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sehodreams · 4 months

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cherry blossom scars

TW and tags: tattoo artist!Wonbin x insecure!reader, surgery scar, pierced nipples, nipple play, mutual masturbation, tons of overthinking and word vomiting, corny as hell, fluff, kind of dom reader but not much.

WC: 9.3k

Comment: hi guys, I made brief descriptions of the scar, to be honest, I don’t have one or ever had surgery, so I’m not exactly sure how one would look, I just saw a couple of pictures on the internet and wanted to write something about it, hope it’s okay. I didn’t sleep at all to finish it because I knew I’d leave it in a draft if I didn’t write it in one go. Probably has mistakes and inconsistencies. I don’t know anything about piercings, tattoos, or early education.

While growing up, as weird as it sounds, summer was your favourite season. You remember a lot of things about it, how your parents would drive to the coast to spend the day at the beach, playing in the water with the friend your parents had agreed to take with you, and eating the most boring sandwich your mother could make in a busy morning that felt like a feast in your mouth after swimming for hours.

It was all good, until you started to grow up. Your parents had no time to take you anymore, your friends had better things to do, and you had entered the phase of your life in which you hated the idea of wearing a swimsuit if you weren’t perfect.

Perfection is, as you thought after a particular summer, simply not you.

Perhaps your mother hadn’t said it with bad intentions, she was your mother after all, and you were sure she loved you, but that little phrase had impregnated your head like the gum on your head one of the boys in class thought it looked good smeared on your hair.

‘’I don’t think you should wear this blouse doll’’ she said, showing you her selection instead.

‘’Why? I like it, and it’s too hot to wear normal shirts’’ you replied, feeling your arms sweat just with the simple action of changing into the clothes you were wearing.

‘’It’s just… the scar is showing’’ she said, pointing at the line that went from the start of your shoulder to the middle of your chest.

It was a long line, thick, slightly red and purple, noticeable from the way it would get deeper into your smooth skin, surrounded with thin little lines that looked like roots expanding to grow. You were just fourteen, not thinking much of it; actually, not even thinking about it until she talked about it.

You spent the summer with short-sleeved shirts, leaving all the dresses with thin straps and anything that showed your cleavage behind. You could, never again, wear anything that did.

It didn’t matter how many creams your mother bought, or how many treatments in clinics you received, it stayed there with you, like a mark of how fragile your body was, and how easily you could break with a simple fall.

You had gotten hurt after biking with your friends and making a wrong turn. You fell with a strong thud, and you don’t remember much about what happened that day anymore, because when you were conscious again, you already had the scar there. Less to say your parents banned you from riding a bicycle ever again.

So, it’s not difficult to guess why you hate summer now. You can’t wear the clothes you want, you’re a broke college student living alone with no AC, and you have to walk everywhere with the fear of getting a heatstroke.

To your luck, or disgrace, today you run out of clean t-shirts acceptable for the weather, and you simply refuse to wear a long-sleeved one, resolving to grab one of the thin straps that you usually wear when you’re alone in your room.

You don’t think much about it. You’re going to your friend’s place, and she should have a shirt to lend you around there. Still, not even the thought makes the journey bearable.

You’re anxious in your seat, listening to some podcast you had found about old music (you don’t know if to call it old since it’s the 90s, but your friends didn’t even watch programs that weren’t from your century, so to avoid all explanation you simply say you like old music), when you feel weirdly observed.

Looking in front of you, a mother is carrying his child in her arms, who is looking intensely at you. You smile because the kid is cute. He has big eyes, almost black, and chubby cheeks. He must be at least four years old, and when you wave your hand to say hi, he points at your chest. You know what he’s pointing, and you nod as if you explained everything with that move.

When the mother turns at you, directing her eyes at what her son is watching, and sees you, she smiles and then her face falls, almost as abruptly as you did that day from your bicycle, and she apologizes for her son.

‘’He didn’t do anything’’ you say, and she denies it.

‘’He shouldn’t be looking at you like that’’ she answers.

‘’Why?’’ you ask.

‘’Because…’’ she can’t finish her sentence. You kind of know what she refers to. Because you’re hurt, and we can all see it. You almost want to correct the words she didn’t say because the kid doesn’t look at you as if you were a monster, he’s just curious, while she is the one doing it.

‘’He’s cute’’ you say instead.

‘’Thank you’’ she answers.

‘’Be careful when he grows up’’ you say. ‘’Because…’’

Because he could look like me it’s implied, and the mother looks at you horrified, as if you had just cursed his son. She quickly gets up and presses the button to get off the bus with such desperation you feel bad for having talked more than necessary.

When you go back to your own thing, you notice something weird again. You lift your eyes, finding the seat in front of you, in which the mother had been sitting just seconds before, empty, and a man beside you. When you meet his eyes he smiles at you, a big grin with no teeth, he’s obviously older than you, with lines of age on his face, normal looking, almost kind, and then, in front of your face, he moves his eyes down to your chest.

Great, now you didn’t have to deal with people staring at your scar, now you had to deal with old men staring at your tits too.

You feel so creeped out by it that you get up and press the button for the next stop. It’s not your stop, but now you can understand why the mother was so desperate to get off. A creep, as normal as they look, it’s still a creep.

Walking the streets at a fast pace, you try to arrive at your friend’s place as soon as possible. You feel even more observed, perhaps it’s because you’re almost running at 36oC and you’re sweating your ass off, but you think it’s because of your uncovered cleavage.

The minute you arrive you start telling your friend everything, from the cute kid to the disgusting man, and she tells you that people usually act dumb, doesn’t matter how you look, people are just people.

‘’It’s their nature, they’re programmed to act like fools, especially men’’ your friend says.

‘’Well, they’re fucking disgusting’’ you answer, grabbing one of her t-shirts and sliding into it to cover yourself like you usually do.

‘’Boys will be boys’’ she finishes, and then she rushes you to finally leave.

You have to go to a pool party (a private party he has clarified), and you honestly would’ve refused on any other occasion, but Sungchan, the owner of the house and your friend’s boyfriend, was cool enough to not force you to go in when you said you weren’t fond of swimming, nodding in understanding as if you had told him the entire story tale of your life, which was kind of comforting.

Also, since he lives with his parents, he has AC.

At the party, a couple of hours later, when almost everyone is outside enjoying the water, you’re left alone in charge of the snacks and drinks, mixing shit as if you knew what you were doing.

‘’Could I have some of that?’’ one of Sungchan’s friends asks, pointing at the jug you’re holding. You nod, you have no reason to say no, and when he takes a sip of it his eyebrow frowns for a second before he smiles. ‘’Wow, that’s… good.’’

You know it’s not, it’s just rum coke with too much rum and almost no limes, to which you decide to add a bit of sprite to see if it does the gig. It doesn’t, but it could punch anyone into not asking for more and you nod content at the result.

‘’Thanks, I should probably make a career of it’’ you answer.

He flashes you a smile before he grabs a can of Coke to sip it. ‘’Sure, if your goal is to hook more people into going to A.A meetings’’ he says while opening a bag of salt and vinegar chips. ‘’I’m Wonbin’’ he smiles.

You tell him your name and serve yourself a cup too. You try to secretly add more ice to your drink, and he laughs louder when he catches you feigning you were getting ice for the whole jug.

‘’I’ll be honest, I feel like I’ve seen you before’’ he says then.

‘’Well, we’re kind of connected through the couple there, perhaps we crossed each other’’ your finger directs at your friend over Sungchan’s shoulders, laughing and screaming something you can’t understand with the music on out there.

‘’True, but not only that… weren’t you last week at the tattoo shop right next to the bookstore that sells old books no one reads?’’ he takes a sip of the drink with more ice, and he denies, adding the rest of the can of coke he had opened.

‘’Do you mean the Rip Tree? I mean, it’s not Barnes and Noble, but it does the job. I got a nice copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray for four dollars there, and they gave me a bunch of bookmarks for free. Of course, they had the publicity of a nursing home in the back, but I’m sure it’s a completely respectable place to read books at’’ you answer immediately, adding rum to the jug when he laughs so hard his head falls back and his eyes close.

When he leans more to the front and you see his arms flexing, you can’t help but suddenly feel conscious of how much you’re talking to a boy you have just met so freely. Maybe you’ve had too many trial drinks while you were mixing and it had started to get in your head without noticing, it wouldn’t be the first time, and sure wouldn’t be the last time.

He smiles at you with a closed mouth, just like the man you had met on the bus many hours before, but you like this smile. Wonbin, unlike the older man, looks at your face without trailing down.

‘’Well, were you?’’ he asks.

‘’Where?’’ you ask too, because half of the conversation you were having just disappeared from your head when you saw his necklace, almost as pretty as him, glint.

‘’The Ink, the tattoo shop’’ he repeats.

‘’Oh, well yeah, but I just went in because I was curious.’’

You’re lying. You hate lying, but again, you didn’t feel like telling someone you just met your whole life.

You had seen on the internet how some people covered their scars with tattoos, which honestly, seemed like a great solution to your esthetic situation. However, when you crossed the door all your bravery went to hell, especially when the gorgeous admin asked you to see it and then the next time told you that a skin-colour tattoo wouldn’t be possible in your case since the scar was too dark, and that a much better option would be to get one with colours. Obviously, she didn’t know your parents or your career, because who the hell will want to hire a preschool teacher with a colored tattoo? You could already hear the comments, you being so silly to try to cover a scar with a new one, and how improper was for a lady, a teacher, to have one.

He nods at your answer. ‘’Well, was it worth it?’’ he asks.

‘’What? Going in? I guess so, it’s a nice place, a bunch of colours and great walls, they have some interesting draws too’’ you say, also leaning and grabbing a few chips to eat while talking.

Your hand almost meets his when you reach the bag again, and you look at each other’s eyes. He smiles again and you get shy at being that close to him again, pushing your hand into the bag to pretend you didn’t feel your stomach flutter with that silly interaction. He lets you put your hand in first, and then he grabs a couple more, eating them slowly, looking as if he was thinking about something else.

Michael Jackson starts to sound in the background, and you bob your head as instinct to the rhythm.

‘’Didn’t take you for a Thriller girl’’ he says, tilting his head and grinning.

‘’Because I’m not, I’m a Rock with You girl, sometimes a Dirty Diana one too’’ you answer, happy to talk a bit about music you like. Your friends don’t like him that much, but they let you sneak a few songs into the shared playlist, and that’s enough for you.

However, you didn’t choose Thriller for this playlist.

‘’I guess you’re the Thriller guy then’’ you say.

‘’Yeah, I’m a failure’’ he stands, grabbing his cup and sipping before he continues. ‘’But I’d like to hear you teaching me something about him, so I stop being one.’’

Smooth Criminal, you think, letting him guide you to the couch.

While talking, you don’t even realize how much time has passed until you hear the laughs fall and some of Sungchan guests start leaving. The day is well behind, an orange sky out there at 6 pm, and you don’t want to go home.

Your friend had come with Sungchan to say goodbye to some people, and when she asks you if you’re tired, you say that you’re okay, just a little hungry. She nods and orders a couple of pizzas with Sungchan’s phone since hers is connected to the speakers outside.

There are only like 7 people left, including you and Wonbin, who decide to stay on the couch with you when another boy, Sohee, tells him that going to the jacuzzi to submerge his feet should be fine.

You don’t think much about what Sohee says, but you’re too cosy with Wonbin to even think at all.

‘’Won’t you ask why he said that?’’ Wonbin says when you’re alone again.

‘’None of my business’’ you say.

‘’I’m a bit curious though, if you don’t mind me asking why you would prefer to stay here in charge of the bar, because as much as I like your drinks, I don’t think you’re used to staying still in charge of things like this at parties.’’

‘’Well, you’re wrong about that, I enjoy being in charge a lot, and I can do it for many hours’’ you say, not noticing how odd it sounds. He looks a bit shocked at first, and then laughs hard. You can’t go back in time to correct yourself, so you laugh with him.

You start to think that maybe you can tell him, it’s not the end of the world, but you can’t even think about revealing something that deep to him. Well, it’s not that deep, you showed it to your friend literally the day you met her. You were in the cafeteria when you spilt your milkshake over your sweater, so you had no option but to change, and you somehow knew she would be your friend when she laughed and told you to grab her sweater if you were that cold, so you showed it to her.

Still, Wonbin is so pretty, even his teeth when he laughed were pretty, and you couldn’t imagine what he would think if he knew.

You don’t imagine a whole relationship with him to think about his opinion too highly, but there is interest, and you want to keep it there as long as you can.

Being your age and haven’t fucked a boyfriend under the light, you simply couldn’t feel comfortable enough to show it to a boy you barely knew and kind of liked.

‘’Just because’’ you say.

‘’I see’’ he says, knowing there’s something you don’t want to tell him. ‘’Well, a win for me anyways, I’ve learned a lot in just an afternoon’’ he says, making you sigh, glad he changes the subject.

‘’I’m glad I was able to tell you everything Wikipedia has about the most known person in the world’’ you haven’t even stayed on the topic for too long for him to learn something, you just said what songs you liked, then showed him some playlists and laughed when you had songs in common, mentioning little moments you remember while listening to them, like not being able to remember your lines in a school play when they suddenly put Beat It as background music, or playing The Way You Make Me Feel in the speaker when one of your friends wanted to confess to a girl (she rejected them so it’s banned from every shared playlist). You shake your head with a smile, not looking at him when one of his hands gets closer to you, resting behind you on the couch.

Oh, you say in your head. You don’t know how close you’ll let him get, but it feels so right.

You haven’t talked (kind of flirted, but you don’t want to get ahead of yourself) with a boy that long in years. You kind of remember Anton from your Art, Music & Movement course with whom you went on a couple (unofficial) dates until he took an exchange program and had to leave for a whole year. Then you remember talking to Seunghan, a guy who gave you his spot in the queue for the bathroom at a concert and with whom you exchanged numbers after he bought you a really overpriced burrito, but he lived two hours away, and you had no energy or time to really be something. And then, then you got no one else.

The room is quiet, you notice. He’s not talking, and neither are you, so you fall into a comfortable silence. You hope he’s not tired yet, you’re not, but maybe your social battery has just died, so you lean into his side a bit more, letting your body relax and your head touches his arm behind you.

He looks at you with a small smile, and you start to inspect his face like you feel he’s doing with yours. He has dark eyelashes, thin, but they’re enough to mark his eyes, and they go well with his black hair. You also notice that his hair is shorter on the back and longer on the front, letting some locks fall around, creating little shadows over his face and covering the end of his eyes. He looks really good with the haircut, but you’ve seen him in pictures with Sungchan before, and he honestly always looks good.

Your eyes fall to his chest because you don’t want to make the moment awkward.

What he’s wearing is simple, a black shirt without sleeves that shows his well-toned arms, skin smooth, almost too perfect, and you can’t help but remind yourself how you’re not as perfect as him.

You doubt he has any flaw like yours, and you don’t mean a weird-looking mole or a scar that anyone could have from childhood, yours is different, too noticeable, impossible to ignore. His whole body was an uninterrupted harmony you couldn’t relate to.

Wait, you stop yourself from thinking too far away. What’s that?

You notice that there, in his chest, under the fabric of his tank top, there’s a bulge you haven’t noticed before, and it’s not his nipples, you’re completely sure of that.

Boys will be boys, and the words of your friend start to echo in your head.

You always hated that phrase. How could they all be so brute and inconsiderate of everyone else that weren’t themselves? The lack of respect to stare at your chest without a care of you disgusted you just hours ago.

And now, you start to ponder if, perhaps, in the end, you’re as brute as the man you met on the bus.

Poor Wonbin is finally filing the silence with something about how he had found a new band not long ago, giving you the exact same charming smile he’s had the whole afternoon, flirty but respectful, making you feel almost guilty from not being able to concentrate on the conversation, too busy trying to not stare at his chest.

You blink twice, trying to look at his eyes again.

It doesn’t work. You can’t ignore it.

It was impossible. They were there, standing under his shirt, calling for you to look at them.

Coughing, you move from the touch of his hand behind you, almost as if it burned you, and drink the almost pure water from the ice that melted in your cup.

You scold yourself. I’m not better than a man, you say in your mind before finishing the opaque result of water, rum and coke in your hand in one go, and then, not having anything else to distract yourself with, you bite the inside of your cheek to distract yourself with the pain.

‘’Sorry, am I boring you?’’ he says not much later, feeling the change in your behaviour.

‘’Eh?’’ you say, turning your body in his direction again.

You notice that his cheeks have a pretty reddish flush, and he stays still, letting you stare, waiting for you to talk. Without a doubt, he was one of the prettiest boys you’ve ever met, and in that moment, you were too dazed into him and his stupid pierced nipples to talk to him as easily as you’d been doing when you didn’t know about their existence.

‘’No’’ you finally say. ‘’I’m sorry, that was rude of me, I had other things on my mind.’’

‘’Like what?’’

You don’t expect him to lean even more into your space and show more interest in what you’ve been thinking about, making you more nervous for not being able to concentrate on another thing that wasn’t him and his pierced nipples so close.

It’s stupid, you can’t help but think. You’re treating him differently. You’ve changed after finding out he has pierced nipples, and it’s exactly what you don’t want to happen to you when people find out about your scar.

‘’Your cheek’’ his hand moves to your face, startling you since he hadn’t touched you that directly the whole night, and with his thumb he caressed the cheek you were obviously biting from the inside. ‘’Doesn’t it hurt?’’ he asks.

You gulp. ‘’Not really.’’

He hums, smiling even more when you move your eyes from his face to his chest, and then, after awkwardly blinking a couple times, looking down to your lap.

A strand of your hair falls out of the lame excuse of a hairstyle you tried to do (not daring to use a ponytail to a party and loose hair with the hot weather) over your face when you look down, and his hand moves on its own to accommodate it behind your ear, the pad of his finger slowly brushing a spot you didn’t know you like, making you melt with his touch like a popsicle in the street at 2PM.

‘’It doesn’t hurt either’’ he says. ‘’If you were curious.’’

Not understanding what he’s referring to, you give him a confused look.

‘’What doesn’t hurt?’’ you ask him.

‘’The piercings’’ he answers, laughing when your cheeks get red, and you shake your head to say no.

‘’I-‘’ I wasn’t looking at them, you want to say. It was just untrue, and denying something you’ve clearly been doing since you noticed them would make you look even more pathetic. So, deciding to be different from the shameless man who never apologized to you, you prefer to be honest. ‘’I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have looked at them like that’’.

‘’Why?’’ he asks, and you feel a sense of deja vu.

‘’It’s rude, to stare at your chest’’ you clarify. ’’At least, uninvited.’’

He looks as if he’s enjoying seeing you that embarrassed, almost as pleased as when you bravely talked to him at the bar, when you remember applauding your mind for creating fresh answers. At that moment, your brain seems to have suffered from all the rum you’ve had since you arrived, so it can’t change the subject or give you a quick joke to make the moment less humiliating.

‘’It’s okay, I don’t mind’’ he denies with a breathy laugh, hand moving down from near your face to your arm, sliding until he finds yours, interlocking fingers when he does. ‘’I invite you to do it, then.’’

‘’What?’’ your eyes become bigger and everything around you, mute.

You see his mouth moving and saying something like, I can show them to you, if you want, before he, not waiting for an answer, makes you stand with him. You can’t see what he says after that when he looks back to the crystal door separating you two from the others outside, and then without doubt he makes you follow him.

It wasn’t his place, yet he moved with enough confidence as if it was, dragging you by the hand to the second floor, a place you had never seen even with your constant visits to the place of your friend’s boyfriend. You always stuck to the first floor, not wanting to cross any boundaries with Sungchan, so you feel as if you’re seeing something you shouldn’t when on the second floor, after walking upstairs, you’re received with tons of family portraits showing you his childhood.

You don’t say anything, you let him move you until you both enter a bathroom you’ve never been to. Closing the door, suddenly you can hear again when you recognize the faint sound of music coming from downstairs and some people laughing.

‘’We have to be quick’’ you hear him say after he presses the secure of the door.

The bathroom is smaller than the one on the first floor, almost tiny. There’s only a sink and a WC besides, with a towel hanger under the light and a mirror over the sink. You can hear the vents working when he turns on the light, but you’re too distracted with his whole body trapping you between him and the sink, not giving you opportunity to put any space between you two, to care.

When he shows you a cheeky grin after you lean more into the sink to put a centimetre more between you, nervous of being there with him, close, and obviously about to do something you’re not used to do with people you’ve just met, you don’t care anymore.

His lips are pink and glowing after he licks them, and he’s too pretty for you to say no.

He moves your left hand to his covered chest, and you have to contain the surprised whimper your throat almost lets out when you feel the little thing that has caught your interest since you recognized it.

One of your hands is gripping the marble of the sink with force to maintain you sane, and it works, until he sighs when you flick it.

His face still has that cheekiness that you had understood, from your time talking, characterized him, but it was now mixed with desire, leaving behind the whole courtesy, making him look even better in front of your eyes.

You become needier, if he looks that good with just a flick, you can’t imagine how would he look if you two did more.

‘’Take it off’’ you urge him, not caring that the tone of your voice makes it seem almost an order.

The hand previously glued to the cold surface moves to the border of his shirt, feeling like a punch the warmness of his skin, pushing it up so he does what you asked faster.

‘’Shit’’ he grins, lifting his arms and allowing you to take it off for him. ‘’What happened to the timid girl from before?’’

‘’I’m not usually like this, I swear’’ you say. You want to tell him that no one had made you that eager before, even less with just a look, but again, you had never met anyone, especially a man, with pierced nipples, so he should understand your curiosity when you admire his naked chest and lick your lips before you look at his eyes again.

Growing up as a woman, you have seen firsthand how a good pair of tits could make the smartest and most respectful man a complete asshole. Even the most respectful men that you had gladly called your friends, have been caught by your always wary eyes looking at other women’s chests.

You don’t wear cleavage, so it doesn’t happen to you that much, but just that day a man did it on the bus, like a primitive caveman, a beast, and it’s so embarrassing that you’re acting like one of them in that moment.

Surely, Darwin would be especially disappointed with your regression as a human, but, in your favour, everyone becomes monkeys with the quantity of alcohol you’ve had that afternoon. Also, the weather has a lot to do too, because if it wasn’t that hot, Wonbin wouldn’t have been wearing a tank top, therefore, he wouldn’t have left his ample chest on your eyesight, and that has nothing to do with you. It was all climate change, so perhaps even Darwin would’ve forgiven you for wanting to lick some man’s nipples.

The rum in your system makes your mind babble nonsense and you have to shut your mind for a second. But you want to lick them so bad. You never thought you could fall that low, but there you are, in a bathroom only used to shit at, trying to not moan just from the sight of those pink nipples with little silver beams pointing at you.

‘’I believe you’’ he sighs with a smile, moving further to the wall behind him so you could see his chest better.

You can’t believe your eyes.

You can see the metallic object break through the pink flesh, two tiny spheres on each end of it to not let it move from its place, and you can officially say you have never seen anything that hot in your life.

Hypnotized by the way the object sparkles with the warm light above you two, you timidly move your index fingers to flick them again, making him breathe through his nose and bite his lip to contain himself.

‘’Do they feel good?’’ your curiosity, instead of getting satiated, is growing, and you have tons of questions appearing in your mind.

‘’Per se… sometimes, when I get conscious of them’’ he admits. ‘’But I usually have to touch them if I want to feel something’’.

You flick them again, to then grip them with your index and middle finger and, slightly, almost with fear, twirl them. ‘’Is this okay?’’ you ask, gulping the saliva accumulating in your mouth.

‘’Yeah, that feels good’’ he assures you, both of his hands going to your hips to maintain you in place while his head falls to the wall behind, and he closes his eyes.

You keep doing the same motion, loving the sighs that he leaves out and how a frown of pleasure starts to install on his face. At some point, his own chest is moving with how hard his breath has become, doing the work for you of tugging them while you hold them still.

His eyes are closed and his tongue salutes you when he wets his lips, pressing his hips against you. His boner is appearing there, pressing the mount of your abdomen, but you’re so concentrated on the image in front of you that you can’t care less about him using you to stimulate that area every time his hips push softly into you.

He looks so good like that. You can’t stop yourself from asking when, after twirling them harder, a particular moan leaves his mouth, making you wet. You’re not being touched at all apart from his hands marking your hips with his strength, but your sex was clenching with the pleasure you were giving him, as if those touches were gifted to you too.

‘’Can-Can I lick them?’’ you ask nervously.

‘’Fuck, don’t do that to me’’ his eyelids flutter and you stop all your movements, afraid you’re asking for too much. Shit, perhaps even he thinks I’m crazy, you tell yourself.

‘’Can’t I?’’ you ask, sad of him denying your question, or at least, what you understood as a denial.

‘’Don’t fucking stop’’ he says, one leg going between your thighs and bending it to touch you more. ‘’Do whatever you want honey, I know you’ll do it with care’’.

You don’t need anymore, and moving down your face to his chest, you look up at him with deer eyes, afraid of him stopping you again.

He nods at you, giving you the certainty you want to start doing it.

You’ve never licked another person’s nipples before, so you were unsure of exactly what to do, and remembering what your couple of partners have done before to make you feel good, you press the tip of your tongue over one of them, damping the pink tip and tasting the combination of the flavour of his skin and the metallic object.

Your pussy feels even better with the sensation of it in your mouth, stealing a moan from you.

‘’Shit, you like them that much?’’ he asked, obtaining a nod from you as a response. God, what would your friend say if she found you in that position? You feel sick for a second, but you quickly ignore that thought with the shake of his laugh inside his chest making you look at him instead.

‘’They’re really pretty’’ you say between laps, maintaining eye contact.

‘’Not as pretty as you baby’’, he praises you back.

You moan again with his words, and your eyebrows frown when you feel his knee pressing your cunt, feeling yourself dripping inside your shorts.

‘’You’re doing good baby, keep going’’ he smiles, making you happy with the idea of doing a good job for him.

It’s all so weird. The last thing you expected that day was Wonbin to have pierced nipples, even less, that you would be licking them in a bathroom. However, there you are, moaning while humping his knee and playing with one of the piercings while your mouth continues tasting the other.

