#i guess these are more ooc than ic?

[hells-greatestdad]

//

Is the amount of ooc posts I make annoying? I do try to tone it back a tiny bit (not much, I don't have that much self control)

Honestly I'm too fucking talkative to actually stop, even if the answer is yes. Still, I'm curious

Personally I do like reading ooc from others, it feels less impersonal than only ever making in-character posts.

[orchideae]

Tag drop (1/2): General.

[unladielike]

    Considering the burgers themselves were very much based on Japanese cuisine, Vivian had been excited to see Mizumachi's reaction to the food truck... and just as she had predicted, it seemed he was pretty psyched, causing her to curl both hands into fists she'll subsequently prop up through the air.

    "Right?! I knew you would like it!" came her triumphant proclamation. Why, Japan might be a much cheaper place to live in compared to Vancouver, but it does admittedly have it's charms, which was something she hopes to have sufficiently conveyed to Mizumachi. Though, given how loudly his stomach then proceeded to grumble away, Vivian supposes that was enough of an actual indicator to prove he wasn't currently feeling all that homesick, and with a laugh, she'll hastily trail after him.

    "Hey, relax! It's not as if the food truck would suddenly grow legs and run away, you know?" Vivian playfully teases before settling to an eventual halt beside him. By that point, one other individual happens to be waiting in line ahead of them due to the fact he had gotten there first after the last customer left, meaning on a rather fortunate note, they wouldn't have to tolerate a super long line. "Anyways... you good with me ordering us ten teriyaki cheese burgers?" Vivian goes on to question.

    "Oh, and while we're at it, how about some soda as well, so the salt from all those burgers won't make us dehydrated? Then again, I guess water would do a better job at quenching our future thirst... still, good ol' H20 just doesn't hit the same compared to Coke; therefore, I'm inclined to believe the more appropriate refreshment would be something less healthier. What about you, though, Kenny? Which beverage would you rather pick?"

[水]

"Haha! I know someone who could eat like 20 burgers."

Mizumachi nods his head sagely, in total agreement with her assessment about the fries. He could still eat 5 burgers along with fries on a regular day, but he did try to consume more burgers than he did fries. Eating too many oily foods weren’t good for athletes, but he had to get his source of calories and meat from somewhere!

“That’s a healthy appetite! That’s a good thing!”

He knew a few girls on the cheerleading team who basically ate like rabbits because they cared a lot for their figure, and it was a bit worrying at times. It was good to know that Vivian wasn’t going to be starving herself because she was worried about her image. The teriyaki cheese burgers sounded so good though that he was already salivating at the thought.

Was paying for the meal a manly thing? Yeah, he could see it. In many countries it was socially the norm that the guy pays for the meals if he’s out with a woman, right? Manners and all that?

“Yeah, that makes sense. Do you hang out with guys more than girls, then?”

He asked because she said something about feeling like she was ‘one of the boys,’ and it made him curious about who she normally hung out with. Of course, there was absolutely nothing wrong in his eyes for a girl to have lots of guy friends (what, with most football club managers being girls?), but he did hear some people call that a flag or whatever. Just sounds like insecure dudes to him.

“Wooww! It looks great! Smells great too!”

He was just salivating a little bit before, but now he was at risk of drooling buckets from the smell. His stomach was just as excited if the sound of his stomach grumbling loudly was any indication.

“Let’s go!”

He basically zooms over to the food truck looking for the end of the line to stand at the end. With his long legs, his strides were large and fast. Perks of being tall.

[lamentationsofalonelypotato]

Chapter 11: It's Giving Kidnapping?

Pairing: Soldier Boy x f!reader, Reader POV, Soldier Boy POV

Summary:  When you decided to work with Butcher and his merry band of supe hunters to take down Homelander, you neve expected to be saddled with a sullen, grumpy, jerk like Soldier Boy when the job was done. The more you're around him the more you hate him, but you can't help but wonder, is he really as big a jerk as you think? Reader is a supe with plant powers. This takes place in an AU about a month after the end of The Boys Season 3, in which Butcher has let Soldier Boy continue to work with him on his team.  (I'm real bad at summaries, please forgive me!)

Tropes: Enemies to Lovers (Not in this chapter), Slow Burn, Age Difference (Reader is in her 20s), Soft Ben/ Soldier Boy, Protective Ben/Soldier Boy

Word Count: 10.1K

Warnings: I'm going to label this 18+ because Soldier Boy (he's a warning and everyone knows it) and because there is an unwanted sexual advance (not Soldier Boy) (it's more someone making the reader feel uncomfortable and the person talking to the reader, not so much touching, but it's still there and it's wrong), Violence, Swearing, Mentions of sex, Thoughts of Sex, Kidnapping, GASLIGHTING, Threatening, Denial, A whole lot of denial, Sexism, Creepiness, Manipulation, Talks about weed, Super manipulative trash man, And another Super Manipulative Trash Man but this time he's even more creepy, Ben/Soldier Boy might be a little bit OOC.

Note: This is told from Reader's perspective. Any references to the reader is made using you or your. There is minimal use of y/n. I tried my best to proofread, but nobody's perfect. If you don’t like, don’t read, but if you do like, you’re my favorite!

Internal monologue is in italics and is in first person.

Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Reader POV

"So where is it that we're going again?" You ask your brother Darren while looking absentmindedly out the passenger side window of his car watching the other people on the bridge.

The sun was shining, bathing the interior of the car in a warm light, the clouds puffy and the sky a beautiful blue that faded into the background behind the iconic New York Skyline as the buildings raised their hands to worship the beautiful day. It was the perfect day for you to grab a paper back and a cup of iced pineapple tea and make your way to Central Park, instead you were stuck in a car with your brother who was taking you God knows were.

"I told you it's a surprise." Darren replies, hitting the gas to cut off someone in the fast lane who honks at him, but Darren only flips them the bird and continues to speed down the bridge.

You had been in the car for over thirty minutes, a car that Darren said was a "loan" from his new BFF, the same person that he was ecstatic about you meeting.

The car was fancier than what you were used to, state of the art with butterscotch colored leather seats so supple and smooth that it felt like you were being hugged by the passenger side chair. The windows were made of thicker glass and you guessed that they must be bulletproof given how sturdy they looked, not to mention they were also darker than average so no one could see into the vehicle, but you could see out. The car was four doors and was made by a European company that you'd never heard of, but you were sure it was expensive. The car probably cost more than the entire inventory of "Please Don't Die" and the building the shop inhabited.

This is weird. You think to yourself, squeezing the leather seat in your hand.

Most of the "friends" your brother introduced you to were as down on their luck as Darren and just as eager to ask for a loan from anyone they could. You'd never met one that could afford a new car let alone a car that looked like it should be owned by the wealthiest man in New York City.

Your frown deepens as you try to figure out where the two of you are going and who it is Darren wants you to meet.

Truthfully, Darren was acting like you didn't hate surprises, you did. Every time your brother dropped by unannounced made you furious. You'd told him over and over again to call first, but no matter what you did each time he showed up without so much as a text.

You sigh audibly. "I just want to be prepared for wherever it is we're going."

"And I told you it's a surprise." His hands tighten on the wheel as if you're annoying him, before he glances over at you with a tight smile. "Come on sissy, it's like you don't even trust me."

The word "trust" makes you frown at him and drags you back to your apartment thirty minutes ago when Ben told you that you were stupid and "too trusting." You didn't understand why Ben got so mad at you going with Darren.

He's my brother, what did Ben think was going to happen? And why was he so angry?

You cross your arms over your chest and lean back into the plush seat.

Who did Ben think he was? He's not my dad! And I am not just some stupid little ditzy girl who needs a big strong man to protect me! I am a grown woman who has survived this long without someone like him butting into all of my business.

The more you sat there in the car, the more your frown deepens, and the more angry you became. You didn't understand why he treated you that way when you hadn't done anything to warrant his temper.

He's just a temperamental petulant child who thinks that he knows everything and that his opinion should be treated with the highest regard!

Usually, you would feel bad about what you had shouted at Ben about his old team and about his son, but not right now. You didn't understand why he was getting so angry and why he cared so much about what you were doing with your brother.

Does Ben really think that Darren would do anything to hurt me?

The whiplash that Ben kept putting you through where he seemed to care and then he didn't was getting old quick…

"Do whatever the fuck you want. It's not like I give a shit about her."

You wince as Ben's words ring in your ears making something stick in your chest. They had hurt more than you thought they would, maybe because you were starting to care about Ben and you thought that he was starting to care about you.

Because what other reason would he walk with you to work, pick you up, and bring you coffee sometimes? And why did he seem to be almost worried when Darren suggested that you meet his friend?

But he doesn't care about you. He's made that much perfectly clear.

You chew the inside of your cheek contemplating the conversation the two of you shared. Maybe I did say some things that were a little harsh, but Ben was being a total dick and he deserved what I said!

A flash of Ben and you tangled in one another this morning comes roaring back bringing a wave of heat flashing through you. Your cheeks flush and the wildflowers growing on the opposite side of the bridge outside of the car all flare bright pink in the sunlight when Darren drives the car past them.

You had been so close to kissing him, so close to letting yourself sink into his warmth and lose yourself in all he was. He was so strong and broad and warm in all the right ways, not to mention he looked really cute this morning with his eyes still a little hazy from sleep and his dark hair falling forward into his face, mused just slightly against the pillow. You could still feel his body laying on top of yours, but the weight wasn't oppressive, it was perfect, like a weighted blanket that made your anxiety fade away. The feeling of his powerful chest beneath the palms of your hands as you dragged them up to tangle his hair ghosts through your body.

Despite Ben's gruff exterior those few soft moments this morning you wished hadn't slipped through your fingertips, you wanted to kiss him, wanted to feel what it was like for him to kiss you softly as if he wished to savor you. The one you'd shared outside your apartment was hungry and frenzied, but you had a feeling deep down in your gut that the kiss Ben and you would have shared on the couch would have been different. The moment felt different too. The way he looked at you, the way he smiled when he noticed the apple tree flowering, and the way he held you close to him with care.

No. I am not going to think about any of that right now. He was a jerk for no reason and even if he wasn't Ben said he didn't care about me. Which is exactly what I've been trying to say since I first met him, he doesn't want to date me, he just wants to fuck me and move on.

When you'd walked out of your bedroom in a fresh outfit, Ben had already gone, and Jake had answered you back saying that it was okay for you to take the day off. Jake rarely said that it was a bad idea, he had said that he would "miss you" but instead of that filling you with warmth it did absolutely nothing. You figured that it was because of the fight Ben and you had. The anger, frustration, hurt, and rage was still currently swirling around your head and whenever it came to a peak you'd get a flash of how good it felt to wake up with Ben on top of you.

"How did you meet your friend?" You ask to keep your mind from wandering back to Ben.

"The usual."

"Usual, meaning?"

"Met him at Richie's poker game, we hit it off." Darren adjusts the radio and flips it to an 80's rock song that you can't remember the name of.

You sigh. "You owe him money don't you?"

"No I don't!" Darren clams up, his hands tightening on the wheel for a moment. "Well, just a little…"

Typical, just typical. Should have brought my damn checkbook.

"I thought you said that you didn't need money?" You pinch the bridge of your nose doing another mental calculation of how much you could give your brother.

"I don't, we worked something out." Darren answers vaguely, turning off of the expressway and onto a side street.

The buildings outside the window begin to be more and more spaced out, becoming more industrial. Each one you pass is fenced in and are quickly changing into giant warehouses and desolate streets. There aren't any other cars on the road with you and you hadn't seen another person in a few minutes.

"Well this looks… murdery." You frown at another empty warehouse with rusting sides and a roof that’s caved in.

Why are we all the way out here?

"It's not murdery, it's just eclectic. Don't be so judgmental." Darren rolls his eyes at you as he makes a left turn in front of a warehouse that is larger than the others, but in much better shape.

It's fenced with barbed wire swirling along the top of the chain links, but there's a man standing at the gate with a leather jacket, sunglasses, and a clip board, the first person you’d seen outside of the car since Darren got off the expressway. He gestures for Darren to roll down the window with the clipboard.

"Hey there Joe." Darren says smoothly, leaning his elbow on the window frame, the picture of ease.

"Darren." Joe states eyes falling on where you're sitting in the passenger seat. "That her?"

"Yeah this is my sister." Darren flashes the usual smile, the one you've seen him use countless times when he needs to schmooze someone or close a "deal."

"Hi." You say awkwardly, smiling at the man identified as Joe.

Something about this feels wrong. Why does he know who I am? I thought I was just meeting Darren's friend?

All Joe does is frown at you. "Doesn't look like a supe."

You turn to look at your brother surprised. Darren knew that it was something you didn't share with everyone, that it was something you only revealed when you had to.

Darren shrugs it off with a laugh. "She is, trust me."

"Hmm." Joe grunts. "And you're late. The boss doesn't like it when people are late."

"Sorry it was her fault. Told her to put on something nice and you know how women are." Darren is completely in his element, gesturing with his hands, and smoothing down any ruffled feathers.

But the whole situation makes you more uncertain.

Who was "the boss?" Is that Darren's friend? And why the fuck did he tell Joe that I was a supe?

You pull on the end of your long sleeved blouse nervously. Darren hadn’t let you leave the house before approving your outfit and finally when you'd walked out of your bedroom wearing a long sleeved green with white polka dot blouse and a pair of dark jeans and your converse he had said that you were "presentable" but then insisted that you leave your hair down.

It made you feel like you were about to go to a job interview. You didn't understand why Darren made you change so many times or why he cared what you wore to meet another one of his skeevy friends. They never seemed to dress up to meet you, so why should you dress up to meet them? Not to mention Darren wasn't wearing anything different than his usual outfit.

He was wearing his black army jacket over a pair of black ripped jeans and a Meatloaf t-shirt. He'd changed out the gauges in his ears for black pointed spikes and the two rings in Darren's right eyebrow were now bright blue. Darren runs his hand over his buzzed hair, giving you a flash of his onyx skull ring on his thumb.

