he hated himself for it.

Just as he was about to slip off his shoes, he heard a voice from the darkness. “Hello, sir! Can I talk to you for a moment?” 

That man set him on this path. For better or for worse, Thanos was going to join the games and try to win as much as he could to take back with him. If he couldn't… 

Well it wouldn't be much different than if he had jumped, even if he didn't know that yet.

Maybe you would take him back if he was able to pay you back and beg for your forgiveness. He wouldn't blame you if you didn't though. 

You also found yourself in a similar financial situation. It seemed like the whole universe was against you. Your car had broken down and had an expensive issue to fix, and Thanos just drained your savings. You didn't have reliable transportation, so after a few times of the subway being late, you lost your job.

Then your mom got sick. The doctors still weren't sure what was causing her illness, but that was almost worse. All of the tests they were trying were expensive. It didn't take you long to rack up some debt.

And even if your reason for having debt was for the good of your family, that didn't save you from a visit from the salesman. The business card seemed to be made of steel. It sat in your pocket and felt like a weight dragging you down. 

After you visited your mother, the doctor stopped you on the way out. He informed you of some of her test results. The treatments would be costly.

You called the number once you got outside. 

-

It looked like you woke up in a technicolor nightmare. The lights were blinding and the colors were bright. You quickly realized someone had changed your clothes. That fact caused a pit to form in your stomach, but you tried not to dwell on it. You needed to figure out how the games would work.

You tried to stay in the back of the crowd, watching the sea of teal jumpsuits in front of you. 

Something clearly caught your attention. A man with a head of purple hair.

You felt a rush of adrenaline course through your veins. You tried to take a deep breath. It was a coincidence. It had to be. There was no way Thanos was the only person in Seoul with purple hair. 

A few minutes later, you heard someone begin to whine about his limited edition sneakers. The voice sounded familiar. Too familiar. But you denied it. Your brain was playing tricks on you.

You followed the instructions the guards gave you. You were getting a bad feeling about this. Something was off but you didn't know what it was. You just followed the group through the neon colored stairs. You smiled for the picture. You entered the game hall. 

Anxiety began to gnaw at you once the older man started shouting about how these games would go. He seemed to have experienced this before, but if that was true, why would he be helping all of you? It would make him less likely to win, right? Plus, you didn't think they would kill you. It had to be paintballs or something, just to mark that you were eliminated. You didn't know how naive your line of thinking was.

You did as he said. If it would help you win the money for your mom, why wouldn't you? You followed behind the group in front of you, hanging onto the man's words to try to calm your nerves. 

You froze the second that the first gunshot rang out.

No. No, it can't be real, right?

It only took a few more shots for you to believe it was real. You closed your eyes and tried to steady your breathing. Your hands began to tremble and you mentally begged for it to stop. 

You continued to follow the man's instructions now, intently listening to every word. You kept your eyes focused on the person in front of you. You didn't want to see anything.

You stayed focused until you heard a group of people scream while the light was already red. How did they manage to get caught when it had been on red for a few moments?

Your eyes shifted toward the source of the screams, not daring to turn your head at all. You wished you hadn't looked.

You saw him. Thanos. 

It had to be him. You knew because he had that stupid cross necklace around his neck. His pupils were blown wide, you could tell he was high clearly.

And he was holding his arms out into an empty space in front of him. An empty space where the dead people just were.

He didn't…

He didn't push them, right? He wouldn't have done that. 

Right?

Until you saw it again with your own eyes. He pushed more players down like it was nothing, like he wasn't killing them. You stopped looking in his direction. You were just so fucking scared right now. 

If he was gleefully killing strangers without a second thought, what would he do to you? He had to be mad at you, and now he had the perfect opportunity to kill you without any consequences.

When you crossed the finish line, you couldn't bear to turn back. You couldn't witness the carnage behind you. You stared at the wall, hands covering your ears. You took deep, shuddering breaths trying to calm down but you just couldn't. How could you? You were in an infinitely dangerous environment. You were a sitting duck here.

When you returned to the dorms, you found yourself a spot toward the back corner of the room. You sat with your back to the wall, focusing on fidgeting with the zipper of your jacket. Anything to get your mind off of him.

You told yourself you were avoiding him because you were scared he would hurt you, but you knew that wasn't true.

You missed him. You missed him so fucking much. If it seemed he had genuinely changed, you would be easy to convince. And that scared you because he could easily be lying. You hoped he wouldn't do that to you. You wanted to believe he wouldn't, but you were just scared.

