#i had such a bad migraine for almost all of last night that i thought i gave myself a concussion from (redacted)

[californiaquail]

slept not at all and now it's 6:45 am and i am waiting at this bus stop for 20 minutes because i cant be trusted to drive a fucking car and i have to just go to work at my brand new job that doesnt know how mentally ill i am yet (i think) and put on an oscar worthy performance and try not to fuck anything else up too bad and then i probably need to go to somebody's house and do the same thing and try to look like i am stable enough to share a house with people instead of. well you know

[homesick4la]

complicated — hamzahthefantastic

3. brown eyes at the entrance

contains: goofy drunk hamzah, quick mention of sex but no actual nsfw content in this one

summary: what do you do when your ex shows up at your front doorstep?

a/n: short but i just wanted to post hi

last part: with you all night

you left hamzah’s apartment that morning feeling more confused than ever. you two ate breakfast together and then you were out the door. he hadn’t even asked to hangout again or talked about breaking the whole “no contact” thing. he simply said he enjoyed the night with you and told you to have a good day.

how could he spend such an intimate night with you and not ask to see you again?

as hard as it was, you tried to be nonchalant about the situation. you could hook up with your ex in a casual way, right?

you call mandy, practically begging her to meet you for coffee.

now you were at your local cafe, anxiously walking up to the table you spotted mandy at.

“y/n! hey!” she said excitedly. you can almost see her eyes analyzing your facial expressions as you walk up to her. “so what’s up? you look like you’ve got something to tell me.”

“oh, it’s definitely..something.” you laugh nervously, “i uh, ended up talking to hamzah last night…”

“oh that’s great!” she interrupts, “did you get any sort of closure?”

“yeah, about that…i actually ended up going back to his place..”

she sighs at your confession.

“and we had sex but listen! i know that it was probably a bad idea but being around him again- it like made my brain go all fuzzy and all common sense went out the window.” you ramble, trying to defend yourself.

“y/n, i told you to go out on the balcony to get closure, not to hookup with him!”, she shakes her head at you. “but i get it. you guys have history, you’re comfortable with him. it’s easy to go back in that situation.”

“exactly! it was so comfortable! it felt like how things used to be. so now, i’m all confused because i thought i had finally gotten over him. and there’s matthew…”

“the guy you said was boring?” she questions.

“he is a bit boring but he’s nice- stable.”

“but what are you gonna do now? keep seeing him?”

“ugh, i don’t know. i guess i should end things with him- because clearly i have not moved on from hamzah yet.”

she nods slowly, deep in thought. “you think you’ll get back with hamzah again?”

“i don’t know,” you let out a harsh breath. “sometimes i think that maybe if we tried again, things would be different. like we’d be able to figure it out this time.”

she smiles softly.

“but today, he didn’t ask to meet again or ask how he could contact me or anything so i don’t even know if he wants to try again.” you shrug your shoulders.

“honestly, y/n, you might want to figure that out before cutting things off with matthew.”

she was right. you didn’t want to ruin a good thing simply for the possibility of getting back with your ex.

after another thirty minutes of catching up over coffee, she reminds you to keep her updated before the two of you part ways.

as you start driving home, your phone rings.

*incoming call: matthew*

“hey babe, you never texted me when you got home?” he questioned, his voice concerned.

you let out a soft sigh, “yeah, sorry- i went to sleep right when i got home.”

“you feeling better today?”

“yeah, yeah i think i just had a migraine or something.”

“good! i was actually wondering if you wanted to get dinner tonight?” his voice is hopeful.

he was kind and cute and he knew what he wanted. how could you say no?

“sure! were you gonna pick me up on the way or should i meet you somewhere?” you ask, a soft smile creeping on your face.

“i’ll pick you up at six. oh- and wear something fancy! i wanna take you to a nice place.”

you agree and say your goodbyes. you were excited to get dressed up and be taken out. you hoped that this dinner would change things- show you how interesting and exciting matthew really is, helping you move on from the chaos of hamzah.

…

the restaurant matthew had chosen was beautiful. the warm candlelight and low jazz music playing in the background creating such a romantic atmosphere.

he sat across from you, retelling a story about a hike he had went on.

you could tell he was making an effort. telling you this story with you in an attempt to share something meaningful with you. feel closer to you.

but as he kept talking, your mind kept slipping into memories with hamzah. you thought of how beautiful his face looked when illuminated by candlelight. the way his smile had always been on the edge of a smirk.

hamzah knew exactly how to pull you into each of his stories. he entertained you effortlessly. just one of his jokes could leave you clutching your stomach in laughter.

“and then i was there, completely lost.” he chuckles slightly as he ends his story.

“oh my god, that must’ve been so scary.” you reply, doing your best to give him energy.

he smiled softly as he looked into your eyes. “that’s what i’ve always loved about hiking though- you never know what adventure’s around the corner.”

“yeah.” you respond, smiling sweetly while all you can think about is how hamzah would’ve made fun of that corny line.

“you okay? you seem distracted.” matthew said, watching you as he took a bite of his steak.

“oh! yeah i’m fine, i just had a long day.” you explain, telling yet another lie.

“i get it.” he smiles, “no worries.”

god, did he have to be so kind and patient? it’d make you feel much less guilty if he was a complete asshole.

no, he was everything you should want. he was sweet, understanding, and so open with you.

but there was no allure. no mystery. no edge. all of the surface-level conversation you two were having was driving you absolutely insane.

“well, i actually had something to ask you.” he broke the silence.

you look up at him, nervously waiting for him to continue.

“i’m going on a trip to seattle next week. it’s completely covered by my job and i have a plus one. i know it’s a bit last minute but i wanted to know if you’d like to join me?”

traveling together would change this “casual dating thing”, into something more serious. something you were definitely not ready for. not yet.

you clear your throat to speak, “can i uh- think about it? it sounds super fun, i just have a lot of school work and stuff…”

he nods. “yeah, just let me know whenever you decide.”

“thank you.” you smile.

after finishing dinner, he drives you back home. he thanks you for the night, explaining what a great time he had with you.

he walks you to the front of your apartment complex and presses a gentle peck to your lips before telling you goodnight.

as you ride the elevator up to your apartment, you decide that you have to end things with matthew. you couldn’t go on that trip with him and lead him on any more than you already have. it was unfair of you to be constantly comparing him to hamzah. the truth was that there nothing wrong with him at all- you were the only person to blame in this situation.

you look up as you start walking toward your apartment to see hamzah leaned up against the wall next to your front door. his head tilted back, eyes closed- simply waiting.

“hamzah? what are you doing here?” you say, your voice coated in shock.

his eyes are low. a goofy smile plastered on his face. he was either drunk or high, or both.

“you look pretty.” you can practically hear his smirk.

you stand directly in front of him. “are you drunk?” you ask as you cross your arms in front of your chest.

“a little bit”, he laughs. “and maybe a little bit high but listen- i just wanted to see you.”

“oh and this couldn’t wait until you were, i don’t know, less…drunk?”

he shrugged, “but you were out with ‘new guy’, what’s his name?”

“matthew.” you roll your eyes at him. “how’d you know i was out with him anyway?”

“mandy might’ve mentioned that you texted her about it.” he grins, “i think watching paint dry might be more exciting than going on a date with that guy. i couldn’t let you go home and just be with that kind of…energy.”

you bit your lip, trying not to laugh. “hamzah, you can’t just show up at my door every time you think i should be around better “energy.”

“oh i can”, he shoots back at you. “it’s actually one of my best skills- showing up uninvited and reminding you of how fun i am.”

“you’re unbelievable.” you laugh, already feeling defeated by his charm.