"Yeah I get it, my old lady does the same thing." Joe eyes you appreciatively and winks. "Cleans up nice though."

"Thank you." You reply dryly.

Joe waves Darren through and as he does, you see a gun in a holster hanging against the left side of his chest under his leather jacket.

"Darren what is this? Why was he armed? And why the fuck did you tell him I was a supe?" You shout at your brother as soon as he rolls up the window.

"Oh well, my friend is kind of important and Joe is just some extra security." Darren pulls the car into a parking spot just outside of the building. He says it like you're overreacting, but you didn't think you were. This entire situation was suspicious. "I told him you were a supe because he's just trying to keep my friend safe. He asked an honest question and I didn't want to lie to him."

Bullshit. Darren doesn't give a fuck about lying to other people.

Sometimes you even wondered if Darren gave a fuck about lying to you. That thought was usually brushed away by the reassertion that Darren was your brother and you trusted what he said.

But everything about this situation made you feel odd. You didn’t understand why Darren had to bring you here to meet his friend or why his friend wanted to meet you in the first place or why his friend seemed to need so much security. You'd never had one of Darren's friends ask to meet you before, most of the time you just showed up to meet Darren and they were there scratching something in public that they shouldn't be.

"Come on Darren, you know how much I hate telling people that I'm a supe-"

"Relax. It's already done, let's just move on." He waves a hand, ignoring you.

"Please, tell me what I'm doing here. This is more than me just meeting your friend."

"Hey." He brings his hand down on yours where it rests on the middle console. "I know you're nervous, but I would never do anything to hurt you." Darren's blue eyes are wide with sincerity. "Do you really think I would?"

"Well-" You bite the inside of your cheek.

He's your brother. He wouldn’t hurt you. You say it to reassure yourself, but it doesn’t stick completely.

"Come on." Darren sighs it as if he's genuinely upset that you thought he would. "I'm your brother, I'm your only family and I love you sis. I just want to do what's best for you. And my friend is really nice and he keeps saying that he wants to meet you. Not to mention he's loaded and I know that you struggle with things like that and he said that he'd help you out."

"What?" You sputter in surprise. "Why would he do that? Why would you talk to him about me?

"Because he's a nice guy and I like to brag about how amazing you are to everyone I meet." Darren smiles. "Now come on I don't want to keep Eli waiting and we're already late."

"Eli?"

It was the first time that Darren had used his friend's name and somewhere at the back of your mind it rang a bell.

"My friend. You're gonna love him. Come on I don't want to keep him waiting." Darren repeats as he gets out of the car first, but you stay in it for a second absorbing the entire situation.

You had half a mind to text Butcher or Annie, something about the whole situation made alarm bells go off in your head, and as mean as Ben had been, you wondered if he was right, if this was something you should be worried about.

And weirder still a piece of you wished that Ben was here with you. You didn't know why, but you did.

Instead of calling or texting someone, you discretely unlock your phone and check that the tracking software Annie and you downloaded to keep tabs on one another when you moved into the city was on. No one else knew about it, in fact the app was disguised as a period tracker on your home screen so if someone were to take your phone all they would see is another general app and they'd immediately pass over it. 

You'd never had to use it before in an emergency situation. Annie and you both used it when you went on a date with someone you barely knew as an extra precaution in case the guy turned out to be a freak or a secret cannibal. The horror stories you saw on the internet made you worry about that and the last thing you wanted to do was go on a date with a guy who had a taste for human flesh or wanted to turn you into a skin suit.

You open the passenger side door of the car and step out into the sunshine, tucking your phone into your pocket back pocket while looking up at the building. It glints a dull gray in the morning light, but the general appearance of the building does little to make you feel better about the whole situation. Memories of all the other times you met Darren's friends came flitting back across your mind, all of which occurred at a fast-food restaurant or a random poker game or a bar. Not to mention you'd never had one of his friends specifically ask to meet you before and you'd never met one in the middle of nowhere at a warehouse that was fenced in and patrolled by armed guards.

Darren adjusts the collar of his jacket flipping it down before he looks back at you. "Come on."

"Darren I don't think-"

Darren looks up to the sky with a heavy sigh as if your apprehension is annoying him. "Sis come on." He walks closer to you. "That asshole, Ben, is in your head. Are you really going to trust some random guy you live with or me? Your own flesh and blood?"

"Well-"

"Have I ever put you in a dangerous position before?"

"No."

"Exactly. I care about you so much and I would never do anything to hurt you." He takes your hand, eyes soft in the morning light. "I love you. You're the only family I have left that matters. And I promise if anything in there makes you uncomfortable we can leave. Just say the word."

"Really?"

"Yes." Darren nods once. "Fuck, sissy I'm not taking you here against your will. If you don't want to go in we don’t have to, but you said that you would come with me and you never break your word. Not to mention it would make me happy."

He's my brother. He loves me. He would never hurt me. It's going to be okay.

You let out a soft breath and squeeze his hand. "Okay."

Darren leads you to the thick metal door and opens it for you so you can walk in first and as soon as you do, you stop mid-step. The inside of the warehouse is covered with tables, but they're not empty, each table holds more weed plants than you can fit inside your entire apartment. The room is so green that you have to squint for a moment for your eyes to adjust from all the brightness outside. There are large fluorescent lights hanging above each table trying to give the plants the sunlight they need, but the plants don’t look good.

The plants are wilting, dying, and some have a strange black substance that fans out over the leaves in a vein-like pattern, choking the green that remains. Dead plants in piles are stacked on the edges of the room, already succumbing to whatever the hell was wrong with them.

You'd never seen a plant have something like that before. Even the energy given off by the plants is not the usual one you feel when surrounded by so many, it feels wrong, sickly, almost oppressive. You've never felt something that felt so wrong from any of the plants that you had encountered in the past.

You walk up to one of the tables, examining the black veins that are creeping along the gentle bend of the leaves up from the stalks. "What happened?"

"No idea." Darren shrugs. An unlit cigarette is perched between his lips and he's searching through his jacket pockets for his lighter. The one he'd had for years that looked like a silver dragon. "Eli said that he came back from somewhere and he found them like this."

"Oh."

"Do you think you can fix them?"

"What?" You turn to look at him incredulously. "This is weed. This is illegal why the fuck would I fix this?"

"Come on. Don’t be so high and mighty." Darren groans. "They're plants. You've told me countless times that you hate it when plants suffer. Well all of these are suffering!"

"Not the same thing!"

"You're telling me if Newton's dad's cornfield was suffering you wouldn't wave a hand and work some of that plant lover shit to save it?"

"That cornfield is his family's livelihood this is-"

"It's Eli's livelihood. It's how he makes so much money!"

"Is this why you brought me here?" You shout crossing your arms over your chest. "To fix all of these?"

"No. I wanted you to meet my friend and he's waiting for us so we might as well fucking go." Darren grouses, turning to walk up a rickety staircase that leads to the second level of the warehouse.

But you don’t believe him, because why else would Darren bring you to a place with a plant related problem, not to mention why would Darren get so angry when you refused to.

Did he really think I was going to fix an entire warehouse full of weed plants? The last thing I'm gonna do is help Eli cultivate his crop.

You weren't surprised that Darren's friend wasn't as above board as everyone else. You knew that your brother tended to get involved with people who weren't as law abiding, not to mention your brother's moral compass didn't always point North when it came to other people, but you didn't think that he would involve you in something like this.

Occasionally the moral boundaries you had were pushed when it came to what you did for Butcher, but at least he respected you when you said no.

Darren continues to stomp up the stairs angrily, another reason why you believed that Darren was lying to you.

He knew that if he mentioned any of this I would never come with him.

He throws open the door at the top of the stairs not bothering to knock and you follow behind him, fuming.

The room just inside is not what you were expecting. The entire wall to the left is made entirely of glass giving whomever is inhabiting the room an amazing view of the water beyond, water that you didn't realize was so close when Darren pulled up to the building. There's a giant wooden antique desk at the back at the room with a large maroon leather desk chair sitting behind it and two smaller leather chairs in front of the desk. A few bookshelves line the non-windowed walls, but there's no one else in the room, just Darren and you.

Where's his friend?

Darren sighs and exhales a breath of smoke, before he turns to look at you with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry sis. I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I know that you've always been more on the straight and narrow than me and I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"What?" You weren't expecting him to sound so sorry, if anything you thought that your brother would have started yelling at you all over again. Why is he apologizing.

"Yeah." He rubs a free hand over the top of his buzzed hair sheepishly. "I shouldn't have gotten so mad about it. Of course you don’t have to do anything you don't want to do."

"Thank you." You sigh. "And I'm sorry. I do hate to see plants suffer, but that out there is different than what I do regularly."

"I know. And I don’t want you to be uncomfortable" Darren grabs your hand with his free hand, before he looks around the room. "Guess Eli is also running a little late huh?" He smiles and it reassures you that you've been forgiven.

"Yeah. Weird that he's not here. Especially when Joe said he was waiting for us and-"

"Oh shit!" Darren interrupts you, lets go of your hand and smacks himself on the forehead. "I completely forgot."

"Forgot what?"

He's frantically patting down his pockets looking for something. "I was supposed to call Richie. I told him I would and I-" He continues to check his pockets, the cigarette still burning between his lips. Darren talks around it. "Can I borrow your phone real quick? I think I left mine in the car."

"But-"

"Please it'll take like, two seconds. I told him that I'd meet up with him later and I want to take you to lunch after this to make up for all that shit." Darren nods his head back towards the door where the tables of weed plants are.

"Oh you don’t have to take me to lunch Darren, I can-"

"No." Darren smiles. "I want to. It’s the least I can do, driving you all the way out here and making you meet Eli."

"Um-" You look around the empty office expecting Eli to materialize out of nowhere. "Sure. But please make it quick. I don’t want to be in here alone with this random dude."

"He's not a random dude, he's my friend. And he's a gentleman, definitely a better person that that dick you have at your apartment." Darren waves a hand before he takes your phone. "You'll be fine. And we can go wherever you want for lunch."

You frown at Darren's comment about Ben as he disappears out the door and leaves you in the large office.

Honestly you did think that Ben could be a dick at times, but there were other times when he was almost sweet, well, sort of at least.

Not before he left today.

You think about what you yelled at him, about him needing people, but just wanting to push them away. That you were sure about. You believed that Ben did need people, but he had so many trust issues about everything that had happened in the past that it made him suspicious and not want to admit it to himself. That and you figured if he believed he was such a "manly man" he thought that it was ridiculous and feminine to admit that he needed someone.

Which again, you thought was stupid because you'd always seen emotional maturity in a man as an attractive trait. You liked when men could be vulnerable around you, you liked when they were honest, and you liked when they had the confidence and security to break around you so you could help them. And you found yourself wanting to help Ben, even though you thought you shouldn't.

He's not a bad guy, he's just got a ton of trust issues, machoistic ideas, and an inability to open up to anyone.

You tap your fingertip against your bicep where they were crossed in front of your chest and make your way to one of the bookshelves to look at the books. Some were antiques, others were versions of classics that you had read when you were a child, but you were sure that each volume was worth more than the apartment building you lived in. Some of the spines were so faded that you could just barely make out the flecked golden lettering and others were in another language that you couldn't understand.

Honestly, you could see yourself sitting in the big maroon chair curled up with one of these books, reading through the book with a large cup of tea while looking out over the water and admiring the iconic New York Skyline across the bay. It was a nice office, but your mind began to drift back to the quiet moments Ben and you shared a few days ago when you curled up on the couch beside him and read through your current obsession while he sat with the paper on the other side. It was nice and you were surprised that the two of you could share such a quiet moment together without ripping each other's heads off.

Maybe I should call and apologize. You think to yourself while you stroke your fingertip down one of the spines. I shouldn’t have said those things about his team or his son. And yes maybe he shouted some things at me too, but maybe he also feels bad and he's just not man enough to tell me that he's sorry. Or maybe he doesn’t give a fuck and he couldn’t care less about me.

The words he snarled at your brother, vibrate through your head again.

"Do whatever the fuck you want. It's not like I give a shit about her…"

You hear someone come through the door and because you expect it to be Darren, you don’t turn to look at him.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting darling." The voice says in a warm and low rumble, the ends tilting in an accent that you can't place. But your entire body freezes, because you knew that voice.

You slowly turn to look at the man who just entered the room eyes widening.

"Ms. Worthington. It is so nice to see you again. How was the drive?" Elijah Black asks with a pleasant smile, one eyebrow raised at you. "Not too much traffic I hope."

Elijah Black looks almost exactly the same way he did at the fundraiser a few days ago and the use of the fake last name you used only reminds you that he hadn't forgotten meeting you. His greying black hair curls behind his ears in waves that have been slicked back over his head. More of his sun-kissed golden skin is revealed to you, showing tattoos that curl up his muscular arms and disappear into the rolled up sleeves of his navy dress shirt. The top two buttons are unbuttoned revealing more of his muscular chest and the dark ink that swirls up from his pecs and licks up onto his collar bones. He's wearing a gold chain to offset the dark swirls of the tattoos, but he still is built like a body-builder, bigger than Ben across, not taller, but taller than you.

Oh fuck. This is not good.

You reach for your phone in your back pocket, prepared to send an emergency text to Butcher and Annie, the one you should have sent before when you were outside, but talked yourself out of. But then you remember that Darren still has your phone and he's not back yet.

"Mr. Black. Funny seeing you here." You clear the fear from your voice, fighting the shudder of fear when you watch Elijah's eyes trace up your figure, clinging to places that make you wish that you hadn’t worn something so tight.

"Please call me Elijah." He purrs, taking another step forward into the room. The door is closed behind him and Darren is gone. "I was disappointed when you used a fake name the other night. I was hoping to get to know you better." Elijah almost looks a little hurt, before his lips twitch into a smirk. "Of course Soldier Boy also seemed to be opposed to the idea, but he's not here now is he?"

"He's outside actually, just give him a second."