You regretted breaking up with him since you did. While your relationship wasn't perfect, you still had hope that you both could really make it work. You loved him, and you know he loved you. You wanted nothing more than to be with him, and you were scared to fall right back into how you both used to be. 

That fear compounded when you noticed Nam-gyu was also here. You didn't like him. He didn't like you. You thought he was bad news, but he was also one of Thanos's closest friends. It wasn't like you were going to force them apart, but you knew a lot of Thanos's problems were made worse by Nam-gyu's influence. The drugs, the clubbing, the poor financial decisions. 

You stayed in the back of the room until they began the voting process. The whole idea of this made you nervous. The badges would be a signal to everyone else. Division would certainly follow.

You had a high number, but luckily not first. The number 448 was embroidered into the patch on your jacket. It would have stressed you out even more if you were first. When your number was called, you cautiously stepped forward. You tried to keep your hand from trembling as you reached out and pressed the red X button.

You turned around and entered the group quickly, averting your gaze so hopefully Thanos wouldn't see you. You happened to make eye contact with the player who coached you all through Red Light Green Light. He nodded at you, almost as a thank you for being rational. You gave him a slight smile before getting into the crowd. 

Things quickly turned to chaos. Player 456 claimed that he had been in the games before. This didn't give you the hope that other players seemed to get from his statement. They saw him as a success story, someone to model. You saw his presence as an omen. Winning these games didn't seem to set you up for life like they were presented.

When his number was announced, Thanos walked up to the buttons. He almost seemed to be skipping up like this was some whimsical fantasy for him. You felt a growing pit in your stomach, dreading what his decision would be. You hoped he would join you, but you knew better. Deep down you knew that he was too selfish to leave. You weren’t surprised when the higher pitched beep rang through the room. 

He turned with a grin, but any happiness drained from his face when he made eye contact with you. He froze, eyes widening.

You didn't need to say anything for him to realize that he was likely the one who caused you to be in this mess. You would have been okay financially if he hadn't taken the cash from you.

You met his eyes. Thanos had expected you to glare at him, to communicate that you wished he had died with your gaze alone. He knew he'd deserve it from you after everything he put you through.

But you didn't. You just seemed scared, and you looked away from him. You wrapped your arms around your middle, trying to soothe yourself from the stress you were under. Part of you wanted to miss him, to call out to him and feel what it felt like to be in his arms. But you knew better. He would probably just take advantage of your love for him again. It was hard for you to stomach the fact you still loved him after all of this.

Player 456 seemed to notice your distress, but he didn't seem to connect it to Thanos specifically. Not yet at least. He nudged your arm gently. “You okay?” He asked softly, voice just loud enough so you could hear him despite the crowd. 

You flinched from his touch, just not expecting it at that moment. You looked over at him and quickly averted your gaze, nodding somewhat. 

He didn’t believe you, but he didn't want to pry. He hardly knew you after all.

The votes were tallied and there was a strong majority for the people who wanted to stay, mostly due to 456’s failure of rallying everyone. In his attempt to convince the other players, his revelation that he'd played these games before only sparked the people's hope that they too could make it out with the cash.

When dinner was being served, you rushed yourself to be one of the first to receive your bento box. You sat toward the back of the room again, claiming a bed as your own. With the sounds of everyone eating and talking, you almost forgot that this wasn't a school cafeteria but a death game. You tried to stay sharp so you can adapt. 

It didn't take long for Thanos to start looking for you. You tried to act like you didn't notice walking up to you. You stared at your dinner like it was the most interesting thing in the world. You didn't look up until he was right in front of you and cleared his throat.

You didn't want to look him in the eye, looking almost scared of him. You didn't want to be dragged into his chaotic way of dealing with the games. You weren't being forced into his murderous and drug-fueled pandemonium.

“Hey, we need to talk.” He said. His eyes seemed concerned, but you could tell he was still high from his pupils.

You shook your head. “No thanks,” You said curtly.

He rolled his eyes. “Babe, come on, I-”

“Don't. Don't call me that.” You cut him off, gaze sharpening somewhat. 

He took a deep breath, clearly annoyed. “How did you even end up here?” He asked. “I know we were struggling but-”

You scoffed. “Really? Not everything is about you, Su-bong.” You spat. It was the first time he'd heard his real name in a few months, and it was said with so much venom.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

You took a shaky breath. “My mom is sick, really sick.” You said, voice suddenly softer. It hurt to remember that. What if you died here? She would think you left her at her most vulnerable time. You didn't think you'd forgive yourself for that.