“and yet”, he pauses. “here you are, laughing. i’ve still got it.” a cocky grin creeps on his face. you can’t help but laugh.

“you’re so full of yourself.” you shake you head, smiling.

“i just feel confident around you, that’s all.”

“oh really?” you tilt your head to the side.

“c’mon, y/n. tell me the truth- was he as funny as me?”

“no.” you admit, rolling your eyes.

“as charming?” he pushes.

“also, no.” you answer.

“then what are we doing here?” he lifts his hands up dramatically. “why are you spending your night with boring ol’ matthew when you could’ve had all this?” he gestures to himself, that goofy smile of his still lingering on his face.

“hamzah. you are being ridiculous.” you reiterate.

“did you mean ridiculous-ly hot and sexy or?” he can’t help but laugh at his own joke.

you shake your head and roll your eyes once again, still unable to contain the smile that seemed stuck on your face.

“you are impossible to argue with.” you tell him.

“is that a yes to me coming in?” he asks, a hopeful look in his eyes. “please? i’ll just sleep on the couch or even, the floor. whatever you want me to do.”

“you came here to sleep on my couch?”

“i just want to be around you.” he whined.

how could you say no to those brown puppy-dog eyes of his? and you couldn’t send him home drunk- that wasn’t safe. you just had to let him in.

“fine. get inside before i change my mind.” you tease as you unlock your front door.

the second you two get inside, he walks over to the couch, flopping onto it and stretching out with a smug look on his face. “see? look how harmless i am?”

“mhm, very harmless.” you say as you grab a blanket.

you start tucking him in with the fluffy blanket until he grabs your hand, looking into your eyes. “thank you for letting me in.”

“yeah, well you’re just lucky i’m too tired to kick you out.” you joke.

“yeah, lucky.” he repeats, his voice soft as his thumb rubs your hand softly.

just from the way his gentle touch and low voice had such an effect on you, you knew you were in trouble all over again.

next part: stay here forever

a/n: next part soon. promise. also i did not proofread bc it’s 2 am and im tiredddd also writing this kinda reminded me of the song memories by conan gray so that is where the title for this part is from yay here’s the song if u wanna listen

[gguk-n]

Chapter 4- Breaking Down Walls

Arranged For Love (Carlos Sainz Jr x Reader)

Series Masterlist

Summary- Y/N and Carlos realise that they love each other. They tie the knot. Everything seems to perfect to be real.

Warning- Mention of death

After the two agreed to make their families happy by getting married, the preparations were in full swing. The wedding would be a black and white tie affair in the backyard of Y/N's house. Seemed like a good idea to have it be small and intimate.

As the two of them got involved picking out colours and flowers for the wedding; they felt their bond growing closer. This was a major milestone in their life and they couldn't help but feel a connection. It wasn't just the wedding or the late night calls, they had started to confide in each other and realised that maybe this whole marriage thing wouldn't be so bad, after all. They felt like they could enjoy each other's company and be able to grow as people even though they hadn't met since that dinner.

Carlos was extremely busy with the season and the talks with Ferrari. It was taking up a lot of his time and he couldn't be there for most of the wedding planning. It was just Y/N and a couple messages to choose between this or that during the preparations. A lot of the choices had her grandmother's opinion. She would let her grandma pick what she thought would be best in places where Carlos and her couldn't decide.

Y/N had been watching Carlos's races since she found out about him. She would listen to him talk about how it went and how he could improve on it with a glint in his eyes. She felt special that she could share his love for racing even though she barely understood some of the words.

Trying to juggle a semester at home while at the same time planning a wedding during her end semester exams was proving to be a bigger challenge than Y/N had anticipated. She was trying to be on top of everything to be prepared and it was causing more migraines than necessary. She might've lashed out on Carlos a couple times over text which she did apologise for since doing everything almost alone was stressing her out.

Towards the end of the racing season, Y/N was planning on going to the last race to watch Carlos but everything got cancelled due to the increasing cases in Abu Dhabi. Carlos noticed that she looked sad during call and asked, "You look sad, what's up?" She was an open book, her expressions gave her emotions away. She wasn't lying to anyone, "I had thought I'd come to your last race of the season but I can't because of the..." she trailed off, clearly distraught with the new developments. "It's fine, you can come next year. It's not like I'll be gone" he tried to joke. "True, I could attend it as Mrs Sainz" she joked. "That is correct" Carlos smiled. He felt weird hearing her refer to herself as Mrs Sainz, but he liked that.

After the post season testing, Carlos had come to meet Y/N. He had a promise to keep; he would take her out on a date before their wedding. He was able to thankfully get a reservation at a restaurant.

With the restaurant no longer operating at full capacity, would give the pair the much needed privacy. Y/N wore a fitted midi coral dress which hit her just below her knees. Carlos was wearing his signature baby blue button down with white slacks. He looked handsome as ever. "Shall we?" Carlos asked. "yes, we shall" Y/N smiled taking Carlos's hand. Y/N's grandma could be heard calling out, "Have fun. Don't stay out to late." She felt proud of herself for at least setting her grand daughter up with a gentleman.

Carlos drove them to the restaurant. Their conversation flowed easily, they laughed along at stupid jokes they said and Carlos heard Y/N softly hum along to the songs on the radio to fill in the silence. Carlos would look over, a fond smile gracing his lips. After they reached the restaurant, Carlos opened the doors for her and pulled out her chair for her. He was going to make it her best date ever; he owed her that much.

While they waited for the dinner, "I can't believe we're going to be married in 2 weeks" Y/N mulled over her thoughts. All the preparations were done, they would have the wedding arch in the backyard and a day before the wedding; they would have a rehearsal dinner. She had skipped over the bachelorette even though her best friend wanted to throw her one. They decided to stick to a sleep over the night before. "I can't either. When we met I didn't expect to marry you" Carlos said. "Me neither. I fought my parents, more like disagreed with them" Y/N hummed. "Me too. I just didn't expect to marry so soon" Carlos stated. "Yeah, I didn't expect to be married before I graduated either" Y/N laughed. "But the world works in mysterious ways I guess" she shrugged her shoulders.

The food was great, "This is so good. I don't know why I never came here before" she told Carlos. Carlos smiled and raised his hand to wipe the food off the corner of her mouth. Y/N's eyes widened as Carlos's fingers brushed past her lips. She instinctively pulled away, apologising. "There was something there" Carlos said cleaning his finger with his tongue. Y/N watched as Carlos's finger, the same one that was on her lips moments ago touched his tongue. She quickly looked at her food, which seemed way more interesting suddenly. Her heart was beating fast, a lot faster than she had expected. Watching Carlos made her feel hot and bothered. She felt like crap for the unholy thoughts that were plaguing her mind.

Thankfully, the dinner ended without any more hiccups. And Carlos drove her back to her place. The next two weeks, Carlos's family flew in and they all enjoyed the pleasant Spring weather before the wedding and letting the to be weds to spend some much needed time together.

One of those days, Y/N's best friend, Ava came over to meet the man that would be marrying her best friend. Ava was fiercely protective of Y/N and when she found out about the arranged marriage situation, she a had a bit of a fight with Y/N's grandmother regarding Y/N's wedding. She couldn't believe she would get her grand daughter married off to some random dude. She was very close to their family since they'd been friends since middle school. Y/N tried to deescalate the fight but it only ended when Y/N dragged Ava to her room. "Grandma isn't that bad" she began. "You're saying that because she's your grandmother who is sick. I get it, I really do but an arranged marriage. I didn't think she was that old fashioned." Ava sighed. "She isn't. Plus the guy she chose is hot hot" Y/N whispered. "Show me" Ava spoke slowly, unsure of her friend. Y/N pulled out her phone and showed a picture of Carlos. "He's a F1 driver" she explained further. "Oh, he's rich rich" Ava smirked. "He'll be driving for Ferrari next year" Y/N added further. "Oh My God, he's loaded. I don't think we could've pulled him" Ava sighed, accepting defeat.