"You’re a terrible liar." Elijah chuckles. "I'd hate to see you try to play poker."

"Well give me a chance and I'm sure I'll surprise you."

Elijah is blocking the only exit. The windows could be an option, but it would mean that you’d have to throw something at it or you'd have to throw him through the window. You were strong, but not strong enough to do something like that. Not to mention you had a feeling that Elijah was a supe. The way he carried himself with a careful confidence seemed dangerous.

"Oh I can’t wait to see just how many surprises you have." His eyes trace up and down your body again in a way that makes your throat tighten and a wave of revulsion prickle over your skin. Even though you're wearing a long sleeved shirt and pants, you feel naked under his gaze.

"Darren said that Soldier Boy and you had a fight." Elijah taps his fingers against the edge of the wooden desk. "I hope he didn't hurt you."

Why did Darren tell Elijah that we had a fight? And where the fuck did my brother go?

"That's none of your business-" You say taking a step back moving around the back of the desk, preparing to run the other way and make a break for the door.

Elijah shrugs.  "I like to know everything about the women I get involved with."

"We're not involved. I don’t know a fucking thing about you." You spit backing away.

This is bad. This is very bad.

There weren't any plants in the room and you didn’t have any seeds with you. The other option would be the plants out in the warehouse, but each time you tried to reach for them, all you could feel was the sickly energy they had, and honestly it was making you feel a little bit nauseous. You’d never encountered that before, usually plants made you feel stronger, but they were all so sick that it was overwhelming your senses. You wondered if Elijah planned that.

"Well let's change that. I'd love for you to get to know me better." Elijah continues to move forward through the room slowly. "It’s a pity that the two of you had a spat, especially because you seem to care so much about him and he seems to care about you, and especially  because what he said must have hurt you, but I suppose it's better for me."

Ben doesn’t care about me, but Elijah doesn’t have to know that. If he knows who Ben really is, then he knows how dangerous he is, and if Elijah thinks that Ben will come to get me, that might be everything I need to make him back off.

"Why is that?" You inch around the table with Elijah following after you.

He's still smiling as if he believes that he's won.

"Because he won't come to save you if he hates you. Darren told me that the things you said to him were quite cruel. And I guess none of your team will be coming either."

Darren heard what we yelled at each other and he just pretended not to. He knew that Ben and I had a fight. He knows that Ben is Soldier Boy. Why would Darren do this? He's my brother-

"Of course my team will come to get me. They're on their way right now. And if I were you I'd let me go now, before this becomes an even bigger problem than it is." The lie isn’t completely out of your mouth before Elijah starts to laugh at you.

"No. They're all in Boston, including Soldier Boy." Elijah's smirk grows like the cat who caught the canary. "A thing about those anonymous tips, none of them seem to be that helpful. But Butcher wanted to catch that electric buffoon so badly I thought I might as well give him a push, not in the right direction unfortunately. I was hoping that Solider Boy and you would catch him the other night. He's been causing some trouble for me. Someone like him is bad for business, especially when I'm expanding into auto-motives."

"Oh no. The drug business isn't working out for you? So sad." You snark eyes flicking to the window for a minute and wondering if you could grab a chair and throw it out before he stopped you.

Elijah looks delighted. "I see you've noticed the problem. A rival of mine broke in and poisoned them, and instead of throwing away that much product and wasting more money I thought of you."

"What about me?"

"Well, your brother mentioned something in a game about his sister being able to 'make plants grow.' Honestly, your brother has a problem keeping his mouth shut about lots of things, but I was intrigued. He didn't see the value of such a gift as I did. And when Darren accumulated such a large sum of debt after the game I offered a deal."

"And what deal is that?" You take another step back, not looking away from Elijah.

"You."

Your entire body goes cold. "He wouldn't do that. My brother wouldn't do that to me. He wouldn’t give me to you as fucking payment!"

Because that was what Elijah was suggesting, he was suggesting that Darren would use you to pay off his gambling debts. Darren had done some shitty things in the past, but this seemed to be too much for him.

He wouldn’t do that to me. I'm his sister not some stranger. Darren is a lot of things, but that is too cold to consider.

"Oh my darling." Elijah sighs and throws you a pitying look. "He did. Do you really think he had to call someone? That he left his phone in the car? He needed your phone so you wouldn't call Butcher." Elijah looks at you as if you're a kicked puppy in need of solace. "But don't worry. I always take care of my toys, especially ones that are as beautiful as you."

"If you touch me I'm going to-" You begin to snarl at him

"You've got spirit." He smiles continuing to move towards you as you back away towards the door. "It always makes it more fun. More of a challenge to break."

"Stay away from me."

"I can't wait for you to beg for me to touch you."

"I mean it." You leap backward to grab the doorhandle, but as you do Elijah lunges across the room, grabbing your right arm to pull you away from the door.

He's still holding on and you bring your foot up between his legs hoping to find something soft, but when you do Elijah only laughs and tightens his grip on your arm and you hear a high-pitched snap that vibrates through your body.

At first you don’t understand what the sound was, but a wave of pain surges up and you realize the high pitched snap was the sound of your right arm breaking. The nausea comes roaring back, but the pain is almost excruciating as you try to pull your now broken arm from his grasp.

"Don't worry." Elijah purrs again. "I'm going to take good care of you."

And it's the last thing you hear as everything goes dark.

Soldier Boy POV

4 Days Later…

Ben leaned back in the faded floral cloth armchair in the corner of the crowded motel room, his head thrown against the back of the chair, as he takes a hit from the blunt in between his thumb and forefinger.  The other people in the room continue to bicker and shout at one another pouring over a map and a laptop on the lone table pressed under the window in the corner of the room and it was ruining his buzz.

It had been four days since Ben had been shoved into the back of a car and taken to Boston, four days of listening to Butcher bitch and moan about why none of them could locate the electric supe, and four days since Ben had last seen you.

He exhales a cloud of smoke remembering the conversation the two of you had before he left. Honestly, he hadn’t meant to make you cry and he had no idea where any of what he shouted at you came from, but he was just so damn frustrated about the way your asshole brother was treating you and how damn trusting you were that he just exploded.

Everything he told you, he thought was obvious and something that you could see for yourself. And yet you stood there, eyes wide with tears, while he shouted those things at you and then you had the audacity to yell back at him.

He'd never met anyone so completely clueless and trusting before and it was infuriating. He hated that you let that asshole use you, hated how submissive you got whenever your brother brought up the fact that he was your only family, and Ben hated how you couldn’t see what was directly in front of your face.

All he'd wanted to do was tell you to be careful, and instead he insulted you. And then he'd had to listen to you cry to yourself quietly in your room like you also hadn't insulted him.

Why the fuck do I give a shit? She's just being damn hormonal and never wants to listen to anyone, but herself.

Ben's frown deepens when he remembers what you shouted back at him. He'd never allowed anyone to speak to him that way, then again no one had ever had the balls to and he respected that. Well, respected it, but wished you would fucking stop.

Worse still was that Ben didn't understand why he couldn't stop thinking about you. He'd never had that happen before, usually all it took to get a woman out of his mind was a quick fuck with whatever walked by, but that hadn't worked when he tried it last night.

He'd changed his location on tinder and gone out with a girl who looked nothing like you, and seemed to be the stupidest person Ben had ever met. This time he had bought her dinner, and Ben could feel himself zoning out while she talked about nothing at all. He thought of you while she talked, thought about how you always seemed to speak with purpose and how when you spoke about things they always seemed interesting and important. Not to mention he liked it when you talked because he wanted to learn more about you. You were so different than the women he'd met over the years and it was refreshing. Ben didn't like that he felt that way. He'd never been one for talking, he thought it was fucking boring, but for some reason talking to you was different.

The only time his date shut up was when Ben took her back to her apartment and yet on the walk home all Ben could think of is if you were okay. He didn't like that he had left you with your brother and he had been debating to tell Butcher to fuck off and follow Darren and you, but he hadn't wanted to after you said all that shit about his son and his old team.

Why the fuck do I give a shit what happens to her? All we do is live together. I'm not fucking her, I'm not-

He wasn't used to worrying about someone else, but he was worried about you and again Ben didn’t like it. He didn't like it so much that he almost walked back around the block to his previous date's apartment to see if she was ready to go for round three, but he didn't. Instead he went back to the motel room and tried to sleep, but he couldn't.

Over the past four days, each time Annie's phone rang or chirped he perked up hoping that it was you on the other line and every time it wasn't he seemed to sink further into the chair.

Ben puffed on the joint, but it wasn't as soothing as it had been in the past. The buzz wasn't taking the edge off the thoughts he had of you and it only pissed him off more.

Ben hadn't ever met anyone like you before. You were different and most of the time he never understood you, but he liked that about you. He liked that you were different than all the other women he had met in the past and he liked that you seemed to surprise him. He also thought that was why he liked talking to you, because he wanted to learn more about you so he could understand more.

Ben had never wanted to do that with anyone before, most of the time he just moved on, but not you. As much as he hated to admit it, it was making him want to spend more time around you, because you were interesting, odd, but interesting.

Especially because you kept refusing to sleep with him. It was a point of pride for him, being able to work whoever he wanted into bed with him, but not you. He had tried time and time again to get you to sleep with him using every trick in the book and yet, nothing.

Ben's mind flashes back to the other night at the party when you told him that you wouldn’t sleep with him was because you thought he "threw women away." It struck a nerve more than he thought it would when you said that to him. In fact, women had said similar things to him in the past, but he'd only laughed in their faces, but when you said it to him, it hit something deep inside that he thought he had locked away a long time ago. And weirder still Ben didn’t like it when you said that he wasn't "one for relationships" as if he couldn’t do it if he really tried.

I can do anything.

Ben downs the scotch in his other hand considering what you said and thinks of Countess. He thought that he'd loved her, he'd been in a relationship with her, an open one, but still it was something.

He remembered when you said that sex meant something to you and Ben had never met someone who felt that way before. Someone who thought that sex was special and should be shared with someone you loved. It was weird for him to consider that and Ben supposed that the only way he was ever going to have sex with you was if you fell in love with him or if he fell in love with you.

Yeah, like that'll fucking happen.

He rolled his eyes at the thought. He didn't think that he'd ever be able to fall in love with someone like you. Not with someone who infuriated him as much as you did and was so different than him in every way. Not when you made him angry and annoyed all the time because you refused to listen, talked back, and yelled at him.

The memory of you in his arms when he woke up four days ago surfaces and Ben swallows. He was going to kiss you, and you were going to let him, he knew it.

When he'd kissed you outside of your apartment the first night he came home with you, he'd only done it to make Mike leave you alone, but he hadn't expected to like it so much. And he'd wanted to kiss you badly when he woke up next to you. He thought you looked cute, your body soft against his, your hair flaring out over the pillow, your eyes wide, and your lips supple and welcoming. He'd wanted to trace his thumb over your lower lip, wanted to taste your lips again, and lose himself in everything you were.

I sound like a fucking pussy.

Ben sighed to himself again and closed his eyes, hoping to drown out his thoughts of you with the conversation Butcher and Annie were having over the laptop. MM was cleaning a gun and glaring at Ben while Kimiko and Frenchie were talking in rapid fire sign language that Ben couldn't understand and he wished you were there to translate or at least there to talk to him.

It's always so boring when she's not here.

Ben froze, thumb and middle finger pressed tightly on the blunt. He'd never done that before, never wanted a woman around to talk to, but that was what he meant. Even with Countess it was different. He wanted her around for a good fuck but they didn't talk about anything important and they certainly didn't sit around on the couch and watch his old films and he never sat with her while she read a book.

Ben's mind went back to the other day when you'd sat with him quietly on the other side of the couch, your gaze so focused on the pages of a book that you hadn't seen him watch you read. He noticed that when you did, you sometimes stopped breathing, like you'd forgotten that you needed to and whatever was in the book was more important than oxygen and that you sometimes formed the words with your lips as you did. Ben didn't know why he thought it was so interesting when you read, but he couldn’t look away. Sometimes during the day he'd have some free time from Butcher and he'd walk past the plant shop to see what you were doing and would see you sitting at the counter reading to yourself. He always thought about going inside, but you looked so peaceful that he didn’t want to interrupt you.

It was better than when he found you talking with that idiot Jake. Ben rolled his eyes to himself at the thought of your boss.

He definitely wants to fuck her. Ben sighs crossing his legs. And she wants him to. She shouldn't. She needs someone that'll actually be able to handle her. That guy's built like a fucking twig, not to mention he's not a supe.

Ben's jaw tightened with the thought of walking in on the two of you fucking in the apartment. You had made a rule about Ben not having any women there, but you'd never said anything about you bringing back someone. You hadn't yet and Ben hoped that you wouldn't bring Jake there anytime soon. His grip on the arm of the chair tightens to the point that he pierces through inside to the stuffing. Ben wasn't sure he'd be able to go into the apartment to listen to the two of you, let alone smell him all over you when you were done.

It was bad enough when you'd come back to the apartment smelling like the plant guy and Ben didn't want to experience what it was like after you'd had sex with him and have to smell him all over you. That also made him a little confused. Ben had fucked plenty of women who had significant others, women who threw themselves at him, and he hadn't cared about sharing. Not to mention Ben didn't get jealous, ever, whenever Countess had messed around with someone else at Herogasm Ben would watch, but with you… The sound of the arm of the chair breaking in his hand is audible when he thinks about someone else touching you, but no one else notices.

What the fuck is wrong with me? Why do I care? She's infuriating! And she's always so damn angry with me all the time that I'm pretty sure she'd never let me kiss her ever again let alone touch-

"Hello?" Annie held her phone up to her ear interrupting Ben's train of thought. "Oh hey Jake what's-"

Ben perked up at the sound of Jake's name with a frown. He hoped again that while he was gone you wouldn't sleep with him.

"I'm worried, I haven't heard anything from her and she didn't come in for her shift this morning." Ben heard Jake say on the other side of the line referring to you.