Wonbin tastes and smells so good, you’re getting dizzy, as if his whole body was made from the sugar you needed to get completely drunk.

It’s all a bunch of frantic moves, you’re humping his leg while his hands push to the sink behind you, biting his lips hard at the sensation of your mouth drinking his chest.

‘’Fuck- that’s so good’’ his voice sounds in pain, and you bite the little mound in your mouth as you do with your cheek, controlling yourself to not hurt him, to what he shudders before his mouth falls open and a choked sound escapes his swollen lips. ‘’That’s enough, stop’’ he pushes you away, gaining a whine from you because you don’t want to stop, you want to continue, to see his gorgeous face break apart.

‘’Why?’’ you complain. His knee digs into you harder, and you move your hips more to the front as a response. He’s trying to control his breath, and you like how he’s looking at you, as if he was as bad for you as you are for him.

‘’I was about to cum’’ he reveals, and you can’t believe he just told you that, because the idea sounds so good you clench around nothing.

‘’Please, please’’ you beg.

Just minutes before you thought you were crazy for wanting to lick his nipples, but now you realize that you’re insane for wanting to see him cum like that. For needing to see it. You’re sure his cock is fucking pretty as well, and you want to see it spurring with cum so bad you don’t even ask before your hand starts to pull his belt open. He lets you, going to the hem of your shirt, and there’s when your whole euphoric state stops, and panic arises.

‘’No, wait, stop’’ you push his hand away and he lets you go immediately.

‘’What’s wrong? I thought-‘’ he doesn’t finish the sentence, clarity coming back to him too. ‘’Did I read things wrong?’’

He didn’t read anything wrong. You wanted to get even more intimate, but you’re scared. The light is on, and you can see him, which means, he can see you too.

‘’No, it’s just…’’ how could you say, please don’t get scared, or disgusted, I have a huge mark that goes from my shoulder to my chest that will never leave me alone, without sounding odd. You don’t think he’s ever heard or seen anything about surgery scars, from what you can see, he’s perfect in more ways than you can even explain. He’s handsome, yes, but his pierced nipples had added a touch of surprise to him, making him insufferably hot. He wouldn’t understand.

‘’What?’’ he asks, shaking you out of your mind vomiting sentences that make your insides stir with anxiety.

The moment is already awkward, the emotion and lust overpowered by your discomfort.

‘’I shouldn’t’’ you say, your words not making any sense since you can’t force yourself to tell him.

‘’You don’t want to continue?’’ he asks confused. ‘’I mean, you can change your mind, but I don’t get it, did I do something wrong?’’

‘’No, of course not’’ you say. ‘’It’s not you, it’s me.’’

Perfect, now you sound as if you were breaking up with him.

You can’t find the correct words. You’re sure what you’re feeling is perfectible understandable with how your parents had taught you that you shouldn’t just show it around, making you ashamed of it until you reached your vast age. But, you were a grown-up now, and you were about to be a teacher, how could you let your life be controlled by something you couldn’t change, even more, by something as banal as your physique.

You would be in charge of so many little lives in just a couple years, and you would never want one of them to feel ashamed of who they are solely because of their bodies.

You know what your mother did that day was wrong, but you know even more that you should start to change how you feel about it.

Also, you’ve talked the whole night, and if you were about to (probably) fuck him, you should at least make sure he wasn’t an asshole that found you disgusting by a mark.

Looking at him with pleading eyes, he stays silent, letting you take as much time as you need. You grab the hem of your shirt, and you want to sprint out as soon as your head starts playing the exact words you’ve heard every time you’ve gone shopping and tried on something that showed your skin. You shouldn’t.

To be fair, you correct that same voice, you’ve done a lot of things you shouldn’t, like entering a tattoo shop when your whole family and career were conservative as hell, or accepting a burrito from a complete stranger in the middle of the night in a concert, and you’re still alive.

His shoulders become smaller, and one of his hands goes to his shoulder, covering himself while his biceps show more.

‘’If it’s the piercings, I assure you I don’t have one down there, I’m not that brave’’ he laughs.

‘’What?’’ now you’re even more confused.

‘’Well, I know many don’t like them, I thought you did, but I could be wrong’’ he blinks like you do when you’re nervous, and you have to shake your head before you talk again.

‘’Wonbin, I was moaning while licking them just a second ago, I think that’s enough proof of how much I do like them’’ you say suddenly surprised with the way the confident guy you’ve been talking to the whole party has changed to a shy version of himself. You can’t seem to let him feel the problem is him, so you take all the courage you have, pull up your shirt and toss it to the floor, just like Wonbin did.

You’re wearing the top of a swimsuit, because even if you weren’t going to swim, you didn’t want to stay out of the theme. The thin straps don’t hide anything from you, and you leave the insecurity of your life on full display.

He looks at you and blinks.

‘’So, you want to continue?’’ he asks.

You blink, not believing that he’s not making any question about it. Your first boyfriend asked you desperately what had happened to you, expecting a sad story with tears, and you didn’t feel like receiving that pity look again, so you never fucked him, or anyone, in daylight ever again.

You also broke up with him after fucking two times.

‘’I mean, I want to, but don’t you have any question?’’ you ask unconvinced. Was he ignoring the elephant in the room or were you to pretentious to think everything was about your mark and everyone would focus on it your whole life?

‘’About what?’’

You start to feel stupid (which was probably right).

‘’Is my scar… okay to you?’’ you ask then.

‘’Why would it not be? I’ve seen it before’’ he says.

You lift your hand to stop him. You have to stop everything from moving forward in that exact same second.

‘’What do you mean you’ve seen it before?’’ you can’t believe it. You’ve hidden it so well some of your friends have never seen it in years of friendship. You’ve hidden it so well that you have family that has never heard of your fall when you were a dumb child who obliged their parents to take off the training wheels before they learned how to fully drive a bicycle.

‘’I’m a tattoo artist at The Ink. The admin sent me a picture of it to check if I could do the nude tattoo. I told you that I saw you there. I wanted to talk to you to convince you to a coloured one, but you had left when my other appointment ended.’’

He says it with such calm you can’t help but feel calm too, even if incredibly dumb at the same time. He didn’t look like usual tattoo artists, he had his arms empty, like blank canvases waiting to be painted, and you had to be honest, you imagined them all to have no empty space in their bodies.

Where was the tweety you imagined them all to have?

You nod, understanding. You’re such an asshole, you’ve done to him everything you didn’t want people to do to you. You’ve judged his appearance, his career, everything out of the stupid traditionality of your ideas.

‘’I see’’ you say, and he smiles.

‘’Did you think I would push you away the second I saw it? As if it was a scarlet letter?’’ he says with a breathy laugh, as if he found funny how dumb you were for thinking it was a problem.

‘’First, I didn’t know you read. Second, well yes, don’t laugh at me, I’m all vulnerable and almost tits on air’’ you say, looking at his chest to distract yourself from the shame. At least, you think, it’s not because of your body anymore.

He laughs louder, getting closer to your body and leaving his head on the space of your neck and putting his hands over yours, which were gripping the surface of the sink. It feels like a hug, but you doubt it could be described as that when he wasn’t wrapping you with his arms. He was just there, close, chest to chest, pressing his hard piercings against your flimsy bikini top.

‘’I have something to admit though’’ he says after a second.

Of course, there was something, everything was too good to be true. You sighed, nodding and giving him permission to say it.

It’s weird. Looks a bit ugly. It’s hard to digest.

‘’I think it’s really pretty, especially the color, it reminds me of cherry blossoms.’’

You swear, Wonbin can’t stop surprising you.

‘’Shut up’’ you smile shyly. He moves apart and when he sees you becoming all timid again, he cups your chin and makes you lift your eyes to him.

‘’I have a scar too, although not as pretty as yours’’ he says, moving the locks of hair covering his left eyebrow and showing you the nude line there.

You press your finger there. He’s a bad liar, not because he sounds unconvincing, but because what he said is blatantly not true. His scar is prettier, so much that it looks as if it had been done in purpose to make him look more handsome.

‘’Dumbass’’ you smile, pressing the pad of your thumb over his almost perfect eyebrow. If you’re honest, it looks perfect to you.

He uses your distraction and gives you a quick peck on the lips. You can’t react to it when he’s already away.

‘’What was that?’’ you laugh loudly, finding him adorable.

‘’A kiss, I hope’’ he answers, smiling so wide you see his bunny teeth.

Fuck, I like him, you think.

You kiss him again, this time for longer, so it’s a real kiss.

His hands go play with the straps of your top and you move your hands to your back to undo the knot holding it in place.

When you let it fall, he admires you like you did to him before. His hands, bigger than yours, go to your chest, playing with your nipples, to then go higher and follow the trail of your scar.

‘’I would die to draw flowers over them’’ he comments, index drawing the line. ‘’It would be a good branch’’ he notices. ‘’The flowers would be blossoming, at their best point, full of colour’’ he sighs, eyes dropping as if he was getting hot with the mere idea of tattooing your skin. His middle finger touches the little lines that move outward, like they’re born from the thick, uneven line. ‘’It would be a perfect tree’’ he finishes.

You’re getting wet with the image he plants in your imagination. It blooms in your sex, which is getting more wet with every second that passes. In your ears, he’s singing the hottest song you’ve heard in your life, watering the seed he had buried in your mind.

‘’I want to be a teacher. I’d get fired if they saw it’’ you lament.

‘’Don’t think so, every student would think you’re the coolest person around’’ he whispers. One of his hands goes down your abdomen, cupping you over your denim shorts and pulling a soft whimper from you. ‘’Just like I do right now.’’

‘’Welcome to the fan club,’’ you shake your head, opening your legs a little more, unnoticeable, and then punching his chest. ‘’You’re such a simp.’’

He grabs your hand and maintains it over his chest, cupping you harder to feel how wet you’re getting. He’s not touching you directly, but he knows you’re wet under all the clothes, and he smirks proudly. ‘’What can I say baby, you rocked my world.’’

You can’t believe he’s using one of your favourite songs to turn you on. He didn’t need to. You’re so wet you’re sure your bikini bottoms are drenched and it’s probably reaching the hard fabric of your shorts.

‘’Shut up’’ you order, touching his clothed erection and unfastening his belt. The metallic sound of it echoes inside the small room, covering the sound of the vents and your throat gulping the saliva accumulated.

‘’So, you do enjoy being in charge’’ he clicks his tongue, smirking. ‘’Now I just wonder how many hours you can boss me around.’’

‘’You said we have to be quick’’ you remind him, pulling down his zipper and smirking too.

‘’You’re right, sadly we’re not alone’’ he agrees, doing the same action with you. ‘’We’ll take out time the next time.’’

His fingers finally touch you directly, sliding a finger between your lips, gathering the wetness that pools there. You almost roll your eyes, feeling the quick touch over your clit electrifying. Still, you must have the last word. ‘’Bold of you to assume there’ll be a next time’’ you say like you can, hand going inside his trousers too.

He groans when you touch his cock. It jumps inside your grip, making you smile until he talks. ‘’With how wet you are, I’m sure it’ll be soon.’’

You want to say something even more cocky, but you can’t answer when his fingers press your clit again. You’re sure you’re making a mess inside your shorts and that you’ll be fucking uncomfortable downstairs, but if you’re going to go around with your clothes all dirty, he should do it too.

Playing with the head of his cock, you have to contain yourself from pulling down his underwear to catch the sight of it naked. The skin feels soft in your hand, and he’s so hard that, when you press it, you feel what he’s made. You’re sure he has a pink tip, just like his nipples, and that seems to drive you a bit more insane. The picture you create in your head is nearly orgasmic. His hard coke, with its thickness and bloody colour, angrily pointed at you for being the cause of its pain.

This is really something you shouldn’t be doing. You shouldn’t be giving a boy you just talked to that day a handjob. It’s so nasty and improper, much more than your scar or any tattoo you could get done.

When you use those adjectives, you notice, that you’re mostly referring to yourself. Could you see Wonbin as nasty and improper? He has pierced nipples, but you thought they were incredibly hot, not to be described as those words, or to be categorized with you.

‘’Your pussy is dripping so much. I want to lick it until I drown in it’’ he sighs, fingers smearing your juices and making a wet sound. ‘’You’d come in my mouth so good, I’m sure I’d be able to taste you the whole night.’’

Oh no, he is nasty and improper, just like you.

Your hand is a bit dry. The only thing helping you touch him good is the little pre-cum you’re using as lube to slide your hand. You spit in your hand while maintaining eye contact, and his grin gets wider, as if he’s glad he has found someone as sick and perverted as him.

You’re not, you try to convince yourself, but you know there’s no use. You were licking his nipples as if your life depended on it moments ago, and you’re sure you’d do it all over again.

Remembering they’re there, at your whole disposition, your free hand moves to touch one. You play with the beams, flicking it up and down, to then pull them. He groans harder when you do it, and you feel his cock get somehow thicker, but instead of loosening your grip, you tighten it and jerk him faster, touching the tip and the base so fast he hisses.

His hips move when you suddenly stop your hand, and you smile, liking how desperate he looks. He notices it, so to erase that smudgy grin, he plugs two fingers inside you, obliging you to part your lips with the sensation of him filing you and the sound of your pussy squelching. His fingers are long enough to shock you, and the pain of pleasure building is starting to hit you as much as him.

‘’Let it free, please’’ he asks nicely. He’s so polite and looks in so much pain you want to do it, but you’re sure that, if you asked the same, he wouldn’t comply your begs.

A dark spot is appearing in his black underwear. You can see it with the orange light on. He’s also sweating so bad with the temperature of the room that you see a drip fall from his damp hair to his neck and die on the bone of his clavicle.

You want to lick that place too.

‘’Don’t want to’’ you say, doing the fast motion again, making him grunt.

His fingers move faster too, pushing a bit down your shorts so he can finger you better. It sounds almost like a dessert, and you moan when he curls his fingers. Fucking tattoo artist with talented hands.

‘’Don’t be mean or I’ll be even worse’’ he warns you.

You twist his nipple harder, and he whimpers.

His hands are ferociously fucking you, two fingers deep inside you and his palm brushing your clit, making you wish you had the liberty of cumming without consequences.

You do it too, you keep his pace, moving your hand up and down, not thinking much about it, just following him. You’re the one touching him, you’re the one being mean while jerking him off inside his trousers, yet it feels as if he was the one commanding you to do so.

He starts thrusting the hold you have on him, simulating the force and speed he’s using to fuck you with his fingers.

‘’You’re so bad, the next time I’ll make you beg for me to use my tongue on you’’ he painfully says.

You’re getting closer, you feel it coming. Your pussy is already dripping what you feel as your close orgasm, and so is he with the twitching of his cock, you just know it. You frown, mouth open, and you don’t analyze your question when you do it.

‘’Why would I beg?’’ you innocently ask.

He doesn’t have to say anything. He opens his mouth, flashing you the silver ball in his rosy tongue, and you lose yourself, cumming with a silent moan and shaking legs. He does the same. Feeling your orgasm splashing his hand, he shoots his cum, marking with the marbles more than one spot in his underwear.

You finally pull down his underwear when you feel he has finished cumming, and you see, even if not as hard anymore, the prettiest cock you could’ve imagined. To fuck with him, you spread his cum along his softening shaft, and he does the same with you, sliding his fingers a couple more times before he takes his hand out. Watching it glossy and drops sliding down to his wrist, he looks at you and licks them before they get to his forearm.

You’re both a couple of nasty, improper, sick and pervert people.

Not much later, when you’re both getting decent again, he talks. ‘’Come to the studio, I’ll give you the tattoo’’ he says with a drunk voice. You’ve cleaned as much as you could with toilet paper, and you meet his eyes in the mirror. He’s behind you, knotting your bikini top for you, and looking extremely placid for doing it, as if he was still in the haze of the moment. ‘’Of course, after that, we should go on a date too’’ he says more firmly than his previous offer.

He’s perfect and imperfect in so many senses: he has rosy delicate lips, yet he has uttered the nastiest words you’ve ever heard, he has shaped eyebrows, yet a scar interrupts the harmony of them, and he has the beauty to attract anyone with all his odds, yet he chooses you.

No, he is perfect for you, just the way he is.

You’re still in the blissful state of your post-orgasm, kind of there and at the same time far away, so you don’t even think twice before you nod at his proposal.

‘’We should.’’

When you both eat the remaining cold pizza, he rests one of his hands on your shoulder, pulling you closer to his side, nodding when you tell him that cherry blossoms do sound good.

#riize smut #riize x reader #wonbin x reader #wonbin smut #riize fluff

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youngsadlesbian · 3 months

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REPUTATION — wanda maximoff.

pairing: wanda maximoff x reader

summary: taylor swift is your favorite singer, and wanda finds that adorable, even if sometimes you're a bit too much of a fan.

a/n: as my old friend hannah montana used to say: this is the best of both worlds. even though it's super random, i've wanted to write a swiftie!reader x wanda for a while. i hope you like it.

word count: 1,2k

warnings: swiftie reader, that explains a lot.

The day you and Wanda Maximoff started dating was one of the happiest days of your life. Wanda was everything you could ever want in a partner—strong, kind, intelligent, and incredibly beautiful. But there was one thing she discovered about you early on that she found both endearing and endlessly amusing: you were a die-hard Taylor Swift fan.

Your love for Taylor Swift wasn't just casual admiration. No, it was an all-consuming, heart-thumping, lyric-screaming, poster-hanging, album-collecting kind of fandom. The kind that made you want to burst into song at random moments, quote lyrics in everyday conversations, and plan your life around album releases and concert dates.

Wanda found it adorable. The other Avengers, however, found it hilarious.

"You're dating a Swiftie?" Tony Stark teased Wanda during one of the team's downtime sessions. "Isn't that like dating a walking, talking mixtape of heartbreak and revenge anthems?"

Wanda just laughed, shaking her head. "You have no idea, Tony."

When Taylor Swift's social media went dark, the world of Swifties plunged into chaos. Rumors flew around the internet, and fan theories grew wilder by the day. You were no exception to the frenzy. You analyzed every move, every clue, trying to decipher what Taylor was up to.

"Wanda, look at this!" you exclaimed one evening, shoving your phone in her face. "She posted three black squares on Instagram! What does it mean?"

Wanda chuckled and pulled you into her lap, wrapping her arms around you. "Maybe she's just taking a break?"

"No," you shook your head vehemently. "Taylor never does anything without a reason. This has to be leading up to something big."

As the days turned into weeks, your anticipation grew. Wanda patiently listened to every theory you had, from secret collaborations to hidden messages in old music videos. The Avengers, on the other hand, were amused by your relentless enthusiasm.

"What's the latest conspiracy theory?" Natasha asked one morning over breakfast.

"She's totally dropping a new album," you declared confidently. "It's going to be dark and edgy. I can feel it."

Months went by, and Taylor remained silent. It was torture for you. You spent countless hours on fan forums, discussing and dissecting every little detail. Wanda often found you hunched over your laptop, deep in conversation with other Swifties.

One day, you received the news you had been dreading: Taylor Swift had disappeared from the public eye completely. No more paparazzi sightings, no social media updates, nothing.

You were devastated. Wanda held you as you cried, whispering soothing words into your ear. "She'll be back, love. Just you wait."

"Why does this hurt so much?" you sobbed. "She's just an artist, right?"

Wanda kissed your forehead. "She's more than that to you. She's been a part of your life for so long. It's okay to feel this way."

It felt like an eternity, but one fateful day, Taylor Swift reemerged with a vengeance. She announced her new album, Reputation, and you were over the moon. You couldn't contain your excitement, bouncing around the room and squealing with joy.

"Wanda, she's back! She's back!" you screamed, nearly tripping over yourself in your enthusiasm.

Wanda laughed, catching you before you fell. "I told you she'd come back. What's the album called?"

"Reputation," you said breathlessly. "It sounds so fierce!"

You immediately pre-ordered the album, marking the release date on every calendar you owned. You even set reminders on your phone to ensure you didn't miss a single update.

The night Reputation was released, you transformed your living room into a Taylor Swift shrine. Posters adorned the walls, fairy lights twinkled, and snacks were meticulously arranged. Wanda helped you set up, though she couldn't stop chuckling at your elaborate preparations.

"This is serious business, Wanda," you said, pointing a finger at her. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime event."

"I can see that," she replied, grinning. "Are we ready?"

"Almost!" you said, pulling out your Taylor Swift-themed pajamas. "Now we're ready."

As the clock struck midnight, you pressed play on the first track. The opening notes of "...Ready For It?" filled the room, and you were instantly hooked. You danced around the living room, singing along at the top of your lungs. Wanda watched with a fond smile, joining in on the chorus.

By the time the album reached "Look What You Made Me Do," you were in full fangirl mode. You grabbed a hairbrush, using it as a makeshift microphone, and performed an impromptu dance routine. Wanda couldn't stop laughing, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

"You're incredible," she said, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

"And you're amazing for putting up with me," you replied, pulling her into a hug.

The next day, you couldn't wait to share your excitement with the rest of the Avengers. You burst into the common room, blasting Reputation from your phone.

"Guys, you have to listen to this!" you shouted, earning amused looks from your teammates.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Oh great, more Taylor Swift. Just what we needed."

But as the songs played, even the most skeptical Avengers found themselves tapping their feet and nodding along. Natasha smirked. "I have to admit, it's pretty catchy."

Clint grinned. "I think we found our new workout playlist."

Steve, ever the gentleman, smiled at you. "I'm glad you're happy."

Wanda squeezed your hand, beaming with pride. "Told you they'd come around."

A few weeks later, Taylor Swift announced her Reputation stadium tour, and you lost your mind. You immediately began planning how to secure tickets, setting multiple alarms and enlisting Wanda's help.

The morning of the ticket sale, you were a bundle of nerves. "What if we don't get tickets? What if the site crashes?"

Wanda placed a calming hand on your shoulder. "We'll get them. Just breathe."

When the clock struck 10 AM, you and Wanda refreshed the ticketing site furiously. Minutes felt like hours, but finally, you managed to secure two tickets. You screamed in triumph, hugging Wanda tightly.

"We did it! We're going to see Taylor Swift!" you exclaimed.

Wanda laughed, twirling you around. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

The night of the concert, you and Wanda donned your best Swiftie gear and headed to the stadium. The atmosphere was electric, with thousands of fans buzzing with anticipation.

As Taylor took the stage, you felt a rush of emotions. The opening chords of "…Ready For It?" filled the air, and you screamed along with the crowd. Wanda held your hand, her smile mirroring your own.

Throughout the concert, you danced, sang, and cried. Each song was a journey, and you cherished every moment. Wanda captured it all on her phone, knowing how much these memories meant to you.

When Taylor performed "New Year's Day," a soft, emotional ballad, you turned to Wanda with tears in your eyes. "Thank you for being here with me."

Wanda squeezed your hand. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

The days following the concert were a blur of happiness. You couldn't stop talking about the experience, reliving every song and moment. The Avengers, used to your Taylor Swift obsession by now, indulged you with patient smiles.

Wanda loved seeing you so happy. She often played Reputation in the background while you cooked dinner together or snuggled on the couch. It became your soundtrack, a reminder of the incredible night you shared.

One evening, as "Delicate" played softly, Wanda pulled you into a slow dance in the living room. You rested your head on her shoulder, feeling the warmth of her embrace.

"I love you," you whispered.

"I love you too," Wanda replied, kissing your forehead. "More than you'll ever know."

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x you #elizabeth olsen x reader #elizabeth olsen x you #marvel #taylor swift

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aritamargarita · 9 months

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SOLITUDE || 001

hello and welcome to the debut of solitude. to all my current readers, you already know what’s up, but to new and curious readers, this installment is based off of climbing the food chain of wwe, taking place in mostly the modern era, so there are superstars spanning from 2013 the earliest to 2022..

just let me cook on the timeline a little bit okay, you'll like it LOL. there’s a lot of Twitter segments in this so i hope it’s not annoying, they’re going to die down for the most part later i promise

without further ado, please enjoy!

TODAY IS THE first day of your call up. The support you’ve gotten from your friends from the training center was wonderful, but you’re still feeling antsy and incredibly nervous. Hopefully, your first day on the brand goes well..

Shawn Michaels was the one to break the news that you were getting called up. You could remember it so clearly because you completely ambushed him with an excited hug once he dropped the bomb on you.

He had patted your back and told you to lighten your grip a little bit, but not without a grin on his face.

If it’s one thing you deserve, it is the chance to expand your career. You always came early, and you were always prepared to learn.

You weren’t sure how to feel when he told you that you’d be heading to the main roster.

You only started as a superstar on the indie circuit and are only used to being on much smaller channels and local shows. You couldn’t even imagine being on WWE, which was broadcast on national television!

He had seen the look on your face and quickly tried to do damage control.

“We’re soft-launching you, or however you kids say it these days,” He told you. You think he grumbled something about how social media was confusing, but you brushed him off. “As an interviewer, I mean.”

“Huh..” You give a shrug. “As long as I can wrestle sometime.”

He had assured you that you will, sooner than you think, but they just wanted to focus on your speaking. Once they (and you), were more confident, they’d allow you to be in much more opportunities.

Such is life, you guess. Get through these obstacles for a bigger reward. You gave your gratitude to Shawn as you had a lot to look forward to.

If you’re not mistaken, WWE had already posted a teaser on their twitter. For some reason, you would find yourself constantly checking the tweet.

@WWE ✓

We hear someone is entering the scene… 👀

1.2K reposts 120 quotes 14K likes

—is what it said. The flurry of tweets under it were mixed. Lots of people wanted to know what the deal was, though some were already speculating it was an old star coming back.

However, the few fans that knew of your work had their guesses. Some of the pictures you posted on Instagram were cryptic hints, but you knew how the internet was. Crazy detective work..

But anyhow, people around the training center know that you’re pretty introverted. You only came to get some work done and go home. It was hard for others to get to know you at first.

They like to call you shy, but you’ve started to hate that word the more it’s used. It holds you back too much. You won’t make it far if you’re stuck with that description for your entire life.

Fortunately, they know what you lack in words is made up for in the ring. There’s no question that you’re good, you just tend to get nervous when speaking to the public.

At heart, you knew they wanted to help you out, and they wanted you to become the best you can be! If you start practicing, you’re sure to be a star!