He wasn't exactly thinking clearly. The pills were still affecting his thought process. “Why are you acting like I should have known that?” He shot back. He was loud, a little too loud. You could see the crowd started to look toward you both. 

Your eyes widened, not really knowing how to feel about that. “I didn't, I just-” You said, stumbling over your words a bit.

“So can we just talk? Please.” He asked. He was trying to level with you, but he just wasn't doing it effectively. You had been with him long enough that you knew this was just his way to clumsily make amends.

You wanted to talk to him. A part of you regretted breaking up with him, but you knew it was necessary. He had just been dragging you down with him for years, and you feared he would continue that here. This was no place to get yourself wrapped up in his chaos. You shook your head. “I can't.”

He rolled his eyes. “What the fuck do you mean, I can't? It's not-” He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder yanking him backwards. Thanos fell to the floor, turning to face the threat.

“I think they said no.” Player 001 said, voice deep and sharp. 

Thanos chuckled, trying to maintain his tough guy facade. “How about you stay outta this, old man?” He spat. He started to stand up, intending on hurting him back.

001 didn't react to that emotionally. “You should really respect your elders.” He said before stepping over and kicking him, putting him back on the floor.

Your breath hitched. You wanted to say something but you were just frozen. It wasn't until the older man had him pinned on the ground by his throat that you got up.

“Hey, leave him alone.” You called out.

The man's gaze snapped toward you. His grip relaxed somewhat, and Thanos took some greedy breaths. 

“I think he got the message, let him go.” You said. Your voice was almost shaking. 

The man got up and walked back to his group. You hesitated for a moment before walking off without a word to Thanos. You didn't even look at him, which was for the best. He wore a shit-eating grin because you still cared enough that you stopped the man from beating the shit out of him. 

You made your way over toward the group Player 001 was a part of. You tried not to be intimidated by the older men, but the fact Jun-hee was with them made you feel a bit better about this.

“Would you guys mind if I joined you for a moment? Just until he gets distracted.” You asked meekly. You really didn't want to intrude, but you figured sticking with the man who just kicked his ass would keep him away for the moment.

456 looked up at you, his hardened gaze softening ever so slightly as he did. “Stay as long as you need.” He said. Player 001 seemed to react to that statement in some way, almost intrigue, but you didn't want to get involved in that. 

The younger man in the group began striking up conversation with you rather quickly, going around and introducing everyone to you. You smiled nervously before saying your name.

Dae-ho continued, “Do you know that guy?” He asked you. 

You sighed. “Um, yeah. I do.” You murmured. You didn't want to explain everything. You didn't want to be overheard by anyone else and have your words twisted. The situation was too complicated and nuanced to discuss it in this scenario.

Before Dae-ho finished his next question, Gi-hun interrupted him, as he felt your discomfort was obvious. He leaned forward to offer you his carton of milk. “Here, you should take this. You hardly got to eat your dinner, and someone definitely took it after you left.” He said with a bitter chuckle after the last statement. Of course someone would be that selfish.

You shook your head. “No, I couldn't do that.” You said.

He shrugged. “I can't drink the plain kind anyway.” He said nonchalantly. 

You hesitantly took the carton from his hand. “Thank you, sir.” You managed to get out, clearly touched by his generosity in the moment.

Dae-ho continued to chat with you, and you could almost feel Thanos's gaze burning a hole in the back of your skull.

Because he had hardly taken his eyes off you. He stood in the opposite side of the room, silently brooding and watching you as Nam-gyu tried to convince him to let him have one of the pills. He took the chain from his neck and shoved it toward him, muttering “Here” with some disdain.

He shouldn't have a problem with this. He wasn't your boyfriend anymore, he knew that. But he wanted to believe you were still with him in a way. It was killing him to think that you gave up on him. It was worse knowing that you have every right to.

After lights out, you found it hard to get any sleep. You had moved into an empty bed near the rest of the group you seemed to find yourself with. Eventually you sat up. You didn't think you were going to be able to fall asleep right now.

“Can't sleep?” You heard someone's voice from the dark. You flinched and inhaled sharply at the sound, immediately becoming on edge. You realized it was just Gi-hun after a moment.

You gave a nervous laugh. “You scared the shit out of me.” You whispered. You could barely make out his silhouette in the dark.

“Sorry, sorry.” He said with a chuckle.

Out of everyone in your little group, you trusted Gi-hun the most. It wasn't even just because you knew he'd been in the games before. That was certainly a factor, but you trusted him because he checked on you during the vote. His soft words and small smile meant more to you than he probably knew. This place seemed like you were trapped with desperate people willing to do unspeakable things for money, but he showed you kindness when he didn't know you at all.