His muscles tensed slightly. Ben hadn’t wanted to leave you there with your brother, something about the guy made him antsy. Ben had met men like him in the past, men who used things like family and love to manipulate people into caring about him. He knew that  Darren was your brother and you were just so kind and open that you would do whatever he asked without question. 

Darren knew that. He knew exactly what to say to her to get her to give in.

Ben wondered how much you’d let Darren get away with in the past and quietly made a promise to himself that he wouldn't let Darren get anything out of you ever again for as long as Ben was around.

"Do you think she's running late?" Annie asks diplomatically, but Ben doesn’t miss the way her eyebrows scrunch together and the worried look she throws Hughie who is sitting across the table looking up at her.

"Not three hours. I tried to text her and when she texted back the message was weird." Jake presses.

"What do you mean weird?"

"Well, she used a lot of emoji's and she never does that."

Ben watched Annie's smile pull down into a frown. "Huh. Here I'm going to try to call her and I'll call you back okay."

"Sure."

Annie hangs up the phone and scrolls her finger on the screen to find your number.

"Everything alright?" Hughie asks leaning back in his chair.

"I'm not sure." Annie puts the phone up to her ear again.

Ben can hear the ringing on the other side of the line and he finds himself leaning forward, waiting for you to answer.

"Come on. Pick up the phone." Annie whispers while tapping her foot on the ground.

When you don't she opens the text thread of messages the two of you have and texts you. When you moved to the city the two of you had come up with phrases and words that you used to warn each other of danger. Annie insisted on it. Two single women living in a big city meant that the two of you were targets even if you were supes and as capable as the two of you felt handling your own, it was a comfort to have someone else.

Annie: Hey babe! I'm thinking about dying my hair blue again. Thoughts?

She waited patiently staring at the screen. Ben couldn't help but watch her with interest, he didn't know what was going on, only that Annie seemed to be worried. Something that he had never seen her be.

You: Hey girl! I think you should go for it! You always rock it.

Ben hears Annie's sharp intake of breath and rises from his chair understanding that something is wrong.

"Fuck." Annie mutters.

In middle school as an act of rebellion, Annie had tried to dye her hair blue with a box of cheap hair dye the two of you bought at the pharmacy in town while Annie's mother was away. But when it was done, something had obviously gone wrong. The dye must have been old or maybe just too cheap to do any good because it had dyed Annie's hair a vomit colored green. And to make matters worse, Annie had a terrible allergic reaction. It was that day the two of you realized that she was allergic to the chemicals most hair dyes. Her entire head had swelled up and she had to go to the Emergency Room.

Not to mention when Annie's mother showed up she told Annie she "deserved it" for doing that to her hair. The only way the Doctors could help her was to wash her hair out with bleach and then when that didn't work they cut it all off.

Annie had to wear itchy wigs for months after.

The correct response you were supposed to have was:

"Fuck no. Do you want to shave your head again?"

"Butcher-" Annie says raising her eyes from her phone.

"Yeah?" He doesn't look up from the map in front of him, trying to find out where the supe is hiding.

"We have to go back." She touches his shoulder to get his attention.

"Why?" Butcher looks at her annoyed, and he was. He had devoted a lot of man power to finding this supe and a lot of his own personal time. The last thing he was going to do is to come up empty handed.

Annie says your name. "Is in trouble."

"What do you mean?" Ben asks.

"She didn't show up to work today and she never just skips." Annie explains. "And we have code messages we made and she answered wrong." She holds out her phone to show Butcher the text thread.

“Hair dye?” Butcher still doesn’t look convinced.

“She knows I’m allergic. And she didn’t show up to work today.”

“Maybe she slept in-“ Butcher didn't want to drive all the way back to NYC for no reason, not when he believed he was close to catching the electric supe.

“She loves that job. And yes maybe she runs late, but she’d never just vanish or not go into work without calling Jake.” Annie pulls her phone back and begins to swipe through.

“What are you doing?” Ben questions. By now he could feel something unfamiliar tightening in his chest, a weird feeling that he couldn't place.

“We share our locations with one another.” Annie replies typing something on her phone. “I just have to find the app and-“ She looks down at the screen for a moment before raising it so Butcher can see. “See look! Why would she be all the way in Brooklyn?” 

“Maybe that’s where her brother took her.” Ben grunts taking another puff from the joint in his fingers, hoping that it will relieve some of the weird tension he was feeling, but it doesn't.

Annie swivels her head around to glare at Ben so fast he gets whiplash. "Wait a minute. Darren's in town? Why didn't you say anything?"

“Yeah. Fucker spent the night four days ago.”

“And you left her with him alone?"

“He was going to take her to meet his friend-”

“For fucks sake Ben, why didn’t you just slather her in honey and tie her to an ant hill?" Annie shouts waving her hands dramatically at him.

Guess she doesn't like him either.

"Well-"

Annie isn't interested in what he has to say, instead she begins to type something on her phone and raises it one final time to her ear.

"Where the fuck is she?" Annie snarls into the phone and it doesn’t take Ben much time to figure out that she's called Darren.

"Who?" The voice of your brother fills the phone and Ben's hands clench together into fists at his sides.

Ben can tell he's lying from just one word and he feels rage begin to replace the odd feeling, licking up against the walls of his chest like an unquenchable fire.

"You know who you fucking leech." Annie spits.

"I don’t know. I took her back to her place after she met my friend. Think they hit it off." Darren sounds casual and Ben can almost imagine the sick smirk on his face.

"If you’re lying, I’m going to roast you alive like the pig you are."

"Oh baby the way you talk to me."

"Darren I’m serious."

"I don’t understand why you’re getting your panties in a wad Annie. She’s fine. I took her back to the plant shop four days ago after she met my friend, because she wanted to go to work. I haven’t heard from her since."

"Darren-" Annie begins to say, but Ben crosses the room so fast he didn't remember moving and snatches the phone from Annie.

"Listen to me you little shit." Ben growls into the phone. "If she's fucking hurt I am going to show you what it's like to be turned inside out."

"Whoa easy there Benny boy I don’t know who the fuck you think you are but-"

"For your sake I hope you're telling the truth, because if you're not there's going to be no where for you to hide from me and there's not going to be enough left of you to wipe up with a tissue." Ben hits the off button on the phone call and as he does he realizes that everyone in the room is staring at him with wide eyes, but he ignores it.

"Oi what the fuck was that mate?" Butcher says, but Ben ignores him.

"You can either give me the fucking keys to your car or I can take them from what's left of you." Ben snarls. "You get to pick."

Butcher eyes him for a minute, considering. "Come on yank, let's go."

A/N: And we have the reappearance of Elijah Black who is just as creepy as he was the first time. Maybe more? Wanted to throw in a little bit of Ben POV because it's a lot of fun to write and he's just so conflicted about everything, not to mention just as clueless as the reader when it comes to how he really feels.

As always thank you for reading! Reblogs and comments are not required, but are always appreciated. Feedback is always welcome. If you'd like to be added to my taglist for this series please let me know :)

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[naomi-nana]

bofurin and romance trope 2 . wind breaker

just as the title says, bofurin and romance tropes(part 2) read pt 1 here!

featuring : suou, sugishita

cw : fluff, gn!reader, kiss kiss(suou), sugishita's a little ooc i think

a/n : i guess instead of romance trope, its more like a couple dynamics. and i wasn't expecting the previous part to be doing well, but it did. so i made a part 2! :D

HAYATO SUOU . flirty and shy !

everyone knows from a glance that suou is someone who likes to 'tease' his friends. everyone knows that he finds it amusing to watch their different reactions too. just like that one time where suou purposefully put his hand on your shoulder infront of sakura to make him flustered, or that one time where he put bugs on tsukasa's desk which makes him get scared to death.

he finds all of it amusing, but he finds teasing you even more amusing. suou also likes to have tea together with you, and when you drink from your cup, he noticed an opportunity. "hmm, how does your tea taste like?" he closed his eyes and smiled at you, which makes you feel like he's up to something. "it tastes great! i like it very much."

"mind if i taste yours?" he opened his eyes once again and put his hands on the handle of your cup, and you think that he'll drink from it. "sure, go ahead!" but, to your surprise, he puts his his right hand on the table, and his left on your face. bringing your face closer to his for a quick kiss.

"it does taste pretty sweet." he said, sitting back on his chair while your face goes red.

SUGISHITA KYOTARO . protective and relaxed !

a lot of people think that your relationship with him is a 'joke', since they just can't see sugishita being all obedient with someone other than umemiya. but, you get it. he looks like someone who'll kill anyone who gets too close to him. which is actually kinda true until your relationship with him. his life motto has changed, from killing anyone with evil intentions towards umemiya, to killing anyone with intentions towards umemiya and you. and, furin, of course.

whenever you go out on a walk with him, you were all smiley and excited while he's standing besides you turning his head around just to see if anyone's trying to hurt you, with those scary eyes of him too. which makes you look like you're walking a dog instead of a date with your boyfriend. but you don't mind. you feel safe around him since he assured you that any danger coming towards you will immediately perish from this earth(you do tell him not to overdo it though).

he'd say, "this place isn't safe..let's go somewhere else.", just because a guy is trying to sell ice cream at the both of you.

naomi-nana. do NOT repost, do not use,(with or without permission), do not reccommend or talk about my works outside of tumblr.

[augiewrites]

"bartender" - dallas winston

request: Hi! I love your work and was wondering if you could do one for Dally from the outsiders where he's helping bartend for Buck to earn a couple bucks and Curtis!Reader is just sitting at the bar teasing him about it.

pairing: dallas winston x curtis!reader

word count: 618

a/n: i can't tell if i'm writing dally too ooc, but i was aiming more for shithead vibes than meanie vibes

Dally was too aware of Y/N Curtis sitting all by her lonesome at the end of the bar. She was wearing a nice dress and more makeup than usual, but Dallas hadn’t seen her speak to anyone since arriving. She looked good—a fact that Dally would never admit out loud.

“Ain’t it past your bedtime?” He asked, sitting a fresh beer in front of her. The bottle she ordered at the beginning of the night had been long finished, the label picked clean and laying in a little pile on the bar.

“Aren’t you the one always telling me ‘sleep is for the weak’?” She smirked at him, taking a long drink from the bottle, “Just taking a page out of your book.”

He leaned against the bar, “Your brothers know you’re here?”

“What they don’t know won’t kill them,” she rolled her eyes, “I deserve to have a little fun too.”

“Being all depressing by yourself isn’t exactly what I’d call fun.”

Y/N glared at him as he moved to take another patron’s order. After a few short minutes, he returned to his spot across from her and gave her an expectant look.

They stared each other down for a few seconds before Y/N rolled her eyes at him, looking away.

Dallas opened his mouth to tell her to either stop being a sad sack or go home when she cut him off, still not meeting his gaze.

“I was supposed to meet up with Scott Davis, but he never showed.”

“Davis? That guy’s a fuckin bum!”

She finally looked up at him, anger flaring behind her eyes, “Well it’s not like I wanna marry him or anything! You’re not exactly fit to be lecturing me on who to hang out with.”

“Oh, I think I’m perfectly fit, dollface.”

She rolled away the anger in her eyes and sent him a teasing smile, “I guess it takes a bum to know one.”

He glared at her, but only half heartedly, flicking a small piece of ice at her forehead.

“Yup—that right there. Bum behavior.”

“I guess it takes a bum to know one,” he mocked her, “at least I have a job.”

“Not sure if you’re gonna make six figures by over-serving people and being mean to lonely girls at the bar.” Y/N finished her drink and slid the empty bottle across the bar.

Dallas continued glaring, “Y’know, you’re a mean drunk, lady.”

Y/N laughed, and Dallas couldn’t help the smirk pulling at his lips.

“Two beers is hardly enough to be drunk.”

“Alright, then. You’re just mean,” Dallas popped the cap off another beer and sat it in front of Y/N. “Gonna start correcting people when they go on about how ‘Y/N Curtis is just such a nice girl’”, he shook his head, “if only they knew.”

Y/N scoffed, “I don’t think anyone’s ever said that.”

“Yeah, right, with your whole ‘Saint Curtis’ act—helpin’ old ladies cross the street and tutoring dumbass kids.”

“Devil in disguise I guess,” the pair smirked at each other, holding the gaze for much longer than they should have.

Y/N cleared her throat, looking around the bar, “Shouldn’t you be doing your job?”

He took the bottle from her grasp before finishing it off in one last swig, “Shouldn’t you be going home?”

She scoffed and started collecting her things, standing up from the bar stool. “That towel,” she pointed to the dish rag tossed over his shoulder, “makes you look stupid, by the way.”

Dally removed the towel to swat at her, “Go home, stupid.”

Y/N moved toward the door, sending Dally one last smile, “Go back to work, bum.”

[theloveinc]

bakugo x reader - you have a fussy baby

(warnings: ooc, you have a baby and are called mama. no mention of pregnancy. written in bed)

-

There’s a part of Bakugo that always gets a little bit nervous when you call. A growing fear, one that’s not always the most reasonable, as he’s long since learned to stop guessing what it is he’ll have to answer to.

Usually, his worry is assuaged immediately by the chirp of your sweet voice, more often than not calling to ask about groceries, or the timing of his arrival home, or even just to say, “hey, sweetie. How are you?”

But as of late, with the stress of multiple new realities on his hands, the playing catchup of his returning back to work, it’s been—

“Katsuki,” your voice trembles on the receiver, the fuss of your hands practically audible too, “thank god. I’m so sorry, but—“

You whimper, there’s a wail, and his gut clenches, veins turning cold as ice with adrenaline like any and every other time he prepares, quicker than you know, to catch a villain.

“Fuck, babe?” his voice is raspy with the crack of worry, his eyes flitting about as if the crime is in front of him, the offender just across the line of the dark, moon-lit horizon. “Are you okay? Are you safe—“

You interrupt.