As motivating as it sounds, it’s still stressful. Going out of your comfort zone was nothing new. It’s a given if you want to wrestle properly, but it still makes you uneasy.

You know you’ve gotta put your best foot forward and do this despite it. This was your only chance, and you absolutely can’t mess this up.

Most of the people still training had given you their well wishes. It’s heavily appreciated; after all, you won’t see them anymore unless they’re called up there themselves.

You think you’ll miss Carmella the most. She was your training buddy, and you think she was the most excited about you getting called up. You hope that she’ll be next soon enough….

As of right now, you look tired. You damn sure feel tired.

It causes you to lie down on the floor of the locker room. It probably wasn’t the best idea, but fuck it. You’ve already made a bad decision by staying up all night out of excitement. It’s starting to come back to you.

Of course, you came to the arena a little too early. (which was an inside joke between coaches, you’re too punctual for your own good..)

You were sure most of your coworkers hadn’t arrived yet, and you weren’t sure if you wanted to see them. It’s not that you don’t want to, you’re just nervous to meet them.

Especially since you’ll probably be half asleep and may forget their names.

Much to your misfortune, a woman comes in, sunglasses on and suitcase handle clenched in hand.

She only lowers them with a finger once you’re in view. “Oooh,” She starts, then clicks her tongue. It’s apparent that she’s mocking you already. “..You look like trash.”

“Thanks,” You say with a sigh. “It’s so appreciated.”

This is not a good start. You make the move to get up off the comfortable ground and the woman puts a hand on her hip.

She’s not very amused, moving a free hand to flip her blue hair. “Did they get me a personal makeup artist? Or…are you just everyone’s stylist? Never seen you here before.”

“I’m new. An interviewer.” You say. Giving yourself that title feels much weirder than saying you were a wrestler. “Pray tell, who am I talking to?”

She’s a little taken aback by the cynical tone in your voice but takes her sunglasses off. This woman doesn’t think she’s met her match yet.

“Of course you don’t recognize a celebrity when you’re in front of one. Let me refresh your memory a bit. How does this sound? The boss, the blueprint, the standard!” She pauses for a bit for dramatic effect. “…Sasha Banks. And I better not have to repeat myself. Who exactly are you?”

“You have a pretty name.” You start off with. Honestly, you didn’t want to make an enemy out of her as much as she wanted to make one out of you. You hope she could see that. “I’m [Name], and you’re right. I am new. Maybe we can get to know each other a bit more.”

It actually seems to work because she falters for a second. “…What?”

You hold out your hand to her and she looks at it for a moment before shaking it with a scowl. Before you realize it, she’s already taking her hand back.

“I’m assuming you’re wrestling? Do you have a match?” You quickly ask, not giving her a second to recover. “I’d like to interview you after if you do.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Sasha drops her suitcase. She’s unsure if she could stand your bright personality for a second longer. You’re going to be a problem in the future. “Sorry, not sorry, but you’re a nobody. What’s the point?”

“It was worth a try. But if that’s what you want I won’t force you.” Sasha rolls her eyes at your response. You’re way too nice. “At least tell me, do you think it’s fun here?”

“Fun?” She repeats. “Tch, I know you didn’t just ask if it was fun. Get real. There’s nothing fun about being here. There’s only one thing that matters, and it’s the Divas Championship. Got it?”

“Got it.” You nod. Divas Championship…duly noted. You don’t think you’ll be going for it anytime soon. “Who’s got it?” You’ll have to ask if the standard Women’s Championship was still in circulation as well.

“AJ Lee.” She answers. It’s the least snarky answer she’s given you so far, but she reverts back to it. “I swear, I’m gonna drag her ass across the mat for that title. She makes me sick with her skipping around.”

You voice your thoughts. “She skips?” That’s one way to get to the ring. You’re curious now. “I wonder if I can interview her…she must have a lot to say about her reign so far.”

“What?” Sasha’s immediately offended. “Um, no. Who says you’re interviewing her first? You’re obviously going to interview me first.”

It’s contradictory to what she’s said before, but because of it, there’s a smile growing on your face. She notices and jabs her index finger toward you. “You can wipe that smile off your face, rookie.”

“So be it. I will see you afterwards.” You agree to interview her, doing your best to fight the smile off.

Sasha huffs and leaves the room for now. Your eyes follow her, and once she’s gone, you shrug to yourself. Wow.

Well, that’s one way to get an interviewee.

Almost seconds after her departure, your phone vibrates and you see it’s a notification from Twitter. After that, the tweets start to flow in.

What now?

@SashaBanksWWE ✓

I ALWAYS come first. Don’t forget that, rookie. @Officially[Name].

4.1K reposts 250 quotes 45K likes

@No1DivazStan: Wait…?

↳ @Sashabanksfan109: Literally like who is that??? What is she talking about?

Oh boy. Now people actually are getting the idea. She even went as far as tagging you. You’re already starting to have people follow you.

Including Sasha, which was a plus!

You’re confident about things for a moment until the thought of having to talk to her live circles back. Shit, you might start to freak out a little.

You hope Sasha wouldn’t be too harsh on you, even if it were wishful thinking. Sasha’s gonna come in hot, especially if she loses. You have no choice but to adjust.

A few more moments of silence pass, and suddenly the floor is calling you again.

You immediately lay back down. How long until the show? You take your phone out of your pocket and check the time. 6:45. The show starts at around 7. Maybe 8 if there are any delays.

Would it be wrong if you took a quick nap? It’ll only be 15 minutes, but it might just be enough to keep you going for the rest of the night.

You’re already closing your eyes. You know you’re going to be unable to hit any major stages of sleep, but even just laying like this is nice.

Until the door opens. You’re shooting up from your spot, almost falling over in the process.

“I WASN’T SLEEPING.” You clarify, doing your best to stand up. The woman, who’s not Sasha this time, looks at you in confusion.

She points a finger at you. “Ya’ sure about that? From the looks of it, it seemed like you were knocked out for a second.” Her accent is the first thing that catches your attention as she starts to motion towards you.

“No, no, not at all.” You try to defend. “Can’t a woman stretch on the floor in peace?”

“Seriously, you call that stretching?” Before she can make any more sarcastic comments toward you, she turns to look at you. “I’ve never seen you around before. Got a name?”

She is trying her best to identify you to no avail. You hop up to your feet, then hold your hand out to her. “[Name]. I’m just an interviewer right now, yeah. I’m new. Who are you?”

“Becky. Becky Lynch.” She introduces, taking your hand to shake it firmly. You swear you’ve seen her before, too. Probably on Twitter. Guess Becky isn't the only one with deja vu.

You pray you wouldn’t forget her or Sasha’s name for that matter. You can’t fight the urge to yawn.

“Someone’s tired. You should go get some water before you pass out. Looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”

This is a nice change of pace from Sasha. Despite you trying to kill her with kindness, she’s just all kinds of intimidating, while this woman is…okay.

Water may do the trick. It might just be cold enough to wake you up. “Good idea. Anywhere I can get some?”

“Should be a cooler down the hall to your right.” She informs. “See, I’d offer to get it for you, but I’ve got a match to get ready for.”

“Well, thanks anyway.” But before you leave, Before you leave, you turn over to her. “This may be an assumption, but are you going against Sasha Banks?” You ask. You could be wrong, but it’s worth a shot to see.

She nods at you. “Smart girl. How’d you know?”

“I talked to her a bit earlier. She wouldn’t exactly tell me she was going in a match, but I guess it was safe to assume it was you.” You say. “If you’d like to be interviewed, I’ll be waiting backstage.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Becky says. She’s more concerned about you getting your water. “Go, I might be here when you get back. Don’t pass out.”

You make a noise to let her know you heard her. Did you make a new friend? You think so.

You’re still a bit disoriented from the lack of sleep. You only made it a few steps down the hall before forgetting the direction she told you to go. Great.

This hallway seemed horribly long. The more you walked, the more you felt like it extended somehow. You need a nap, but you don’t think you’re going to get it until retiring back to your hotel room.

A group of men dressed in what seems to be tactical clothes are sitting around nearby, and you find yourself approaching them in a sudden spur of confidence. It’s probably because you’re tired.

“Excuse me,” you call. All three of them look at you with curious looks, and you feel like you could just up and die right there.

Doesn’t exactly help that they’re all kind of attractive, either.

“Where can I get some water? It feels like I’m dying here.” You ask, using your hand to rub the side of your face.

To them, you looked like you had just completed a damn marathon run. One of them with short brown hair whispers something to another with half-blonde, half-black hair, and you look between them curiously.

You don’t have time for whispers. You want water. It makes you think about purposely passing out in front of them. Rude and manipulative, sure, but you’re not here to gossip!

The other one speaks up to you instead. He’s also got long hair, but you think the most noticeable thing was his sleeve tattoo. You may have been staring too long because he snapped his fingers to get your attention.

At least he wasn’t glaring at you. There was a handsome smile on his face. “You there? Don’t tell me we’ve lost you already. You just got here.”

“Sorry. I’m really tired.” You admit. “Really, REALLY tired. Water would be nice.”

“To your left,” He says. “Should be one over there.”

The exasperation in your voice is ever present when you say: “Thank you!”. You’re dying here. You’ll have to come back and thank your only savior after replenishing yourself. Turning away, you head in the direction he told you.

You don’t hear the snickering behind you as you leave. Too busy thinking about hydration at this point.

Going further down, you see that there still is no water cooler. You’re only met with a dead end, and though there are doors, the signs only tell you that they’re just control rooms.

You’re confused. Why would he send you that way? You turn around and head back the way you came as it must’ve been an honest mistake.

You see them still sitting there with smiles. “Hey, excuse me,” you call, waving your hand. “There’s no water over there. Are you sure it’s that way?”

“We know.” The man who gave you instruction earlier had said. “We just wanted to mess with you a bit. Go that way.” First day on the job and people are already trying to rib you? Goddamn it.

On the bright side, it seemed to be lighthearted. Or so you hope.

This time, you hope, he points the correct way. The only thing you can do is let out a sigh and move forward. You don’t even stay to listen to anything else he says.

"Don't take it to heart!" One of them yells behind you.

You scoff to yourself. This time, they redeemed themselves because you found that lovely water cooler. You immediately pick up the pace and reach out to snatch a cup.

Finally, cold water. You're sure you'll wake up this time. You're almost half tempted to pour some on your face, but you aren't THAT unhinged. Besides, you don’t want to waste it.

The moment you lift your cup and and take a refreshing sip, someone saying “hey” makes you look over, and you nearly spit your drink out.

The guy that had given you the wrong direction had come around. You cough up bits of water, holding a hand on your chest. “Why?! God, you scared the hell out of me!”

“Sorry.” He apologizes. You’re not so sure if it’s sincere. “Stephanie McMahon told me about you. You’re [Name], right?”

It takes you a second to reply and he looks at you expectantly. You hold your hand up. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, that’s me.” You nod.

“Roman,” He introduced himself back, setting his hands on the vest of his tactical gear. “I know it’s your first day and all, but do you know who’s in charge?”

“….Vince McMahon?” You offer with a shrug.

Roman chuckles, shaking his head. “You were close. But that’s not it. The Authority is the one in charge.” He clarifies to you. “And you’d best be on their side. Tell me, new girl. Do you plan to be on the side of justice?”

Truth be told, you’re a little intimidated. Again.

You wonder if you even had a choice right now. Before you answer him you decide to take a sip of water, this time, without coughing up a lung.

“Justice, what do you mean by that?”

“The Authority is seeking to make sure that everyone keeps in line.” He explains. “We’ve already got a hold on the men’s division, but the women’s division….”

He trails off, looking toward you expectantly.

“I’m just an interviewer.” You hold your hands up in defense. “I don’t know anything about wrestling. Like anything.”

A lie, but you don’t exactly want to get involved.

You thought it felt weird to call yourself an interviewer, but now you’re going to hold onto that title until it’s convenient enough for you….

“Don’t give me that crap. I know exactly what you are.” So much for that. Roman gets closer to you and you move back just a little. It doesn’t do much, because he’s still in your space.

You’re starting to feel cornered.

“And what I don’t appreciate is people lying to me. Listen, [Name]. Pretty girls like you are always smart. If you knew what’s good for you, you’d better—“

“Hey guys!” A new voice makes you look over Roman. “Roman…and….who’s this?” He points a finger over to you.

“[Name].” You say. This guy might be your potential savior.

He doesn’t really pester any further than that, oddly enough. “Cool. You guys wanna take a selfie?” Before you two could even answer, he’s already approaching with a phone in hand.

“Wait,” You try to stop him. “I’m not ready—“

All Roman does was glare at the camera while you were holding out your hand toward it. He’s already took it and you were caught in the worst off guard moment.

“You guys better get ready for Raw. It starts in like five minutes.” The man recommends. “Thanks for the selfie.”

He saunters off and Roman shakes his head. After the stranger had made some distance, he finally speaks to you. “I can’t stand Theory’s dumbass.”

“Theory?” You repeat. “Who?”

“Austin Theory.” He clarifies. “Won’t stop taking those stupid selfies. It’s all the goddamn time.”

You slowly nod, but take advantage of the fact Austin had said there’s only five minutes until Raw starts. “Gosh. This was such a nice meeting, but I had better get going. You know, interviews and stuff to do.”

Roman says nothing, so you take the opportunity to side-step and walk past him. However, he doesn’t let you get far before saying…

“Better think about what I said. You don’t have much time.”

You’re hoping that wasn’t a threat. And now that you think about it?

He didn’t even apologize for leading you the wrong way!

You were just trying to get ready to be on television. You did everything you could to stand out for your debut, despite some people knowing that you’d show up sometime.

You can only imagine the pre-show talks around on social media. God, you hope you weren’t sweating. You think you’re just overreacting, but you feel like you’re gonna cry.

If you weren’t awake before, you sure are now.

Your phone starts buzzing again on the vanity you were seated at. The stylist who was helping you get things together had stepped away earlier, leaving you be with your thoughts.

Until now. The moment you pick up your phone and open Twitter, you groan.

Roman was right about the selfies being stupid.

Austin had posted it on Twitter. The only thing you’re really focused on is yourself. You look a disheveled mess and you’re happy you could fix yourself up a little bit right now.

You’re reeling as you read some of the responses. Although, some were funnier than others…

@Theory_1 ✓

Roman and some new girl are here today! I caught them in their natural habitat.

1.8K reposts 130 quotes 37K likes

@annsweet_: OMG FREE HER???? WHY DOES SHE LOOK SCARED LMAO

↳ @Lilgrab$78: Nah fr they holding her hostage in there

@Biilionnsmind: Are you serious? [Name] Theory AND Roman? This has gotta be the multiverse

↳ @YourChampion0: Not gonna lie they might be an item. Guess we’ll see if they have something going on or they just were filming something.

@bellstrings: Wait not too much on [Name]…face card is still ACTIVE and ready to TAP!

Along those lines of being mentioned, Austin had followed you as well. But seeing yourself being the talk of others is just surreal. You’re happy about it.

“Hey, [Name].” A stagehand calls. “You’re on in about 2 minutes. You’ll be interviewing Sasha Banks. It’s the only person you’ll be doing, so you’re free to go home after.”

Alright then. You hop up out of your seat. You looked good enough, so you didn’t exactly need that stylist to come back. Your time to shine.

You let the stagehand lead the way to where you’re supposed to be positioned. It’s a nice set up, you think. There’s a red curtain behind you as well as a television settled with “Raw” displayed on it.

“Sasha lost because of interference.” The stagehand informs you. “She’ll go on about the details. But just ask her some questions. She should be here any second now.”

You’ll try. The camera is already settled in front of you, waiting for the go ahead. As soon as he said that, Sasha comes storming into the room. He signals toward the both of you that he’s rolling.

“Wow, Sasha..!” You exclaim, shaking your head. “That was definitely……a match.”

Sasha looks at you with a scowl. “You think?! Becky only got lucky because AJ came out all peppy. I almost had her.” She complains. “I had Becky in the Bank Statement. She was about to tap…”

She literally has to stop talking and take a breath before she loses it. Everyone, even the crowd, can tell that she’s STEAMING.

“…Uh, do you think you’ll need help in the future for AJ? It looks like she’s posing a really big threat to you.” You say. “Cause’ if you’re asking me, it looks like you may need a future tag partner.”

You’re going steady, despite the fact your hand may or may not be shaking a bit. You’re just glad that this segment wasn’t out in the ring. You tilt the mic over to Sasha.

All you had to do was pretend like the camera wasn’t there and that you were having a simple conversation. Everything’s just fine.

You had hoped she would understand that you were insinuating that you could be of assistance, but she takes it the wrong way.

“What, you think I’m not good enough?” She challenges, stepping closer to you. “You think I can’t beat AJ on my own? She’s the one that needs help. That’s why she gets Tamina to do her dirty work. Let me remind you that I’m Sasha Banks. I was the NXT Women’s Champion. The Boss can handle herself in battle and she damn sure doesn’t need someone that’s gonna hold her back.”

“I get it, jeez. I was trying to help you, Sasha.” You explain. It might be a chance to get you active in the ring.

“Aren’t you supposed to be doing your job and asking me questions? I don’t need your help.” She fires back.

Whatever. You just shrug it off. “Fine. You want questions, I’ll give you questions. You tagged me on Twitter. When you tagged me on Twitter, was that you trying to put me on notice?”

It’s easy for her to bounce off of what you said.

“You clearly act like you have no idea who I am. Maybe now you’ll get a clue. As a matter of fact, you better leave that fake little sweet innocent act at the door, cause I see right through you.”

“What act? I’m just being me.” It’s true. You really are!

“Right, and Becky must be the best wrestler on the planet…hah! That’s hilarious even thinking about it.” Sasha falls into a laugh, and you fight the urge to smile at her contagious laugh. Instead, you wipe it off in order to look confused.

She takes a breath. “You know what? You wanna help me, prove it to me. You and me, a match next Monday. I know that you’re not gonna do well, but I’ll have fun destroying you anyways, rookie.”

This was your chance!! You can’t fight the excitement, so you immediately agree. “Yes! I mean, yeah. Absolutely. It’s a match, Sasha. Shake on it?”

You offer your free hand to her. Despite her gritting her teeth, she takes it.

Sasha thinks you’re too excited, but she’d be lying if she wasn’t curious to see how you’d fare against her.

Your first match is against Sasha Banks. Thinking about it seemed so surreal. You’ve got a lot to prepare for next Monday.

Sasha’s eyes seem to catch onto something behind you and she groans, snatching her hand back. “Not her—“

“I wasn’t expecting you here, Sasha!” There’s a woman who’s slightly shorter than you that comes over with a championship tucked over her arm. This must’ve been the Divas championship, if the words on the butterfly weren’t evident enough.

“You know, not after you lost. Thought you would’ve went home by now!” She holds onto it even tighter once Sasha gave her a nasty look.

“You must be AJ Lee?” You try to divert some of the tension. “It’s nice to see the divas champion face to face.”

Sasha gags, but AJ giggles at your words. She rubs a hand over the butterfly, looking at you. “Oh pssssh, this? It’s nothing major…it just means I’m the best, but seriously, nothing major. Oh, and Sasha? Sorry Tamina made you lose focus…no hard feelings?”

Sasha rears her fist back and you immediately try to jump in the middle of them. Might’ve been a dumb decision, but it made Sasha immediately freeze once you did. You’re not even sure if AJ flinched.

You’re planted firmly in between them without any plans of moving anytime soon. “Woah, woah woah, can we hold off on the fighting PLEASE?! Why don’t you guys settle it in the ring, just like me and Sasha are?”

“You guys…” AJ looks between you two. “…are wrestling each other? Huh.”

You nod at her. “Yeah. I think you should follow suit. It’s obvious you two have problems.”

“Well, you’re right. It’s not like can’t beat you again, Sasha!” AJ chimes. “Anyway, I’m going to go polish my title! Don’t wait up for me, ladies!”

And just like that, AJ skips off. Sasha slowly turns to look at you and the only thing you can do is look back at her.

“I don’t care,” She starts, pointing a finger at you. “You’re helping in whatever happens, rookie.”

“What?! Why me??” You whine. “This isn’t my issue, the only thing I’m worried about is our match.“

As she’s said earlier, she doesn’t care. “You heard me. All you’ve gotta do is be ready. When I tell you to do something, you go.”

She leaves you with that. An exasperated sigh falls from your lips.

You’ve got more than just your match to worry about now..

#RAWTonight

@WWE ✓

A nearly explosive confrontation tonight on Raw between AJ Lee, [Name], and Sasha Banks. Watch below! 👇🔥

6.7K reposts 310 quotes 67k likes

@xXHibiscus: THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING!???!!!

↳ @WomenofWWE: Yess! This is what we need, a strong three-way feud! The newbie, the underdog, and the champion. The storylines kind of have been getting boring. I wouldn’t mind Sasha & [Name] vs AJ, or maybe even AJ & [Name] vs Sasha.

↳ @RaeFed: [name] might’ve just saved us hold on

@RoseGambler: [Name] trying to be a peacemaker 😭

↳ @101Mariposa: SASHA WAS LITERALLY ABOUT TO ROCK AJ PLEASE. SHE NEEDS TO MOVE

↳ @ThenNowForever: Why she hit the “Sasha, this isn’t you”??

@MarkPodcast: Never heard of [Name]..…is she new?

↳ @platinumstarred: yeah she was mainly on the indies, wasn’t bad at all like she was rlly good

↳ @MarkPodcast: Hopefully she’ll stay good while she’s here!

@Feistysummer: Sasha saying she doesn’t need help…then turns around and tells [Name] that she’s going to help LOL

↳ @Divas4L: They’re definitely going to be friends, if not best friends in the future..

196 notes · View notes

jiyansthesis · 1 year

Text

ESTOY ENLOQUECIDO POR TI

GEKKO (MATEO) x reader pt.2

pt.1

summary — you and gekko have been officially dating for five months, and you've been. . . thinking about things. from what was once, "he's so strong" when he's carrying something developed into "could he throw me on the bed?". of course, you never knew how to initiate it. do you just ask him? does it just escalate? do you have to plan it all out? those questions have been bothering you for so long that you straight up decided, fuck it, and searched it up on the internet. well, that was one way to get it started.

note — this is my first time writing smut LMAO. this might be extremely mid or decent, but i hope i don't disappoint with this!! i couldn't stop thinking about mateo yesterday so i decided i would start making this today. I ALSO CAN'T LEAVE THE MATEO SMUT TAG HAVE ONLY ONE FIC, on that note go check it out its so fucking good i love it.

w/c — 2.5k

warnings — (bad) smut, oral (f receiving), rough (ish), praise, tones of dumbification, kitchen sex, undertones of dom reader but mostly d. gekko and s. reader

not proofread + i am not responsible for any minors interacting w this post

you were done with it.

you were done waiting for your own confidence to go up just so you could. . . have sex with mateo.

just thinking about it had you red.

now that the two of you had finally moved in together, there was even less of a time that you could just do things yourself without him noticing. before you could masturbate whenever you wanted, as loud as you wanted. now you couldn't risk him hearing out of embarrassment.

it's been five months since the two of you had got together, and not once had either of you escalated past a few brief touches under shirts while kissing. mateo hadn't even seen you naked, or even with just a bra and underwear.

you knew that it would be this way until you did something about it. but the thing is, you don't know how.

and that led you here, legs crossed on your shared bed. you took a deep breath and began typing into the laptop on your lap.

"what the fuck do i even type?" you muttered under your breath.

"how to start sex? no, that sounds weird as fuck. how to get in the mood for sex?" you typed that, and instantly glanced towards the door, feeling as if mateo would walk in at any moment.

you were really picky about what websites you went on. you didn't need a whole porn video, but you also didn't need tips on how to get yourself horny.

researching harder than you do for homework, you didn't realize that the door creaked open.

"hey, chica. are you okay with a sandwich for lunch?" he said, alerting you of his presence.

without thinking, you quickly slammed the lid of the computer shut.

he gazed at you questionably, raising his eyebrow. "what was that?"

"it's nothing," you lied terribly.

his eyes narrowed. he could usually tell when you were lying, and it was obvious.

"but i'd love a sandwich," you tried changing the subject, hoping that he'd take the hint you wouldn't tell him.

"whatever you say, hermosa," he gave you a two-finger salute as he walked out the room.

you sighed in relief and opened the laptop again. so far, you had no luck. you did find some tips, but there was no way you were asking him, "hey, wanna fuck?"

you rubbed your hands against your face and let out a long groan. all this trouble just to ask him to destroy you? you flushed thinking about it.

deciding that you needed a break, you set the laptop down, angling the screen so that it wasn't wide open, but it wasn't quite closed.

you made your way downstairs, walking in the kitchen to see mateo with a big red stain on his shirt.

"holy shit, are you okay?" you ran over to him.

"i'm fine princesa. it's just ketchup. did you think it was blood?" he laughed.

you scowled and grabbed the sandwich on the counter, taking a big bite.

"hey, you're the one who thought it was blood, not me." he put his hands up in defense when you glared at him. "thanks for worrying about me though."

you rolled your eyes, but the smile on your face contradicted your irritated behavior.

"yeah, yeah. but if you're ever covered in blood don't expect me to come running."

"my heart," he pouted as he held his hand to his heart.

"don't you have to go get changed?" you questioned, trying to wipe the puppy-eyed look off his face.

"i probably should. look at you with the big ideas," he left the kitchen after giving you a peck on the cheek.

by the time he'd come back, you were busy washing the plate that you had used. he was silent, so when he wrapped his arms around your waist, you jumped and yelped in surprise.

"holy shit mateo, don't scare me like that!" you splashed him with some water, earning a chuckle.

"my bad chica," he apologized.

he stayed still for a few seconds, before he buried his head in the crook of your neck and start giving you little kisses.

"teo?"you questioned him while your face turned hot.

he hummed in response, continuing to trail open mouthed kisses along your neck. you tried your hardest not to gasp and tilt your neck.

"c'mon mateo, at least let me put this on the drying rack." you didn't trust yourself not to drop the plate and immediately go wild on this man.

that got him to stop, and you quickly put the plate on the rack and dried your hands.

"okay, hermoso. what are you doing?" you faced him, and he immediately caged you in against the counter.

your back hit the curved ledge, and his arms were on either side of you.