“You know, I don't think that creep is going to give you trouble anymore.” He said.

You didn't know how to respond to that. A part of you wanted to defend Su-bong, but you also didn't want to explain the whole situation. “I doubt it.” You murmured.

“Is he an ex-boyfriend or something?” He asked. 

“Um, yeah.” You whispered with a nod. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, trying to clear the emotions from your mind. This conversation was hardly helping you sleep.

He chuckled again, clearly trying to seem playful, but his attempt rang hollow. “Judging from how he acts, I think you made a good choice breaking up with-”

“Can you stop talking about a situation you know nothing about?” You snapped, your voice somewhat louder than you intended. Your words were harsh, and you suddenly became very worried about how he would react to your outburst. 

“Sorry, it's just…” You trailed, trying to think of the best way to explain it without divulging too much. “It's really complicated.” 

He was taken aback but also somewhat impressed that you stood up to him, but you couldn't pick up on the subtleties of his body language in the dark. “No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pried.” He whispered back. 

You didn't say anything. You didn't want to. 

He broke the silence. “We'll watch out for you, y’know? You'll only deal with him on your terms.” He said.

You didn't know how to respond to that. You hadn't had intentions of joining any groups, and when you asked to sit with them. You were only looking for a temporary solution to your problem. “Thank you.” You answered, hoping that sufficed. 

He didn't say anything else, so you assumed he was going back to sleep. You sighed in relief. You laid back down, hoping that even if you didn't fall back to sleep, you would be left alone.

You eventually woke up to the hard LED lighting and cheery tune playing to announce the next game. You felt a pit growing in your stomach as the sense of dread intensified.

You tried your best to hide any sense of uneasiness about being around your new allies, but it was hard not to be wary. You hardly knew any of them and now they expected you to trust them in a death game? You didn't think you would trust someone here. Not even him. 

You found yourself playing Flying Stone alongside everyone but Jung-bae. He had volunteered to find another team since your group had one too many members. The look of anxiety on Gi-hun's face made you feel guilty for being here. You probably should have left instead since Jung-bae seemed to be missed. Luckily his team made it out just fine.

Your group was last, paired with another team who wasn't as fortunate as yours. As you crossed the finish line, they were gunned down. It was a harrowing tone shift.

You all walked back to the dorms quietly until Dae-ho tried to lighten the mood a bit and began telling everyone how well they did, even Young-il who had nearly gotten you all killed. 

As you walked across the room, you noticed most of the Os faces sour that you all at made it, and Thanos did too until he noticed you were with them. His gaze softened into what seemed to be guilt for his quick judgment.

You didn't notice it, however. You spoke to Dae-ho: “We wouldn't have gotten out of there without you knowing how to play gonggi though. That flip at the end was amazing.” You said, nudging his arm playfully. You had only meant for the comment to be friendly, but you noticed the light blush spreading across his face as he bashfully tried to write off the feat.

Thanos noticed it too, and needless to say he was sulking, pouting even. His back rested against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. “I can play gonggi too.” He muttered.

Nam-gyu, being the great friend he was, laughed in his face. “No you can't dude. Don't even try to say you can.” He found it pathetic and it was so funny to him. 

“Shut the fuck up.” Thanos spat back, not sharing the joking tone. But Nam-gyu didn't react negatively to his harsh words, he just laughed a bit more before going quiet.

The voting process occurred once again, and while the margin was closer this time, ultimately a majority decided to play one more game. Your vote hadn’t changed, and neither had Thanos’s. You had been hoping that he only voted to continue the first time because he hadn’t known you were there. You prayed to whatever higher power existed that he would press the X this time around, but he didn’t. You weren’t entirely surprised, but it shook you to the core.

After that though, things seemed to be going well. You were enjoying yourself with your new friends, well as much as you can enjoy your stay in a death game. You had even started to forget that Thanos was even there throughout the course of that afternoon. You enjoyed talking to Dae-ho and the others. You could tell Dae-ho was smitten with you, but you avoided the topic like the plague. You just didn't want to have to explain anything to any of your allies. Both in fear of their perception and also knowing it would upset you more than it needed to. 

That was until Dae-ho came back from the bathrooms. He was much quieter than usual and considerably less chipper. You noticed it almost instantly. “Dae, are you okay?” You asked. 

He met your gaze for a moment before averting his eyes, almost embarrassed. “Yeah, I guess. It's just…” He trailed for a moment. You just seemed confused. “I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I didn't know that you had a boyfriend.”