“I just can’t get him to sleep. I-I’ve tried everything,” there’s a hiccup from somewhere close by, the baby on your shoulder most likely, “but he’s not going down. I don’t know what to do anymore. He’s clean, he’s changed, he ate almost everything I had—“

“Hey,” he says sternly, dad-like, in a way you’ve almost never heard from him, and you halt. Bakugo looks around the empty streets he’s walking, the evening sky of a warm spring having now receded into chill. “I’ll be there quick, okay?”

And just as soon, he calls Kirishima to let him know he’s deviating from the patrol route.

-

Your son relaxes in his arms almost as soon as you set him down. Still in uniform, a sheen of sweat and dirt coating his body, he must smell like something comforting to the little babe as he stops crying just as fast, smacking his little lips into the sweaty shirt he now lays on.

You part from them, letting Bakugo take charge, the anxious tears stopped but still streaked down your cheeks, illuminated where you finally allow yourself to sit on the handsome blue armchair by the crib.

“Fussy shit,” Bakugo complains quietly, tearing one little snort of a giggle out of you as you gaze upon the two of them and wipe your nose, and at the same time, he gazes down at the baby with your eyes. “Wanted to make your mama cry, huh?”

“I’m sorry,” you say, sinking down into soft plush, “I’m so sorry I panicked, made you come all this way for nothing.”

“Stop apologizing, baby. ‘S not nothing,” he replies. “You needed help, and that’s what I’m here for. I’m”—he almost says fuckin’ Dynamight, pausing to look at you when he changes his mind—“dad. I’m dad.”

You smile weakly, and he approaches, dipping down on one knee to let you give your finally sleeping baby one last goodnight kiss, your fingers gently curling his blonde bangs away from his forehead.

“Just needed your daddy, I guess. Right, little boy?”

Bakugo can’t help but smirk, pulling back carefully to gently put the baby in his crib. He whines as he goes down, stretching his little limbs out now that the swaddle has been discarded… and though he notices the way your fingers tighten into themselves in worry as you watch, he settles back into sleep almost immediately, barely a pause in between to confirm it.

In the new silence, you finally whisper. “You gotta go back? To work?”

“I’ll get Denki over here in an hour,” Bakugo nods, also whispering; the sound that comes out unfamiliarly quiet, but not all that unpleasant as he steps and turns back to you, one hand reaching out to smooth down the hairs on your neck. “He’ll let you rest. You got it til then, or should I wait with you?”

You wave him off, still seeming tired but already calm enough to turn on the night light and pick up the book you started way back when, maybe even before becoming a mom. “I’ll be okay.”

“Don’t be afraid to ask for help again though, mama,” he leans down to give you your goodnight kiss before he finally has to go, reminding you of all the trust he has for you, too. “We’re all here to help.”

[gay-dorito-dust]

HIII can I request Mk1 Bihan hurt/comfort where you’re REALLY upset with him/worried for him after he’s been gone for days with no communication with these prompts i got from your list 😼. “where have you been? do you know what time it is?” and “you said you’d only be two hours. two!” and then maybe ending it with fluff like i just want him to hold me when i’m sleeping lowkey (even though he doesn’t seem like an affectionate person i feel like he would show it with actions rather than words yk) (i hope that’s not too specific 😭

I’m honestly glad to see someone actually use that prompt list, so thank you anon. 🦦 ooc Bi-Han? Or did I make him too mean?

You knew Bi-Han could handle himself and you knew that if he could see you as you were now, fitfully sleeping, biting your nails, worrying yourself sick over his well-being and whereabouts, he’d scoff and remind you that he wasn’t a child to be worried over. You’ve had your past frustrations with Bi-Han when it came to you and your overreactions -as he would put it- in regards to him going on long missions but at least during those other missions didn’t include the loss of communications.

Kuai Liang and Tomas both tried to quell your worries by reaffirming what you already knew about Bi-Han but after some time you began to grow more and more frustrated at how this ice cold bastard, who would often regard you in cold stares and long solemn silences, whilst continuously invalidating your thoughts and feelings, had made you feel so helpless and so fearful on his behalf; despite fully knowing that he wouldn’t have spared you a single thought if your positions were switched. So when Bi-Han finally decided to return later in the darkest of night, needless to say you weren’t even in the slightest bit pleased to see him with the emotional turmoil he put you through.

‘Where have you been?’ You began, annoyance lacing your tone that only grew more evident when you noticed how unperturbed by all this Bi-Han was, as though it was something that he’d expect you to accept as the norm whether you liked it or not. ‘Do you know what time it is?’ You rhetorically added as you crossed your arms over your chest.

‘I don’t ever remember asking you to wait for me.’ Bi-Han puts bluntly as he brushed pasted you as though you weren’t even there, which caused a tightness to form in your throat at how easy it was for him to disregard you. Whilst his attitude towards you made you question your worth to him, It also made you mad at how he thought he could treat you with such little respect, it was an insult that stung you deeply and felt like a spit in the face to the way you were stressing yourself over this unfeeling man for two fucking days!

‘Trust me. I’m not at all pleased about loosing sleep over you either.’ You retorted bitterly, not wanting to look at him for the fact that you were both relieved and irritated of his seemingly safe return. You were relieved to see him safe and with minimal injuries as it silenced the anxious and ominous ideals of him possibly never coming home, which neither were based upon any solid evidence that that was going to be the case. And you were irritated about this because it only meant that your sleepless nights, frequent bouts of anxiety and stress were for nothing. Your worrying was for nothing and you truly hated the conflicting emotions that only Bi-Han could withdraw from you.

‘You said that you’d be gone for two hours. TWO! Not two fucking days with absolutely zero chance of communication to let us know, to let me know that you were alright! That you were safe and that you were coming home!’ You chuckled humourlessly at how stupid and pathetic your words must sound to him but this was how you felt, and to you your feelings were anything but stupid or pathetic. ‘But i guess that’s too much to fucking ask from the Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei.’ You finished getting everything off of your chest that you’ve been concealing for the past two days, only for them to be regarded with the indignant scoff of an annoyed Bi-Han.

‘I do not need nor want to hear tales of your concern and how worried you were and in regards to the loss of communication that had you so distraught, it was merely a minor hindrance. There was no need to inform anyone of anything, the only thing that mattered was accomplishing the mission, no matter what, even if that meant on the fly improvisation or even in the off chance of never coming back.’ Bi-Han said with a voice so cold you swore you could feel the goosebumps on your arms staring to rise. ‘I shouldn’t be held responsible for the emotions that you feel. You should’ve put more faith in your Grandmaster instead of allowing your own emotions to cloud your judgment, for they only serve to become your undoing during the vital moments.’ He finished and all without sparing a single glance your way as to gauge your reaction, not when he could practically feel it trying to suffocate him with how thick the tension became.

You didn’t have any words, even if you did you wouldn’t know how to articulate them without it come across as disjointed ramblings of things you’ve already said aloud. You felt humiliated and you felt ashamed for standing by and letting it happen but what else could you say to combat that? It was obvious that Bi-Han didn’t care and so after spending two days on the trot, you had truly exhausted yourself both physically and emotionally. You were too tired to keep fighting with a man who might as well have been an ice wall, so instead of continuing your attempt to make Bi-Han see how his actions affected you, you walked out of the room but just before closing the door behind you, you stopped to say; ‘At least I get to say that I am blessed to possess thoughts and feelings. Goodnight Grandmaster.’ Before leaving Bi-Han with his thoughts.

By the time Bi-Han came to bed you were fast asleep. In fact the moment your head hit the pillow you were already deep into the realm of dreams to properly tuck yourself beneath the covers. He welcomed the sight, content that you hadn’t left him yet despite everything that had been said prior, he didn’t have an valid excuse on hand to justify his actions as Bi-Han had become aware that how he spoke to you wasn’t a tone that one should take when speaking to someone they love, nor was the way he disregarded your thoughts and feelings were anywhere near acceptable either.

However Bi-Han found it impartial to vocalise his regret for the way he had acted but fount that he could express that better through other means. So he journeyed to your side of the bed to pull the covers over the top of you, making sure to cover you completely, knowing how you get when the nights grow colder as he quickly pressed a featherlight kiss to your forehand, lingering there for a minute to savour the moment. Bi-Han then moved over towards his side of the bed and tucking himself under the covers before moving himself closer to you until his front was practically pressed up against your back and his arms were caging you against him as to protect you from the dangers that would bring you harm. Yet under Bi-Han’s watchful eye, that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon. He wouldn’t allow that to ever come to pass for how could he call himself your love if he couldn’t protect you?

[luvingshidou]

I have read your blue lock x ballerina!reader

I loved it, I have a request Can you do blue lock x skating on ice reader

Like they were sitting with y/n in the living room and watching TV, But y/n She was scroll on her phone She didn't notice that her performance was playing on the TV

(Imagine the rest <3)

maybe: michael kaiser, rin itoshi, sea itoshi, any other character you want👀

OFCCCC ANONNNN🫶🫶🫶

DAZZLED

bllk boys x fem! ice skater reader

established relationship

THANK U ANONNN😘😘🤭🤭

probs ooc

characters: michael kaiser, rin itoshi, sae itoshi

MICHAEL KAISER

You and Michael were both in your living room. You were busy typing an essay on your laptop while Michael was skipping through the channels and landed on a sports channel that was broadcasting a show from last week. When you looked up at the TV, you saw yourself in the middle of your performance.

Fuck.

How are you going to explain this???

"N/N??? You never told me you did ice skating." Michael says, still looking at your performance, a slight smirk on his face.

"Look— you probably have better things to be doing than watching me perform." You say, trying to explain my you never told Michael. Hearing this made his smirk grow wider.

"Me??? Nah, I wouldn't want to miss my angles, especially when she looks so elegant."

RIN ITOSHI

You and Rin were on the couching cuddling together. Rin was mindlessly flicking through sports channels while you were on your phone. While flicking through the channels, a particular one caught his eye. It was highlight of you and one of your performances from a month ago. You didn't notice until you heard your voice, making you look up at the TV cringing slightly.

"Fuck." You muttered under you breath.

"N/N, why haven't you told me about this???" Rin says, his eyes boring into yours.

"Well, I kinda just forgot to tell and was nervous cause you might think it stupid and—" You say, starting to ramble on about why you kept your hobby a secret.

"Y/N, you know I wouldn't do that." Rin says, his voice quite soft. "I'd be up in the stands anytime I get, just so I can see you, love."

SAE ITOSHI

Sae was in the living room watching TV after coming home from practice he was pretty tired, so you allowed him to rest on the couch while you made dinner for the both of you. Something you didn't know was that Sae was currently watching one of your stellar performances on the TV while you were making food, blissfully unaware of what was happening in the other room.

When you were finally done, you walked to the living to tell Sae dinner was ready, but as soon as you saw yourself on the TV, your heart sank. You've kept this a secret from him for so long how you were gonna explain this to him.

"Baby, you know you're actually quite good, better than I thought. But, why haven't you told me about this, huh???" Sae murmurs, looking at you, as stood there frozen.

"Well, ahm— I uhm—" You slurred out, trying to think of an excuse, but you were drawing a blank.

"Well, I guess that doesn't matter anymore." Sae says, smirking ever so slightly. "Next time, bring me, yeah???"

(SOZZZ FOR THE SLOW UPDATE I BEEN VERY VERY BUSY BUT I WILL BE POSTING MORE SOON HOPEFULLY)

[wyrmguardsecrets]

Mods, double check to make sure I didn't miss any names, please. This took way more editting than I realized it would

This is way more than enough to out me to those in the know, but that's okay I guess. I fully meant what I said about Artificer Harem Goat and I do genuinely feel like they wronged me, so I'll stand on business and say it with my whole chest.

Some of the colors aren't linked bc im pretty bad. But in all screenshots my character/discord is denoted by hard red. In all screenshots the purple refers to Artificer harem goat (dark purple in the first two, lavender purple in the latter 2. Just showing my mindset and thoughts and frustrations as I was being forced to finally oocly confront this situation, after dealing with it and never bringing it up ooc despite knowing from other friends how I was being talked about.

The only reason I'm even posting about it now is because I've seen the same story from other people about them 'hijacking' people and having an issue separating the character's actions from the player themselves. And the narrative comes up that it's about 'being possessive' or an attack on their erp habits or whatever. But nah, they were objectively shitty to me on an ooc level despite me doing my absolute best to keep any criticism of them or reaction to what they were doing IC. Bc im happy with OOC conflict. Happy to give them the benefit of the doubt. Incorporated them even more heavily into my RP because I naively thought 'maybe they won't think and talk so bad of me if my character is more friendly and welcoming to them'. Yeah, no, still all the same issues, and worse they just abused that to further interject themselves into the same stories they were trying to force me out of.

Ultimately i just did a DNI and let my characters partners at the time decide what they wanted to do about it. And frankly that was the right call, even though I lost great rp in the process. Because I don't feel shitty when I log in anymore.

but man does this person still fucking suck.

.

[belongstochannie26]

Looks going off on RE6 for leon's look and age.

Warnings: giving birth in an library, zombies, Leon is sorta ooc? But also not if that makes sense.

A/N: I don't own resident evil or Leon kennedy.

You curl up in pure agony, trying not to scream until you can't take it anymore.

As you scream you curl up in a corner to stay away from the zombies that are already in the room. Luckily you managed to stay hidden by fallen debris.

From where you're sitting you can only hear the door slamming open and shooting, you tried to stop the next scream of pain but you're unable too. Once you screamed the shooter spoke firmly “who's there?”

You cried out in pain as you stood up meeting the ice blue eyes of a man, he stares at you and looks you over and asks “were you bitten?” You managed to shake your head as you whimpered in pain and you cried out “my water broke.”

The man's eyes widen and he steps forward and says “My name is Leon Scott Kennedy. I'm an agent that works for the government, and I'm going to help you and get you both out of here.”

You nod a deep blush covering your face as you weakly crawl out from your spot towards him, once you're out of your spot he rushes over to you and says “we need to get you to somewhere that's more safe.”

You shivered as another wave of pain hitted you and you cried out “N-not time the baby is coming is coming.” Leon curses and nods as he rushes over to certain and wears a piece off before rushing back to you and says “This is my first time helping a woman give birth so I'm sorry if I make any mistakes.”