So, when she met Carlos for the first time, she played the part of the skeptical best friend well; going as far as to threaten him. Carlos only smiled, happy that Y/N was surrounded by people who loved and cared for her. He promised Ava to always take care of her best friend.

The day of the rehearsal dinner came quicker than any one expected, the to be weds were dressed in pastel colours and both their families and friends were sat at the table. They went over the schedule for the next day. The weather was a lot nicer, with the sun setting on them. The atmosphere was perfect to be getting married in. As Carlos watched Y/N interact with his family, he felt it. He thought about everything; all the weird feeling he had when talking to her or thinking about her; it made him realise that maybe just maybe he liked her. Y/N couldn't say she wasn't feeling the same. She had always wanted to be with someone who meshed well with her family. She never thought it would be someone chosen by her family, but right now she saw it. She decided to finally acknowledge all the feelings she's been feeling and perhaps she liked Carlos more than she let on and spending forever with him didn't sound as bad.

After the rehearsal dinner, when everyone was dispersing; Y/N asked Carlos to speak to her in private. She wanted to tell him how she felt and how she wanted to go forward with this marriage. She didn't expect Carlos to feel the same but she felt like she wanted to lay the ground work for what the relationship she wanted to be like. "Carlos, I wanted to tell you something" she breathed in, "Go on" Carlos encouraged her. "I know we started off the way we did and I know we are getting married because of my grand mother but along the way I've realised as I spoke to you more and got to know you more that I like you. Not as a friend or someone I was forced to spend time with way but someone I see a future with. Regardless of what happens 5 years or 10 years down the line, I want you to know that I'm not marrying you because my grandmother told me, kind of true but that's beside the point, but I'm marrying you because right now, in this moment, I like you. I've liked you for a while but it was watching you with everyone today, cemented it for me" Y/N finished without a break. Carlos's lips turned up into a smile and he took her hands in his, "I realised that now too, during the rehearsal dinner that maybe spending the rest of my life with you didn't sound like a bad idea or something I was being forced to do. I like you too Y/N" Carlos replied. "Can I kiss you?" Y/N asked looking at Carlos's lips. "Yeah" Carlos breathed and Y/N stood on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. Carlos's hands moved to her waist, pulling her closer. Y/N placing her hands on his cheeks, "Maybe when everything settles down we can have a big wedding with everyone" Y/N asked hopefully after pulling away from the kiss. "Maybe we can" Carlos replied.

Ava and Y/N had a fun sleepover, watching movies and pampering each other. Y/N woke up refreshed and well rested, all thanks to her best friend. The day of the wedding was as hectic as expected. Anika helped her grand daughter dress up. She was very happy zipping up the gorgeous gown Y/N had picked out and then she took the necklace off of her neck and put it on Y/N's neck. "I always thought I would give this to you. But when you said you loved it when I bought it, I knew I had to give it to you" Anika smiled and clasped the necklace. "I love it" Y/N smiled at the necklace and her reflection. "I'm happy I get to share this with you" Y/N said, hugging her grandma. "I'm happy you're happy. I never thought I'd get to see my grand daughter get married ever" Anika said wiping her tears. "You have a lot to live for. You have to attend my graduation, play with my kids. I can't wait for you to come to my graduation tho" Y/N smiled brightly. "You want this old hag at your graduation" Anika asked. "Obviously, you practically raised me. I'm here because of you. Even if my parents can't make it, I want you there" she told her grandma. "Okay" she smiled at her grand daughter.

The wedding was wonderful, they had a few generic vows written down and read them out as the ceremony progressed. It was followed by dinner where you could hear everyone talking and laughing and having a good time. The family had come together and even though it was small yet quaint; Y/N couldn't have asked for a better day. She ended the night by dancing with her grandma.

Sadly, their happiness was short lived. Because soon after the wedding, Anika's health started to decline. She hadn't been able to stomach any food. She was barely able to walk at a point. The hospital visits were erratic since they couldn't go due to COVID which meant the family tried to provide Anika with all the care that they could.

It was getting harder, day by day to provide her the care she needed and when things got really tough, they were finally able to have her admitted in a hospital. Y/N had come to visit her grandma at the hospital. People weren't allowed to come as often, so she was sat with her grandma's hand in hers, after a long time. "You'll be good as new in no time" Y/N said, tears threatening to fall. "I'm okay sweetheart, whether I live or die, I've seen everything I wanted to. I just hope you all are always happy" Anika whispered. "You still have a lot to see" Y/N crocked. "Can I speak with Carlos?" Anika asked. Y/N FaceTimed Carlos, who answered immediately. "Hello, dear" Anika spoke. "Hi grandma, how are you?" Carlos asked. "I'm okay. I just wanted to talk to you both together." she said looking at her grand daughter. "You can talk to us whenever" Carlos reassured. "I know I forced you two to get married, so I'm sorry for putting you two in a tough spot. I was selfish and I wanted to have one last happy moment" she said. "You'll have more" Y/N interrupted. Anika smiled, "I just hope you two are happy forever. I will only wish for happiness in your lives whether I'm a part of it or not" Anika breathed. out. "Thank you for bringing me Y/N. You have no idea how happy she makes me" Carlos said. "I'm glad, dear. I hope you two will take care of each other" she sighed. "Forgive this old woman for meddling in your lives. I promise, I just wanted what was good for you" she smiled weakly. Y/N soon cut the call and spent some time with her grandma before she had to leave. Her aunt would be staying over for the next few hours.

As she got home, she was informed that her grandmother wasn't doing too well and they weren't sure, she would make it. Y/N was optimistic, her grandma had been to the hospital before and returned after the treatment. But this time was different. A few hours later, in the middle of the night, Y/N was informed that her grandmother had passed away. She couldn't believe it, she didn't believe it, not for a couple hours, not until she saw it herself. She felt the world came crashing down on her, she sat there letting the words sink in as the world seemed to rush past her. Her grand mother, who had raised her, had passed away on a beautiful spring night. How was she supposed to go on?

Taglist- @herexpertcollector @redrevvedup @chaostudee @larastark3107 @jovialpainterunknown @vip-access @sugarvibez @champomiel @inarabee @virazeeee @seonghwaexile @champ15ns @ajthefujoshi @musicheaux @npcmia @marvel-ous-miss-maisie @mochipatch @gleeblegnarp @formula1-motogpfan @taliya8346282844eliviahdgdajs @dying-inside-but-its-classy @iamfreeeeeeeeeeeesblog @boiolay @pausmoon @ts1mp0ne

[fairlyang]

miguel but he opens a portal to your room while your asleep.. and steals your used panties AND THIS HAPPENS MULTIPLE TIMES BEHIND YOUR BACK and confront him about it when you see the cameras.

I GOT TO WRITING SOON AS I WOKE UP N READ THIS- I LOVEDDDD THIS IDEA TY 🫶🏼🫶🏼 we love pervy miguel and I’m sorry for the wait anon hope you like it<3

Stealing 🕷️

w/c: 2.4K

pairing: pervy!miguel x f!reader

tags: 18+ smut MDNI!!!! pervy miguel w strong sense of smell, panties stealer, does it often, checks cameras, gets caught, confrontation, teasing, stroking, having him show you, more panty sniffing, jerking him off w panties

Miguel always seemed to have a strong sense of smell. Especially since he didn’t have a lot of the same spider powers as everyone else like spidey sense, but his other senses were more heightened than normal.

This meant a couple of things, for example maybe he could smell an anomaly from a mile away.