Your jaw tensed as you took a deep breath. Your blood was boiling in your skin, your insides burning with a fire you hadn't felt before Dae-ho seemed taken aback by your change in demeanor.

“Who told you that?” You asked, though it sounded more like a demand. You knew the answer already, but you wanted to hear it. It was more so he got all of the information before you stormed off. You were going to give Thanos a piece of your mind. Because you hadn’t been uncomfortable at all, and you certainly didn’t have a boyfriend. Not anymore.

He seemed nervous and a bit confused. “Uh, the guy with the purple hair… Thanos, right?” He stuttered. 

You sighed. “Do yourself a favor: never trust a word that asshole says.” You said sharply. Before he could respond, you stood up and stormed in Thanos’s direction. 

Nam-gyu noticed you before Thanos did. “Oh, you’re in for it now.” He teased.

Thanos looked up but didn’t seem phased by your obvious anger. “Hey, babe wha-”

“Thanos. Hallway. Now.” You demanded, not even stopping to look at him. 

Nam-gyu laughed. “Oh shit, dude. You got the rapper name and everything. You’re cooked.” 

You didn’t turn around. You just raised your hand and flipped him off. 

You walked a few paces into the hall before stopping to turn toward where you came from. You tried to calm yourself down a bit, but any progress you had was shattered when Thanos stepped through.

“What the hell is your problem?” You asked him.

Thanos looked confused. “Babe, what are you talking about?” He knew what you were talking about, but he didn’t reference it. Maybe you would think he was unaware of any misdeeds.

You seemed eerily calm on the outside but internally your thoughts were a chaotic tangle of all the anger you had been building up. Everything you bottled up since things in your relationship started going south threatened to explode through the unbothered facade you were desperately clinging to. “Stop calling me that. I’m pretty sure I’ve made myself fucking clear.” You said.

He reached out to put a hand on your shoulder but you jerked back out of his grasp. It was mostly because you didn’t want him to touch you in fear of what he would do, but there was a part of you that feared you would realize how much you had missed his comfort.

“All I said was that you were spoken for. That dude has been all over you.” He said.

You scoffed. “Okay so even if that was what was happening, which it isn’t, I’m not spoken for.”

Thanos rolled his eyes. “Not this shit again,” He said as if you were overreacting. Because a part of him thought you were. He wanted to believe that what you had said that night was just out of anger. Maybe once you calmed down, the two of you could talk it out. Then he thought you just needed some time to think about things. He didn’t want to believe that you gave up on him. Even though you had every right to. If you gave up on him, there wasn’t anyone else he had. 

You took a deep breath. “Do you not remember what happened that night? Were you too high?” You asked. It was a genuine question, but you were also making a jab toward him as well.

“Yes, I do remember, it’s just-”

“Good. I meant what I said. I’m not doing this… doing us anymore. You made your choice.” You said. Your voice was shaking, hardly keeping together under your duress. 

He seemed to be finally processing the severity of your situation. He’d been denying the finality of it all. You were his last form of stability in his life, and he hadn’t wanted to accept that he ruined it in fear he’d fly off the handle. But he’d always been out of control. He always had been. The only time he ever felt any sense of calm or warmth was with you. He didn’t want to do this without you, because he knew he would spiral.

His breathing quickened, almost starting to panic. You noticed the change in his demeanor but you stayed distant. You didn’t want to fall for it if this was all an elaborate manipulation.

“I didn’t know you were…” He started, stuttering slightly. “I thought you were just mad, I didn’t-”

“I was mad. I’m still mad. And I’m going to stay mad until you start realizing the shit you put me through. That you’re still putting me through.” You said. That was the first time you had ever suggested that you had any possibility of forgiving him. Maybe it was naive, but you wanted to be able to forgive him. You loved him and you wanted him in your life, but you owe it to yourself to see that he actually feels remorse and tries to change before you let him back in.

He wrapped his arms around himself, like he was comforting himself. You tried to ignore the ache in your heart at the sight of his distress. He chose his words deliberately. “I know, I’ve been an asshole. Not just that night but for a long time before. I shouldn’t have taken the money, but” 

“It’s not just the money.” You said. Your voice was soft but there was a stern undertone. 

He furrowed his eyebrows. He didn’t get what you meant.

You sighed. You met his gaze, eyes almost unreadable to him. “Take a look at the badge on your chest and think about it, okay?” You said. His eyes widened, but you started walking out of the hall. He stood still for a moment, realizing why his attempts to reconcile with you were going so poorly. He was putting you through more hell for his own gain. He hadn’t changed at all.