You couldn't help the small laugh that left you and said “it's my first time giving birth, so I guess we can learn together.”

Leon laughs and says “What's your name?” You lean back against the bookshelf as another wave of pain takes over you and you whimper out “ Y/N L/N.”

Leon nods and opens your legs and looks down to see the baby crowning and he says “You need you push darling.”

You started to push and gave out a scream, panting harshly and you whimpered “You might have to just take the baby when you leave.”

Leon scoffs and says “Like hell I am, if I have you to drag you to safety I will! Don't give up, y/n. I'm here. You need to push again.”

You whimpered as the pain became unbearable and you pushed hard as you screamed loudly to the point it tracked more zombies. As they limped Into the room, Leon shot them and killed them on sight as he guided the baby out of you and into his arms.

You stopped screaming the moment the baby was out of you. Leon hovers over you and cups your face as you weakly look at him and he asks “is there anything else that will need to come out?”

You nod and mumble weakly “the placenta needs to come out otherwise it can become life threatening.”

Leon nods after he cuts the cord of the baby with a clean knife he has and he whispers “How long?”

You whimper as blood soaks the floor “should be within 18 to 60 minutes.” Leon nods and gently covers the baby with window certain and holds the baby close as you catch your breath and try to calm your heart and you whisper “thank you leon.” Leon looks up at her and says “Don't thank me just yet, we're still not out of this town.”

You nod weakly and reach forward grabbing his arm as the placenta comes out with blood.

Leon immediately wraps and around you and holds you close and he whispers “This isn't ideal but we have to move now, once we get somewhere More safe, I'll let you rest.”

You nod and whimper as he helps you stand and he works quickly as he makes some type of kangaroo pouch on you which holds the baby.

Leon than wraps your arm around his neck and he whispers “I'll get you out, I promise.” You nod as tears fill your eyes as he helps you walk as you walk and get somewhat dragged the baby coos and clings to your shirt.

“You owe me dinner by the way.” You whisper to Leon as he looks around with his gun ready. You gently put your hand on your baby’s head.

Leon chuckles and says “I'll take you out for burgers and fries, how does that sound?” You giggle and tighten your grip on his vest and sounds “It sounds like a date.”

Leon glances down at her as he helps her and he whispers “The baby daddy where is he?” You lean against him as you holds you as he turns around the corner and you whisper “In jail, probably dead honestly with everything going on.”

Leon nods and says “I'll help you raise it, after all I did help you deliver the baby.” You gulped and looked up at him and whispers “You don't have too.” Leon nods as he looks straight ahead and says “That's true, I don't but we're going hell together currently, raising a baby? That seems more easier than this, plus I'm going tired going home with no one waiting for me.”

You nod and whisper “I guess that's true, you got a deal, leon.”

Leon gives her a quick smile as he leads the way.

[yougavemeyourheartyouknow]

On thin ice (Hockey player! Miguel O’Hara x Ice skater! Fem! Reader

A/N: Hehe new chapter bitches come feast 🤭. The usu, so excuse grammatical errors and typos, Miguel being ooc most likely. Also if anyone knows that “get your hands off my stunt” tiktok I wanted to make a reference to it in here hehe.

(Y/N)- Your name.

Cursing, Miguel not knowing how to communicate his feelings, Peter trying to get Miguel to communicate said feelings. Logan being a king lol.

Word count: 1.4k

Series Masterlist

Chapter 12: Baby we both know,that the nights are mainly made for saying thing’ that we can’t say tomorrow day.

—

“Alright, let’s practice the lift.” Logan said, as he motioned for you to step closer to him, which you quickly obliged, standing next to him as you both postion yourselves for the crucifix lift. You took a deep breath as you grip onto Logan’s tone shoulders, trying to focus on you and your partner rather than the shouts and the sound of composite hockey sticks hitting the puck that was coming from the inside of the rink that was happening 20 feet away from you. Usually on Thursdays you both wouldn't go over your lifts off the ice while the spiders practice, but with a week and a day till regionals, anxiety has gotten the best of you, and the inability to get one of the empty dance rooms to practice only helped turn that anxiety into annoyance.

As Logan goes down to position his hands on you, and began to lift you, one the hockey players thought it would be oh so funny to shoot the puck in your direction, causing it to hit the plastic barrier with a loud bang, startling you a bit as you let go of Logan’s shoulders, letting out a small screech, and a few chuckles from the players on the ice. Thank god for Logan, the heavenly partner he was, was still able to go through with the move, although his movements were slightly shaky due to the scare. It seems you both weren’t the only ones to notice the shakiness, because one of the players that wasn’t on the ice was walking by and noticed too.

“I got her, I got her.” He mumbled as he stopped behind you and placed his hands on your waist, you didn’t move from the touch since if you tried to squirm away, your hip would hit Logan’s head.

Logan in response let out a dry chuckle as he looked over at the guy holding onto your waist, giving him a once over before saying, “get your hands off my partner.” To which the other guy quickly let go, putting both hands up in a defensive manner.

“Sorry man, just trying to help.” The guy said as Logan flipped you to put you back on the floor.

“Yeah, well, I didn't ask.” Logan replied as he whipped his hands on his practice tights. You couldn’t help but let out a little snort at Logan’s sassiness.

“Reilly! Stop talking to those two and get your ass in here! We still have 20 minutes!” You turned your head once you heard Miguel’s orders to his teammate, as he skated past you three, his eyes lingering a bit longer on you then it did on Logan or on his teammate, both your eyes locking for a split second, and in that second, time slowed for a bit.

“You heard him Ben, get your ass in here!” Peter shouts next, your eyes ripped from Miguel’s to look over at him. Honestly, the only one you could really recognize in red and blue sports gear was Mig, you only knew it was Peter who just spoke from the sound of his voice, even with the numbers and the names on the back, although you didn’t really know any but Peter and Miguel. With Miguel it was easier to tell him apart from the rest since his physique was so much different from the others. Sure they were all tall and muscular, but compared to Miguel…

“Oh my god stop being a horny bitch…” you scolded yourself internally, shaking your head as you watched the guy whose name was Ben Reilly (you were guessing at least, it made more sense to you then Reilly Ben.) made his way back on the ice.

“Fucking god… he thinks I don’t know what I’m doing…” Logan scoffed under his breath as he whispered to you, his eyes narrowed as he looked over at the rink before his gaze met yours, his shifting to one of a more playfulness once he saw the look of amusement in your eyes. “What?” He asked with a slight chuckle as he moved his hands to rest inside of his jacket pockets.

“Nothing, it’s just funny. When you said it like that, you sounded so possessive.” You grinned, lightly pointing him in his ribs, your grin widened when he scowled and squirmed away from your touch in retaliation.

“Well, excuse me, for not wanting someone else who I don’t know to be touching my ice dancing partner while we practice the moves.” Logan retorted with an eye roll, taking his hands out of his pocket to instead cross his arms in front of his chest. “Besides, I know you didn’t want him to touch you as much as I didn’t.” He added with a slight head tilt and a small smirk.

“Yeah, yeah...” you scoffed with a smile.

—

“Miguel…”

“Miguel..”

“Miguel.”

“Mig-“

“Shut the fuck up Peter, I’m trying to focus.”

“I know you don’t like ‘talking about your feelings’ or whatever but you can’t just ignore her-“

“Watch me.”

Peter let out an exasperated sigh, running his hands through his light brown hair, before putting both hands onto the small dining room table that was in their tiny kitchen area, leaning his weight against it as he watched Miguel, who’s eyes never lifted from We’re he sat at the table, shifting from the notebook, to his laptop then to his textbook and back again, but never actually letting his eyes wander up to meet his friend’s.

“I can ignore her till I die.” Now that was a lie. Miguel knew it the second he uttered the words, although not a complete lie, it was still a lie. Sure, he could tease you, call you names, send you those classic smirks of his, and kiss you with more hunger than a starving man could devour food with when no one was around to look, all he wanted. But having to look you in the eyes, talking about how you made his heart race far more faster than any sort of championship game did,having to keep his jealousy at bay when he saw the was Ben put his hand on your waist in an attempt to help support you, when you and Logan were practicing outside of the rink today, knowing if he didn’t you’d be a witness to the sight of Ben Reilly getting decked in the face. The thought of having to him allowing himself to lay bare to you, he couldn’t even imagine it, he was never was one to talk to others in a way to allow himself to be seen as vulnerable, as a human with complex thoughts and emotions, so the prospect of you the only woman to make his heart stir with such emotion that it felt like he was suffering a heart attack, knowing what he hiding in the depths of his mind was utterly terrifying to him.

“Besides-“ Miguel continued, finally looking up at Peter, “I'm more focused on my next midterm to be worrying about some silly, little crush. I'm not a schoolgirl.” He finished before looking back down at his laptop, his full dark brows scrunched together as he attempted to concentrate on the more important task at hand. If he was still looking up, he’d see how Peter’s eyes widened once he had finished speaking.

“Wait… say that again.” Peter muttered quietly, Miguel looked up at his dorm mate again with a raised brow, before letting out a huff of air as he closed his laptop, knowing he isn’t going to get any work done with Peter continuing to push the conversation.

“ I said I’m too busy trying to get ready for-“

“No,” Peter almost hissed with how quickly he interrupted Miguel, “not that. You said crush, you, Miguel O’Hara just said you have a crush.” Once the words left Peter’s mouth, both males covered their mouths with their hands as their eyes widened, one in horror, the other in excitement.

“No I didn’t-“

“Oh yeah, you did!” Peter’s hands slips from his mouth, revealing that childlike grin he always seems to wear, but it was 10 times more annoying than it usually was, Miguel in response just dug his face further into his hand, muttering a curse in Spanish that his friend couldn’t quite understand.

“You’re gonna be the death of me Peter…” he mumbled into his palm, but his thoughts continued the sentence, “If (Y/N) doesn’t kill you first.”

—

Taglist: @tayleighuh @cowboylikeevie @coralineyouareinterribledanger @jukioku @loser-alert @miguel-ohara-eater @serpentstarr @littlexscarletxwitch @darksidescorner @sukioyakio @minimari415

[paw-padss]

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH！

ft. diluc, childe, al-haitham, baizhu

summary: nothing quite says I love you than baking a cake with your lover that says that exact thing in frosting, right? (bake a cake with them, afterwards telling them that the cake is for them!)

A/N: thought i would up the production quality a bit! i literally spun a wheel to decide if they would be good at baking or not so if u think it's ooc don't blame me blame the wheel (100% blame me /hj)（´-`）HAPPY VALENTINES DAYYY :333

notes: hidden relationship in diluc's, all established relationships, no dialogue, gn reader, alhaitham is bad at feelings

DILUC wasn't the kind of guy people approached often; his large frame and serious face made him seem frightening and intimidating. So when you, the new intern, confronted him at his desk with the idea of baking your baking partner for the valentines office party, your coworkers were surprised at your bravery, even a little scared. Of course, they would never come to the conclusion that you and Diluc had a more intimate relationship than what is revealed at work. Diluc had been approached by many people in hopes of being his partner, but to no avail. So they were even more surprised when their seemingly distant boss said yes. Guess it turns out Diluc was actually much more cordial than he ever lets on.

DILUC was the last guy you expected to be bad at baking, but after watching him in the kitchen, with ingredients scattered around the counters and a mysterious concoction in the mixing bowl, you couldn’t help but be very worried. The aroma, or rather, stench, that filled the kitchen was very strange. Like burnt vanilla with bitter frosting. The fire alarm had gone off at least twice, and by the end of it, both you and Diluc looked like you were the mixing bowls. Flour, water, and pink frosting decorated both you two and the marble counters. All that stood was a burnt heart cake with the words 'I love you' in what was supposed to be pink icing. Naturally, when you tell him the cake is his gift from you, an anxious expression appears on his face, and rightfully so, is that cake even edible? Well, it's the thought that counts, right?

AL-HAITHAM was generally known for being critical, observant, and very skilled. One thing he was not known for, was his social skills. So when his fellow researchers heard that he had an arrangement for the afternoon, they were surprised to say the least. You had asked Al-haitham to bake a cake together, and he had no real reason to decline. After all, he had nothing better to do than help his lover with something they’re passionate about. That’s how you show affection! (or so he’s been told.)

you stood in awe. Al-HAITHAM was diligent and committed to his task, you shouldn’t have expected any less. Of course everything had to be in order, the ingredients were neatly placed on the counter in order of usage next to the mixing bowl, and he had decided that you two would alternate between task. By the end of the whole ordeal, the kitchen was left better than how it was and what was left was a cute vanilla cake with the words ‘I love you’ written neatly in frosting. I guess you two really do make a great team. When you tell him that the cake is for him, of course he’s very appreciative, even a bit taken aback, he wasn’t completely used to the feeling of receiving romantic affection, but he just looked at you blankly, before saying thank you very curtly. Of course his mates will try to tell him off later for being ‘too serious’, but who is Al-haitham if not serious?

CHILDE was known by many for his alleged proficiency in many skills. So naturally it makes sense that you would ask him for his help to bake a cake, and how could he say no? It's just baking a cake, how hard could it be? not to mention he would baking with one of his favorite people in the world!

Turns out, hard. You and CHILDE had made a mess of the kitchen and had no desire to clean it up. Flour, sugar, extract, sprinkles (where did he find sprinkles?), and other mysterious liquids littered the counter along with your aprons. At least the cake looked almost edible. The whole thing was basically raw dough shaped into a heart with a sad attempt at pink decoration scribbled on the top, a meek 'I love you'. When you told Childe that the cake was for him, his awkward cough was enough of a reaction before he doubled over in laughter. At least your love held together better than the cake.

BAIZHU was known for his great medical skills and attention to health. But that doesn' t mean he doesn' t mind enjoying a treat from time to time, so when you asked him if he wanted to bake a cake together, he happily accepted. Nothing makes his day better than being time with you, the more time he gets to spend with you, the better.