"what were you doing?" he asked instead of answering, inching closer.

"what do you mean me?" you were trying to convince yourself that he didn't know what you were doing upstairs, and that instead he was tricking you into saying it.

he didn't reply, but used one of his hands to pull you in, your arms automatically wrapping around his neck.

you'd never get used to how soft his lips were, the routine bite he always does to your lips whenever you make out. but this time was different. there wasn't more passion, but there was another emotion in how he pulls you closer to him

you could feel his smile, and when you pulled away, he had the goofiest grin on his face. his hand trailed up your thigh, stopping right before it got where you wanted it.

"teo," you frowned at him.

"what? is there something you want?" he teased you, inching closer to your core.

you averted your eyes, finding sudden interest in the ceiling. a sudden force tilts your chin back to face him.

"i asked you a question," he cooed.

you looked up at him through hooded eyes, and decided what's the worst that can happen?

you leaned your hips forward and grinded against his waist, letting out one long moan. he quickly stopped you with a harsh grip on your hips.

"does that say enough?" you said cockily.

"you have to use your words, hermosa. maybe i'll reward you."

you were tired of waiting, squirming at how uncomfortable it was in your shorts. from what you could see, he was too with the tent in his pants.

"i need you. i want you so bad." you whimpered, locking eyes with him.

he thought about it.

"what do you want?" he asked, his fingers making their way to your waistband and slowly inching it down your thighs. it left shivers coursing throughout your entire body, even though you felt on fire.

"i just want you. i want you to fuck me until i can't think anymore." you started rambling before you felt a pressure at your entrance.

he slipped a finger inside and curled it, and you slumped forward and found purchase on his shoulders.

"holy fuck mateo," you breathily said. "a little warning?"

"not my fault you weren't paying attention," he chuckled as he inserted another finger.

you've never bothered to use more than two fingers, but when mateo does it, it feels. . . different. you knew that you would never be able to replicate the same feeling that he makes you feel.

you could hear the noises as he went faster, along with the noises steadily pouring out your mouth.

"wait, fuck. . . mateo," you started speaking only to be interrupted by him sliding his fingers out and holding them up.

"damn chica, you're wet as fuck."

you almost died of embarrassment right then and there, but before you knew it, mateo dived between your legs.

you whimpered at his warm breath making contact with your folds, and just how you dreamed of, mateo went straight to work.

"fuck! teo, it feels so good," he hummed in response to your praise, pulling your legs over his shoulders while keeping your legs spread.

you threw your head back, letting out the most pornographic moan you've ever heard as your hand shot to his hair.

little whimpers and moans filled the room as you began to grind against his mouth. usually you'd last a lot longer than this, but either because you had been waiting months for this moment or the fact that mateo was eating you out, you felt something in your stomach tighten.

"mateo, stop, please." you slurred out, trying to use your hand to push him away. but he wouldn't move. he wanted to feel you cum around his tongue, and he stood by that.

he made a little motion with his head, shaking it side to side, still eagerly lapping away at you.

"i wanna cum with you, please i want it so bad." you blurted out, and that caused him to stop. you whined at the sudden cold air. well, he couldn't exactly pass up that offer, huh? especially when you begged so nicely and deperately.

"you always know what to say, chica," he grinned as he began unbuckling his pants.

"well, i didn't know what to say for it to come to this." you didn't know a single word that could've cause this to happen. not that you were complaining, but you might need that word for future reference.

"me about to fuck you stupid? i wouldn't know what to say either," you heard his pants fall to the floor and he angled you on the counter for you to be comfortable.

"this alright babe?" he asked, looking into your eyes for a clear answer. you stared back, impatient.

"just hurry up and fuck me," you nodded.

"i could stop right now."

"you wouldn't dare," you narrowed your eyes and before he could respond, you slammed yourself onto his cock.

he let out a groan his hands making their way to the bottom of your thighs to lift you up. although the beginning was rough, he started off slow.

"you know how long i've wanted to do this to you?" he said while picking up speed. your hands instinctively went up to cover your mouth to muffle your moans, but he pulled them away and pinned your wrists behind your back.

you shook your head. he watched as you didn't know where to look, eyes darting everywhere. from his chest, to his eyes, all the way down to where he was currently destroying you. then you'd get embarrassed and look away to start the cycle all over again.

"hey princesa. eyes on me," he loved seeing you not know what to do. as obedient as you are, you immediately locked eyes with him. "good girl. always so good for me, hmm?"

you nearly came as soon as he said that, tightening around his thick cock.

"oh, you like that?" you knew he'd use this against you forever. but now wasn't the time for you to be worrying about that. in fact, you couldn't think at all. you were understanding what he was saying but couldn't form a single response.

"i asked you a question." he began slowing down as if you didn't answer, he'd stop entirely. and you didn't want that.

quickly you answered, "i- mm, i love it," you slurred out.

"what was that?" he went back to his ungodly pace, and it took you even longer to piece a sentence together, letting out a moan every single time he hit your g-spot. you could swear you saw a little bump in your stomach every time he was fully in.

"i fucking love it, teo," you whimpered out, every word emphasized by the slapping of his hips against the apex of your thighs.

he would've blushed at this, but considering that he had in fact, been waiting so long for this, he attempted to go even faster and harder.

you were borderline drooling, if it wasn't for mateo holding you, you'd be lying back as far as you could. you went to grab for his back, before you realized that your wrists were still in his grasp.

"need to touch you," you whined.

he contemplated for a moment before releasing his constraint on you, and while you went straight for his back, his hands went up your shirt. the cold feel against your burning skin made you jump.

he had been letting out little moans and whimpers, but you could tell he was getting close with how they increased in volume and he began rutting into you like his life depended on it.

your moans were quieted but his lips on yours, and you began to feel that telltale knot in your stomach. it was as if he noticed this, as he broke the kiss and asked, "are you gonna cum?"

if you weren't in this position getting fucked until you couldn't think, you would've said, "isn't it obvious, dumbass?" but considering the fact he had you drooling on his dick that probably wouldn't be the best response.

you hurriedly nodded, and you could see the beginning of a smirk on his face.

"c'mon hermosa, you can do it. come for me," he trailed off into a long moan as you creamed around him, feeling as mateo did one last hard thrust and buried his head in the crook of your neck to mask his sounds.

the two of you stayed still in silence, only hearing each other's heavy breaths.

"did you mess up my hair?" you asked, blowing away strands of hair from your face.

"i think if your hair was fine, it wouldn't be much of a good time," you closed your legs as soon as he slid out, feeling something hot drip out of you.

"well, i think that i need to take a nice long shower." you attempted to get off the counter as mateo put his pants back on, but he stopped you.

"let me carry you, mi princesa. don't need you tripping." he gestured to you slightly trembling thighs.

you closed your thighs tighter together in embarrassment, as if didn't just cum in you a few minutes ago. he laughed at this and went to pick you up bridal style.

"y'know, this was what i was talking about when we first met. how we could be doing something else instead of dancing."

"why the fuck did it take you so long then, hm?" you jokingly punched his chest.

"well, why did you have to search up how to ask?" he shot back.

you totally forgot you left your laptop on the bed. it was open enough for anyone that goes by to glance at it and see at least half of what was on the screen.

and he went into the room to change his clothes.

"oh, fuck you teo," you hmphed and crossed your arms.

"you just did," he winked.

I HAD TO REWRITE THIS THREE FUCKING TIMES BECAUSE TUMBLR DIDN'T SAVE. THREE. I ACTUALLY LOST IT.

also how tf do u talk about pussy. like do you say pussy? vagina? entrance? core? heat? THIS IS SO HARD. btw i was so embarrassed making this that some parts might not make sense or be repetitive. im sorry

like comment and subscribe

#never writing smut again unless yall like it #my mind is a lot worse than this i js cant put it into words #x reader #smut #mateo x reader #mateo x reader smut #gekko x reader #gekko x reader smut #valorant smut #valorant x reader smut #valorant x reader #valorant

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inkblackorchid · 5 months

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What the hell happened with Crow: an autopsy (Part 4)

*Deep breath* Okay, everybody. Let's do this one more time.

First off, hello, or welcome back. Let's get the introductions and disclaimers out of the way, shall we?

This is the fourth and final instalment in my very, very long-winded attempt to analyse the character writing of Crow over the course of the entirety of yugioh 5Ds. For everyone who hasn't read the previous parts of the analysis, you can find part one here, part two here, and part three here.

This post, and my analysis as a whole, is neither meant as a Crow hate post, nor as a manifesto to convince people who don't like him that they're wrong. It's as genuine an attempt to simply look at and dissect what the show gives us about him as I can make, though I admit to personal bias because I do like Crow. That said, I'm trying to stay as neutral as possible, because the aim of this entire post tetralogy is to look at the writing decisions made for this character and how they impact him—and how they possibly influenced the audience's perception of him.

My previous three posts all reference this as well, but since I still see these things parroted all across the internet to this day: Please don't read this post under the assumption that any of the 5Ds production rumours are true, especially not the ones surrounding Crow. Because, to make this as short as possible, every popular theory as to why certain characters were mishandled during the later parts of the show fails to line up with the production timeline of said show. Chiefly among those theories, the idea that Crow was meant to be a dark signer and that his popularity correlated to his cards, and the idea that Aki, specifically, had to give up her screentime for him because her VA got pregnant, which both lack any basis in reality, as you can read in the posts I linked. (One final shoutout to @mbg159 here, who compiled these incredibly comprehensive posts and can also be found here on tumblr. Huge thanks.) So if you can do me one favour, please just let the 5Ds rumours die already and read this analysis without the hope of seeing any of them confirmed. I'm so sick of these crackpot theories at this point that I can hardly find the words for it. And while we're on the topic, I also don't want to see this post used as a means to pit Aki and Crow against each other in any way—both have good reasons to be well-liked and both deserve their spot in the narrative, all right? All right.

And now, at last, let's get down to business. The last time I got on a virtual soapbox and yelled about Crow, I covered the entire WRGP, murder-duel-robot induced break included. That means that for this, final stretch, we'll be looking at everything from episode 137 onwards—the Ark Cradle arc. (A side not for dub aficionados here: Episode 136 was the last episode that got an English dub. In other words, everything I talk about here never even made it into the English version. Because 4Kids, I guess.) As we've done before, we'll take a look at what exactly Crow gets up to during the final stretch of the show (and, notably, the epilogue), then see whether any of it needed improving, and if so, how it could have been improved.

You'll find all further yelling below the readmore, and I'll leave you with the other, usual warning here, as well: This will be long. Even if the Ark Cradle arc, relative to the rest of the show, isn't, this post most certainly will be. So get some snacks and perhaps don't start reading this late at night unless you're good at knowing when to stop and reading stuff in bursts. (I'm not.)

As I concluded at the end of my last post, the WRGP ended up being a bit of a mixed bag for Crow. He's there, he duels, but at the same time, despite being positioned as an equal third of a protagonist trio, he's notably less important and arguably also weaker than Yusei and Jack. Moreover, where the plot is concerned, he sure didn't get too much to do—not to speak of the fact that the writers didn't grace him with any meaningful interactions with a certain character who'll become very relevant here.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, the preamble.

With the end of the Team New World duel, the final arc of the show drops the by this point unexpected arrival of the Ark Cradle right on our heads. So, what does Crow do here, at the start, other than be shocked? Well, not much. A lot of the first episode that introduces the Ark Cradle focusses more on the imminent threat said structure poses to New Domino City, and we flash back to our protagonists mostly to ascertain that things are, in fact, going to shit. Even once that focus on the city evacuating shifts again, the episode concerns itself more with Yusei than with Crow. However, meagre as it is, we do get the first interaction between Crow and Sherry during the Ark Cradle arc in this episode.

(Uh.... at least they're technically talking to each other?)

And frankly... It's not much. Unfortunately, up until the duel where he faces her, the Ark Cradle arc continues a trend regarding interactions between Crow and Sherry that we already saw in the WRGP: They barely get to interact, and even when they do, they never have anything so much as resembling a meaningful conversation, mostly because Sherry basically never addresses Crow directly, nor seems very interested in him, while Crow is usually there only to react to what she's saying, rather than actually talk to her. While digging through my mountain of screenshots, I found that latter part to be especially interesting, because as it turns out, this is a trend not just in Crow's interactions with Sherry, specifically. Many moments that probably contribute to the nefarious "screentime" (I've explained my gripes with this term in part two) some people like to accuse Crow of hogging have him only be part of a scene so he can react to what happens in it, to the point of him sometimes feeling like a stand-in for the audience reaction the writers might be hoping for. The above is a perfect example, because as far as character writing is concerned, Crow's "interaction" with Sherry here is utterly devoid of meaning. He's just there to communicate his disbelief over the ominous prediction that Yusei is guaranteed to die if he goes to the Ark Cradle, which feels like exactly the kind of reaction the writers probably wanted from the audience. After all, it's a bold, shocking statement to make. The protagonist, dying? In a card game anime geared towards twelve year-olds? It's downright preposterous. And Crow seems to agree with that, if his dialogue is anything to go by.

This one and other scenes (mostly the kind that contain plot elements that Crow doesn't actually interact with) got me thinking, though, and after having gone through so much of the show with a fine-tooth comb now, I think I've come to a conclusion, so permit me a tangent here: I believe the choice to let Crow, specifically, be a character who often only reacts to events or interactions after the DS arc, rather than contributing much himself, is deliberate. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's the only character who is frequently put in this position—Aki, the twins, and even Bruno, especially when they're on the sidelines in the WRGP, also often only seem to be there to react or comment on things, perhaps partially to remind us viewers that they still exist, despite not being in a position where they contribute anything to the plot. With how much the twins and Aki got pushed to the side after the pre-WRGP and the Unicorn duel, respectively, and with how toned-down Bruno's entire character is until the very end, as not to spoil his tragic antagonist status too much, Crow in particular ending up as an often reactive, rather than active character stands out a bit more, though. And I think this has everything to do with his personality, because it contrasts that of Jack and Yusei. Think of it. Sure, Crow is shown several times to be just as cool and competent as the other two, but what he has that the other two crucially lack is the ability to freak out like a normal person. I'm being hyperbolic here, of course, but I do genuinely believe this, because when I think back to the show, Jack and Yusei, due to their character writing, only ever seem to be allowed to lose their cool during pretty specific circumstances, and only in very specific ways. Jack, for example, only ever gets to freak out either when a scene paints him as the butt of the joke (like during his infamous, dramatic outburst over cup ramen), or when the freakout is caused by—and expressed as—righteous (or not so righteous) fury (like when he storms off angrily after catching everyone watching his old duel with Dragan). Meanwhile, Yusei is played so straight that we barely ever see him lose his composure at all, outside of intensely dramatic, high-stakes situations (think his dark signer duels with Kiryu, his confrontation with Roman, his initial failure to accel synchro). Hell, the closest we get to ever seeing him be mildly upset about something like a normal person, as far as I can recall, is when he gets embarrased by Martha calling him out on his perceived crush on Aki. That's it.

Crow, though. Crow's allowed to do something the other two aren't: He's allowed to react to the world around him like your average guy. Jack blows through their household money for expensive coffee. Crow gets upset. Understandable. Crow gets injured right before his big debut in a turbo duelling tournament and is upset to the point of snapping at his friends over it. Understandable. Seeing Yaeger's kid cheering his dad on and knowing that this kid will cry if his dad loses makes Crow relent and throw the match. Understandable. Sherry predicts Yusei's imminent death due to hocus pocus and Crow calls bullshit. Understandable.

Do you see what I'm driving at? With how the show treats the other two Satellite boys, I'd argue none of the moments above would have worked anywhere near as well if the writers had tried to make Jack or Yusei take Crow's place in any of them. Because while Yusei and Jack, I feel, were certainly written to be the coolest characters (at least to the target audience), Crow seems like he was written to be the most relatable. He's the guy who takes on a delivery job when they need money. He's the guy who complains about his cranky landlady. And he's the guy who reacts to insane nonsense happening around him a little more realistically than his defeated-an-ancient-devil-to-absorb-its-power brother, his shouldering-the-guilt-of-a-cataclysmic-event-decades-ago other brother, their mutual previously-violent-psychic-who-was-part-of-a-cult friend, and the one-of-us-can-see-spirits-and-we-share-a-weird-kind-of-magical-bond twins. As such, it doesn't feel too out there to me to claim that in many situations, they made Crow the stand-in for the audience, because he has a less iron composure than Jack and Yusei, is readily available in many scenes by virtue of living with the other two, and happens to be the guy who has the arguably most normal backstory out of the signers. (Save, perhaps, for Rua, but I've already addressed before why the writers barely ever pulled Rua centre stage for anything. And they certainly wouldn't have pulled him centre stage for this, either.)

Now, as far as character writing is concerned, assuming I'm at least halfway correct with my hunch above, I feel that whether or not this decision is good or a shot in the foot on the writers' part depends largely on every audience member's individual perception of Crow after the DS arc. If you liked seeing this scrappy guy introduced during the DS arc, of course you would have been happy to see more of him! Even if he's only present in scenes to comment on what's going on and doesn't actually get to do anything meaningful. If you didn't like Crow that much, though, I can see how him popping up so often only to yap a bit and contribute essentially nothing could have grated on you. And as I said, I think this is where the "screentime" discussion comes in again, because yeah, Crow is very much on screen in all these little-bit-of-nothing scenes. He doesn't get to do much and his character isn't fleshed out or reinforced in any way, but he sure is there. For better or for worse.

And this—this is where I can finally get back to him and Sherry. Because in his interactions specifically with her, it is for worse, due to the fact that all the scenes that contain both of them before the Ark Cradle duel are pretty much exclusively these kinds of little-bit-of-nothing, reactive scenes. Crow doesn't get to interact with Sherry meaningfully, and he never—and I need to empathise this—, not once gets to interact with her one on one, not until the end-of-series duel both of them take part in happens. What makes Crow's lack of meaningful interactions with Sherry even worse is that his later duelling partner against her is Aki, of all people, who by contrast gets to interact with Sherry a whole bunch, most notably during her duel against Yusei. Not only that, but Sherry is also shown to actually be interested in Aki, which cannot be said for Crow. Yet, still in the same episode I was describing above, while the Ark Cradle begins its descent, it's not Aki, but Crow who is entrusted with this card by Mizoguchi/Elsworth:

(I'd like to point out that the dialogue following this moment doesn't make it clear whether Crow even knows what Sherry's connection to this card is. For all we know, this could be the first time Crow sees it, without being aware of any of the context surrounding it.)

You know, the card that's essentially a symbol of Sherry's attachment to her parents and her commitment to revenge. The card that basically her entire character revolves around. For a single piece of cardboard, this thing comes with a lot of narrative baggage attached, yet canon doesn't even take the time to assure us that Crow knows what Z-ONE means, other than it being a memento of Sherry's parents, as Mizoguchi explains. And frankly, this all feels like a rather ham-fisted attempt to get some last-minute setup for the later confrontation between Crow and Sherry in. It's like the writers desperately wanted to feel the emotional moment in the duel later to feel earned; they wanted to have their cake and eat it, too. There's only one problem: They didn't even bake the damned thing, the ingredients are just sitting around, untouched, as if staring at them long enough will magically make a cake manifest.

But, well, since I'm already talking about this, I may as well get into the actual meat of the matter, because frankly, it's not like Crow gets much else to do at the start of the arc. Yusei takes off because he at first wants to go to the Ark Cradle alone (like an idiot), leading to the signers coming after him (and telling him he's an idiot). Joining this effort and assuring Yusei that they won't let him die alongside the others is as much as Crow gets to do before the inevitable three-way duel starts.

(That said, while it doesn't accomplish anything, I've always appreciated this little moment while Yusei still tries to pull his stupid kamikaze plan—Crow would know more shortcuts in the BAD area than he does. After all, he lived there for a good while!)

After that, everyone gets up to the Ark Cradle and, as we all know, the signer group is forcibly split up by Z-ONE before deciding to go to a Yusei gear each in order to shut down Ark Cradle's negative Moment. (Top ten sentences that wouldn't make a lick of sense to anyone who isn't up to their neck in 5Ds lore.) And the very first duel on the menu in this final stretch of episodes is also Crow's final duel in the entire show.

(Drumroll please.)

Here's the thing. I love this duel, actually. I get extremely hyped every time I rewatch it. BUT. But. I do not love it so blindly that I couldn't see that it has not one, but several issues. Not only that, but those issues don't just rest on Crow's shoulders, they sadly rest on the shoulders of all three participants in this duel, because frankly? Alongside the four-way Jack/Rua/Ruka/Aporia duel, this duel is one of the Ark Cradle arc's desperate attempts to tie up loose ends. Because as much as I enjoy this arc, that's exactly what it is: A race to the finish line, an attempt to tie as many loose ends as possible up in as little time as the show could get away with. To make clear why I think this, let me just list off all the things this arc resolves or at the very least tries to tie up with a neat bow:

It reintroduces Aki's psychic powers, which we were previously led to believe she'd lost. Notably, we didn't get a reason for why they disappeared and don't get a reason for why they reappear, either. It also turns them into healing powers in an attempt to establish a reason for why she later studies medicine.

It explains what happened to Sherry and what actually drives her revenge. Furthermore, it releases her from her narrative fridge-prison in order to actually let her duel Aki (yes, Aki, specifically), which is a confrontation that was subtextually implied several times previously.

It resolves the question of Bruno's identity by revealing him as an antagonist.

It finally reveals Life Stream Dragon, who was at this point teased over seventy episodes ago.

It also finally rewards Rua, who was teased to possibly become a signer during the DS arc, with an actual signer mark. (As short-lived as it may be.)

It actually explains Iliaster's real plan, which is Z-ONE's hope that the 5Ds gang can actually save the future.

Speaking of which, it actually explains who Z-ONE is and why he's a big deal. (Remember, this guy was first teased a good while ago at this point in time.)

Alongside Sherry, it dusts off several protagonists who didn't get an opportunity to duel on-screen and lets them duel one, final time. (Notably, Aki, Rua, and Ruka, who at this point haven't been seen duelling since the early WRGP or even pre-WRGP.)

You may notice that none of these bullet points contain Crow. They do, however, contain Aki and Sherry, both of whom went into this finale with several unanswered questions as to their characters. Crow, not so much. But let's just put a pin in that for now while we actually jump into the duel.

*Cracks knuckles* Aki & Crow VS Sherry. Here we go at last. Fair warning, the character writing of all three participants of this duel overlaps a fair bit here, so expect to hear a bit of a mishmash about our revenge trio.

So, how does this duel start? Firstly, with Sherry waxing poetic about why she's even opposing Team 5Ds now.

(A dramatic switch of sides that sadly doesn't hold a candle to Bruno turning out to be Antinomy. Which, funnily enough, might be why this duel is front-loaded and Bruno's comes later.)

I won't dig into this too much, but I just want to point out the one thing this moment gives us: It establishes character motivation. Sherry claims she can no longer get revenge and has thus lost her purpose. (The reason why she can no longer get revenge, if you're interested, is because Moment Express, her final lead, vanished in its entirety, as far as canon is concerned.) Thus, she took the bait when Z-ONE offered her a new purpose, and, more importantly, a reward. Now, Aki and Crow at this point in the episode don't get to hear what that reward is, but for our analysis, it's important to keep in mind: Z-ONE promised Sherry he'd alter the timeline so she would get her parents back if she helps him. And I think this is immensely important because this is not only Sherry's goal in the present, I think it's actually the core of her character from the very first moment we meet her. In classic, tragic-avenging-type character fashion, she claims to want revenge when what she's really doing is trying to numb the pain of the awareness that she'll never get her parents back. (Though I'll admit this may also be my generous read of her as a person who likes revenge-obsessed characters.) And then, Z-ONE dangles the actual thing she wanted all along before her. Of course she took the bait.

This brings us to the start of the duel itself. As we know, Sherry employs some tactics that feel quite different from what she previously did in this duel. First and foremost, she messes with the mechanics of the duel itself by using the field spell Ecole de Zone, creating an illusion that confuses Aki and Crow into duelling not her, but each other at first. Sherry, meanwhile, takes a very passive role, clearly intent on letting the two destroy each other while she sporadically activates card effects to accelerate this. What makes all this stand out as even more unusual for her is that she sets this up by lying. At the beginning of the duel, she tells Aki and Crow that there's two of her, and that each duellist will fight one copy of her on a seperate field each, but this is a misdirection to make the two signers duel each other instead of her. And, look. I don't need to tell you this is out of character for Sherry. Canon literally does that for me.

(Case in point.)

It's only after Crow and Aki catch onto the fact that something's wrong and after Aki destroys the field spell that Sherry uses her "real strategy", switching to Soul Binding Gate, which inflicts real damage every time a monster with less attack points than her life points is summoned, in order to whittle away at both other duellists' life points. This is also the point where she reveals to her opponents that she's doing all this to get her parents back. While she does that, we get a bit more back and forth in terms of cardplay, until Aki sets the field up just right so Crow can land a very high-damage hit with Black-Winged Dragon to end the duel. And that is pretty much the gist of it on the duelling side of things.

So what's going on on the narrative side of things, then? Well. Let me front-load something I've noticed on the narrative end: This duel heavily interacts with Crow's and Sherry's characterisation, but barely at all with Aki's. I'll make clear what I mean by that below. For now, let's just get an overview by going through the character moments as they occur in the duel. Why go through all of them? Because most either interact with Crow in some way, or set up a later interaction in the same duel that he's a part of, that's why. I'll get into the nitty-gritty of what this duel did well and what it didn't after that. (Mostly. You may have noticed I like tangents and rambling excessively.)

So.

The first moment belongs to Aki and Crow in equal measure, and happens just as Ecole de Zone is destroyed—which Aki accomplishes by using Crow's monster to synchro summon Black Rose Dragon, as well as prevent that synchro summon from being negated through the same monster's effect, so she can use her dragon's field wipe to get rid of Sherry's field spell. When Sherry is surprised by this, Aki and Crow explain that they memorised each other's cards as part of a strategic effort as a WRGP team.

(Friendship is, in fact, magic.)