Or even know who walked into his office just from their smell.

Or in another sense, have an urge to always smell you. More specifically, your arousal.

He really couldn’t help it.

Especially knowing you usually touched yourself as soon as you got home at night and changed out of the soaked panties to sleep in fresh ones so if he were to snatch the ones from your bin, his sense of smell would be on overdrive.

The first time he did it he felt guilty but that quickly changed when he brought your panties up to his nose and he almost instantly grew hard.

He held your panties to his nose with his left hand and with his right was stroking himself, wishing so badly he could’ve been with you in bed, fucking you to sleep but instead had reports and the multiverse to worry about.

But still that didn’t stop him from at least jacking off to the thought of you while he smelled the slick stain you left on the pretty blue pair.

Precum was leaking down his shaft and his body felt so overwhelmed and even hot. It didn’t even take long for him to cum all over his thighs because your smell was just so addicting, intoxicating.

Which is why there was no shame in stealing more of your panties after that.

Most of the time he always stayed back, whether it be it took long to catch an anomaly, or he was helping someone out at the lab, he didn’t give a shit he’d open up a portal straight to your shared bedroom, go through the laundry basket until he finds a pair that wasn’t just used.

Lucky he was that you were a heavy sleeper…

He ended up having a sick routine of keeping one pair for a solid two days until the smell was practically gone and he had to replace it. He’d portal back and dump the old one, only to get a newer one then to do the same routine until it was laundry day.

After that it was pretty difficult to wait around another day when more laundry would be in the basket so it wasn’t so obvious that he’s been snatching up your used panties left and right.

And this routine worked out well for him, so well he ended up doing it for three weeks. Luckily not catching your period week.

Which might’ve been the whole reason his sense of smell has been overbearing towards you in the first place.

The pain was so horrible and even worse, the urge to have him pounding into you was unbearable.

And you didn’t want to deal with the messiness of period sex. So you dealt with the fucked up cramps and occasional migraine all while feeling the horniest you’ve ever been.

Right at the end of your last cycle, soon as you were in the clear you did not hesitate to practically pounce on him. But the smell of your arousal was somehow even better than it usually was so he didn’t hesitate to ram himself into you as soon as you were both stripped down.

You were just so horny and couldn’t help how bad you needed him and how would he ever deny a rough fuck?

Little did he know how obsessed he’d become with your scent.

So after that he couldn’t really be blamed for wanting to snatch up your dirty panties and use them as his inspiration for a good orgasm because his nose was working overtime.

And thinking he was in the clear, he didn’t even bother to stop his antics when one brutal day came by.

You lived in an apartment with Miguel, although he wouldn’t always sleep there he made sure everything was paid for so you wouldn’t have to worry your pretty head about anything.

Unfortunately it happened to be in an occasional fucked up neighborhood, sometimes there’d be robberies to local bodegas or people stealing cars in the middle of the night.

But luckily Miguel’s overprotective ass had put up cameras soon as you had moved in. A ring doorbell, a camera facing the front door, one facing the bedroom, and another outside the fire escape facing the streets.

So knowing this, it was a no brainer when one of your neighbors had told you their car got robbed and your head instantly remembered about the cameras.

As soon as you got back to your apartment from getting the mail (and the tea), you went into Miguel’s office and turned on his laptop before quickly finding the application that had all the cameras.

You rewinded back to the hour your neighbor had said they were robbed, recording a short video for them to show for insurance when you stumble across Miguel portaling in to your shared bedroom.

You were confused as to why, when he walked over to your sleeping body and covered you with the blanket making you smile.

So sweet.

Then he walked by your closet and your mouth nearly fell off the floor.

He was digging through your dirty laundry.

You blinked at the screen in shock, absolutely surprised that he would even do this.

All while you were in deep slumber, not having any idea what was happening feet away from you.

Your jaw nearly hit the floor when you saw him take a pair of your panties up to your nose and just like that he was gone.

Your eye involuntarily twitched and after just staring at the screen you realized you had to bring this up. You had to say something.

But you weren’t exactly bothered by it. You were conflicted. Confused.

But then all that switched to being turned on because it was your boyfriend of all people doing this.

You bit your lip and rewind it back, letting it play again.

That was when you realized he had another pair in his hand which he buried deep in your laundry basket before finding another one.

Almost as if to replace it.

Your eyes went wide again and you could only stare at the scene before you, in shock yet again.

How long has he been doing this?

You set up a plan to catch him in the act, assuming he’d come back for a new pair. You slipped off the pair you were wearing all day and laid it right on top then went to bed anticipating Miguel coming in.

But it took a while and it took a lot of willpower to stay up considering your body is so use to sleeping so early but tonight would be an exception.

So you kept your attention up by having music play softly in the room because you always needed peace and quiet to sleep so surely you won’t fall asleep.

With much luck, you stayed awake just head on your pillow with the soft blanket covering your body when suddenly the familiar sound of a portal popping up quickly caught your attention.

You closed your eyes and prayed he didn’t know you were awake. You then heard his slow and quiet footsteps as they made their way over to your side of the bed.

You then felt his lips leave a soft kiss on your forehead before quickly disappearing. He walked towards your closet and you were internally freaking out that he was doing this.

Suddenly you sit up on the bed and eyes now open, shocked to see Miguel throwing in an old used pair of your panties and grabbing the one from the top. Only to first give it a small sniff before sighing. Holy shit-

You cleared your throat which made Miguel freeze but it was too late to do anything.

“It’s not what it looks like-“ he starts but you just wave him off.

“You could’ve just told me you know..” you start with a soft tone, not wanting him to get the wrong impression.

“The surprise on my face when I saw you digging through my laundry- you would’ve loved it for sure.” You say and give him a grin which only made him curse under his breath.

He knew the jig was up but you weren’t mad. Seemed more amused than anything.

You beckoned him over and he walked over to your side of the bed while you pet his spot. Without a word being said, he climbed over you then laid down next to you. “Lia wanted me to check our cameras because she was robbed last night…” you say and he sighs somehow already defeated.

“Don’t worry love, I'm not mad or upset, it just came as a shock.” You explain and he chuckles.

“It shocked me as well, honestly.” He replied as you nodded and flipped to lay on your side while facing him.

“Hm why’s that?” You ask and swing an arm over to lay on his torso.

“Didn’t think I’d like it so much.” He answers truthfully as you trace along his covered abs slowly.

“What do you like about it?” You press, lowering your hand down as his breathing becomes more rapid.

“Your smell- the arousal.” He mutters while gripping your used panties with his left hand.

You hum and scoot closer to him, making sure you are touching. You lean in and kiss his right bicep while your hand went even lower, staying put right above where his already aching bulge was. “I don’t mind it y’know…” You whisper as he starts to breathe heavily.

“You’re too good to me.” He murmurs, looking at you with only one thing in his mind.

“I try.” You whisper and start to palm him over his suit.

Within seconds he quickly pressed a button on his watch and his suit disappeared making you touch his cock. You looked up at him and he looked like he was going to combust any second.

You then looked down and his tip was already leaking which didn’t come as much of a surprise. “Maybe you should show me how you do it.” You whisper, earning yourself a groan as you slowly stroked him.

He brought his left hand up with your panties to his nose then put his right hand on top of yours, moving your hand up and down his cock.

You sit up a little and lean over to let some drool fall from your mouth down to the tip, slowly trickling down while you go back to your previous position.

You link your left arm to his right while you make sure every inch of his cock is wet. You look up at him and see him with his eyes closed, mouth opened in the shape of an o while you’re still stroking him at the pace he set.

His nose was buried in your panties, most likely still stained with your slick from seeing the camera footage over and over again. “Bet you looked so good doing this in your office.” You murmur, making him moan and sink back into the pillow.