Doctors are clean and organized, which would explain the nature of the kitchen that you two stood in as you watched as BAIZHU guided his hands, careful and full of technique, around the counter top. Turns out he didn’t even need the recipe book, and he bakes for qiqi on many occasions. The cake looked like something out of a pinterest board, perfectly cut edges gracefully decorated with pink icing, and a graceful ‘I love you’ scripted in the same color. When you tell him that the cake is for him, he smiles and suggests that you share it, together. it’s to be expected that Baizhu would want to do something romantic like that (if that’s the case, then why does your face feel so hot???).

A/N: i've been told my haitham is lacking a soft side, but YOUR a soft side!! hope i didn't disappoint (╥_╥). kindaaa struggled on baizhu ending sorry i hit a brick wall （ーー；）

[mono-dot-jpeg]

child support - kafka & himeko

summary; you miss your parents but it's okay, you got new ones now.

genre/extra tags; fluff, found family, himeko & kafka give me divorced couple energy but in a good way, possibly ooc kafhime, almost mute! reader, kafka pays the child support, comfort vibes only, slight angst ig????

[gender neutral reader] [platonic] [7-8 yrs old! reader]

[warnings; implied child abandonment, describing hypothermia symptoms (in the first-ish half)]

word count; 1.1k

a/n; you know it took me a solid few moments and a google search to figure what kafhime was bc i forgot that shipping exists for a moment. i don't really engage in shipping especially when i know that some people,,, transfer over to games from the same company they like and those people can be... weird or in my face about shipping. but who am i to judge. also kaf and hime can be interpreted as just two rude besties or just platonic (/hj) this fic is more long winded than i expected. idk, it was a little bit difficult to figure out. but hope you enjoy!

cold. everything was so cold.

how have you even managed for so long? you thought you were a goner. the people who first found you almost thought you were a goner with how despondent you were stuck in the old rickety house you once lived in. you were so tired, so gone in your mind, you couldn't feel anything. you were lucky to live, that's what you heard from the doctors.

why did fate leave you like this?

"hello dear. are you feeling any better?" a gentle motherly voice rings in the warm room. the room was a bit warmer than the rest, maybe it was just for your sake or this was just a normal thing. you weren't sure. you lived out in belobog after all. a palace of ice and a hundred winters. but it's not like you remember much of what even got you out in the dangerous cold in the first place.

you feel a hand press against your forehead. "colder than winter itself. poor kid." the same voice speaks again. "perhaps she can help me out for this." the hand moves away from you, making a weak cry leave your lips. "sorry. sorry. i guess it isn't warm enough for you in here." she apologized. "perhaps pompom can find some more fluffy blankets."

you twist and turn as her open thought chatter starts to wake you up more. you turn to rest on your side and find an unfamiliar woman as you're in an unfamiliar room. you choke up in fear as you struggle to get up and keep yourself far away from her.

"dear, you're barely even recovered! don't move too quickly!" it's too late for her words and you can't even get that far away. your tiny body is heavy and you only manage to move not even 2 inches away. the red head doesn't make any move to startle you. "i know you must be scared. i'm here to help you." she lowers herself to face eye level with you. "do you remember anything?"

you don't say a word and stare.

"we don't have to talk about it. you don't need to say anything. just nod or shake your head, does that sound okay?" she smiles gently, hoping to appear as not as scary to you.

you hesitantly nod.

"thank you for answering. you must still be feeling cold, right?"

nod.

she grabbed a nearby blanket, "is it okay if i drape this over you? won't touch you or anything." she glances at you, making sure you either nod or shake your head.

you slowly nod, remembering how cold you are.

she doesn't make any fast movements, noting your flinchy behavior. she wraps the blanket around your shoulders gently but you still flinch when it touches you.

"now what's this about a little child?" you flinch at a new voice. another feminine voice that you find a bit more melodic than the warm tones of the other. then another lady enters. you inch towards the farthest corner of the bed.

"kafka, you're going to scare them."

"aw, don't be so mean." she pretends to sound hurt but her voice is teasing. "where did you find the kid?"

"in belobog. outside of the city. well, trailblazer, march and dan heng found them. they were stuck in the freezing snow." kafka's face grimaces at the thought of seeing you stuck in the snow helpless without anyone able to find you. "but anyways, you should head out, lest the others know about you being here so suddenly."

"i paid for the items you're giving to the little star, at least let me stay for a little while longer." himeko sighs before realizing.

"i forgot to introduce myself-" the red head looks over at you who is covered in blanket, attempting to hide yourself. "see, you did scare them!" she muttered to the other. "i'm sorry about her, dear. my name is himeko. this is kafka."

"sorry for scaring you, little one. i tend to do that." kafka hummed. "well, that aside, miss himeko over here and i, we want to take care of you. but we can't be doing that when you're stuck in your little cocoon." she gently chuckled. you slowly get out of the blankets, head peeking out to look up at the lady. "well, that's a start. have you eaten yet?" she asked.

you don't say anything but your belly grumbles.

"i know what would take care of that." himeko smiled. you hear the knocks at the door but no figure enters but you hear shuffling. "pompom got some food for you, himeko!" and you find yourself face to face with a cute living rabbit in a conductor's outfit. himeko gets up opening the door and grabbing the plate of food.

"thank you pompom." himeko hummed as she closes the door. kafka soon moves to sit by the bed. you still stay head peeked with the blankets as you stare at the plate of food and then himeko. himeko walked over. "this is for you, dear. you can stay on the bed if you want. me and kafka will be right back." the redhead places a hand on kafka's shoulder, slowly pushing her as they both leave into what you assume is a bathroom. once they do, you can hear them talking but you're too focused on eating to care about the conversation.

you finish eating and you're feeling much better than before but it doesn't stop you from keeping away from himeko and kafka. it makes them a little sad but they're so patient as they converse with you as if nothing's wrong.

you don't really answer or say anything really. you just nod or shake your head depending on what they ask you. and they seem satisfied with that.

"can you give us your name? unless you're still uncomfortable."

you tell them your name weakly.

"what a lovely name. now. i'm sorry that we have to get a little heavy but, have you always been living out of the city in your home?"

you give a small nod.

"what about your parents?" himeko speaks softly and carefully. she watches as your eyes water and you shake your head. "oh, sorry, sorry. let it out." she moves to sit by you in the bed. kafka sighs.

"of course we couldn't have known about that but would you like to stay with me and himeko? i know himeko wouldn't want to leave you in a state like this."

you think for a moment, well.. there's nowhere else to really go. you nodded. and you watch as two gentle smiles grow. you feel a bit calmer and you can feel some reassurance that you have a chance to continue your life.

[maoam]

This post has to be about me lol since op has me blocked. Though it could be about someone else, or many people. But there's always someone who is the last straw. They wanted us to see the discourse post yet blocked...

I guess I am an older fan, spiteful and entitled... but the thing, sn is still popular, the ooc version of it that is. In some ways it's worse than before, because they go out of their way to argue it's in character using shit like weird fillers or merchandise which are not CANON. They are not an oppressed minority by any means, just because me or maybe someone else writes posts criticising their portrayal. SN fics still portray Naruto as a doormat (tbf, it's hard to find ic fanfics in general) and Sasuke as weirdly sexually aggressive.

SN is popular "there aren't a lot of us anymore" is not true at all. The most popular sn blogs still make Sasuke daddy jokes, talk about Sasuke's dick size endlessly (and clearly think whoever has the bigger dick HAS to top), and compare Naruto to bimbo women like Ariana Grande and so on, and use Naruto as a fandom bicycle claiming everyone wants access to his butthole, while Sasuke of course cannot be shipped with anyone else (despite the fact both of them are only obsessed with each other). People even use someone like Megan Thee Stallion to argue Naruto has to be bottom lol. Even someone I know who is new to the fandom, admitted that SN portrayals are rarely ever in character, even if she finds many NS portrayals who are ooc, there are many times more SN ones that are like that.

Also I use Kishimoto's manga to argue about Naruto and Sasuke's characters, not 'headcanons'. I have gotten anons tell me they like my blog specifically because I focus on canon, don't mischaracterize either of them, instead of focusing on whose dick goes where all the time. :)

However, I do think there's more variety nowadays! But the ooc:ness is much more aggressively pushed at the same time. But what I heard from other people the person who made this post also likes Naruko and Naruto in a maid dress acting all girly and demure mostly and follows all the artists who mischaracterize them so I doubt they are the most unbiased person themselves when it comes to the question if sn fandom has changed or not. And you can just admit you only like sn, there's no need to pretend you used to like ns... and you aren't the person to yell at other people for their "ooc headcanons". I'm sorry to tell you but the Naruto in Kishi's head is not the type to dress up in frilly stuff and acting all girly girly. Also an actual female Naruto would be a tomboy.

[pricklepearbloom]

OMG I loved your latest fic!

You wrote a line about Elain trying to undermine Ruby when she first came into the IC, would it be possible to get a little fic exploring that more and the fallout???

a/n: omg I’m so happy that you guys loved my last post so much! Here’s a quick little blurb about the tension with Ruby and Elain.

Original post: All I Want

What Do You Want (All I Want prequel)

Pairing: Azriel x OC (Ruby) 

Warnings: some angst, some fluff, Elain slander (duh we stay Elain haters)(but also tbh some ooc Elain)

Word count: was supposed to be a paragraph or two and is now 4.1k words lmao

“I don’t know about this. What do I bring? What do I wear!” Ruby was practically shredding through her wardrobe to find an acceptable outfit for the very last-minute invite to dinner with Azriel’s friends and the freaking high lord and lady of the night court. Ruby and Azriel had met about two months ago. They were taking things slow, getting to know one another, as per Ruby’s request, although Azriel didn’t mind it. He was more than happy taking things one step at a time, relishing in the time that he was spending getting to know his mate. His mate. He had waited centuries for her and now that he found her, he would wait as long as she wanted before accepting the bond. 

Azriel’s lips quirked up in amusement at his mate’s antics from his seat on her bed. “What’s wrong with what you’re wearing now?” Ruby whipped around in mock shock. “I absolutely cannot believe that you are even suggesting I wear this,” she gestured up and down her body showing the jeans and t-shirt she had been sporting this morning “to meet your friends and the high lord and lady. The high lord and lady!” she practically shouted, throwing her hands up in disbelief. Azriel shook his head with a soft chuckle to himself knowing that she was teasing for the most part. 

“I promise whatever you wear, they will love it. And you.” He added raising from his spot resting his hands on the sides of her arms, he nudged her chin up with one crooked finger to look into his eyes. He could see a glimmer of insecurity and internally he laughed in disbelief, what could someone like her have to be insecure about, she was perfect in his eyes. “Come here.” He said gently as he brought her into his arms, she fit like a puzzle piece in his grasp, he tucked her head underneath his chin and he pressed a firm kiss to the top of her hair. “All you have to do is be yourself, my love. They will love you no matter what, because you are an incredible, wonderful, beautiful female.” He nods thoughtfully “Plus they know that I’ll break their knees if they don’t.” Her eyes shot up to his letting out a surprised laugh lightly hitting his arm. “Shut up, no you won’t.” She burrowed deeper into his comforting hold. 

Ruby let herself stay in his arms for another 30 seconds, she counted, before releasing her arms and letting her lips lightly brush along his jawline in a soft kiss. His entire body shuddered at the feeling, “If you keep going, I will cancel dinner and keep you locked away in here.” He ground out his body stiffening, some parts more than others. His dark eyes looked down on her as if to say, ‘your move.’ Her eyes widened considering his words carefully. 

They were in the early stages of their courtship, it felt like her body was a live wire constantly. She could feel his energy as he moved about the world, always aware of him. When he touched her, she could practically feel her brain tearing itself in half; she was anxious to see what he was going to do yet had never felt a comfort quite like being held by him. Everything was new and exciting, but it also felt like they had been together for hundreds of years. 

Ruby had found out quickly that when Azriel said something, he meant it. He wasn’t a male of many words, but he made them count when he did choose to speak. Ruby, on the other hand, was basically a never-ending stream of consciousness. You never had to guess what was on her mind or what she was feeling, she would tell you. Azriel loved that about her. As a male who only knew secrets and hurt, it was extremely refreshing to be with someone who offered themselves so openly. 

“As tempting as that is, I would really like to meet your friends.” Azriel groaned half-teasing half-serious. “They’re important to you,” she pressed nonplussed by his reaction. “I think I should meet the family that I’ll be tied to for all eternity don’t you think?” She nudged her chin at his chest, and he let a smile tug at the corners of his lips. Eternity with his family and his mate sounded like bliss, so wonderful he almost didn’t trust it. “Alright,” he acquiesced begrudgingly, leaning down closer, so his lips were lightly brushing the outer shell of her ear. “I suppose if you insist on going then I can just ravage you later.” He murmured softly letting a shadow trace around her clothed nipples which immediately responded firming to form sharp points. Ruby’s core tightened; they had been taking things slow. So. slow. 

She was the one who wanted to wait until they accepted the bond to go all the way but as she found out, there were plenty of ways that he could “ravage” her without even removing a single layer of clothing. ‘Those shadows were something else’ she thought before shaking her head at the thought. Her face felt hot under his darkened gaze and she had to practically force herself to take a step back from the gravity of Azriel that pulled her in time and time again. 

Ruby swallowed thickly, “I suppose I’ll have to wear something cute, so you have something to tear off later.” Azriel let out a dark chuckle, flexing his hands as if trying to reacquaint himself to the feeling of not having her in his arms. “No darling,” his voice had taken on an edge to it “I don’t intend to tear anything off. I’m a man not a boy, I plan to take my time with you. Unravel you bit by bit.” His voice was laced with dark promise. He could smell her arousal blossoming into the air, and he took a step toward her, half a second away from throwing her on the bed and having his way with her. 