Not only does this explanation make perfect sense, it's also an excellent little tidbit to tie Aki and Crow together as a tag-team here, as it strengthens the connection between them. The only gripe I could possibly see with this is that it feels like this didn't necessarily need to be a surprise, end-of-the-show reveal. Frankly, it could have been pretty cool to see this much earlier, to have members of Team 5Ds realise what their teammates were getting up to during the WRGP duels, for example. (Instead of so often having the other signers react just as shocked as the announcer to their teammates' plays—I'm side-eyeing the infamous "a trap from the graveyard"-moment in particular. Like, Aki, sweetie, if you memorised Crow's deck, why are you surprised that he has a trap he can activate from the graveyard? I digress.) Moreover, this could have built anticipation for this particular duel, as viewers would have been excited to see what Aki and Crow would come up with to defeat Sherry as a team. So this moment is not bad, really. Just a bit underutilised, at least to me. (The word "underutilised" might become a trend in this post.)

Every other character-driven moment from here on out is shoved into the second duel episode, 140. Speaking of which, this episode starts with Aki and Crow getting the reveal of why Sherry is helping Z-ONE, where she admits that she joined the bad guys because she wants her parents back. She even goes as far as stating that because Z-ONE showed her the future, she has no hope that it can be saved and thus at least wants her lovely past back so she can have some solace before everything goes to hell for humanity. But we already went over that above.

Next up, albeit this moment should probably be considered more of a running theme than just one self-contained thing, we have Crow's struggle with Soul Binding Gate. Remember, the effect of this field spell causes all players to take damage every time a monster with less ATK than Sherry's LP is summoned. And at this point in the duel, Aki is barely above 1000 life points, so Crow worries about triggering the field spell's effect and hurting her, which leads to him playing suboptimally because he's more concerned about his friend than about winning the duel. Notably, Aki calls him out on this.

(She has a point.)

Outside of providing an internal conflict for Crow to grapple with, this isn't much to write home about. (Side note: I do find it interesting that they introduce the fear of physically hurting someone in a duel specifically in connection to Aki here, though, given that through her psychic powers, she had to grapple with this exact issue many times in the past. I have no idea if this was intentional, though.)

Between this and the next moment, there's a nice bit of interplay between Crow and Aki again, where he activates a card to refill her life points just in time so she doesn't drop to zero through Soul Binding Gate, while Aki uses a defensive trap to protect Crow in return.

(This is just here because it's a money shot to me. The juxtaposition of their faces and their life points, showing that while Aki may have the lowest life points, she still has the coolest head in this duel, and while Sherry technically has the upper hand, she's beginning to falter because she didn't anticipate the other two to work so well together. It's chef's kiss. Mwah.)

What follows after this, is, of course, the Big Moment. Where Sherry tries to convince Crow to forfeit so she can win and have Z-ONE change the past. And this is the one I really need to dig into.

With Sherry's earlier admission that she's on Iliaster's side because she wants her parents back acting as setup, she begins her attempt to sway Crow by telling him that if he had the opportunity to change the past, he would do it, too. And while Crow initially protests, Sherry challenges this, then proceeds to show him what Z-ONE's power could accomplish, and we get a lengthy sequence where Sherry, through weird cyborg-techno-magic-shenanigans that are never explained, takes Aki and Crow to a dreamlike space where Crow sees the orphans he used to take care of being happily reunited with their parents. Sherry also ominously tells him that this is "what he desires deep in his psyche" before promising him that if he surrenders the duel, Z-ONE can give him a world where Zero Reverse never occurred and all the kids can have happy lives with their real families. (I wanted to post most of this sequence in screenshots, but while I have them, I've realised I'm only a few images short of tumblr's limit already, so forgive me because I will need those remaining image spots.) This moment proceeds to introduce some serious doubt on Crow's end. Aki, meanwhile, remains steadfast, telling him not to fall for Sherry's manipulation, which leads to her giving an almost Yusei-style speech. In a moment where Crow wavers, both because he's genuinely considering whether taking Sherry's offer might be the wiser choice, and because he doesn't want to hurt Aki by triggering Sherry's field spell effect, Aki calls out to him and tells him to snap out of it by reminding him of how Yusei reached out to her during their second duel. This speech is a bit, um. Clunky, I feel. (At least if the translation is correct. If it isn't, then that may be the issue.) See, she tells him that Yusei "saved her from the darkness of her psychic powers", that "he wasn't concerned about his own safety and risked his life to persuade her", that, because her psychic powers are now gone, she's "renewed" and that this somehow brought her to the epiphany that as long as she believes in her own potential, she can change the future. This is lifted almost verbatim from the scene, by the way. Leaving aside the fact that half of this feels like a mild to severe misrepresentation of Aki's character arc during the DS arc (don't talk about it, don't talk about it, I need to make this another post of its own, damn it), I, personally, can't exactly follow how she ended up with that final epiphany from the circumstances she listed. But lucky for us, Crow apparently gets what she's driving at, because he quickly echoes her statement and they both conclude that Crow's kids also believe in the future and fight to live, that they're not sad about their lives the way they are right now, even though they don't have parents. Thus, Crow catches himself, echoing Aki's sentiment and telling Sherry that he, too, believes in the future. And through the power of Friendship and Believing in the Future, he manages to use Aki's cards to land the final hit, nicely mirroring how she used his to destroy Ecole de Zone.

...Phew. Okay, look. First off, that above, large section is basically several character beats stacked on top of one another. On Sherry's end, we have the intriguing fact that she's specifically trying to manipulate Crow, not Aki. In fact, she doesn't so much as try to sway Aki, as though she knows it's no use. Then, on Aki's end, we've got her pulling a real Yusei, staying level-headed almost the entire duel and reaching out to make sure Crow stays on track. This moment also ties back to her own conflict with her powers again. (Which, unfortunately, I will talk about, and yes, I'll be chewing drywall the entire time I do it.) Finally, on Crow's end, we've got a nice, proper moment where he doubts himself and, by his own admission, nearly makes a terrible mistake because he wants nothing more than for the kids he used to take care of to have good lives.

Now, before I go over what worked about this moment and what didn't, let me just chew through the rest of the actual duel itself, too, then circle back too highlight some things. In other words, time for me to chew some drywall.

*Sigh*

At the very end of the duel, there are two more character moments that are noteworthy.

First, right before the final hit, we get Sherry desperately defending herself against Aki and Crow's newly strengthened belief that the future can, in fact, still be saved, which she does by (rather heartbreakingly) asking what's so wrong about wanting her parents back, about wanting their love and warmth back. It's at this point that Crow's allowed to get back at Sherry by challenging her beliefs, telling her that people "work hard to live because they only get one chance at life", and that there's no point in trying to go back to do things differently, that the only way to keep going is to believe in the future, regardless of whatever painful and sad events one has had to live through. I'd say this sentiment certainly fits Crow, character-wise, especially given his rough Satellite background. It does partially fall flat because it feels a bit weird for him, specifically, to now be acting like he knows Sherry inside and out, much like she did with him earlier, but again, this is simply a matter of setup and I'll try not to belabour that point again. The horse is already dead, no sense in beating it. It's after this speech and the final attack that Sherry finally realises her error.

Buuut this leads us right into the next character moment. Because as the duel ends, Sould Binding Gate physically falls apart, pelting all three of our duel participants in debris and threatening to crush them under it. While everyone does briefly fall over (and Sherry gets a moment to realise that her father wanted her to live strong, not accept seemingly inevitable doom and die weak), they soon realise they were not, in fact, buried under rubble, though. Because guess what! Black Rose Dragon to the rescue. Black Rose Dragon, who can suddenly physically affect her surroundings again. You know, that thing we were led to believe Aki could no longer make her monsters do because she lost her powers completely out of nowhere. And there's more! Because not only does Black Rose Dragon take care of the debris for the trio, as she disappears, she also heals all three of them, and in response, Crow gets a line that I unfortunately cannot for the life of me discuss without bias because it kills me every time.

(Crow. Crow, please. You're killing me. I beg you.)

This line out of Crow's mouth feels extremely weird to me, and in the process of typing up this post, I've been trying to find the reason why. Here's the conclusion I've come to: Firstly, it feels a bit out of place from him, somehow. A line hypothesising about what psychic powers can or can't do—this is something I would have expected out of Aki's mouth, but not out of Crow's. I believe what makes it feel so out of place, though, isn't necessarily that it seems a bit odd for him, specifically, to theorise about this, but that when I hear it, I don't feel like the character is saying it. Instead, in this moment, moreso than in some others that suffer from the same issue, I hear not Crow, but the writers speaking. I hear them telling me "look, we know we made it seem like Aki's powers are super gone and like they were super, irredeemably bad, and like she and you should be happy that they're gone, but here, see, this is what they're really like. Don't you think we came up with something clever here, to set her becoming a doctor later up nicely? No, this isn't because we needed to backpedal on our decision to make her lose them and be happy about it at the last second, why do you ask?". And yes, I concede this might just be me. (So feel free to disregard this in terms of analysis, I just have some weird kind of vendetta against this line.) But still, even without my personal issues hampering me, this line of dialogue out of Crow's mouth is just plain odd. After all, how would he know what "real" psychic powers are? Since when is he the expert, especially considering we've never so much as seen him comment on Aki's powers before? (And for the record, this line would have seemed just as weird had any other character other than Aki said it imo. It just has that unmistakable "writers trying to justify something at the last second"-tang to me.)

And do not. Do Not get me started on the fact that the writers, despite going to such great pains to paint Aki's psychic powers as an exclusively negative thing especially during the WRGP arc, decide to reintroduce them here, suddenly as a good thing that can also heal people, which directly contradicts every choice they've made when it came to Aki's relationship to her powers ever since the Team Catastrophe duel. While crucially also lacking the one thing this entire duel is practically begging for: Fucking. Setup. But at this point, the handling of Aki's powers, specifically, really needs its own post, so I'll hold off on any further comments here and come back to that another time. I feel like I'm beginning to talk in circles, anyhow. Setup. Setup, setup, setup. This duel wishes it had it, because then the ideas presented here—which, in a vacuum, are compelling—might have worked smoothly.

But, with that. We have finally made it through the duel itself. Sherry, at the very end, gets her change of heart and at last cements herself as a good guy, and that concludes the first duel in the finale, and also both Aki and Crow's last duel in the entire show.

And good lord, was this duel all over the place. Though I think my meandering scene-by-scene breakdown of it showed as much. Now, onto the proper evaluation of what worked and what didn't here. First, let's get the good these two episodes do out of the way, shall we. (Because there is a lot of Bad I need to yell about, unfortunately.)

By virtue of being one of the final duels, this is Aki and Crow's last chance to shine, and shine, they do. Both in the duelling department and in the character department. Aki makes two major plays that upend Sherry's strategy and Crow's perfectly in sync with her, showing that the two truly are teammates, and paying off all the character moments they had specifically in the Team Unicorn to Team Catastrophe section of the WRGP. Their friendship and cooperation is believable and entertaining to watch. Then on the character side, Aki's growth is (somewhat) paid off—where she used to be a character that doubted herself and was afraid of hurting people, she is now the one who can keep a level head and help others fight their self-doubt. Meanwhile, Crow gets to show off his unfailing dedication to community and family again, both by watching out for Aki and by selflessly desiring not for himself to have a better life, but for the kids he used to take care of. And Sherry, who was previously removed from the narrative in such an unsatisfactory way, finally gets to duel again, gets to explain why she actually does what she does, and gets to join the heroes at the end, permanently joining the ranks of the good guys instead of the villains. Happy endings all around.

Ehem. And this is where I'm gonna be less nice about this duel. Because the problem is, due to the specific constellation of characters involved in this duel and how they previously interacted in the show, there's a lot of stuff here that doesn't work nearly as well on a second watch as a first watch would like to make you believe.

First, a broader issue on the card game end of things: The way this duel feels, it's very much more Aki's duel than Crow's, which is also kind of confirmed in the card plays being made. Though it's Crow who's first shown to catch onto the fact that a third party is activating additional card effects out of nowhere, it's Aki who fully solves the mystery, uses Crow's monster to synchro summon Black Rose Dragon, then activates her dragon's effect to get rid of the illusion for good. And while Crow gets to land the final hit, it's Aki's setup and her trap, Synchro Stream, that make it possible for him to win for both of them. And yet. On the dialogue- and character-interaction side of things, this duel is made out to be much more Crow's than Aki's. Because, perhaps surprisingly to some, Aki doesn't waver one bit in this duel. She's got her head in the game the entire time. She's here to do business—that business being defeating Sherry—and by god, does she do it. Moreover, unlike Crow, she has much, much better setup to be duelling Sherry than he does. And this comes right back around to the main thing this duel suffers from, which I've already harped on about: Crow and Sherry, up until this point, have not interacted in a way that would make the connection between them seem in any way significant. Unfortunately for this duel, though, Aki and Sherry have.

From the first episode where we're introduced to Sherry, she's shown to be interested in who Aki is and what she can do. During the duel between her and Yusei, she comments on Aki's powers. Later, when Aki is getting her turbo duelling license, Sherry watches on with interest. At some point while Aki's training, Sherry drops by to speak with her and Yusei again. My point here being, of course, that Aki, unlike Crow, got several scenes where she interacted with Sherry or had Sherry meaningfully take note of her existence before this point. Yet, whatever dynamic the writers may or may not have been aiming for between these two is, at best, underutilised in the final duel, if not completely ignored, at worst. Instead, the writers shift their focus to Crow and try to make us believe that Sherry, a character who has barely acknowledged his existence thus far, would know him well enough to consider him the better target for her attempt at manipulation. (And don't get me started on how the hell Z-ONE's weird robot magic is supposed to expose what Crow "desires deep in his psyche". That is simply a chasm the show expects us to suspend our disbelief over.) And look. The thing is, I don't think the Big Moment where Sherry tries to convince Crow to forfeit is terrible in isolation. Like, they could have made this work, had they given these two setup, had they given us, the audience, reason to believe Crow could be swayed like this (which they, notably, also didn't), and had they given us the impression that Sherry knows Crow well enough to pull something like this. What hurts the scene immensely, however, is that it's preceded by everything before, starting from the WRGP, where there is no setup between these two, no reason to believe Crow could be convinced to forfeit a duel against a major antagonist, and no meaningful interactions to support the belief that Sherry knows who Crow really is at all.

What also stands out to me is that Crow really doesn't feel like the best character to parallel Sherry, here, either. Parallel in the sense that she tries to get to him by expressing a desire she believes they both feel—getting a certain, nicer version of the past they never had back. Because the thing is, Sherry and Crow hardly feel like they have very much in common, and there's certainly no previous hints to make anyone believe they would have this in common. (So for all we know, Sherry could have just been taking a shot in the dark by trying to convince Crow.) You know who could have made for an excellent character to mirror Sherry, though? Yeah. The third person in the room during this scene. Aki.

See, here's the thing about these three as characters, in relation to what this scene tries to accomplish (getting a protagonist to waver by having the antagonist appeal to certain emotional similarities between them): While Crow may perhaps be more relatable to the audience, he isn't all that relatable to Sherry. He comes from dirt poor origins, she from rich ones. He doesn't even remember his parents, she defines herself by the memory of hers. She's a lone wolf, he's incredibly community-focussed. The only parallel you could have drawn between these two, up until this duel, is knowing what it feels like to want revenge. (Sherry with her parents, Crow with his kids back in the DS arc.) But guess what, unfortunately, Aki knows that too, what with her past as the Black Rose Witch and wanting to make people pay for ostracising her. And to make matters worse, she has a lot of other things going for her that parallel Sherry much, much better, too. They both come from well-off families, both have had major, traumatising events in their lives revolve around their parents, both left their initial family structure by way of drastic changes in their life, both are intimately familiar with the desire for vengeance, and, most damningly, Aki knows what it's like to stand on the side of the bad guys—like Sherry is doing in that very scene—because you feel like it's the only place that gives you hope/meaning. Not to speak of the fact that Aki, given her turbulent past with her psychic powers, would probably know exactly what it feels like to want a past you never had back. There would have been so much to work with there, and it makes whatever they were gunning for with Crow look... lacklustre, to put it mildly, by comparison.

The worst part is, I think, that the blame lies neither with the characters nor with the scene concept here. Solely with the execution. Because I truly think they could have made this work. They could have made the entire duel work, big character moments and all. But the keyword is and always has been setup. Setup, which the writers, at least in part, strangely gave to Aki, but not to Crow, which is what hurts particularly his portion of this duel, and, arguably, his character writing in general. Because—and this may be a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but permit me this—while Crow wanting a better future for the kids he used to take care of over a better future for himself feels perfectly on brand, the idea of him forfeiting a duel against a major antagonist, while the threat of the entire city being destroyed is hanging above his head... doesn't. Like, yes, I've talked about the fact that Crow is the only character in 5Ds who ever actually loses duels on purpose. What you may remember, though, is that both occasions we've seen him do this—against Lyndon and Yaeger, respectively—were much lower-stakes duels than this. Not to speak of the fact that it also feels a little odd that Crow, of all people, would buy into the idea that Z-ONE's genuinely powerful enough to just give those kids their parents back, given how liberally he called bullshit on pretty much any and all supernatural mumbo-jumbo claiming that fate is inevitable, or that the gods have this-and-that power, or what have you the entire show. (Also, doesn't he strike you as the guy who'd wonder why Z-ONE's not using his fancy powers for better things, if the extent of them is so great? Or is that just me?) It's a moment of character doubt that tries to sell itself as believable, even though we've never been given any hints that this kind of temptation, specifically, could work on Crow.

Ultimately, Crow & Aki VS Sherry feels like a very hot-and-cold duel. On the cardplay side, the teamwork between Aki and Crow is well done, yet the duel does feel like it skews more towards Aki than towards Crow. Sherry, meanwhile, plays tricky and mean like a proper antagonist, but does so at the expense of sacrificing all her previous tactics and monsters (and, arguably, some of her character, though this is probably on purpose, given her transformation into an antagonist). Then, on the character side, we've got Aki in an interestingly Yusei-ish role, which, while it feels like a good way to show how she's matured and learned, wastes her character dynamic with Sherry. On the other side, Crow and Sherry interact in several personal ways throughout the duel that leave you wondering when exactly these two got to know each other so well, because the show certainly didn't give us a visible progression of their dynamic. The only dynamic that leaves nothing to be desired is that between Aki and Crow (stilted speeches aside), because it excellently showcases their friendship and teamwork. Very weird decisions made in the writing here all around.

We'll get into the nitty-gritty of what changes I would have suggested to improve this duel below, but first: What happens after this duel? Well, two more Yusei gear duels, Aporia briefly standing up to Z-ONE, and then, the final, big clash between Yusei and Z-ONE.

Given that Crow isn't even present for two of these duels and then barely gets more to do than stand on the side and react during the final two, I will dare to skip all that, though. Because really, Crow's occasional comments and the play-by-play he sometimes joins the others in giving when spectating a duel don't exactly contribute anything to his character. They're just there so he gets something to do and doesn't fade into the background entirely when a duel that doesn't involve him is going on. This includes the moment where he, much like the other signers, gets to give Yusei Black-Winged Dragon for the final duel, as well as the later moment when Yusei uses it, chanting in tandem with Crow as BWD arrives. And other than that and the tear-jerking moment when he later reacts to Yusei returning despite all odds, he really doesn't get any noteworthy scenes.

In other words, we are skipping straight to the end. So, where do we find Crow there?

(Oh, y i k e s.)

There's a popular post circulating around this site that goes something like "the worst thing you can do to a character is make them a cop during a timeskip". And, look. I don't think I need to tell anyone that becoming a sector security officer is an extremely jarring character choice for Crow. Crow, of all people! The guy with the face full of markers, who used to be part of a duel gang, who was introduced in the show gleefully stealing from security Robin Hood-style, and who has every reason to despise law enforcement! (Leaving aside the obvious logistical issue that Crow in no country in the world could have completed his police training in the few months between the Ark Cradle debacle and this scene. But given that 5Ds generously brushes realistic concerns like this one aside on multiple occasions, this is, funnily enough, the thing I'm also more willing to overlook here. The character dissonance, however, less so.)

I'll try to be generous and guess that the writers were aiming to convey a message somewhere along the lines of "even someone who's done bad things in the past can become an example for others" or something like it. The problem is just that Crow didn't need any such message because he was already the good guy while he was still actively stealing from security. He was the lovable rogue to a T, damn it! But this, in particular, is a surface scratch hinting at a bigger issue, I think—namely, the issue of the show's complete pivot when it came to the depiction of law enforcement after the DS arc. Because when we think back to that part of 5Ds, good security officers were the exception, rather than the rule. And this is exactly what makes Crow of all characters becoming one even weirder. He would know, would remember how security used to treat him, his kids, his friends, his brothers. And if the idea here was that, well, he's trying to improve sector security by joining it and changing it from the inside, so to speak, then guess what was missing again: Our good, old friend setup. I'm starting to feel like a broken record. So yeah, I don't think a ton of people, whether they like or hate Crow, would disagree that this is a supremely weird position to put his character in.

As we find out through 5Ds' epilogue, however, his sector security job isn't quite what Crow actually wants, though. (And thank god, because that would have been such a bizarre position to leave him in.) Instead, we're shown fairly quickly that several duelling leagues are apparently trying to scout Crow out, and that he's tempted to accept one of the offers and go into pro duelling. This is at first shown in a short scene where something like a league scout follows Crow, then later, when the whole group—sans Jack, at first—is getting together and everyone starts discussing their futures. Aside from complaining a bit about his job and upsetting Aki without meaning to, Crow doesn't get much to do here, either. For what it's worth, at least him feeling tempted to ditch the security job feels more in line with the original Crow we got than with whatever strange twist the writers were going for after this shorter timeskip.

What follows is the very last duel of the show, the long-awaited Yusei VS Jack rematch, of course. And while he doesn't get to participate in this one, Crow, much like Aki and the twins, spectates the duel and ends up having an epiphany about what he wants to do. This epiphany ends up being that he does want to turn to pro duelling, and as a reasoning, canon provides us with this:

(As is known, intense card games are the only way to make children smile.)

Personally, I wouldn't say this is a terrible or out of character reason for Crow to decide to go pro. But there's more to that I'd like to discuss. First, though, let's take a quick look at where we find Crow after the second, bigger timeskip, which is inserted right in the middle of Yusei and Jack's final duel.

(Okay, yeah, I'm a sucker for the bullet earrings.)

The quick scene Crow gets here makes it unmistakably clear that he did go into pro duelling, just like he decided during the duel in the past, and not only that, he went into tag-team duelling and apparently managed to reach world champion status with his teammates. The above scene, however, is the exact same moment he decides to leave said team, so he can instead go solo and (presumably) try to beat Jack.

Now, we can discuss this in a bit more detail. Personally, I'm extremely in two minds about Crow being one of three characters, total, who ends up becoming a pro duellist after canon. Jack seems obvious, especially given the pivot back to his more Fortune Cup-esque persona the writers did around the Red Nova episodes. Rua also makes sense, given that Jack was his idol from the start. Crow, though, feels a little more complicated. The thing is, like so many things surrounding Crow in the Ark Cradle arc, the writers gave us no indication pro duelling is something he's really passionate about before this point. Worse, they didn't even really tell us what reason he saw to participate in the WRGP with his brothers beyond "could be fun". So there isn't really a connection here. The same thing goes for the fact that he specifically talks about teaching his teammates above, which is also something he wasn't associated with all that much previously. Though this one is admittedly less egregious, because at least Crow was seen briefly coaching Aki as she prepared to take his spot during the Unicorn duel. Still, while I wouldn't go as far as saying it's an out of character choice for Crow to go pro, it still feels a little odd that he went down the same route as Jack. Personally speaking, it feels like the writers didn't quite know what to do with him. Because as I said, Jack is obvious and Rua also makes sense, and I'd say the same goes for Yusei. Then there's Ruka, who is treated about as in-depth in the epilogue as she was throughout canon, and Aki, whose "setup" for her timeskip self was done extremely hasty and last-minute, but at least it was there. Between all of them, Crow occupies a weird spot where it doesn't so much feel like he ended up on the wrong trajectory for his life, as it simply feels like there were choices the writers could have made that would have fit him much better. What with his theme of legacy and community, trying to make Pearson's dream of a place where disenfranchised children can learn good life skills a reality would have been a good fit, for example. Especially considering his close ties to the Satellite orphans he used to take care of, which, funnily enough, are reinforced one more time as canon flips back to present day and Crow is seen bidding his kids goodbye.

("Come back"? When, precisely? And what part about "literally saved the world twice" doesn't qualify you as a hero to a bunch of kids ten times over already?)

Considering canon seems hellbent on making sure we know the signers went their separate ways and that they aren't anywhere near each other by the very end of the show, though, my guess is that Crow had to end up doing something like pro duelling, in order to get him out of New Domino City and away from the friend group whose shenanigans we were so accustomed to following by that point. Of course, there's also the argument to be made that Crow staying in NDC and getting a more community-focussed ending would have also been significantly less cool than making him a kickass pro duellist with bullet earrings, which circles back to how the writing interacts with its target audience.

The only thing that follows after this, then, is the big goodbye, and with that, ladies, gentlemen, and other lovely 5ds nerds, we have successfully followed bird boy's path throughout the entire show. And what a ride it was. (I did not think this analysis would end up stretching over a whole four posts.) Time for some closing thoughts before I do my thing and suggest some rewrites that could have made all this feel more coherent one more time.

Crow's character arc, if it can even be called that, feels about as hot and cold as his and Aki's final duel with Sherry over the course of the show. His introduction is fast-paced, he's made to be likable quickly, and his integration into the main protagonist group is as quick as everything else about his narrative. Between the way he shows up out of nowhere, briefly disappears without fanfare, and is then reintroduced with even more importance before slipping into the signer group like he's always been there, it truly feels like his entire inclusion in the narrative was a last-minute decision by the writers to include that one, additional character concept Kazuki Takahashi had originally created after all. If there was one way to describe his whole arc, it would be that it's a rush. At the start, the writers are in a hurry to make him likable, then they're in a hurry to make him a signer, then they're in a hurry to give us a whole backstory for him, then they're in a hurry to give him a believable character dynamic with Aki, and at the end, they're in a hurry to pay off a character dynamic with Sherry they didn't properly set up with him. You may notice that leaves significant gaps, and the lack of balance between those gaps and the rushes surrounding them, I believe, are part of why he's such a polarising character.