You walked back to your group without saying a word. Young-il looked up at you. “I was just asking if I should come check on you two.” He said playfully.

You paused, meeting his eyes for just a moment. Young-il made you nervous. He was too eager for violence in your opinion. “It's fine. Thank you.” You said quietly, not wanting to upset him. You slid down the wall and sat against it, staring ahead silently. Should you even consider giving Thanos another chance? He seemed sincere but you were just scared. Mostly just scared about how much you still loved him. 

You didn't explain what happened in the hallway to any of your allies. The situation was too complicated to convey and you didn't exactly want their advice either. You tried to act like nothing happened, but you were definitely a lot quieter than usual. You picked at your dinner and eventually gave what was left to Jun-hee. You gave some excuse about her eating for two, but you missed Gi-hun's slightly suspicious gaze.

That night you were still having trouble sleeping despite the fact you were infinitely more tired today than the night prior. You could hear Gi-hun and Young-il talking softly. You tried not to listen, but it was hard not to when everything else was silent. You eventually heard Young-il mention he was going to try to get some sleep. He walked off, but it didn't seem that Gi-hun moved.

After a few minutes, you got out of your bed and walked over to where they were. You stood there for a moment, not wanting to scare him but too timid to get his attention.

He eventually realized you were there and jumped slightly. You chuckled while moving to sit next to him. “Payback for last night.” You teased in a hushed whisper. You could hardly see him smile in the dark.

After a moment of silence, you spoke. “Can I talk to you about my…” You trailed for a moment, thinking of a way to phrase it.

“About Thanos?” He finished for you. You nodded. You almost wanted to say no, but you wanted to sleep and you needed to get it off your mind in order to do that.

You sighed. “You were right. There is a good reason I broke up with him.” You said. You didn't want to explain it. At first you thought you were sparing Thanos from the info getting out, but your allies already had a negative opinion of him.

You continued. “He'd been an asshole for a few months beforehand, but I stood my ground and broke up with him two months ago because he stole my savings to buy drugs.” You said softly.

He nodded. “Sounds like a good reason.” He agreed lightheartedly. 

“I still love him. So much. I've missed him every second of every day. But I can't just deal with how he was treating me.” You said. You felt your eyes starting to water a bit. “I want to be with him but I'm just scared.”

He nodded again, staying quiet for a moment trying to gather his thoughts. “Speaking as a bit of a deadbeat myself, it's not a linear process to change your ways. There will be ups and downs.” He said, definitely seeming a bit more vulnerable at that moment. While his vice wasn't substances, his gambling habits ruined his marriage, his relationship with his mother and daughter, and pretty much any friendship he had. You looked over at him, seeing his Adam's apple waver slightly. 

“I can tell you that taking those first few steps knowing you have someone to support you is invaluable. I'm not saying you should let him walk all over you, but you staying with him and supporting him through it will mean more than you will ever know.” He said. 

The tears finally rolled down your face, and you swiped them away quickly. “I just hope that I got through to him. Not even for my sake. I can't let him spiral like that.” You whispered shakily.

“Be open to it until he shows that you didn't reach him. That big of a step can seem impossible at first. Give him time.” He said softly. 

You both sat there in a tranquil silence for a moment. You would have never expected to receive some of the best advice in your life in this situation, but here you were. When he had decided he would rejoin the games, he never thought he would let himself be this vulnerable in this environment. 

“Thank you, Gi-hun.” You said softly. 

He momentarily wrapped an arm around your shoulders, giving your upper arm a comforting squeeze. “Anytime, kid.” He said.

You nodded sincerely with a small smile. You yawned softly, reaching up to cover your mouth with your hand.

“Go get some sleep.” He said, sounding a bit more fatherly than he meant to. 

You didn't draw attention to that. “You too.” You jabbed back. He chuckled softly as you got up and returned to your bunk.

-

The next morning, Thanos hadn't sought you out anytime before the next game. You hadn't entirely expected him to, but you just noticed that you didn't even remember seeing him in the breakfast line.

If you could even call it breakfast. The amount and quality of the meals you received were on a sharp decline. Who the hell would eat a single hard boiled egg for breakfast without a drink to go with it? You didn't even like eggs much, but you forced yourself to eat it knowing you needed nutrients somehow.

The next game was somehow even worse than the first two. It was worse than you could have imagined. It was absolute chaos and pandemonium and it shook you to your core. Mingle was forcing your group to split up and form shaky alliances with people you hardly knew just to make it through a round. Sometimes Gi-hun or Young-il would have to separate from the group to find their own, and you'd sit in the locked room praying that you wouldn't hear either of their numbers in the death toll. 