Ruby’s eyes didn’t leave his as she gulped almost comically, nodding slowly. She skirted around him, leaving a wide berth between them. If she got any closer, she would be sucked in and they would never get out on time. She grabbed the first dress her hand touched and practically jogged to the bathroom to change. She normally didn’t have any qualms about changing in front of him, he had seen her in far less in far more compromising positions, but she had a feeling if she were to start taking off her clothes right now with him in the room, they wouldn’t see the light of day for a week or so. She pulled on the black knit sweater dress that she had grabbed and freshened up her makeup. Her body was buzzing from Azriel’s attentions and the anxiety that was becoming more pronounced the closer the dinner drew nearer. She had to redo her lipstick four times because her hand was slightly shaking, she didn’t even attempt to do her eyeliner. She could hardly get it right on an easy day but today was full of nerves, so she figured she’d save herself the agony. 

Azriel flew them to the Townhouse, once he set Ruby down on the terrace, he took her hand and guided it to the inside crook of his elbow. She ducked her head as her face got hot, following his lead through the French doors, her ears perking up at the sound of laughter and shushing. 

“I think that’s them!” a distinctly feminine voice sounded before a stunning blonde female appeared in the doorway wearing a gorgeous red silk gown that left little to the imagination. She looked incredible. Her face had a bright smile on it as she practically strutted up to the couple. “You must be Ruby.” Ruby nodded with a soft smile “Ruby, this is Morrigan.” Azriel says, gesturing to the female in front of them. “Oh please, it’s Mor. We have been so excited to meet you.” Mor grasped her in a tight hug “We’re going to be the best of friends, I can tell.” Ruby’s chest warmed at the welcoming, if all of his friends were like this then she clearly was worried about nothing. “Any friend of Azriel’s is a friend of mine, he speaks so highly of you all.” A scoff sounds from behind Mor and her gaze lands on a tall Illyrian with long hair, half tied up into a bun. 

“Azriel? Speaks? Sounds doubtful to me.” He teases striding forward rustling Azriel’s hair. Ruby’s lips quirk up at the obvious sign of familial teasing. Azriel playfully shoved his hand away and fixed his hair “Ruby, this would be Cassian-““General, teen heartthrob and the star of all of Azriel’s nightmares'' Cassian cut Azriel off shooting him a wink. “Ain’t that the truth” Azriel muttered underneath his breath to Ruby who let out a laugh. Cassian’s grin widened at the sight of Azriel smiling fondly down at her, they truly looked like a vision. “Come, let’s introduce you to everyone else, they’re already sitting down for dinner.” Mor said, grabbing Ruby’s hand dragging her away from Azriel. 

Ruby glanced back at him over her shoulder, eyes wide and he couldn’t help but let out a laugh at her expression, excited and terrified. Two hands clasped down on his shoulders from behind shaking him a bit back and forth. “You found her.” Cassian said gently, Azriel dragged his eyes from the view of Ruby walking away with Mor, absolutely entranced. “Yeah, I did.” He patted Cassian’s hands once before following after her like a puppy. 

Ruby was led into a grand dining room with five people sitting around a table. “Everyone, this is Ruby, Azriel’s mate.” Mor announced Ruby gave an awkward wave “Hi, it’s so nice to finally meet you guys.” A female with light brown hair approached first, giving her a hug. “Welcome! I’m Feyre and this is my mate Rhys.” She gestured to a male with violet eyes standing behind her sporting a well-tailored suit. “High Lady, High Lord it’s an honor to be here, thank you for inviting me into your home.” Ruby said, bowing her hair in respect. “Oh cauldron no,” Feyre started waving her hand and Cassian let out a loud laugh before Azriel hit him in the stomach.

“Please just call me Feyre.” “And I’m just Rhys.” Rhys stuck out his hand to shake, before Ruby could reach out to take it a low snarl sounded from behind Ruby. Rhys’ eyes flicked up and he rose a brow before coolly tucking his hand into his trouser pocket. “Apologies, I should have realized.” He nodded to Azriel and Ruby. Ruby felt a bit mortified, but it quickly faded away when she felt Azriel’s hand on the right of her waist, bringing her back into his front placing a quick kiss on her temple. She unconsciously leaned back into his hold watching as everyone moved around at Feyre’s suggestion to sit, she felt a prickling sensation on her neck and her eyes found a petite female with mousy brown hair staring bullets at her. 

She blinked and when she opened them the female was conversing with the female next to her and passing what looked like a vegetable mix of some sort. She must have imagined it, shaking her head of what she thought she saw. She took the seat that Azriel had pulled out and offered her. He sat next to her placing his hand on her thigh as if to remind himself that she really is there sitting next to him. She placed her hand on top of his rubbing her thumb over the dips of his scarred and calloused knuckles. One shadow snaked around her ankle in response, a comfort that Ruby had gotten used to.

“Oh Ruby, this is Nesta, Elain, and Amren. Nesta and Elain are my sisters and Amren is Rhys’ second.” Feyre said while sitting down in the chair that Rhys had pulled out for her. Ruby sent them a smile, “Hi, it’s nice to meet you guys.” Nesta nodded at her, narrowing her eyes as if she was trying to figure her out. Ruby felt a bit unnerved but didn’t let that sway her, Azriel had warned her on the way that Nesta was a bit cold. Elain’s gaze wasn’t even on Ruby, it was on Azriel, his attention however was squarely on Ruby almost… pointedly. Her eyebrows scrunched as her eyes bopped back and forth between the two. Clearly there was something going on here that she wasn’t made aware of, her eyes narrowed ever so slightly at Azriel, catching the glimmer of unease in his. She didn’t want to make a scene so she softened her expression and plastered an appeasing smile on her face.

The dinner continued quite pleasantly but Ruby couldn’t get rid of this nagging feeling that she was missing something that had to do with Elain. At first, it was subtle. Since Elain was sitting directly across from Ruby she tried to make conversation while Azriel was busy talking to Cassian who sat on the other side of him. “So, Azriel tells me that you’re a painter right?” Elain’s lips pursed in a tense condescending smile “That would be Feyre.” Ruby’s cheeks heat at the slight error, Elain waves it off “Don’t worry, you’re so new it will take you ages to get to know the family and fit in you know?” 

The comment rubs Ruby the wrong way, it felt a bit patronizing but she brushed it off thinking that maybe she was just reading into things. “Thanks, I’m not used to being around such a big family, it can be a bit intimidating.” Elain tilted her head and nodded slightly. “No family?” she asked, taking a sip of her wine. Ruby shook her head patting her lips with the napkin from her lap, “None that I talk to anymore.” Elain raises an eyebrow ever so slightly at the information. “Well Azriel certainly does love a charity case.” She mutters under her breath causing Ruby’s eyebrows to shoot to her forehead in surprise. The sinking feeling in her gut becomes more pronounced as she shoots her gaze to Azriel thinking that he’ll back her up. But he’s still so engrossed in a conversation with Cassian she was certain he didn’t hear a word. When she turned back to Elain she was already in another conversation with Nesta. She wanted to stand up for herself and for her relationship but she didn’t want to cause a scene, so she subtly rolled her shoulders trying to physically not let it bother her. But Elain’s comments didn’t sit right with her. 

Throughout the rest of the dinner, Ruby barely spoke. She responded when asked a question but didn’t try to start any more conversations with anyone but Azriel. She spoke softly to him but he could tell that something was off, a shadow caressed her cheek in concern but she patted his leg silently conveying that they would talk later. She struggled in her mind with what she would say to him later. Should she tell him the comments Elain made or just move past it? She didn’t want to cause a rift, she and Azriel had talked a bit about his past so she knew how much his friends, now family, meant to him. 

As she sat there watching them all interact she couldn’t help but ruminate on Elain’s words. She was very new and she didn’t know them all that well. Most of them, apart from Elain, seemed lovely and very welcoming. But the feeling of being outside of the jokes, outside of the familiarity was hard to ignore. Her insecurities were rearing their ugly heads telling her that she didn’t deserve to be there. 

Why would she?

She wasn’t anyone special. 

She didn’t deserve Azriel.

Did he just like her because he felt like he could save her or fix her?

No that was ridiculous, they were mates for crying out loud although they hadn’t accepted the bond yet.

Her thoughts buzzed around her head like a swarm of insects preparing to sting and cause maximum pain and discomfort. She glanced at Azriel and saw him letting out a small laugh shaking his head at some dumb joke Cassian told. Something about the Day Court being dramatic? She wasn’t mentally present enough to comprehend his story. She kept a smile on her face and nodded along when she thought she should but her mind was somewhere else completely. Everytime her eyes landed on Elain, she thought she caught the smallest smile on her face like she could actually see the insecurities swirling around in her head. She felt irritation, anger, sadness, discomfort, and embarrassment all swirling inside her. 

As the dinner ended and everyone began to stand up to leave for the night, Ruby grabbed a hold of Azriel’s hand allowing him to lead her back toward the balcony from which they entered. “Oh! I forgot my bag at the dining table, let me go grab it,I'll be right back.” she squeezed Azriel’s hand once swiftly maneuvering through everyone back into the dining room where she found herself alone with Elain who was holding her purse. Elain had a sugar sweet smile on her face that made Ruby’s teeth hurt just to look at it. “Thank you for grabbing my bag, I was just coming back for that.” Ruby reached out to grab it and Elain pulled it away at the last moment holding her gaze. 

Ruby’s eyes narrowed at the action and took a deep breath trying to find the patience. “Could I have my bag please?” Elain slowly handed Ruby her bag but didn’t let go, instead pulling Ruby closer so she could see the glimmer of malice she held in her eyes. “He’ll get sick of you, you know. He doesn’t trust the decisions the cauldron makes, he told me himself. He and I were going to run away together until you came along and he felt like he was obligated to make it work. He’ll see you for what you really are and come back to his senses. Come back to me.” Elain released her grip on the purse and her smile snapped back onto her face like it was rehearsed before turning on her heel leaving Ruby shaken, limply holding her bag at her side. Was what she said true? Or was she just fucking with her? That must be it. There was no way Azriel would have said those things or wanted that horrid woman. She would ask him and he would say no and that would be that. 

After her mini pep talk, she bolstered herself up enough to walk back out to the group. Her eyes met Azriel’s unable to keep the distress out of them from the interaction he was immediately alarmed. When she reached him, she held onto his arm seeking comfort and support. She might have leaned on him a bit too much because his body was wound tight and tense sensing her distress. “Thank you for having me, it was really lovely to finally meet you all.” She said to the group but mostly to Feyre and Rhysand. They all bid each other good night with promises to meet again soon. She felt a whoosh as Azriel swept her up into his arms and took off into the sky back toward home. 

She didn’t speak on the flight home, Ruby kept her face hidden in his neck trying to take deep breaths and remind herself that Azriel was her mate and he would never betray her. Once they landed Ruby went inside and walked calmly into the bedroom, Azriel following behind like a sad lost puppy. “Did-” Azriel’s voice cracks and he clears his throat to try again, his eyes tracking Ruby as she makes her way to the dresser to pull out some pajamas. “Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry if it was a bit overwhelming, everyone has been dying to meet you.” With her back turned to Azriel she took a deep breath. She knew it was bothering her a lot so she needed to address it but it didn’t make it any easier. 

“Elain told me that you don’t trust the cauldron’s decisions and that you are only with me because you felt obligated to try. Is that true?” She set down the pajama set that she had picked out on the top of the dresser spinning around to see the taken aback look on his face. “Is it true Azriel?” she pressed again to get an answer. “No! Well, I mean-” He started stuttering causing Ruby’s eyes to widen and her mouth to gape in shock. Azriel feels his heart is going to beat out of his chest with how hard and fast it’s beating in panic. That stupid comment coming back to haunt him. “Ruby, can we-” he clears his throat again “can we sit down for a second and talk about this. It sounds bad I know but please let me explain.” Ruby sees the desperation in his eyes and nods slowly taking a seat on the bed. 

He paces in front of her, his shadows darkening and buzzing around frantically like the physical embodiment of his inner panic. “Listen I did say something like that but that was before I met you.” He paused and knelt in front of her daring to put his hands on her knees, she accepted the comfort and placed her own on his asking the question that had been nagging at her since she met Elain. “Why would Elain say something like that? Obviously there’s something that you’re not telling me.” Azriel nods, hanging his head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t tell you because she doesn’t mean anything to me anymore.” 

Ruby nods slowly taking in the information. “I’m not upset that you have a history with someone Azriel, I just think that that was something you should have shared with me before meeting her. I mean I feel like I was totally unprepared and she said some really nasty things and I wish I would have known before going.” Azriel looked up sharply, his eyes darkening. “What did she say to you?” he gritted through clenched teeth. Ruby looked down fidgeting with her hands in her lap, feeling nervous all of a sudden. She didn’t want to get anyone in trouble or cause any sort of rift between Azriel and his family. And for better or worse, Elain was a part of that family. 

“She said that you would get sick of me and eventually go back to her. She said I was a charity case and more or less implied that I wasn’t good enough for you and I wouldn’t fit in with your family.” Ruby said softly, her insecurities present in her voice. Azriel was shaking his head before she had finished speaking. His scarred hands held hers tightly, trying to get her to look in his eyes. “My love, I’m so sorry she said those things to you. You don’t deserve them. Elain and I-'' Azriel took a deep breath “I thought that I loved her. I had this warped view that because there were three sisters and three brothers that we were meant to be together. But that was before I met you. You reset everything. I wasn’t in love with her, I loved the idea of her. I love you. You are everything to me Ruby and there is no way that you are not good enough for me, if anything it’s the other way around.” 

Ruby’s face was wet with tears and she choked on an incredulous laugh at the idea that he wasn’t good enough for her. “I love you too. Are there any more jilted lovers I should know about?” she half-joked sniffing away the last of her tears. Azriel brushed them away “No darling, that’s all. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” Ruby nods “Just be honest with me going forward, that’s all I ask.” Azriel nods frantically at the chance to fix things with her. “Yes, yes of course.” He quickly raised to sit next to her on the bed and kissed her with everything he had. His lips molded with her soft plump ones, his hands circling the back of her head holding her like a precious gem. Because that’s what she was to him, precious.