Crow is integrated so thoroughly into the signer group at the end of the DS arc that, much like Aki and the twins, he gets stuck in the position of being a character that cannot simply be removed from the narrative for a longer amount of time. And this, I think, ends up biting him in the ass, because in the gaps where the writers don't rush to do something big with him, it often feels like they don't quite know what to do with him at all. So, he instead gets relegated to small side tasks, like inane duels that don't affect the plot, or becomes the person who reacts to unfolding situations in whatever manner wouldn't fit Yusei or Jack. He feels like he's the third portion of the protagonist trifecta only in theory—the status of an equal third player seems to be what the writers had in mind, yet, looking at the show, it feels like an honorary title, at best, because the writing choices made for him don't convey anywhere near the same amount of thought and effort as those of Yusei and Jack. Crow's backstory doesn't intersect significantly with that of his brothers, his dragon is introduced way too late and never given an upgrade, he never gets to clash with Iliaster until the Team New World duel, and throughout the entire WRGP and Ark Cradle arc, there isn't a single duelling victory that's solely his. People who prefer other characters over Crow like to harp on about how much screentime he gets; I argue that this is exactly what showcases how poorly the writers took care of him in many instances. For as much as Crow is plastered onto the screen and given the aesthetics of an equal player in a protagonist trio, his many appearances are as much of a curse as they are a gift, because too many of them aren't spent setting up anything meaningful or developing his character in any way. Speaking of character development: There is none. Crow exits the show pretty much exactly the same as he entered it, brief security stint aside. And, look, this need not necesarily be a bad thing. Static characters exist and they have their place in stories. It's just that in Crow's case, his utter lack of development feels like another damning indicator of the writers' cluelessness when it came to utilising him, given his weird, sort-of-elevated-protagonist. Aki, who is so often weighed against him, gets significantly more development than he does. And though Jack also ends up in almost the same place at the end of the show as he was at the start, at least he had a dip in the middle where his character was somewhat malleable and not set in stone. Crow didn't.

What we end up with, then, is a character whose concept is perfectly fine on paper, but whose execution proceeded to turn him into the one and only favourite for some, and the embodiment of piss poor writing for others. Having now looked at pretty much his entire run in the show with a bloody microscope, I end up somewhere in the middle, myself. He's a good character and much of his writing is confusing at best, utter dogshit at worst. As for what decisions in the writing room led to him turning out like this, I'd still pay good money to know them. For what it's worth, I've tried my very best to make an educated guess as to all of them.

And now, for the final time, allow me to do my very best to suggest how the issues of the Ark Cradle arc could have been addressed in order to make Crow's part in it less messy.

In previous posts, I've split up my rewrite suggestions depending on one circumstance: Whether or not Crow stays a signer. However, this time, I will deliberately forgo this, for one, very simple reason—Crow's status as a signer doesn't matter one bit for the Ark Cradle arc. Regardless of whether he has a mark or not, his duel with Sherry remains unaffected, and so does his later timeskip-self. Thus, pick your favourite, both versions work for the Ark Cradle.

Now. Onto the elephant vengeful Frenchwoman in the room. Let me repeat my favourite word in this post one more time. What the dynamic between Crow and Sherry needed, more than anything else, in order to satisfyingly be paid off during their Ark Cradle duel, was setup. There was so much time Crow spent on screen doing fuck all, and some of that time could have so easily been allocated to him interacting with Sherry in a meaningful manner. (I'm side-eyeing especially his pre-WRGP duels. Those did nothing to add to his character and could have easily been replaced with episodes where he actually gets to talk to Sherry one on one.) And if not that, then the writers could at least have done themselves the favour of letting Aki talk to Crow about Sherry, which would have arguably set up their three-way clash even better. Moreover, show us how the hell these two characters parallel each other and how they differ, damn it! The main issue with the big moment Sherry and Crow had in the duel was that Crow's faltering and his sudden, deep understanding of Sherry came completely out of nowhere. So what if they had shown some of that earlier, then? What if they had shown where the lmits of Crow's resolve lie, what could get him to doubt himself? What if they had drawn the parallel of Sherry and Crow both supposedly being characters that sometimes wistfully think about a past they never had earlier? It would have done so much to make that duel hit exactly the way it was probably meant to. As a bonus, if we had gotten Aki and Crow talking about Sherry, too, the scene of talking Sherry out of helping Z-ONE could have been a team effort, just like their card playing was. Both of them would have reasons to know different aspects of Sherry each, and both could have brought up good arguments. And this is really all this duel woild have needed to be better on the story end, I think: A solid, narrative foundation to make it obvious to us why it has to be these three characters duelling, why it could have only been this setup, why it made the most sense to let these three bounce off each other. Crow only needs that extra step to slot in better with the girls here.

As for the epilogue, I don't think anyone will be surprised to read that I would have never made Crow a cop, not even temporarily. The depiction of law enforcement 5Ds gives us during the DS arc is too damning for that. However, given the way the ending is structured, he does need some sort of occupation that feels like it's not quite the right thing so he can later change his mind about it, of course. Here, though, is where I, purely in service of Crow's character, would suggest a change that probably doesn't work with the ending's final aim of separating the 5Ds gang by hundreds of kilometres each. I would let Crow go into pro duelling first, then let him figure out that's not what he actually wanted. Crow, to me, is a character who is so intrinsically tied to community and family that turning him into a solitary pro duellist—even if he claims to do it to make the kids back home smile—feels off to me. Thus, from a character standpoint, I would let him pivot back to wanting to take care of those kids. Either through what I suggested above, letting him carry on Pearson's dream, or, which also feels fitting to me, by letting him help out Martha again and setting him up as the guy who'll take over when she can no longer run the orphanage. It's not the cool, glamorous end the show gave him, but it's what feels more like the family-focussed guy we first met in the show. It doesn't gel with the idea of permanently separating him from the other signers, though, unfortunately. To do something like that while keeping his community theme, one would probably have to send him away to shack up with Brave or something, to help orphans in other countries. But this, I think, nicely showcases the dissonance between what Crow's character writing would suggest he might do at the end, and what the show demanded he needed to do so he'd no longer be close to the others. Because my focus, as always, is only on character here. And Crow, with his personality and his writing, feels like the character who chafes the most against the idea of striking out solo, abandoning his ties to the community he was so invested in previously. To that extent, the above suggestion is the best I can provide with what we were canonically given. If we wanted to keep the canon ending he gets and actually make it make sense why he suddenly wants to be a lone wolf pro, the only thing I could suggest would be more setup for that. (Ah, there it is again. One final time.) Show Crow having some actual competitive drive, show him enjoying the whole tournament thing more than he thought he would during the WRGP. Just give us something that shows why he would want to go down this path, and why some other things that were previously important to him might not be a priority anymore. It all comes back to setup.

*Deep breath*

So, here we are, then, and this is it. This is all I could make of Crow's character writing in the entire show. To everyone who read this post in its entirety, a heartfelt thank you. To everyone who read the whole series of posts in its entirety, I'm so glad you're as insane about this show as I am, it makes me feel incredibly appreciated. Hope you enjoyed the ride, more meta posts will come eventually, just about different topics. In the meantime, see ya.

#yugioh 5ds #crow hogan #ygo 5ds #5ds #sherry leblanc #yugioh meta #IT IS DONE #HOLY SHIT IT IS DONE #I can't believe I've reached the point of my life where I do gratuitous media analysis for fun #this was such a ride god damn #but I completed it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#I'm sticking a gold star on my forehead as a reward #anyway hope you enjoy this last part #feel free to yell at me (enthusiastically) about it #orchid rambles

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m2ok · 2 years

Text

Don’t leave

John Price X M!Reader

Summary: just a soft lil moment :]

A/N: and I’m back! Quick disclaimer that I have not played any of the COD games and all of my knowledge from said games or the military in general is either from random videos on the internet or my brother so please bear with me since this will probably be out of character, but I hope you enjoy! As always requests are open

You were used to nightmares and they plagued you on a regular basis, but this one was different. This one felt so real, like it had actually happened and you were experiencing a memory rather than a dream. You must’ve been louder than you thought when you were asleep, because soon after you’d finally caught your breath you heard a soft knock at the door.

You slowly rose from the bed on unsteady limbs to quietly pad over to the door. It unlocked with a click and as you opened it you were met with the concerned face of your Captain

“Y/n-“ he started, simply and light. But just your name on his tongue had you breaking down. It was embarrassing for a moment. You were a grown man, a hardened soldier that had taken countless lives on the battlefield yet here you were, tears gathering in your eyes as Price stood in front of your door alive.

You were quick to drop into his arms, and he was quick to catch you, pulling you to his chest as he kept a firm hand on your back while the other went to rest on the back of your head. The pressure just enough to let you know that he was there and that he was okay. That you were okay.

“Don’t leave” you’d whisper out, hands coming to desperately grab at his shirt to make sure he’d stay.

“Please don’t leave me again” you sounded so broken, and it was something he wasn’t used to. He gently led you back into your room and closed the door, locking it behind him as he sat down on the bed and pulled you into his lap.

“I’m here. I’m right here” he’d whisper into your ear, his hand gently rubbing up and down your back. He didn’t bother asking questions, he could use his context clues to figure out what was wrong and he didn’t think now was the right time to start pressing about whatever nightmare you had. You needed comfort, and he was there to give it to you.

You didn’t know how long you’d stayed in that position for, but it was long enough for both your legs and his to start cramping from the tension. He slowly laid you both down on the bed, carefully tucking you into his side as he wrapped the blanket around your bodies to keep the cold air out.

You eventually gained your composure, and you wished you hadn’t. Because now with a clear brain you could assess the situation, and by god were you embarrassed. You didn’t know whether to bury yourself into him further to hide your reddening face or to completely pull away and apologize profusely for what you had done.

You wiggled away just a little, Price looking down at you with a confused look as you stared up at him.

“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to wake you up. Or have you take care of me like I’m some kid” you averted your gaze, trying your best not to let the shame completely engulf you.

“Don’t be” he said simply as he pulled you back into his hold again.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed about, we all get them. If I can help you through it then I want to, you’re not alone in this”

You hated how he always knew just what to say to get you to crumble, you hated how much affect he had on you. But you couldn’t argue with that warm fuzzy feeling filling up your chest, not that you really wanted to anyways. And you didn’t know where this put your relationship with the Captain, but it seemed like that was a problem for tomorrow. Right now you were tired, the sudden wave of exhaustion hitting you like a truck, and all you wanted to do was relish in the comfort you were getting.

You carefully put your head back on his chest, a content sigh leaving your lips as you relaxed in his hold, your body putty in his hands. As you slowly drifted off to sleep, a small almost unnoticeable kiss was placed on your forehead before he too let himself rest.

A/N: ahhh okay so this isn’t my favorite and I think it’s got a bad ending but I just needed something to get those creative juices flowing :]

#cod modern warfare #cod x male reader #john price x reader #john price #male reader #captain price #captain price x you #captain price x reader #john price x you #john price imagine #cod x reader

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futbolfanficpunk · 1 year

Text

Who is it?

Player: Pedri Gonzalez x Fictional Female Word count: 6330+ Summary: Pedri and his girlfriend break up when she can't handle the downfalls of being with someone famous, as they try to navigate their post-breakup friendship Pedri is having a really hard time because he is not over her, at all. Themes/Warnings: Fluff, Angst, Love Smut, Alcohol A/N: This came out pretty quickly, in a week and a half, which is really rare for me. Got inspiration from Rauw Alejandro's Dime Quien?. The timeline goes back and forth a bit, so be mindful of that. First time doing a long sex scene with a real plot, hope it works.

Pedri couldn’t get Camila out of his head, it’s been four months since they broke up. She left even when he pleaded, and pleaded, crying his eyes out like a teenager being rejected for the first time. She assured him that they could stay friends, he hadn’t done anything wrong, she just wasn’t ready for all the attention and outside drama of being in a relationship with him. They dated in secret for six months and once they went public she couldn’t deal with it anymore, four months later they were done. She wanted to be his friend but she needed some time by herself before that could happen. He accepted what little she had to offer. Two months ago Camila texted him late at night saying hi and asking how he was. Pedri was miserable, if he had been honest that’s what he would have said but he didn’t want to take a step back and lose contact with her because he was needy. He replied

<I’m good, just wanted to check on you>

<Thanks. How’s everything?>

< Not much. Lots of work.

I’ve seen your games. Glad the team is doing so well>

< We appreciate the support from our fans 🙂>

<hahahaha. Let’s chat soon or whatever. Going to sleep. > < I’m down. Good night>

He just smiled, reading the conversation again. He still loved her, wanted her, missed her, loved her, loved her, loved her. He ran his hands through his hair and pulled it in desperation while letting out a small groan. The first time they kissed, they made out for an hour, he couldn’t get enough of her, and she of him. Now Pedri couldn’t get Camila out of his head, if he could, if someone showed him how he would but he couldn’t. He had a small dip in training the first few weeks after the breakup, causing him to get benched for two straight games, and then got subbed into the third game with a sketchy game at that. He just couldn’t get his head straight. His teammates were trying to be understanding but outside people started noticing and he was getting criticized heavily. He wasn’t his normal self, not smiling in team photos, and Camila was nowhere to be seen in games or his cars, although she was very private she would be seen with him in public once or twice a month. The last month? Nothing, plus all her socials were now private. It got so bad the rumors got to his mom’s circle and mom, who at times treated her son as a friend, called him “Mi amor, todo bien?” (My love, is everything all right?) “Si, mami todo bien” (Yes, mom, everything’s all right)

“¿Cómo esta Cami? No me has enviado fotos con ella hace semanas y están comentando en internet cosas sobre ustedes” (How’s Cami. You haven’t sent me a pic with her in weeks and their saying things on the internet about you two)

“Ma’ , Camila y yo no estamos juntos ya” (Ma’, Camila and I aren’t together anymore)

“¡Cariño! ¡Que pena!, ¿pasó algo?” (Honey! What a shame! Did something happen?)

“No, mami, lo de ser famoso es un puta hostia” (No, mom, just that being famous is shit)

“Lo puede ser, sí….de veras, que pena. ¿Quieres que te vayamos a visitar?” (It can be, yes…it’s a real shame, Do you want us to visit you?)

“No, no te preocupes, ya me voy sintiendo mejor. Estamos de amigos” (No, don’t worry, I’m starting to feel better. We’re just friends now)

“Vale, te quiero, mi niño. Sabes que estamos aquí para ti” (Okay, I love you, my boy. You know we’re here for you) “Lo se, mami, yo tambien te quiero, chau (I know, mom, I love you too, bye)

“Adios” (Good-bye)

And after that call he decided that everything else would have to suffer except his football career, he would have to get used to not thinking about her before or during games or training. He had a habit of going through the photos he had of Camila on his phone whenever he was missing her desperately. He would touch himself when he felt lonely looking at pictures of her modeling lingerie she had sent him for away games. Nobody could make him as hot and hard as she did, he missed being inside her while kissing her the most because at that moment he felt like they were one thing, she was his and he was hers. He felt so empty every time he came, hand full of cum, he hated not having her around. In private he could hate himself and his situation all he wanted but not in public, not in football. He didn’t want his family to worry anymore. He usually shut the world off from his brain when he was playing but this last month Camila was creeping into his mind but from then on, he shut her off from his safe space, the pitch. He started playing better at training. Next month, he tried his best, even Camila herself noticed he was doing better and she started thinking maybe enough time had passed by and they could actually start talking again soon. She missed him too, she missed his friendship the most. Even though they had said they would talk soon, they didn’t but they did start subtly interacting with hearts and likes on their social media, and neither of them was really ready to talk for another month. Pedri went by himself to a restaurant they used to love to go and decided to take a picture of his food and send it to her <“Guess where I am at?” >. Camila didn’t answer right away, so he just ate the delicious food that was in front of him and enjoyed the view of the city even if he had a bit of a knot in his chest. After asking for the check his phone vibrated < Is that fucking Don Jordi?>

<Yep! You guessed right>

<It’s sooo good! I love that place! What I wouldn’t give to eat their chocolate mousse cake>

<I’m home but you don’t need to do that! >

<Oh, don’t be silly. Don Jordi is not far from you>

<I’ll bring it over and be on my way, see you in 20>

<god, I shouldn’t have said anything but okay, I love chocolate too much> He just needed an excuse, anything to see her in person. It had been three months and a week since he last saw her, Camila leaving his house with the last box full of her things, never to return. He order the dessert to go and went to the bathroom to check how he looked. He looked fine, this new fine of having eyes of someone who never sleeps through the night, just needed to fix his hair.

He knocked on her door and waited, small bag in hand with a small dessert inside. She knew it was him, she had buzzed him in. “That was fast! Hope you weren’t speeding” she said as she opened the door “Hi”

‘Hi, and don’t worry, I wasn’t ” he replied with a small smile She gave him a small hug and said “It’s good to see you”. He could barely move, his mouth was dry, and his nerves were on edge but that hug made him feel a tingling all over his body he hadn’t felt in months. He wrapped his free hand around her and gave her a small squeeze back. “You too”. He said

She stepped back and looked at the bag he was carrying

“This is for you,” he said as he gave her the bag “I hope it’s not ruined” “I’m sure it’s not,” she said with a smile “Thanks so much!” “No problem” he said as he took the opportunity to look at her for a second. Her hair was longer, but she looked the same. She was wearing a cropped sweater and tight-fitting joggers. He could see part of her belly and lips were shiny from wearing a bit of lipgloss. He could fight 10 men at a time just to get to kiss those lips again.

“Well, thanks again” She interrupted his thoughts ”Maybe we can hang out soon and catch up?”

“Yes, lets. Now go inside and eat it”

“Oh, I will!” she gave him a lil pat on his left arm “Bye” she turned towards the door and opened it, she turned around and said, “I’ll see you soon, okay?”

He smiled, nodded and turned around to go towards the stairs, down to his car.

His heart was racing when he got into his car. Time had not changed anything at all, maybe his love-wounds hurt less but seeing her again in person made him want her back more than ever.

From that day on he would put his cell phone right next to him with the sound notifications on just in case she texted or called, even when he went to bed early because he had training the next day he placed his phone next to his pillow hoping she would. He would stare at it, trying to conjure her with his thoughts. A week and a half had passed since they saw each other when his phone vibrated and made a noise when he was putting on pajama pants to sleep, he took his shirt off and jumped into bed to check his phone. And there it was, a text from her, asking to meet up next Sunday, at the time of his choosing, whenever he could. He said that he could meet her after 3 PM, anywhere she liked. She decided that they would meet at The Café on Rosell Street at 4pm. He counted the days, every day waking up to check how many days were left. He got a haircut two days before. He had a game the day before their meeting, and he was sure he would be in the starting eleven, so it wouldn’t look like he was trying too hard since he usually got a haircut before big games.

Rosell Street, 4pm. The Cafe. Camila was there already. Pedri saw her right away because she was already looking and waving at him when he got in. She must have seen him coming from the street. Camila stood up “Hey, you” opening her arm as to welcome a hug. Pedri gave her a shy hug and quick kisses on her cheeks being afraid of himself and his reaction “Nice to see you” he said while pulling away from her “Is this table okay? She asked said nervously “What kind of question is that? Of course” he said, surprised. Something is off, she’s nervous, he thought. She asked about the game and training, she had seen the game and congratulated him on his goal. He was so concentrated on this day’s arrival that a goal seemed like something so stupid and unimportant, he never thought of bringing it up in their conversation or known she would bring it up “Yea, that was awesome. I got a good assist from Frenkie, so it was pretty easy” “You always make it seem easy, then I try to play and I feel embarrassed at how bad I am” she said laughing.

Pedri laughed with her, she’s right, she’s pretty bad. “You’re not that bad, Cami” he said

“Yea, THAT bad” she replied giggling Pedri drank water and the waiter came over. They both order drinks and a few small plates. “I’m so glad you came, it’s so good to finally be able to talk to you, I missed talking to you“ she said “Me too, a lot” he replied, feeling himself getting excited with hope “ Speaking of talking to you. I have something to tell you” she said

“Oh?” he said with curiosity

“I want to tell you before anyone else tells you. I’m seeing somebody. It’s been going on for a few weeks. It’s not super serious yet but, you know, I thought you would probably want to know”

He felt his chest burn and his stomach churn while she was speaking, every word that kept coming out of her mouth was worse than the one before, the more she talked, the worst it got. “Who is it? he said as he frowned

“It’s a friend of a friend from work. You know, Daniel? We met a party at Daniel’s apartment, his name is Unai”

“Ugly fucking name”

“Hey, be nice!” He held his face in his hands and breathed, “Get it together” he thought

“I’m just kidding. I’m happy for you” taking his hands off his face “At least one of us is not a single idiot”

“You’re not an idiot, anything but”

“I am single though” “And I’m sure I won’t be won’t be for long" she said as she flicked her hand against his forearm “Oh, I don’t know about that” “I’m sure of it, you’re a great catch, you could have anyone you want”

“Not the one I want, though” he mumbled “What was that?” “I don’t want anyone, though,” he said, speaking up, “Does he treat you well?”

“Yes, very much”

“Good” he looked up and saw the waiter coming “Our drinks and food are here”. He really wanted to change the subject

They spent the rest of the time catching up on their every day, their families, talking about what movies or series they were watching, making jokes about each other. He paid their check even though she protested and they said their goodbyes, she said while nervously moving “Thanks for coming out, today was really important. You know I care about you a lot and I really hope we can keep being friends”

“I care a lot about you too, honey, of course we can be friends. Even if you date guys with ugly names”’ he replied shrugging

She laughed and hugged him “Chau, Pedri” “Bye, Cami” he said as she walked away and picked up her phone from her purse.

He really just wanted to jump off a bridge, feeling the cold water hit him like a brick when landing would have hurt less than his whole being right now. She was moving on and he was not. Three weeks later, they had only texted twice. Once after a game. He had scored again and she had watched. She complimented him. And he sent her a picture of a meme he thought she would find funny, and he was right. Almost every other day Pedri thought about her with her new guy. Who was that asshole? Why was he the one getting to kiss her? To be with her? To make her laugh in private? Why can’t it be him? Why were things outside of his control fucking up his happiness? It was Wednesday night and she texted him. <Hey Pedri! Are you going to Sira’s get-together? she invited me>

< Hey Cami. I’m planning to> <oh, cool! at least I’ll have more than just Ferran and Sira as people I know at the thing>

<It’s me, the dude you know. 😛 I’ll see you there. Should be fun>

< haha.for sure, and we get to hang out>

< looking forward to it>

< 🙂 bye> <later>

This interaction made his head spin. Was Cami going to be there with the dude with the ugly name? Or by herself? Why did she care if he was there? But the first thing he thought was “I need a new outfit for it”

That Friday, he got to Sira’s place, new outfit on. She opened the door and he gave her a gift bag with booze as a thank-you gift for inviting him. They said hellos with the customary two kisses and he met Ferran right after. He didn’t see Camila right away when he scanned the room but he thought he would see her at any minute because he came fashionably late and she was always on time for everything. He sat down with Ferran and Eric, who was there too, and talked as they all had a beer. After talking and joking around for a bit, he noticed her. She was coming in from the kitchen by herself with a drink in hand. It had been over four months since they broke it off, and nothing had changed about the way he felt about her. He was still in love. He excused himself to go to the bathroom, he was freaking out. She came by herself. He splashed himself with cold water and fixed his hair, he didn’t know how else to make himself more comfortable and less pathetic. He came out of the bathroom to find her in the hall.

“ Pedri!” she shouted “ I hadn’t seen you! When did you come in?” “A while ago”

“You can never come to parties on time, can you?” she said in slight slurred voice

He laughed “ I guess not” “Let me go to the bathroom, but wait for me here”

“Here?”

“Is anyone waiting for you?” she said frowning

“Besides Eric and Ferran? No” he replied raising his eyebrow

“They don’t count”

“Definitively not, then”

“Then stay here, don’t get lost”

He did not move, he didn’t know what to think, he was confused but his heart was racing from just getting this much attention from her.

She came out of the bathroom and said, “Let’s go get a beer and go out to the balcony. I have gossip to tell”

“What?” “You heard me, come on!” she said almost stumbling on her words They went to the kitchen to get some Estrella Damm beers. She pulled him by holding his hand to get to the balcony, it looked down at the patio at Sira’ house, which was lit and landscaped by a professional, no one else was hanging out there. Everything was getting more confusing for him. She let go of his hand and leaned into the edge. “It’s so pretty here, Sira’s lucky. My balcony just looks at the street” she said and had a good amount of beer from her bottle. He didn’t say anything, he just looked at her and realized she was trying to get drunk, fast, on purpose. “Don’t drink so fast, honey, unless you want to go home early”

“Oh, whatever. Don’t you want to know the gossip?”

“Let’s hear it”

“I broke up with Unai”

“Oh, fuck. Are you okay?”

“I’m great, actually. I don’t think I was as into him as much as I thought. Or maybe I’m just a cold bitch”

“Or maybe he just sucked”

“And the sex wasn’t that good”

“No surprise with that ugly ass name”

She laughed and flicked his arm

He smiled. He was happy to hear the news. Best news since she decided to text him again. He hated the idea of someone else being with her. He didn’t own her or anybody else but he was happy there wasn’t going to be another guy kissing her and calling her at bedtime to say good night before she went to sleep.

“Have you been with anyone?” she asked looking towards the garden leaning towards the balcony again putting her beer on the ledge.

“Not really” he said as he leaned into the balcony looking at her; placing his beer on the ledge as well.

“Not even a one night stand?” she said now looking at him “No” “There’s no way, you were such a low-key fuck boy before we started dating, no te creo.” ( I don’t believe you)

“No, de verdad que no” (No, the truth is no)

“Why?”

“ 'Cause”

“ 'Cause of me?”

He sighed, “Yea”

Camila bit her lip and smiled, she got closer to where he was until she was in his space

“What would you say if I said I want you to fuck me?”

“I would say you’re drunk” he replied

“And you’re not?”