You were in the room that Young-mi was locked out of, forced to watch Hyun-ju's reaction to her closest friend being murdered ruthlessly. You hardly knew either of them but it tore you up inside. You wished this wouldn't happen again. Especially not with him.

Somehow, after the penultimate round of three players, you returned to the turnstile separated from the rest of your group. You called out to them, trying to look over the crowd to no avail. When the annoying music started blaring and the platform began turning, you quickly felt the rush of panic filling your entire being.

What were you going to do now? You'd be delayed in finding a group with them. Would they try to find you? Or would you be locked out just like Young-mi was? 

When the platform stopped and the number 2 was announced, you froze. As everyone else around you seemed to already have pairs available, you stood there realizing how totally screwed you were. You tried to look for another solo person, but there didn't seem to be any. You were gonna die here, weren't you?

Not if Thanos could help it. He was with Nam-gyu and Min-su, his now trio after leaving Se-mi in the round prior. While the turnstile was moving, he looked around to the people around him. When he saw you alone, his heart dropped.

When the number was announced, Nam-gyu spoke immediately. “Well, bye Min-su.” He said with a smirk, grabbing Thanos's arm. 

Thanos pulled away from his grasp. “No, you go with him.” He said, to Nam-gyu's annoyance. He knew exactly what was going on. He began to notice the changes in his friend and he hated it. He didn’t like you, what you were doing to Thanos. You were a good influence on Su-bong and he hated you for it. Thanos was his ticket out of his small town and pathetic life. And his friend too, but that seemed less important right now.

When you felt a hand on your arm, you instinctively flinched away, turning to see the threat.

But it wasn't a threat. Your eyes met Su-bong's brown ones. They seemed warm for once. He was concerned, yes, but there was a fondness in his eyes that you hadn't seen in a while.

“Hey, me and you, okay?” He asked, but it was more of an order as he grabbed your hand and began going to a door. You followed behind him closely. 

Someone was waiting outside the door you were heading toward, beckoning toward someone who seemed to have tripped. He led you into the room, apologizing loudly as he pulled the door out of the man's grass and slammed it shut. 

The man yelled through the opening in the door, but his voice was muffled by your pulse pounding in your ears. You stared at the wall, slightly unfocused as you tried to process what just happened.

You felt Su-bong grab your shoulders firmly and you jumped slightly at the sudden contact. 

You didn't notice the fear flash across his face as he thought you were going to flee from him. But you didn't, he had just surprised you.

“Hey? You okay?” He asked, clearly nervous.

You didn't hesitate to wrap your arms around him, burying your face into his chest and began to cry. All of the stress overwhelmed you and you couldn't hold back from letting it out, getting some comfort from the man who blamed himself for most of the stress you were under.

He froze for a microsecond, shocked ever so slightly before indulging in the physical comfort he had been deprived of when he felt he needed it most. Not that he blamed you for leaving though. 

He rubbed your back lazily with one hand, the other finding its way into your hair. He shushed you softly. “Hey, it's okay. We're okay here. The door's locked, we got through it, okay?” He murmured.

You didn't respond verbally, just cried harder into his chest.

He said sweet nothings to you, hoping something would be able to give you the peace you so desperately deserved. “I love you so much, you know? I never stopped. I know I didn't act like it sometimes but you were truly the reason my world kept spinning. If you want me gone after this, that's fine, but I promise you that unless you tell me otherwise, I'm not going anywhere.

“And I know coming from me that promises might do jack shit, but I want to be better. I have to. I-I haven't even taken a pill since Red Light Green Light. When I saw you after voting, I couldn't do it anymore. I gave the necklace to Nam-gyu, I don't even have it. And I don't want it back. I just want you back.” He rambled. You seemed to find solace in his embrace, however fleeting it was. You nodded slightly, not looking up.

When the automatic doors buzzed and unlocked the doors, you flinched. You hadn't even noticed they started announcing the eliminations yet. Between your cries, your heart beating out of your chest, and Thanos's words echoing in your head, you completely missed it. You pulled away, stepping out of the room with some sense of urgency. You wanted to make sure your friends were okay.

They had finally spotted you as they had regrouped rather quickly. And seeing you storming out of a room, tears streaming down your face, and your ex-boyfriend in the room you just left, it didn't take Gi-hun to inaccurately put some of the pieces together. 

“What the hell is your problem, man?” The older man snapped. He walked past you, giving you a gentle push toward the rest of your allies before moving toward Thanos. 