He thrusted his hips up and made you move your hand faster now as his moans become louder. You moaned along with him purely just because he sounded so good and he loves your moans. You leaned up and whispered more dirty nothings while he started to groan and squirm around.

“Don’t tell me you already wanna cum baby…” You tease softly, making him chuckle.

His eyes opened again and he locked eyes with you while you fluttered lashes innocently. “You’re killing me.” He groans and you shrug.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine.” You mutter and look down, attentively watching the way his cock was moving.

It looked so pretty and those delicious moans had you wishing you caught him doing this sooner. They sounded so needy and in a way, greedy.

You could tell he wanted more just by the way he couldn’t stay laying down but it was fine, only made it more fun for you.

“Stay still baby.” You utter, looking up to see him playfully rolling his eyes at you.

The tables have now changed considering the endless amount of times he’d tell you to stay still and couldn’t.

An idea then came to mind and you pulled your hand away before quickly taking off the little thong you were wearing which was unsurprisingly soaked.

You then grab the pair he had to his nose and pass him the thong before going down, starting to stroke him with your used panties.

“Bet you’ve done this too huh?” You purred to which he just moaned and feverishly nodded.

His thighs began to shake and he leaned his head against his shoulder which prompted you to lean up to gently kiss his cheek a few times. More dirty words left your mouth as you stroked him at a faster pace, this time wanting him to cum undone.

“Such a perv.”

“Just couldn’t help it huh?”

“Needed me so badly..”

This wasn’t the way Miguel imagined this would go at all but he absolutely was far from complaining. In his head this counted as the best case scenario to which he was grateful for.

So he couldn’t be blamed when your words, smell, kisses, and hand overwhelmed his body.

He groaned as his cum shot out and went straight down to cover your panties and hand. It was so cum some also made its way down to his thighs.

Your forehead was leaning against his as he tried to calm his breathing down and you were slowing down, letting him ride out his high.

You pressed your lips softly onto his and he kissed back just as softly. You let his cock go and lay your hand against his stomach. “Was that good?” You murmured, making him scoff.

“Shut up.” He muttered before kissing you more passionately, a hand coming up to cup your jaw gently while his breathing became more steady again.

You pulled away and looked into his eyes, “next time just let me know when you’ll be stealing a pair.” You tease as a laugh escapes his lips.

“Yeah, I might just have to.” He says with a small smile on his face before his eyes slowly start to flutter.

[peppertoastuniverse]

more than a late night snack: – gojo satoru chapter 3: green tea

contents: gojo satoru x reader, tw!ptsd, swearing, FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF, satoru being down bad and not knowing it yet, satoru not being good at feelings summary:  after trying to cheer you up after a bad day, gojo starts to wonder what these growing new feelings towards you mean.

wc: 2.5k

oh no. were you crying? did he make you – now gojo really didn’t like this, he’s almost panicking, heart racing to an unfamiliar rhythm. he winces, “shit, babe.” refusing to meet his eyes, you wordlessly shake your head.

previous chapter ll master list ll next chapter

you will yourself to unclench your jaw as you rustle into your pockets to fish out your loose change. today was just not your day – after a week of decent sleep you had your first setback in the form of a vivid nightmare that frustratingly did not allow to you go back to sleep. sighing, you add some coins into the machine and press the buttons on the right side to select your favourite bottle of green tea.

grinding your teeth while you shake off the residual panic that’s rooted within your subconscious waiting at the vending machine for your drink to dispense. you were making progress – the nightmares weren’t happening as frequently but you were getting frustrated at your slow progress. sure, other students had nightmares but never as bad as yours were.  were you that weak that you couldn’t fight off your own imagination? if only you had moved quicker, fought harder … maybe everyone wouldn’t have died and you – 

you shook your head at imposing thoughts and impatiently rubbed your temple to calm down the consistent migraine you had. at least the green tea would awaken your drained head and provide some relief from your racing thoughts. you breath hitches as you watch in slow motion as your bottle of green gets jams against the glass of the vending machine.

you blink, biting your lip. luck was not on your side today.

 you sighed heavily, feeling tears at your waterline. oh god, you were going to cry. okay, okay. that’s okay, you just needed to recollect yourself, right? no biggie, it happens, it’s not the end of the worl–

“ooooooh fuck, babe that’s unlucky,” says a sing song voice from behind you.

not this, not now, not gojo.

you unfortunately hear his cheeky smile before you see him. if you were having a bad day and satoru gojo showed up, it was just about to get worse. creeping into your peripheral vision you see messy white hair, dark sunglasses and an infuriating grin. if you turned around you weren’t sure if you were going to yell at him or burst into tears, so you clenched your fists, shut your eyes and hoped he got the hint to leave you alone. you at least hoped that geto was with him, at least if his trainer was there the blue eye beast would be more tolerable.

but luck was not on your side, only hearing one set of foot steps drawing closer and closer, you hold back an audible groan. you shut your eyes tighter around the sound of his voice, hoping that the darkness would smoother his presence. if you cried here – in front of him – you would die of embarrassment. you knew that he would never let you live it down. he still teased you that time you cried when you ate something too spicy after a mission with ieri and geto 4 months ago.

“- last time, it took like 6 colas to unlodge my original cola from this piece of shit. suguru practically died laughing. this one’s the worst,” he said banging his fist on the side of the vending machine hopelessly. “ya gotta go to the one near the gym, babe!  that one is waaaaay newer and better stocked too, but i mean shoko keeps hogging all the strawberry milk. i mean�� i guess– we could also just break on the vending machine if-“

yikes. how long had he been talking?

you sigh and finally open your eyes to find him animatedly talking, hand on his hip, other hand on his chin, looking closely into the machine - nose almost touching the glass - trying to figure out a plan to get your bottle of green tea out. if you were stronger or if you had less pride you’d admit that it was almost endearing.

“- or I could- hey? babe? how come you never listen to me???” gojo turns to look at your vacant expression, his lower lip jutting out exaggeratedly, blue eyes burning bright with a tinge of annoyance.

shit, he caught you.

you sigh trying to drain the increasing flow of water in your eyes. “im just having a bad day, gojo. sorry,” you say sheepishly.

gojo eyes widen to take in your appearance, you slightly hunched shoulders, cheeks flushed at being caught. wait.. were your eyes more watery than usual? rims with a tinge of red, eyebrows downcast, you were fidgeting with your fingers unable to look at him in the eye. something explodes in gojo. did.. did he make you upset?

oh no.

the thought of him being the cause of your sadness almost made him want to throw up. he did not like this at all. but.. why was he feeling this way? maybe he needed a cold drink too. or- or maybe.. was it the tea that was the cause of your reaction? oh god, did he have to fight a bottle of green tea? he was one of the strongest he could do it; he’d definitely break the machine in half to get it for you, he would if that’s what you wanted. is that what you wanted? hell, he’d buy you green tea everyday - he’d buy out every store in Tokyo for you if it meant you’d smile.

he was a good friend - he’d do the same for Suguru or shoko, right? he just wanted you to be happy. but when you turn your back to him, gearing up to make an escape, he feels something else drop in his stomach.