“No, and even if I were, I wouldn’t fuck you while you’re drunk”

“You don’t want to fuck me?” “You wouldn’t want me if you weren’t drunk” “I would” “I think you should stop drinking now and leave it that”

“I want you to kiss me, take my clothes off and fuck me, Pedri” she said in a low voice “Cami, I’m not going to. I’m going home. I can’t deal with this right now. I’ll come to your place tomorrow and we’ll talk about it. But not like this.” he insisted

“No, please, don't leave” she said grabbing his hand “ Cami, I’m going, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow” he said caressing her free hand with his other hand, a bit of sadness peaking through his eyes. “Can you at least kiss me?” she begged He cupped her cheeks with his hands and gave her a small kiss. He left the balcony to excuse himself from leaving the party. Camila just looked at him leave, not knowing what to do next.

Pedri got into his car and just looked at the dashboard lights. “Joder!” he screamed. He tugged his hair and groaned “¡Que hostia, carajo!”. Everything he wanted just happened in the worst way possible. Did she really mean it? or was she just lonely? horny? Did she love him? a bit? or at all? Right now, he just wanted to get home and sleep it off. Tomorrow they had the last training before Sunday’s game.

The next day after training he was driving towards her apartment, he had texted that he was on his way and she sent him a thumbs up in return. His hands on the steering wheel were sweating and fidgety. He was thinking of two possible scenarios; she still feels the same or last night was a mistake. He was trying to prepare himself on how we would react to either of them because what he really wanted to do is say he loved her the same way he did before, the same as always, kiss her, make love to her, and be hers forever but wouldn’t dare, couldn’t. Not unless she showed interest. He played loud reggaeton to calm and distract himself.

Camila buzzed him in. He went up the stairs and was met with an open door and her head and half her body sticking out waiting for him. “Hola” he said as he got closer to her door. “ Hola” she replied and stepped back to let him in. Pedri gave her one kiss on each cheek and asked her “ How’s the hangover?”

“It’s okay now. This morning? Not so much” Camila replied

“Lesson learned?” he said while he fidgeted with his fingers behind his back.

“Oh, please” she chuckled. “Should we sit down?”

He nodded

They sat down in her small couch in her studio apartment, small golden rays from the hour of late sunshine coming in between the white curtains from her balcony that faces the street

She sighed “Te pido perdón por lo de anoche” (I want to apologize for last night ) she stayed silent for a moment while looking at him looking for any reaction

“It’s okay” he said quietly after the awkward silence

“I’m sure that made you uncomfortable, and if we’re to be friends, that’s not cool”

“We all have said and done things when we’re drunk that we don’t mean really mean”

“It’s not about meaning it or not, I shouldn’t have said that while I was drunk”

“Wait what?”

“I’m sorry, I've just missed you”

“ I miss you every day, Camila” “You never act like it, though” she said holding her own hands

“But I do, I just wanted to respect you and your wishes. I didn’t want to ruin the chance to be your friend. I care about you too much” “Fuck” She said as he pulled her knees toward her torso and wrapped her arms around them, she sighed “What did you mean when you said ‘it's not about meaning it or not?’” asked Pedri

“Um…” she lowered her legs and shifted her body towards him ” ‘cause I did mean it, I wanted to sleep with you” she said “Oh…were you feeling lonely or something?” “No, I miss being with you, Pedri” That’s all he had been wanting to hear, just a hint of wanting, of interest, of love, just an excuse.

He acted almost on instinct, didn’t wait, didn’t ask; his lips landed on hers, letting his lips feel her to remember what it was like to kiss her. The kiss from the night before was so fast and full of nerves that he didn’t get to feel the kiss, or how she reacted to it, that wasn’t happening now. She let out a lil' approving hum contrived in her mouth and she opened her mouth a bit so that she could feel her lips eat his. He pulled her in by wrapping his arms around her as he deepened the kiss with his tongue. He had been starved of her for all these months, he would be damned if he didn’t take this opportunity to have her, so show her his love. She tilted her head and let her tongue savor every inch of his mouth as she held onto the back of his neck. She felt him pulling her in even more, chest almost touching, her legs open to make room for him. He unwrapped himself to touch her hair, gave her one last small peck, and said “ We can sleep together tonight if you want”, giving her another kiss.

“I want to, obviously” she said as she caressed his face with her finger and gave him another kiss.

“I don’t have condom, though” he said in between kisses

“I think I do. In my nightstand. You wanna come to bed?” she replied

He nodded

The bed was hidden behind a vintage hand-painted divider between the couch and the bed, so they went around to the bed where he sat while she looked through her nightstand’s drawer

He looked around, she lives in a studio that somehow she managed to make cozy, styled in a sophisticated but simple manner. Kind of like her, an amazingly beautiful woman, who’s smart yet unassuming and was never full of herself,on the contrary, quite sensitive with a simple yet classy sense of style and self. He loved being around her and her things, her vibes again.

“Found it,” she said, showing the wrapped product off like it was a golden ticket. “but, why are you still wearing all those clothes?” she said with a smirk plastered across her lips.

He chuckled, “I was waiting for you”

She put the condom on top the nightstand “No, sir, you take it off first. It’s not like you’re shy, you get naked in front of dozens of men all the time”

“god, okay” he said. He took his jacket and shirt off showing her his athletic physique. He looked up at her, looking to be desired. He hadn’t been with anyone in almost five months and he wanted to, needed to be desired.

She got close to him, still standing next to the bed, placed her hands on his shoulder and caressed them and his chest “You’re so hot, it’s unfair” she said as she sat down next to him, as he smiled.

“You’re turn, bonita”. She was wearing a short skater dress with string sleeves and a cardigan. She took off the cardigan, slipped the sleeves off, and took the whole thing off while he looked on, staring at her while she was only wearing her tiny panties.

“Eres hermosa, no me cansaría nunca de mirarte quitarte la ropa” (You’re beautiful, I would never get tired of looking at you take your clothes off)

She went over to hover over him, reaching for his belt and pants. She commanded him to take it all off and so he did.

He went in for her mouth while his hand slipped in between her panties and her slit, feeling her wetness, he rubbed her up and down then went for her clit, drawing circles on it. She let a few small moans die in his mouth.

“I want you, now, please” she said

He reached over the condom, his cock was throbbing hard. He slid in the condom on saying “I haven’t been with anyone in a long time. I might not last as much as we both want to”

“I don't care, I just want you inside, please” she said laying down, taking off her panties.

He kissed her again, and got himself lined up in between her legs, he slid his member up and down her slit getting her juices all over his dick. She moaned and whined with “baby” when he did. He thrust himself inside her and then again slowly, to get adjusted and to not hurt her. She was so wet it went right in without any resistance. He was beside himself, she was the prettiest girl and she was under him taking him in. He kept his thrusting steady as he felt a warmness in his chest and cock at the same time, he never wanted and loved anyone so much in his young life.

“ I love you” he said as he kept giving it to her and kissing her “dios— so much” he said between breaths,

She opened her eyes, taken out from her pleasure trance, and said “Sit down”

He kissed her cheek, got off her, and followed her orders. She got on his lap, held his hard and wet member with her hand and put the tip inside herself, then slid into it, they both hissed at the overwhelming feeling. She started riding his dick with intent. In between moans, groans, and breaths she asked

“Do you still love me?”

“god, yes” he said looking up at her

“ Do you love being- joder, que rico- inside me?” (fuck, so good). She felt him getting even harder inside her

“It’s my favorite place to be” he answered pulling her closer to him

Resting her forehead on his she asked “Are you going to come for me?”

“Yes”

“Now?”

“Almost”

He helped her go faster with his hands on her hips as her juices flooded his cock and part of his inside thighs. “Do you love me?” he asked kissing her neck

“I love you so much” she let out a desperate little moan “ I want you to come for me”

He couldn't hold it much longer, her words were putting him over the edge

“Me voy a correr” (I’m going to come) he said as her riding got faster and harder, feeling the friction of his cock riding up against her walls.

“Come for me, baby” she said, riding him until he was a mess of groans and whines feeling his cock twitch inside her. He let out a loud moan and let his body collapse against hers, his face landing on her chest, breathing like he just had sprinted across the pitch. “Joder, te amo tanto” (Fuck, I love you so much).

She hugged him and peppered his cheek with kisses. “yo también, amor”. (me too, love)

“Lay down for me” he said as he tried to calm himself down from his high. He took his condom off, knotted it, and threw it on the floor while she moved to rest on her pillows. He told her to open her legs as he went in to eat her out, not wanting her to go unsatisfied. Pedri sucked, touched, licked and teased her clit and core until she was begging him to keep going, to not stop, she was so close. He looked up at her, while he kept fingering her hole and licking her clit, met her eyes staring down at him, mouth open only being able to make noises. Camila came on Pedri’s mouth just as he wanted, screaming “sí, Pedri, sí”, his mouth and chin full of her. He wiped his face with his fingers, and while she looked at him unable to catch her breath yet, he licked his fingers clean and said “You always taste so good, Cami”. Camila let an embarrassed giggle out and said “Come here, Pedro Gonzalez!” while signaling for him to come on top of her. She kissed him, tasting herself all over his mouth. He moved next to her, and laid there looking at her, the happiest he had been in months.

Camila ran her fingers through Pedri’s hair, styling his messy waves, “Can you stay the night?” she inquired.

“Only if I can stay over tomorrow night after the game and the day after that too” replied Pedri, caressing her naked hips.

“Only if I can stay at your place the rest of the week” she said

“Deal” Pedri said and gave her a small and soft peck on the lips.

The last game of the season was coming up, and Pedri had asked Camila to come and sit with his family to see his game and join the La Liga trophy celebrations. They had guaranteed the league title win two matches before. Pedri and Cami had kept their reunion on the download, telling only friends and family. When he sat down to ask her, he gave her a mini-speech about how much he loved her and respected her wishes to be private but he really wanted to share this important moment with her at Camp Nou, his first league as champions. Camila didn’t need a lot of convincing, she had been thinking about it since they had the mathematical win of La Liga. “I’ll be there, next to Fer” she told Pedri, she was ready. He gave her a long hug, kissing her neck. He loved her and wanted everyone to know she was his girl, he wanted to share everything with her, including this very important but public moment in his life.

The whistle blew on their last game and all the players ran to the pitch, jumping and celebrating. The first league title for Fc Barcelona since Messi left, since the 2018-19 season. Camila sat next to Fer and Pedri’s parents. They all talked, laughed, and got excited during the game. Fer was making Cami laugh during the game trash-talking against the rival team, Celta Fc, and at one point said, “You wait, I’m going to tell Pedri he was shit for missing that goal opportunity”. Cami laughed and said, “Don’t you dare, Fernando!”. People had already seen Camila with Pedri’s family and fan pictures and videos were already being shared on social media, although she noticed some phones pointed at her, she decided that these things were not going to affect her today, today was Pedri’s day and she was focused on being happy.

There was Pedri trying to look up at where his family was, waving towards them. The trophy and celebration decor were being put up and the players went to change into the champion's shirts. “We’re going down after they present them with the trophy, going down to the pitch, ok?” said Fer

“Okay” said Cami giving him a thumbs up and wink.

After the trophy was presented and Xavi, Busi, and Alba gave speeches, they played music on the speakers, and families were cued to come down. They went down along with Ferran Torres' family and Sira. Sira covered her mouth and whispered, “Pedri is really excited you're here, you can see it on his face”. Camila just smiled and looked up to see if she could also see him. She saw him jogging down to meet them. He first gave his mom and dad a big hug and then met Fer who also gave him a hug. Camila was just a few steps behind. Pedri pulled away and his eyes met with Camila's. He couldn’t believe how pretty she looked, wearing an Fc Barcelona jersey, her hair down, red lips, and a big smile on her face.

“Hola, mi amor” (Hello, my love) he said as he went to hug her

“Hola, bello” (Hello, beautiful boy) she said as she embraced his hug

“Felicidades, campeón” (Congratulation, Champion) she said as she pulled back to look at him

“Thank you, honey” he said smiling and gave her a small kiss on her lips.

She gave him another hug. “Come on, let’s go take a picture with the trophy” said Pedri The whole family took a few pictures and he also asked for a picture just with Camila. She looked up at the stands and saw there were thousands of people still in there. The team, along with the families, went around the whole stadium waving and celebrating with the fans. After walking with his parents Pedri walked towards Camila again, who was goofing around with Sira, Ferran, Eric, and Gavi, and held her hand.

“Thanks for coming, Cami” he said covering his mouth with his free hand “I love you”

She looked at him and smiled, her eyes sparkling with joy, without covering her mouth she said “ I love you too”. They finished doing the lap and they all went to the tunnel. He said bye to his family. “I’ll see you later at home, yea?” he said to Camila “Vale, nos vemos en casa.” (Okay, see you at home) she said, gave him a kiss and walked away with his family The video of Camila and Pedri's moment on the pitch went viral, people had figured out she had said “I love you too” by reading her lips. The reaction was positive, unlike last time. She wasn’t going to be negatively harassed en mass like before. Pedri was so happy while changing in the dressing room, he had a stupid grin on his face, it meant as much as the league trophy to have had her there that night. The boys celebrated even more in the dressing room and he just sat down on a bench, laughed, and sang, getting hugs and cheek kisses from his teammates, thinking how lucky he was. It had been 7 months since Camila had walked out of his house, to turn his happy life into a miserable one and now he was the happiest man in Barcelona. He had his Cami and her love. No one else to claim her, to kiss her, to call her, to hug her, to miss her, only him, to love her, love her, love her.

#pedri #pedri gonzalez #pedri fanfic #pedri fan fiction #pedri x fictional character #pedri fluff #pedri smut #pedri angst #pedri imagine

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allmoshnobrain · 10 months

Text

𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

part 21 of ? | masterpost

word count: 4066 | ao3 link | fic's playlist

I blinked, seriously caught off guard. That was too much to take in at once. First thing slamming me was anger—what did she mean by her and my dad being here to pamper me? Weren't they the ones who kicked me out? Cut off all ties? And now, they popped back into my life, not because they missed me or anything, but to wheel and deal for the family name and business—that was their concern. Concern that grandpa's "empire" wouldn't last with me at the wheel. Concern that I wouldn't know the ropes when the time came.

✦ summary: Nore's sense of normalcy unravels as her parents resurface, offering support for her dreams—with strings attached.

✦ on this chapter: dave mustaine x female!oc, oc is cliff's cousin, +18, language, slice of life, angst, complicated/kinda abusive family dynamics

✦ a/n: Hello! This part was a bit longer, and focused more on Nore's relationship with her family. I hope it helped understand her character a little bit better! I haven't included all the "lore" regarding her parents in the chapter directly but I recently made a post here explaining it a bit for anyone who's curious! I haven't been able to write a lot because I had some power/internet outage problems at home, but now that everything's back to normal I hope I can update more quickly! And we'll have some more James x Nore interactions on the next part :) Hope you liked reading, feedback is welcome!

✧ nobody's daughter, she never was, she never will / be beholden to anyone she cannot kill ✧

The next few weeks weren’t exactly easy.

Dave and I usually kept our relationship light; we rarely argued, and if we did, we patched things up quick. We got each other too well and just couldn't stand being apart for too long. We were young. We were in love. At that time, no issue seemed big enough to mess with that.

But this time, it was different . It's not like Dave was giving me the cold shoulder, but I could tell he was still feeling the sting from everything that had happened with the album and his songs. He started isolating himself more and more, hanging out at David's place for long stretches, diving into his new band. When I tried talking to him about what was going on, he'd just smile and steer the conversation elsewhere. It was like all that easy, spontaneous intimacy we had from the beginning was vanishing, slipping through my fingers like water.

And it freaked me out.

Being away from my cousin and my friends didn't make things any easier. I knew they had my back, but it's not like I could spill my guts to them over the phone about Dave. Since I'd left home, I'd felt sad and angry a bunch of times, but by September, I was more down than I had been since I first moved in with Cliff. Still, I held onto the hope that things would get back to normal soon.

Little did I know what the end of the year had in store for me.

It kicked off with a surprise phone call one evening. It was nighttime, and Dave and I were catching a break, chilling and watching some random movie on TV while sharing a cigarette and a beer when the phone decided to ring.

"I'll grab it," I said, jumping up from the bed. Dave gave a nod, his brow furrowing as he focused on rolling another joint for us to share. I rushed to the living room, picking up the phone. "Hello."

"Ellie?" a voice I knew too well replied, making my heart race and my jaw drop in surprise. "Is it really you?"

"Dad?" I blurted out in shock. In the whirlwind of my new life, getting a call from my father after nine months of radio silence was probably the last thing I expected.

"Hey, Ellie! So, this number is really yours. How've you been?"

"I... I'm okay, but... Dad, what's going on?" The words tumbled out, confusion turning into genuine concern. If he was calling out of the blue, something serious must have been up, right? I couldn't think of any other reason.

"Can't a dad check in on his daughter?" He said it casually, like it was no big deal. I furrowed my brow, annoyance quickly replacing my concern.

"You haven't said a word to me in months," I shot back, my voice shaking a bit, my eyes threatening to fill with tears as a whirlwind of emotions churned in my chest — first of all, anger. But then hurt. Confusion. And pain.

I glanced up at the sound of footsteps, spotting Dave leaning against the bedroom door frame with a lit joint in his hand. He gave me a questioning look, his concerned brown eyes checking out my state. I sighed, motioning for him to hold on. He came over, wrapping an arm around my waist and planting a gentle kiss on my shoulder, which managed to coax a small smile from me.

"So, Ellie, your mom and I..." my father hesitated on the phone, sounding a bit unsure of himself. "We were thinking that maybe we've been too hard on you. We just got back from London..."

"You went to visit grandma?" I snapped, my anger surfacing in the way my voice cranked up. "That's what this call is about, huh? I'm guessing she wasn't thrilled to discover you kicked me out. Bet she and grandpa gave you a reality check!"

"We went to celebrate your mom's birthday. And yes, we saw your grandparents," my father went on, his tone getting a bit sterner. "We were just thinking... It would be nice if you and your boyfriend could join us for dinner sometime. You know, your mom misses you..."

"Oh, bullshit."

"She does. Eleanore, it was her idea to send you that motorcycle as a gift. She thought it might lift your spirits a bit. Maybe you'd swing by..."

"She's always pulling that stunt!" I grumbled, annoyed, cheeks warming with irritation. "I can't be expected to read her mind. And for the record, I didn't ask for whatever gift she sent my way!"

"I get it. Ellie, I get it," my father reassured, clearly trying to ease my frustration. "Look, I think she regrets laying it on you like that. Especially after talking to your grandma... She just wants to fix things."

"Then why didn't she just call me herself?"

"You know how your mom is. She thought maybe you'd be more open to hearing me out. And, hey, it's not like I don't miss you too," he said, explaining. I took a deep breath, still annoyed but conceding that my father had a point. I could have a conversation with him, but if it were my mom on the line, I might've just hung up. "Ellie, she's trying, alright? It's more effort than she usually puts in. Give her a chance..."

"She didn't give me any chances. Why should I be the one handing them out?" I questioned, my voice now getting choked up as my anger gave way to the underlying hurt I was feeling. My father sighed, seeming uncertain about what to say.

"You can come next weekend if you want," he finally replied, straight-up ignoring my question and making me groan in frustration. "I'll ask Marcy to whip up that pumpkin pie you like, what do you think? Mull it over, alright?"

Then, he hung up, leaving me with a heavy heart and an anguish that had been haunting me for months but that I just didn't want to face. I slammed the phone back on the hook, maybe a tad harder than I should have.

"Hey. What was that?" Dave asked, leaning his chin on my shoulder and pulling me closer, his arms around my waist. I sighed. "Was it your dad on the phone?"

"Yeah," I murmured, my voice trembling a bit. He nuzzled into my neck, planting a soft kiss on my smooth skin, his lips moving up to my cheek for another kiss.

"Babe, you know you can talk to me if you need to," he whispered. I sighed, pulling away a little to meet his gaze, a mix of concern and seriousness in his eyes. I managed a faint smile, the hurt in my chest blending with the happiness of having, even if just for a moment, the old intimacy between us. "What happened? What did he say to you?"

"I just... I hate this!" I finally let it out, a tear rolling down the corner of my eye and making its way to my cheek. Dave cupped my face in his hands, wiping it away with the tip of his thumb. "My family’s always doing this. They act like the stuff they do to me, the way they treat me, doesn't matter. Like it doesn't hurt me! It's messed up."

Dave sighed, pulling me closer in a comforting hug. I knew he didn't have all the words, but I could feel him trying to ease my pain. I sniffled, a few more tears streaming down my cheek as I buried my face in his chest.

"My dad invited us for dinner... Both of us, him and my mom," I laughed bitterly. "It's funny, isn't it? They kick me out of the house, and then they think they can invite me to dinner, like everything's normal. Like nothing happened."

"And do you want to go?" he asked, softly, his hand soothingly stroking my back. I shook my head with a sigh.

"I... I don't know. I think that's the worst part," I admitted, pulling away and meeting his gaze. "I'm so angry, but I still miss them. I think that's what hurts the most."

"That you can't help but love them, even though some of the things they do hurt you?" he murmured, and I felt my heart tighten at the bitterness in his voice. "Maybe you should go, Nore. Maybe it's a good chance for you to patch things up with them."

"I don't know if I want to do that," I whispered, and he gave a slight smile.

"Yeah, I get it. Come here," he pulled me close again, his lips meeting mine with an unexpected hunger that sent warmth through my body. I clung onto his arms tightly, my nails leaving small crescent marks on his fair skin, while his lips moved down to my neck, kissing a spot that Dave knew would make me sigh and shiver, forgetting, even if just for a moment, anything but his body against mine. He pulled away, his familiar crooked smile on his lips making my heart race as he lifted my chin with his hand. "You can think about it later... How about coming back to bed with me?"

The car screeched to a stop in front of the big light-yellow house. I sighed, feeling more jittery than I'd like, despite the chill evening and the sun setting, casting warm hues all over the landscape. I knew my decision to visit my parents in Long Beach with Dave's car was a bit of a rebellious move against their expectations, and I hated it. They probably anticipated me rolling up on the motorcycle they gifted me. Instead, there I was, with my boyfriend and his car — two things that could potentially give my mom a nervous breakdown.

Dave raised his eyebrows, whistling softly as he checked out my parents' garden.

"You fancy-ass kid. So, this is where you used to live?" He chuckled and playfully nudged my arm, but I could tell he was a bit surprised. He seemed to catch quickly onto my nervousness; his eyes instantly turned serious when he saw my expression. "Hey," he said, his hand gently holding mine. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to. Okay?"

I nodded. Honestly, I wasn't entirely sure why I agreed to visit my parents or let Dave come along and meet them. Maybe, despite all the drama and hurt, there was still a part of me that missed them. Perhaps deep down, I hoped they'd be proud of me — for standing on my own all this time, for finding someone who cared about me and loved me. For not turning out to be the failure they expected when they kicked me out, assuming I'd come running back at the first sign of trouble.

But deep down, I knew that wasn't happening.

"It's okay," I squeezed Dave's hand, attempting a confident smile. "We're already here, right? Let's do this."

Dave and I stepped out of the car, strolling across the well-kept garden until we reached the front door.I paused for a moment before ringing the doorbell. Then, the door swung open, and my dad appeared, beaming when he saw me, the blue eyes I got from him shining.

"Ellie!" he exclaimed, pulling me into a hug. I blinked, a bit confused, but returned the embrace. He pulled back with a smile, seeming only then to notice that Dave was by my side. "Oh. You must be David?"

"You can call me Dave, sir," Dave smiled, shaking my dad's hand, but I could see he was a bit nervous.

"Pleasure to meet you, Dave. I’m George." my dad smiled, a bit more serious than before. "You've arrived just in time! Marcy is almost done preparing dinner. Let's go inside."

Dad walked in first, and I followed suit. Dave strolled by my side, holding my hand gently. He leaned in, whispering in my ear:

"Ellie? So, is that what your parents call you?"

"Just my dad. And I hate that nickname," I murmured, and he laughed.

As we strolled into the house, Dave scoped the place with raised eyebrows. The living room was cozy and rustic, sofas, armchairs, and rugs thrown together just right. In the corner, a shelf showed off my dad's vinyl collection. From there, you could head to the dining room through the side door or hit the garden through the glass door at the back. Upstairs, you'd find my parents' bedrooms, my old room, and the library where my parents spent most of their time when they were home.

"Ellie, why don't you give Dave a tour of the library? I'll summon your mom for dinner; she was introducing the new gardener to the plants," he said, jokingly.

"Oh... Sure," I mumbled. After being away for so long, everything felt way larger and unfamiliar than it should — especially after bouncing around from the little room I shared with Cliff to Leanne's house and then my cozy spot with Dave. I watched my dad head out the back door. Dave linked his fingers with mine, sensing my nerves, and stroked the palm of my hand in soothing circular motions with his thumb. I raised my gaze and met his brown eyes, locked onto my face. "So, wanna check out the library?"

"Actually, I had my eye on something else," he grinned slightly, and I blinked, intrigued. "Your room," he clarified, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. "I want to see how you lived, you know? Before I showed up and changed your life forever."

I chuckled, rolling my eyes before tugging him along by his hand, leading the way to the stairs. We climbed up to the first floor, strolling through the lengthy corridor, passing several doors before hitting the last one right at the end. I twisted the knob, relieved to find that the door wasn't locked.

I sighed as I swung the door open, taking in the sight of my old room. The room was spotlessly clean and organized, meaning that my parents at least kept the place tidy. Next to the window, my bed was neatly made with the same sheets I'd left in a mess before heading to San Francisco. Above the headboard, posters of bands and movies adorned the wall. The door in the corner was open, showing my private bathroom.

Below the window, my study desk, with drawing and painting materials meticulously arranged. In the corner, a shelf with my books, records, and tapes, plus a TV and stereo. It stung a bit to look at it, to reminisce about all the time spent there; everything was the same, but I didn't feel anything like the girl who once called it home.

Dave seemed to understand the contemplation in my silence; he rested his chin on my shoulder, giving me a tight hug from behind before planting a kiss on my cheek.

"Nice room you got here," he remarked, and I laughed, a bit shakily, realizing tears were welling up in my eyes. Despite that, it felt good not to be alone. To have him there with me.