To your credit, you tried to stop Gi-hun. “No, that's not-”

He ignored you, assuming that was an attempt to defend him on your part. “Do the right thing for once and stay the fuck away from them.” He asserted loudly. You covered your ears, all of the chaos around you was too much. You were fighting off a panic attack and Su-bong could tell.

His heart wrenched in his chest. He wanted nothing more than to comfort you. He tried not to feel hurt that you weren't standing up for him, because he knew that this wasn't your fault at all. Instead of losing his temper and spouting the obscenities that came to mind, he just turned and walked off. Gi-hun was surprised that he backed down so quickly. 

Jun-hee was asking you how you were, trying to check in on you, but you didn't respond. Your gaze was far away. Your friends looked at each other nervously but started to follow the others out of the game hall. 

Thanos returned to the game hall as quickly as he could. He didn’t want any of your friends to get the wrong idea. You both could figure this out when you get your wits about you. He returned to Nam-gyu and Min-su, and the silence between the trio was deafening. Nam-gyu was obviously pissed beyond belief, and that made Min-su silent to avoid his wrath. 

Thanos noticed the cross necklace thrown aside by the wall. The lid was off and it was clearly empty. Nam-gyu must have thrown it in frustration upon realizing it. 

You didn't say a word about what happened in the room. Part of you knew Gi-hun would assume you were in shock or that Thanos had threatened you into lying. You knew you couldn't convince him otherwise.

Young-il apologized for letting you get separated, saying he thought it was his fault somehow. You didn't know how he came to that assumption, but you just shrugged. 

Your team talked about what they thought would happen next. Gi-hun was hinting that he thought shit was about to hit the fan and that he was considering trying to usurp the power of the games. Dae-ho began counting up the number of votes each side had using the patches on their jackets. From his best guess, they only needed three people to switch to an X to get the majority to leave. 

You just sat there. Your head was still spinning. Everything seemed so loud. You hadn’t realized you had instinctively covered your ears until you noticed Gi-hun holding a finger to his lips. He didn’t have the chance to ask you anything before the announcer’s voice rang out. It was time to vote. There was no chance to try to talk to others or even recover at all. 

Gi-hun voted first this time around. You had no doubts what he would choose. He confidently walked up to the buttons, slamming his hand on the red X before turning without a word.

After so many players had been eliminated, your number was next in the sequence. You didn’t realize until Jun-hee nudged your arm gently. You didn’t say anything, just walked up to the podium. With a shaky hand, you pressed the red X, joining Gi-hun on the side of the room. 

You were hardly paying attention to the numbers being called or the votes being cast. You were listening for one number in particular. The one vote that meant more to you than your own.

“Player 230.”

You watched Su-bong walk up to the buttons. You wanted to be nervous, but you had faith. You believed in him. 

Without hesitation, he pressed the red X. 

A smile creeped onto your face as the crowd reacted. Most of the Xs were shocked and the Os were in disbelief. You looked up at him, tears welling in your eyes. Happy tears this time.

He stood next to you, but he didn’t make any attempt to make contact with you. He didn’t want to overstep.

Your hand brushed against his, and he felt his heart begin to race in his chest. You intertwined your fingers, and it felt like his heart stopped. He was almost in shock, not believing this was really happening. He’d wanted nothing more to be in your good graces again, to be loved by you again. This felt like a dream to him.

Neither of you said anything. You just basked in the love you shared in the moment. 

When the number of people left to vote was dwindling, you started to pay more attention. You looked back to the people who were left. You noticed that a good few of them were Os. That made you nervous, but what caught your attention more was Young-il. 

He seemed… off. Like he was plotting something. You felt like you could see deceit in the back of his mind. Was he switching his vote? You didn’t think he would have had a reason to switch back after having switched before, but you knew people could be tempted. Even Jung-bae was swayed to vote O at one point. 

But you would ever see if the man truly was planning anything. It didn’t even matter if he was. The next two players, both Os, voted X. Their greed was sated. As Young-il was called to vote, the tallies sat at 51 for X and 48 for O. Half the room cried out in relief, the other in disappointment. It was already decided. You were going home. You could see shock and almost disappointment etched in Player 001’s face as he seemingly reluctantly pressed the red button. 

You turned and hugged Thanos. He was surprised at first, but he wrapped his arms around you and held you tight, like he feared you would fade away.

You both made it through hell. If you could do that, you had complete faith that you could make this work between you. It wouldn’t be easy; you both knew that. But if you could survive this, reconciling your relationship would be a walk in the park. You were both determined to see this matter resolved, to never spend a second apart again.