“hey - hey it’s okay! i’m not mad, i swear,” he says moving closer to you, awkwardly bumping your shoulder with his.

perhaps it was the combination of his unusual sweetness and the acknowledgment of your fragile state, you feel your eyes grow misty once more. why was he so infuriating? you didn’t want to deal with him, you didn’t want to hear his taunts or his obnoxious comments. you didn’t have the headspace to come up with a witty response or to roll your eyes at him right now. but luck was not on your side today.

 attempting to save yourself from the embarrassment from him seeing your threatening tears fall, you begrudgingly lean your forehead gojo’s shoulder, nose facing his arm conveniently hiding your face. why did embarrassing moments always happen when he was around? you hated it but the need to hide, to disappear was far greater. you sniff softly.

realisation widens his blue eyes. oh no.

were you crying?  did he make you – now gojo really didn’t like this, he’s almost panicking, heart racing to an unfamiliar rhythm.

he winces, “shit, babe.” refusing to meet his eyes, you wordlessly shake your head.

c’mon keep it together. gojo can’t see you like this. “i-is this about the green tea- like it’s not your fault! the machine does that all the time, you didn’t break it or anything! it’s just like – “ “c-can you just.. just shut up for a sec.. please,” the weariness and fatigue coating your words. you sniff, fully succumbing to your bad day, hands moving quickly to rub the tears that lightly fall from your heavy eyes. gojo immediately quiets – a rare sight. fidgeting with his hands, he’s at a loss for what to do. you’re so close, so willingly close to him. your skin is comfortably warm and he’s surprised at how pleased he is that you’ve chosen to get close to him.

he raises his hand and pats your head as he listens to your breathing, trying to offer some semblance of comfort to you even if he knew that you wouldn’t fully accept it from him.

your eyes shut, unconsciously you lean into his soft touch. it felt nice, almost reassuring. “..what’s going on, babe?” he asks quietly, not wanting to upset you more than you already were.

“im.. im not babe.” he hears you muffle against his shoulder, voice still raspy with an abundance of unshed tears. “ and .. my head isn't for patting.”

gojo snorts and makes a point of fluffing your hair to your annoyance.  “yes, you are,” he mumbles, uncharacteristically gentle, his hand stilling on top of your head.

“are you… are you okay?” he asks, concern in his voice. this new sense of helplessness from you was strange to him. even that night when you made udon together, you were out of it but you were still composed albeit exhausted. you’ve always had a bit of fight, but today your meekness and defeated tone started to make him worry.

“i.. i’m just…” you say as you struggle to find the words, unwilling yourself to vocalize your weakness to him. “..i’m not sleeping well," you put simply.

“how come?” he takes his large hand off of your head, instead moving to unconsciously play with a lock of your hair.

“… thinking too much, i guess.” fragile voice threatening to crack. you clear your throat swiftly. “i’ll be fine.”

gojo’s hand settles behind your neck, his warm hands offering a strange and new comfort. he stares at you with a look that you don’t understand, his blue eyes shining. was it understanding or knowing gojo.. pity?

you flush. you detach yourself from him and turn your back swiftly to hide yourself from him. hopefully you’d disappear if he didn’t look at you.

“y’know you don’t have to do that, right?”

you turn slightly angle your head to look back at him with a questioning stare. what is he getting at? “well.. you always hide.“ he states plainly like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “you don’t have to hide with me.”

you blink, red rimmed eyes not looking at his face, instead choosing to focus on the ground beneath him. you weren’t used to gojo being like this towards you, but maybe –

“..and ‘member, babe? six eyes i’ll catch it anyway, so don’t even bother trying- ” yeah he ruins everything. you shoot him the most murderous look you could muster.

getting the hint, he backtracks quickly “..uhhh I just mean, i'm – we’re here for you, you know? shoko, suguru and me. but since i’m the best -“ “nope. you’re at the bottom of that list.”

“wha- the bottom?” he gapes at you disbelievingly, hand over his quickly beating heart. “nuh uh! wait whose at the top then?! don’t tell me that it’s sug-“

you chuckle at his playfulness, you found amusement in seeing him all worked up. his eyes would blaze brightly, slender nose scrunched up, plump lips sculpting into a pout.. he was ridiculous. tilting your head up, your eyes finally meeting blue.

there was so much you wanted to say to him, but you settled on something that nicely encompassed everything:

“you’re so dumb, gojo.”

gojo slowly blows air out of his nose, he swallows his whines and instead pouts slightly at your comment. good this was good, if you were being mean to him then things were getting better - you were feeling better. calling your name he gestures you closer to the vending machine. you follow slowly, unsure of his intent. he inches closer to you, so close that you could feel the warmth radiating off his lanky frame and the fresh smell of his shampoo.  

did this guy know the concept of personal space? why was he so close?

“i’ll get your tea out for you. i can blue the machine if you want! or-or I can –” he says with an easy grin.

your cheeks twitch up, threatening to smile. “you’d blow up my drink then you idiot,” you say voice infinitesimally stronger now, tone more playful.

“yeah, but if i were you i’d want revenge!”

“what, on the machine?” your eyes roll before looking down at your green tea bottle still hopelessly stuck. just like you were.

“dude of course! the bastard stole your green tea!  let’s fuck it up!” his eyebrows wiggle, bright blue laced with mischief.

you snort. “you’re crazy, gojo. if you want to burn some energy go spar with suguru!”

“what, him?” his nose wrinkles at your first name basis with his best friend – and not him. “why ask him when you’re here already? but y’know, i feel like we’d make a good team don’t ya think? we could do some damage together!”  if you didn’t want to tell him exactly what was going on, he could take your mind off whatever is making you upset, it’d be a win. and he always wins.  

“i’m not fighting the vending machine.” you deadpan, fingers coming to pinch your nose bridge, exasperation eclipsing sadness.

“what, babe? you don’t think I’d win???” gojo incredulously whines.

“are you seriously asking me that question right now?”

“all im hearing is that you don’t think i’d win against a cheating vending machine!!” gojo huffs dramatically, crossing his arms and turning away from you.

you fully laugh. his ears perk up happily at the noise, he bounces on his feet while mentally patting himself on the back. he made you laugh –  perhaps luck was on his side today.

he claps his hands suddenly. “right then babe, let’s go!” gojo practically shouts. giddy from his win, gojo quickly grabs your wrist and drags you behind him, the pathetic bottle of green tea forgotten still suspended, leaning on the glass. your eyes widen as you feel the warmth of his hand around your wrist.

“he–gojo! HEY! where are we going?! gojo, slow down, why are we running?!” you ask jogging to keep up with his long stride. "hey!" you sharply shake wrist connected to him to get his attention. “we’re going – oh sorry!” he turns his head, white hair catching the light as he notices your increased pace, he slows down to accommodate your shorter stride.  “we’re going to the convenience store to get some green tea, duh. oh my god, can we get some cake too? oooOOOHhH, let’s get the new strawberry cream cake they have! can we??”

“okay, but you’re paying.” you say amused at his excitement. gojo grins happily, “you think I’d let you pay? c’mon!” shaking both of his hands excitedly, jostling your whole arm when he holds your wrist.

“you can let go now, gojo…” you say, barely noting the way that his grip on you grows a little tighter.

gojo blinks as he hesitantly drops your wrist. quickly recovering, gojo exclaims, “awwwwwww, i thought we were just starting to get alon -” offering you a teasing smile.

“oh my god, let’s just go.” rolling your eyes. taking large strides to walk past him before turning back in a huff annoyed to see that he wasn't following you.

you sigh dramatically, “I’m going by myself if you don’t –“ he quickly falls in line with your steps.  “im coming, im coming! jeez babe, you’re so demand–“ you slap his arm sharply, eyes blazing, all previous sadness forgotten, suspended for the time being. gojo laughs loudly at your expression.

gojo’s day just got better and judging by the pep in your step, he smiles to think that yours did too.

A/N: i loooooove him, he's such a lil puppy here. -- head image credit: unknown! credit goes to the rightful artists dividers from: @/adornedwithlight

[steddieas-shegoes]

congrats on 3000!!! 🎉🍾🎊💖

For the sentence prompt: "I'm just gonna go freak out for a minute first."