We quickly stepped apart when we heard a knock on the door. I turned around and found Alice, my mom's assistant, eyeing us with her serious gaze, her curly blonde hair pulled into a ponytail so tight it made me uncomfortable just to look at it. Of course, she would be here, I thought with a twinge of annoyance. She smiled, a cold and almost robotic smile.

"Welcome back, miss. Your mother is waiting for you in the dining room," she said, then turned and left, seemingly not even acknowledging Dave's presence.

I sighed, annoyed, feeling the anxiety in my chest rise in a wave of panic that subsided as soon as I felt Dave's fingers intertwining with mine again. He smiled at me reassuringly.

"Let's go," he murmured. "I guess it's time for me to meet your mom."

I stepped into the dining room hesitantly. It was funny how being near my mom always kind of intimidated me; she was everything I'd never been able to be, everything they expected me to be. I bit my lip as I spotted her, and she turned in our direction.

My mother was probably the most beautiful woman I'd ever known, tall and statuesque like a model, with long, wavy black hair that reached her waist, a slim and charming face, and serious dark brown eyes. I was nothing like her — much more like my dad, shorter with brown hair, blue eyes, and a much less glamorous body.

"Eleanore," she murmured, with that familiar distinct accent blending Scottish and French. She walked toward me, holding my face in her hands, a faint hint of affection gleaming in her eyes before being replaced by disapproval. "Oh, God, what happened to your hair? Did you cut it yourself?"

"Leave the girl alone, Clémence," my dad spoke, sitting in one of the armchairs in the corner of the room, casually reading the day’s newspaper. He looked up, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "She's old enough to know how to take care of herself."

My mom pursed her lips slightly, then let go of my face. She shifted her attention to Dave.

"You must be David," she spoke resolutely. I could see the disapproval in her eyes shifting from me to him, like he was a pet she didn't really like but had to put up with. If Dave caught onto that, he hid it well. For the first time since we had met, he was completely serious, which probably meant he was a bit on edge. "Well, come along. Dinner is ready. We were waiting for you."

We sat down for dinner, and my nerves were all over the place. I could hardly taste the food, and it seemed like Dave was in the same boat. I reached under the table, giving his knee a reassuring caress. He shot me a smile.

"So, Dave... You're one of Cliff's friends, huh?" my dad asked.

I noticed Dave's jaw tense a bit, but he managed a polite smile.

"Yep, we used to share a place. That's how I got to know Nore."

"And what do you do? Are you a musician too? You know, I have a pretty large vinyl collection here at home. Love music. Always wished I had the time to pick up the drums," my dad kept the conversation rolling with a grin, and I could see some of the tension in Dave fading away.

They chatted about music for the rest of the dinner, and slowly, I started to ease up. Mom stayed pretty quiet, her eyes bouncing between me and Dave like she was trying to figure us out. But Dad seemed genuinely interested in getting to know my boyfriend better. By the time dessert was served, I almost felt like we were a normal family again.

When we finished eating, we cruised back to the living room. Dad and Dave went straight to the vinyl collection, and Dad put on a Led Zeppelin album, the music filling the living room softly. That's when Mom got up, giving my arm a light touch.

"Come with me, Eleanore," she said in a low voice before heading to the garden. I hesitated, glancing at my dad and Dave, still deep in their conversation, then decided to trail after her.

We wandered through the backyard garden, the flower beds and trees soaking up the gentle glow from the property's lamps. Mom sparked a cigarette with a sigh, and we drifted in silence until we hit the pool area. She eased into one of the lounge chairs under the covered spot before looking at me.

"Take a seat," she motioned to the chair right across from hers.

"I'll pass," I muttered, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you always have to complicate things?" she asked, and a surge of anger bubbled in my chest. Classic mom move: the woman who couldn't go an hour without emphasizing how I was a screw-up.

"Does Dad know you picked up smoking again?" I asked, a bit acidly. She looked up at me, a small, cold smile playing on her face. I knew my mom; she could front like she was flawless, but she had her flaws, just like I did. At least I owned up to mine.

"I smoke when I need to focus.You know how insane the end of the year gets at your grandfather's company," she shot back, sidestepping my question. "Or you would know if you cared about the family business instead of living in your love fantasy."

"My relationship is not a fantasy," I frowned, and she scoffed.

"If you say so," she flicked the cigarette butt to the ground, crushing it with the tip of her heel. "So, you know your dad and I just got back from Europe. I talked with your grandfather, and we came up with an idea... Oh, please, Eleanore, spare me that face. You haven't even heard what I have to say!" I tried to hide the displeasure that surfaced on my face. Nothing good ever followed when my mom claimed to have an idea. Never. "Well, as I was saying. Your dad and I think it's time for you to invest a little more in your future."

"Not this again," I grumbled. "Mom, I don't want to go to Law School!"

"I'm not asking you to!" she retorted, her tone sharp and irritated. Then she sighed, as if making an effort to calm down. "Look, we know you love art. You were part of the Theater Club in school, and you enjoyed your drawing classes so much! But I don't want my daughter to just finish high school and call it a day. It wouldn't be suitable ."

"And what's your deal, then?" I asked, getting a bit defensive. Until now, Mom didn't seem to be pushing me into anything specific, but I knew she never dangled anything remotely cool in front of me without expecting something in return.

"Your father and I are willing to pay for any course you want, at any university you want. What do you say?" she asked, a slight grin playing on her lips, but her eyes stayed icy. "You can study wherever you want! You can be close to your cousin, your new friends, your... boyfriend. Pursue the arts career you want. But," she raised an eyebrow. "you have to be aware of your role in the family business. So, you'll get involved in the day-to-day routine, learn the ropes, and be ready to handle everything when your father and I aren't around to pamper you. Fair deal, right?"

On the flip side, it was kind of a tempting offer. I mean, having my parents backing my dreams would be awesome, even with a few strings attached. I used to dream about more than just ringing up customers in record stores; I missed the days when I had time to create , to be part of something. But, if I went for it, what would it mean for me and Dave? Would we drift even further apart?

I didn't want to dive into that mess. Too many details, too many what-ifs.

"You don't have to figure it all out now," Mom said, her tone soft, like she was reading my mind. "Whenever you want, Eleanore, you can come back home. We'll work things out then, okay? Just take your time."

With that, she got up and casually walked back inside, leaving me to grapple with my thoughts.

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floufli · 1 year

Text

Admit It

Chapter 3: Abduction (4.5k)

Summary:

Before the whole "multiverse collapsing" thing, everything was going pretty smoothly for you. As Spider-woman, you saved people, beat up villains and lived an calm and uneventful civilian life. But everything seemed to have changed the moment one boy was bitten by some radioactive spider. Now, the villains you faced have become more active, and always seemed to disappear before you could deliver them to the police. One day, you manage to finally catch the trail of the ones that kept stealing your catches, only to be left to discover another facet of your life waiting for you.

Will this end well for you? You could only hope so. But you are perfectly okay with risking it all, after all, that "Miguel" got one hell of an ass to make up for it.

Tags:

Miguel o'hara x fem!reader, violence, mature language and reference, Reader has the same arms thingies as Miguel, WILL BECOME MINOR NON FRIENDLY QUICK SO HOP HOP GET OUT OF HERE,trauma, rape mentioned, future tags,

MasterList

Chap: (1) (2)

Author notes:

Okay so first of all sorry for the loongggg ass pause, my brain just dropped the Miguel hyperfixation all of a sudden. And to add salt to the wound this has been ready for almost 2 weeks but the moment I said I was gonna post it my Internet said “haha no❤️”. So no Internet for me for at least a few months (;=;)👍.

Anyway hope you enjoy the chap if you’re still reading this, I was trying something but I cringed so hard I had to rewrite the chap a few times.

Don't copy to another site or I'm gonna be big mad >:C and don't feed to AI obviously

"Situation?" Miguel talked through his gobber, Jessica's hologram staring back at him. He didn't like the fact that he wasn't there when new recruits were brought in, but his duties as this dimension's Spider-Man had been left unattended for too long, and now it came back to bite him in his ass.

He was now heading to the HQ, swinging and climbing on the building while still remaining focused on the hologram of his subordinate.

"It went pretty well if you asked me." The woman said, her pose visibly relaxed." We did the usual explanation thingy just without you present but she assimilate everything pretty quickly I think. She didn't ask many questions either." She noted, at this point, she knew she was just telling him things without any real importance, as she knew he would verify himself everything that she said.

"Good." He responded coldly. that day of work had completely drained him, and he only wanted one thing: to take a shower and sleep until sunrise.

But he knew he couldn't, he just brought those fucking villains to the police and still had a lot of work left at the HQ, he didn't even know if he would be able to leave for the night.

"And you Miguel, everything's alright? You said you would be out for a few hours but half a day isn't typically your definition of 'a few hours'?" Her question was legitimate, he almost never left for this amount of time without saying explicitly for how many hours or days he would be gone. But this time he had gotten surprised by the amount of work he had to do in the city in order to keep everything going.

"Everything's okay Jessica, you can go back now, I'll handle the rest." He said looking away from her as he stepped inside the HQ's building. He stepped inside the main hall at ease, it was like his second home after all the time he had spent here. As he made his way toward the main elevator, he noticed the lack of the usual buzz signaling him the end of the discussion. He pulled his fist back up and unsurprisingly was met by Jessica’s silent stare, looking at him like a disappointed mother.

“Do you have something more to add Jess?” He asked unbothered by her attitude, she would sometimes act like this on purpose, keeping what she had in mind to herself and making him near beg to get some info about what was bugging her.

"Take a break, Miguel, you know you need to. You're gonna go far if you continue like that. We can't lose you."

And just like that, the call ended, with him still staring blankly at his wrist while he ascended to the higher floors. A frown slowly took over his features as his arms came back to his side. A break? It's not like he purposefully avoided any kind of breaks he just simply have the time to. Taking a break for him wasn't like any other Spider taking one, no, he had the responsibility of both his dimension and the multiverse along with the lives of thousands of Spiders.

He would take a break when his own responsibilities would allow him to.

Letting out yet another heavy breath, he quickly made his way out of the elevator as it finally reached its designed floor. Knowing the entire layout of the building like the back of his own hand, he made his way quickly across the Spiders still present, even considering the darkness started to grow outside. Multiple dimensions automatically meant various time-zone for each, given the exact same place it could be just the morning in one while late afternoon in the other. This caused the building to almost never be left empty, which helped any concern about the security of said building if he was absent.

He was now only a few minutes away from his 'office' if he could call it so since it didn't bear the traditional aspect of one. His mind was still full of today's work he would have to spend the night to finish due to his incapacity to catch some low-cost thugs quickly. He walked by Margo's desk, greeting her briefly as he could easily see she was already occupied doing multiple things at once in this dimension as well as her own, like always.

He ignored the nasty looks he got from the prisoners in their narrow cells, sigh remaining focused ahead as he walked. The image of his ‘work home’ grew larger in the distance and with it the until-then-postponed stress that always made its way to him, no matter how often he repeated the same things over and over.

Except this time was a bit different, as he walked into the comfortably lit place just enough for others to see easily but dark enough not to damage his retinas, soft led allowing a light glow into the space, he felt something odd. His eye focused on every item in sight, trying to find something to explain the weird feeling that came over him.

Even after letting his gaze wander around for a few seconds, he hadn’t spotted anything out of the ordinary. Deciding to brush off the feeling, thinking it was once again caused by his lack of recent sleep, he took a deep breath and tried to compose himself before going to work.

Except this seemed to have the completely opposite effect on him. Instead of cooling himself down in the familiar scent of his place, he was met by an even if weak, sweet scent that short-circuited his line of thought. His breath hitched at the fragrance, unused to such a scent entering his system by now. He couldn’t put a finger on a word to define it, it wasn’t like anything he had ever encountered before. No, this seemed sweetly addictive, just powerful enough despite its obvious fading.Leaving him craving for more.

Too caught up in the sudden smell, trying to process it while discovering its source, he missed the way his own breathing slowly became heavy, panting being the now proper term to describe his current self. If he could see himself in a mirror he would probably be embarrassed by the state he was in, mouth slightly open as if to actually taste the air he was surrounded by, pupils dilated, totally engulfing the natural red tint of his irises. He could even feel his fangs starting to grow, their tips gently tickling his lips.

His back was tense, as the rest of his frozen body, seemingly lost deeply into the fragrance, enough that he simply stop walking and stop in the middle of his office, breathing deeply.

"MIGGY YOU'RE BACKKKKKKK~~~!!!" His AI assistant suddenly yelled into his face, merely inches away. He jumped at the way he was abruptly forced to come back to reality. Eyes quickly blinking at the bright face in front of his own, he tried to calm himself and remain composed. What had happened to him to have this kind of reaction? He didn't know but he was mostly sure it wasn't something a night of sleep couldn't cure. Too bad he would most likely not get any sleep today.

"Hi, Layla." He replied with a sharpness to his voice as he slid his hand over his face, to both wake himself up and try to get the scent off of him. It helped, at least for now, and he quickly focused his attention back on his assistant.

"So, how was today?" He asked with uninterested eyes, already used to the boring reports he was met with every day now.

"Oh, you know the usual, a few anomalies here and there, today has been quite a furnish day." He only groaned in acknowledgment while he made his way to his station, his eyes already searching through the holograms depicted to find any important information.

"And the new recruit, you know the one from that dimension? Yeah well, she came with Gwen and Jess like you said, and my my~~~" He brought his eyes back to her blinking form just to hear about that new member of their society, but almost regretted it immediately judging by the eyes she was giving him.

"What?" He said unamused, his body still facing the holograms whilst only his head faced her, eyebrows raised in confusion.His arms fell back onto his sides as he glared at her. He could feel the amusement practically oozing from her form.

"Well, you could have told me she was basically the opposed gender version of you Miggy~~" She teased, and his eyes almost rolled back into his head at her absurdness.

"She got the fangs and everything~" She flickered to his right. " A perfect carbon copy."

He almost wanted to rip that grin from her face, but he couldn't. He should've made her a solid form for this kind of occasion.

"Your point?" He said, gaze going back to the displays. it seemed this conversation was already doomed before it even started. She must have had a stupid idea and convinced her that teasing him about it for who knows how much longer would make her day. The headache that left him just moments prior seemed to come back full force at her nonsense.

"My point..." She waited for him to look at her once more, but when he simply ignored her, she chose to continue her plan.

" Is that she would be a perfect match.<3"

His entire frame looked rock solid from the moment the words escaped her, tension rising immediately around the two. She could see the way he tried to maintain his claw and fangs retracted while attempting to calm himself down. Just enough to shut her down she was sure.

Too soon it seems…

When their eyes met again, her brown eyes faced the dangerous tint of blood-red iris, if she could shudder she most likely would have. But since she couldn’t she just floated there, smiling kindly at her boss, as if she didn't just sign her death warrant. The only noise around was the snaping of the railing that bore the display's projectors, causing them to flicker for an instant. With a quick glance she saw her boss’s hand almost ripping the whole thing off while he tried to stay calm.

"You should get out before I lose my temper, Lyla." He warned, his fangs shining brightly into the dim lighting, furthering his intimidating tone.

But she knew he couldn't do anything to her, even in those kinds of moments when his DNA seemed to take over him.

So she held his glare for a few more seconds before backing down, as if nothing had happened. Closing her eyes, she flickered away to give him time to calm himself before coming back to the real subject of today.

"She seems strong enough to enter the rank if you asked me, as well as both Jess and Gwen, without her it would've been way messier to bring those anomalies back to where they belonged after all." The sound of slowly calming breathing was the only thing she was met by.

"Like you asked she got her Gizmo and went through 'the explaining thing'" She paused for a moment before murmuring to herself in a fond voice. " I almost thought she was going to bawl her eyes out in front of everybody when she learned what happened."

His back tensed again, okay maybe that wasn't the best thing to say.

"Anyhow, she took it all like a champ and went back to her dimension. We told her to keep the Gizmo on at all times and that we will contact her soon enough." She finished going back next to Miguel when she noticed his lack of agitation.

"But you must already know all that from Jess so I'm just repeating."

She acted like she was looking at her nails while she subtly eyed the screen he was facing, even if she already knew what he was gazing so fondly at. It was the only thing that seemed to effectively calm him down after all.

His lack of response was enough for her to know what to do next. She had tried her luck enough for the day, retreating now was the best decision to make for both their sake.

"I'm just gonna head out if you don't need me~~," She said as she quickly flickered off, leaving him with the all too well-known images of that young girl.

It was now well into the night, but that didn't prevent the IA assistant from suddenly appearing before the frame of her boss, deep into a soudless slumber. Her holograms hovered silently over the body of her creator, a neutral expression painted on her two-dimensional face, unlike her usual cheerful smile despite some serious situations.

Her eyes landed on the tired bags below his own, the traces of stress and worry still very much visible on his sleeping complexion. It was easy to spot the tension on his jaw as he clenched it tight, still unable to fully relax even in his sleep. His brows formed a small frow that she almost thought to be cute before remembering what the man was surely going through right now.

Bad dreams for him since that event had become normality, a simple fact that would happen no matter what he tried to get rid of them, and as his digital assistant, there wasn't so much she could do to help besides advising him. Which he most of the time chose to ignore, deciding to once again overload himself with work.

She closed all the tabs currently opened with a swing of her hand, after making sure that the work had been correctly saved. He would kill her if she mistakenly deleted his night's worth of work.

The place was now much darker, except for the background neon and its soft glow.

Looking back at him, she almost regretted not having a physical body, as she wasn't able to so much as put a blanket to keep him warm in this cold-ass room. Quickly dismissing the silly thought, she turned away from him to let him rest. He will definitely scold her after realizing she let him sleep through work but she knew he would nonetheless appreciate the sleep.

As she traveled into the building network to find tasks yet to be completed by other Spiders, she thought back to the woman they had just welcomed into their rank and her boss.

He can say everything he wants but from what I saw when they both entered this room they did seem ready to fuck each other on the spot if they could've. I wonder if it's because of both their modified genes, no other Spiders reacted this strongly to the scent of strangers... They usually do that with a partner...

How much effort would it take to make them fall for each other? I will talk to Jess and Peter when they come back. Hihi~~ They will be as exacted as me on this I'm sure~~

You tried to break free, you really did, but your strength seemed comparable to an ant fighting against a bear against the grip the tall man had on your forearm. Water quickly gathered in your eyes, stinging and making you go slowly blind as your whole body attempted to break free from the deadly hold.

"LET ME GO!!" You yelled from just above the ground, feet scrapping the floor in an attempt to slow your progress down. The sound of the heavy steps of the man, your first sobs, and your worn shoes dragging along the floor echoed dreadfully in your ears. You had tried to bite, scratch, punch your way out but nothing had worked. The arm that had you trapped was now bloody and bruised and despite that, the man didn't seem to mind in the slightest. Determined to bring you to wherever you were both indubitably heading, against your best efforts.

The world around you was small as you walked through seemingly never-ending corridors, only lit by blinking and old light every few meters. The humidity of the alley left no doubts in your mind that this place had been abandoned for years now and nobody would find you if something were to happen today.

"Just let me.." You struggled with all the strength you had left against his grip, making your entire frame shake for the desperate movements. "let ME GO- I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!DAMNIT!"

Your free hand desperately punched and tried to free your other from him, but to no avail, and you almost went completely numb as the situation finally downed onto you. You gasped as you tries to get free slowly came to a halt, your body stopping completely, as your eyes grew wide and you stumbled on your feet, still being carried away.

You had no way out, you could do anything to make as much as make him look your way went your tried to break free. You were like a child being forced to follow their parent along a predestined path, unable to break the hold despite your many tries. Only following blindly like a boneless doll.

A new emotion took over your mind immediately after the realization- numbness. Acceptation. You wouldn't get out of here, so why bother struggling anyway? Whatever you would try or not, you didn't compete with the pure mass of muscles the man holding you was…if you were lucky he was just going to kill you.

Your body fell down, unable to stand without the will on your part. If it wasn't for your arms still firmly held, you would have fallen face-first into the dirty concrete floor. Your knees hurt as you were dragged along the never-ending path by the man. You could hear the fabrics of your pant slowing giving away because of the never stopping scrapping. But you couldn't bring yourself to care enough. Why would you care about some pants? Knowing your luck they would most likely be torn off in no time the moment you would reach your destination.

Your other, free hand twitched as it was too dragged along the rhythmic steps of the man, but you could gather the strength to keep it off the floor. Even as you felt your irritated skin starting to break away because of the dragging, your mind didn't let you feel the sting of pain that should follow. Blocking every reason that would pull you out of your protective trance.

"Ahh finally~~ I thought you got lost in the tunnels~~ Did you bring the one I specifically asked for??" A feminine voice squealed as your body entered a brightly lit room. With eyes still looking blankly at the floor, your face didn't show the slightest discomfort at the sudden change of lightning, completely disconnected from you.

The man didn't respond to what should certainly be a woman, and for a fraction of a second, you were grateful, at least that reduced the chance of being raped.

Keyword: reduced.

Your body was suddenly lifted up, dangling lifelessly a few centimeters from the ground thanks to the stature of the man. Your mouth only let out a small whine at the harshness of the movement, leaving a distant burn engraved into your wrist.

Your head was low, facing away from each individual, trying desperately to escape the situation, and if not physically at least psychologically.

But your 'peace' was quickly interrupted as you felt the disgustingly dry pulp of fingers gripping firmly your chin, forcing a wave of repulsion to go across your entire body. Making you shiver in the slightest.

Your head was yanked up without as difficulty as you thought there would be, for you thought you had put quite a resistance. But once more your strength seemed like one of a mere infant compared to those two. Unable to do much more than cry for mercy or put up the most inefficient of fights.

You hated the feeling of those fingers squishing so hard on your cheeks, along with the constant, now more persistent burn in your hand, reminding you of your current posture.

"Look at this Beauty~~~," The woman said in pure delight, and despite your instincts screaming you not to, you could stop your heavy-lidded eyes as they slowly rose up to meet the ones of that woman.

A sensation of dread fill you near the spot as your eyes met those wicked ones. Even in your state, your mind could still recognize danger when it saw it, and the mere eye contact between the two of you was enough for your brain to function, even if for just a moment.

Full of adrenaline, you tried once more to free yourself. But this time not from the man, no, he was a mere threat in comparison to what that woman was. He only seemed to obey her orders, didn't look like he was doing that for his own wicked nature but for some other surely more important reason.

But that woman, from the simple look you got of that slight glint in her eyes, the most unperceivable grin upward as she finally got to land her eyes on her next captives... Who were you fooling? Captive? No, against this woman you bore no such title, it would imply that you were captured and had some chance to actually escape your current situation, alive or not.

But in those eyes, you saw exactly what you were considered to be for her- a mere object here to satisfy her curiosity, her appetite for whatever sickened things and experiences she had planned to make you go through.

You were not even human to her, not a person, not a being. You were nothing more than a clump of cells that happened to be sentient and from her own specie that she would gladly take pride in exploring each and every facet.

You were just like a fly already caught in the spider webs, slowly being enveloped in silk before being put away to be eaten later on. You were nothing more than a prey she would relish in devouring.

And your struggle against her grip, even with just one arm intensified, along with your uneven cries and whines for help, while you could see her pleased composure growing more savage and wicked with each one of your calls.

"She will be perfect! Perfect as one could ever be!" The woman almost spits in your face in a newfound excitement, pushing your face away and instead turning back to something you didn't try to see previously.

In front of you were spread hundred of laboratory materials, enough to humble any common laboratory you could think of, the shining glassware and technology contrasting heavily with their decrepit surroundings. And only now did you take in the way the woman dressed, all in white, a lab blouse, protective glasses, gloves everything a real scientist would need.

But you didn't need to be a genius to know that whatever that woman was, a scientist would never be the proper term to define it.

"Now can you bring her to the table? Strap her really tight unlike the last one." She said as she walked a few meters away to grab you know what from a pile undisguisable from any other, all the while you were dragged once more and roughly locked into some kind of retraining table.

"Do you know how much products I spent on that last girl only for her restraints to go loose at the most crucial point??? That solution took me months to make, and she pushed it off the table as she ran away! Completely ruined!"

"Not like she went very far.." You could hear the man mumble as he fastened the last of your restraints before putting some space between you and him.

"Any way you can go now, your payment is in the wallet next to the backdoor, with a little present from my part for all your hard work~~" She pressed him out, that grin never leaving her lips, widening as the sound of steps fading always let you know you were now both alone.

"Now dear, I'm sorry but we'll have to skip the presentation and head straight for the funny part! I know it's not your fault that you don't want to be here and all the usual bullshit but I got things to do right? And you wouldn't mind helping me out a bit wouldn't you?"

She slowly approached your table, and only the vague sound of metal echoing through your ears let you know you were actually trying to get away from her.

"Now, that isn't very polite of you. But don't worry, you'll get used to everything after a few months or so."

"But firstly got a tiny little question to ask you. Be happy, you'll get to know a little more about why you're here! Isn't it exciting?"

She paused, her back facing you as she grabbed something from behind a row of beaker and other utensils. Before her wicked eyes turned slowly back to you.

"You like spiders, don't you?"

.. What?

A pause. That's it, by now you were sure this woman had definitely lost it long ago.But the revelation didn't bring any peace to your mind, still very much in distress form her very presence.

"If you don't, worry not . I'm sure you'll like them as much as I do by the time I'm finished with you." She was now stepping away towards yet another door leading to who-knows where, a few metallic noises echoing through the silence before she reappeared, now armed with a slim but sturdy want that she quickly put on a trail not to far from where you laid.

"But first I'll need to get you all prepped up for the big deal."

Your eyes grew wide once more, your entire body jerking against the restrains. The dryness of your throat now preventing you from begging for mercy.

Her eyes, those wicked orbs that had left you free from their grip were now back on you. But now filled with a madness you only hoped to be your imagination.

In her hand was a small filled with a transparent liquid serynge, wich dripped a few drops as she made sure all the airways out.

Gulping hard, you could only stare,silent despite your screaming mind , as the first of many syringes pierced through your skin and allowed an unknown liquid to course throw your veins. Paralyzed, the only sign of your tourment was the tears that's pearled down your cheeks.

From then on, all you could remember was pain.

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