Thank you!!!! ♥️

➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰

Steve was holding his hand while the doctor checked his stitches. It wasn’t really that weird for him to be holding his hand, not since he woke up half-dead in the hospital.

It was a little weird that he was rubbing his thumb against the side of his thumb, though.

And probably a little weird that his other hand was resting on his head, a weight that was comforting and confusing all at once.

“Looks great, Eddie. I’d say by the next visit, we’ll be able to get them out and let these finish healing naturally,” the doctor smiled at him as he pulled his shirt back down.

Steve’s hand squeezed his, and he couldn’t help looking over at the sunshine in the seat next to him.

It had to be pretty obvious how he felt about Steve. He’s lucky none of the kids have caught on and started teasing him yet.

Robin has, but at least she knows to do it privately.

“I’ll have the front desk schedule you for two weeks out. You can grab an appointment card on the way out. Keep them all clean and don’t do any heavy lifting or physical activity quite yet,” the doctor reminded as she pulled off her gloves and threw them in the trash. “You boys have a nice day.”

As she left the room, Steve helped Eddie sit up slowly. He didn’t really need the help anymore, but he’d be an idiot to admit it with how much Steve touched him.

“Two more weeks, Eds! That’s better than what they thought last time,” Steve was so excited for him. His smile was lighting up the room and he looked five seconds away from bouncing on his feet.

“Yeah, it’s great.”

“Aren’t you excited?” Steve’s smile dropped at Eddie’s tone.

“Yeah! Yeah, it’ll be great to have less limits. Might be able to get the guys together for a jam session,” Eddie gave a small smile.

“But…?”

Eddie sighed. “But then you won’t be around anymore, right? Like, other than when we all hang out on movie nights. You only stuck around because no one else could really help me every day. Everyone had work or families that wouldn’t let them out of their sight.”

Steve looked heartbroken, and Eddie couldn’t figure out why.

“Eddie, I’m not gonna leave you just because you don’t technically need me anymore,” Steve shook his head. “We’re- we’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Of course! I mean, I thought so. But I know it could just be that you feel bad and I wouldn’t expect you to stick around because of that.”

Steve grabbed his other hand, his grip tightening on Eddie’s skin almost painfully.

“I wanna stick around for a lot of reasons, Eds.”

Eddie was caught in his gaze, his wide, pleading eyes almost too much.

“Like what?”

“Like because you’re fun to be around. You’re funny and talented and smart. You taught me about Hobbits! Love those guys,” Steve stepped closer. “You’re brave and you care about all of us. You-“ Steve swallowed. “You see me. The real me.”

“What do you mean?” Eddie’s heart was racing as he looked between Steve’s eyes, down to his lips where his tongue had poked out momentarily to wet them.

“You’ve seen me when my parents have come home and made me feel like shit and you just distracted me with singing whatever pop songs are on the radio and helping me cook dinner. You’ve been there when I had a two day long migraine and couldn’t even stand up to go to the bathroom. You made grocery shopping fun! I fucking hate grocery shopping, but you just keep being silly and making me laugh and I had fun.” Steve leaned in so his forehead was touching Eddie’s. “You laugh at my jokes, even when they aren’t that funny. You listen to me when no one else pays attention. You see who I am and you let me be who I am and I don’t feel scared that you’ll run.”

“I’m not running.”

“I know. I love that you aren’t, that you won’t.” Steve closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, they were watery. “I love you.”

Eddie was certain he was dead. Maybe the last month had all been some coma-induced dream and they finally pulled the plug. Maybe he actually died in the Upside Down and the last month was his final goodbye to everyone in his own head.

He stood up slowly, trying not to push Steve away, but having to guide him away from the table he’d been laying on.

“Where are you going? You’re not leaving, right?”

“Nope. I’m just gonna go freak out for a minute first.”

“Um.”

Eddie smiled, leaned in to kiss Steve’s cheek, and pulled away.

“Give me a minute. This is either the most realistic dream I’ve ever had or the best day of my life.”

Steve snorted, but let him walk to the door and stand outside of it for a moment.

When Eddie came back in, his cheeks were red, but he looked determined.

He pulled Steve into him by his hips, crushed their lips together, and smiled so hard their teeth clacked against each other. It was a little messy for a first kiss, but they could get better.

“You love me? Really?”

“I thought it was obvious,” Steve laughed as they pulled apart.

“I thought I was obvious!”

“Not really. I was convinced I was imaging things! Robin had to explain to me what the hanky code was before I even believed you liked guys!”

They both laughed so hard they cried, forgetting entirely that they were still in the doctor’s examination room.

Someone knocked on the door and they broke apart quickly, trying to stop the laughter for a moment to deal with whoever was at the door.

A nurse poked her head in. “Sorry, don’t wanna rush you, but just wanted to make sure everything was okay? Did you need to see the doctor again?”

“No, no. Sorry. We’re heading out. He just needed a minute,” Steve said quickly, smiling back at her.

She nodded and left, leaving the door open as a silent reminder that they needed to disinfect the room for the next patient.

“Steve.”

“Yeah?”

“I love you, too.”

“You don’t have to say it just-“

“I’m not. I’m saying it because I love you. I see you, remember? There’s a lot there to love.”

Steve turned a bright red, and Eddie decided then he would do just about anything to see that shade on Steve’s cheeks and neck as often as possible.

“Let’s go home,” Steve finally said when he recovered. “Wanna kiss you more.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

[lefarte]

Hallo, may I make a soft Levi funger x reader request? 💜

So polite heheh yes of course. My first request, is it cause he’s my profile picture 👀 ? You didn’t specify if you wanted headcanons or more of a ficlet (is that a word?) so I just sort of did my best I hope this is decent 🩷

Under the cut ^_^ no content warnings, just fluff, gender neutral reader

When Levi got clingy (which is often) it rarely manifested through physical touch. He’s hardly willing to do any more than tug on your sleeve to get your attention, and even this is a very small action that you could easily miss. More than anything, he liked to watch and guard you. Even if you kept telling him it wasn’t necessary, you always found him awake at the small hours of the morning over your bed.

“…I… I was awake anyway, so…”

He muttered something like that and then turn away. What would he do if not watch over you? Oil his gun? Count the windows in the building, count the entrance and exit points, think about his life up until this point? Since the war, even his mind became something of a problem. Always rearing its head at inopportune moments.

When he looked at you and the way your hair is fussed up first thing in the morning, he could almost imagine… domesticity. Something like this; he wakes up, and your hands are entangled from the night before, and you yawn and rub your eyes. You would eat breakfast together and talk.

“…How long have you been up?” You pulled the blankets off. “Did you sleep at all?”

Levi nodded. “I did…”

“You’re getting tremors in your hands again.”

He looked at his hands, cracked and dirty and covered in dry blood, bitten and shaky. A telltale sign. Within a few hours, maybe less, the nausea would come, and then the cravings, the sweat and the migraine. He shrugged.

You rolled out of bed. The bed squealed as you got off. To his surprise, you came to him.

“Don’t bite it,” You said, looking at his hands.

He blinked.

“You bit so hard you’re bleeding,” You reiterated, touching his fingernails.

He cocked his head, much like a dog. “S…Sometimes I wonder if you’re a… real… person.”

…Or a figment of his imagination. The first time he saw you, he ran away. You must have been some ghost of his past, one of the many dead faces brought animate by the withdrawals. And you kept pursuing. He thought for sure you wanted to kill him for what he did. Instead of that, you gave him heroin. And then you gave him food, and took him in, for absolutely no cost.

He decided that you must not know, and you should never know.

“Don’t be silly.”

You put a bandaid over his finger.

“…No…really… you shouldn’t be here…” Not in Prehevil. It’s a rotten place, for bad people. “And… um… I don’t need a bandage… you should save that.”

“You say weird things sometimes. It makes me want to squeeze you.”

He couldn’t respond to that. “Huh.”

“You need to get some sleep.”

“Stay here...” He croaked.

He had to admit that you were being sensible. The lack of sleep had been getting to him. He was saying things he shouldn’t say. The sun hadn’t fully risen, so… he could afford himself to rest for maybe another 20 minutes. Being generous.

It felt pathetic to beg.

“I’ll keep watch.” You promised.

Swallowing his shame, he slipped under the covers. It was still warm from your body heat. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt the warmth of a human, even if it was just the lingering traces from your pillow. He almost felt excited like a little kid. Its like an indirect hug, he thought.

You sat at the foot of the bed. You had no rifle to polish or any way to keep yourself occupied, except to listen to the soft breathing of Levi next to you. The way he curled up was soft, never like how a soldier should sleep. He left his rifle.

“Sleep well,” you said softly.

“….yeah….”

[calypsocolada]

9:15 A.M. | k. nanami

synopsis: a handsome man is very puctual at the coffee shop you work at. authors note: hi! in celebration of the upcoming shibuya arc (sadface, here's a lil fluff, might write a part two if the spirit posseses me. cw: fluff wc: 1.8k

--------------------------------------------------------

There was a man that came into your work almost everyday at exactly 9:15 a.m. He was never late, at least not on the days you worked. He was polite but never smiled and tipped you very well for someone only spending five dollars on a black coffee. You didn’t know his name, you thought it might be weird to ask. But he was tall, styled blond hair, sharp features and impeccably tailored suits. Which was why you called him suit. It wasn’t clever you knew that but it was the first thing you thought of and it caught on with you coworkers. 

You liked seeing him, it helped that he was incredibly handsome, like one of those business men in romance movies, the ones that act cold but have secretly big hearts. 

Sometimes you find yourself wondering about him. Was he married? It wouldn’t surprise you if he was. You also wondered what he did, did he sit at a desk all day, bossing around a bunch of college aged interns? He had to be the boss. The way he dressed, his impossible seriousness, you could see him running a stressed hand down his face after a long day, or through his styled hair, messing it up. His hand coming up to loosen his tie with deft fingers, leaning back in his expensive leather chair, exhausted. 

“Earth to Y/n,” Your co-worker snapped her fingers in front of your face. You blinked a few times, shaking your head as if coming out of a dream.

“Yes, sorry, I’m listening.” You said apologetically. 

“I was just wondering if you felt any better? Someone told me you called off yesterday.”

“I feel better.” You say with a smile. You had a migraine that kept you up the night before last, it wasn’t a big deal but you didn’t want to deal with snappy customers yesterday. 

“That’s good.” Your co-worker smiles as the front door bell chimes, indicating a customer. Your eyes glance at the door and you see him. You glance at the clock. Right on time. “Your favorite customers here.” Your co-worker teases in a low whisper as you shoot her a quick glare. Suit approaches the counter as your eyes meet and your face lights up in a smile. 

“Good morning, the usual?” You ask as the man purses his lips slightly giving you a nod. You push off the counter, spinning around to make his order. “It’s nice outside today,” You say over your shoulder. You always tried talking with him but he didn’t say much, he seemed very mysterious, that or maybe he wasn’t a morning person.

“It is.” He says and you hear him pulling out some cash from his wallet. Sliding a lid on his coffee you turned back around to hand it to him. He reached for it, his fingers brushing yours. “Are you feeling any better?” He asked and your eyes snapped up to his. 

“Hmm?”

“Your co-worker,” He started. “She told me you were out sick yesterday.” He said and for a moment you're stunned, you're not sure you’ve ever heard  more than two words from this man and it has been months that he’s come in here. 

“Oh that,” You wave your hand. “Bad migraine.” You say and he looks at you and nods.

“Drinking plenty of water then?” He asks and you laugh softly. 

“You sound like my father.” You joke and see the corner of his mouth quirk up, he breathes out a small laugh. Your brows raise at the sound, stunned at this entire little conversation.

“I’m glad you feel better.” He says warmly as he hands you the money. 

“Thank you.” You smile, putting the cash into the register and handing him the change. 

“That’s your tip. Keep it.” He says, tilting the cup to you before turning. You pause to watch him leave and when he disappears past the windows you look down at your hand. 

“Did he just give you a forty five dollar tip?” Your co-worker chirps behind you, you startle at her voice, breathing out a laugh. 

“He sure did.” You answer, sticking the money into your aprons pocket. 

“He’s not married by the way.” She says as you turn to face her. 

“What?”

“Suit’s not married. He doesn’t have a ring.” She points out.

“That doesn’t mean anything.”

“Well if he was and I was his wife I would divorce his ass because the way he looks at you should be considered an emotional affair.” You blush to your toes at that comment, turning from her as you roll your eyes.

“Come on, no he doesn’t.”

“He does. Not to mention he asked about you yesterday, that’s why I told him you were out sick.”

“Liar, he did not.” You argue.

“He totally did! He looked worried for you too.” She jests as you slap her arm slightly. “You know what he tipped me yesterday?”

“What?”

“2 dollars! He usually gives you ten.” She pouts as you start laughing. “He totally has a crush on you.”

“A crush? Stop… He doesn’t. He’s just nice.”

“Yeah he wants to be really nice to you up against a wall maybe.” She says as you press your hands over your face in embarrassment. 

“Go away.”

“Ask him out. I dare you.” She pushes.

“No! I don't want to make him uncomfortable.”

“Trust me, he won’t be.” 

“No.”

“Come on! Live a little. When’s the last time you went on a date anyways?” She asks and you think genuinely about it. It had been months, maybe even closer to a year. “I know you find him attractive, you probably want to-”

“Don’t finish that sentence.” You interrupted, sliding into the stool right by the counter. 

“Ask him out or I’ll do it for you.” She says and you stare at her hard.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

But she totally would, which is why you find yourself incredibly nervous the next day as you watch the minutes tick by. 9:13. You blew out a nervous breath, tapping your pen against the counter. 

The worst he could do is say no but nevertheless it was still completely nerve wracking. You could barely sleep the night before. You put your shoes on the wrong feet and accidentally wore your jacket inside out, then you missed your bus and had to jog to work. It had already been a long day and you’d only been here for just over an hour. 

The door chimed. 9:15. Damn, the one day you wished maybe he wasn’t so punctual. When you looked up your breath caught. He wasn’t in his usual suit and tie. He was in gray sweatpants and a tight black shirt with what you were assuming was his college’s name across his chest, not to mention his hair wasn’t styled back, it was falling onto his forehead. You let out a breath you were holding in, your throat dry as you forced a smile and hoped you didn’t look like a maniac. 

“Morning,” You greeted. 

“Morning,” He said back, giving you a warm smile. A smile! He never smiles. You are momentarily taken back by the smile as he approaches the counter. 

“Were you out for a run?” You croaked out as he nodded his head, his hand coming up to run his hand through his hair, his shirt riding up slightly exposing a very toned stomach. You forced your eyes up, a blush coming to your cheeks. “Your usual?” You ask. 

“What would you recommend instead?” He asks and your brain stutters. 

“Me?” You ask and his mouth quirks up. He looked entirely too handsome. 

“Uh huh.”

“Uh-- I don’t-- Maybe, uh-” You stutter, feeling like a fool but he doesn’t cut in or look impatient. “I don’t really drink coffee.” You say and he tilts his head, his hair falling on his forehead slightly.

“Tea?” He asks and you nod your head. “I’ll take your favorite then.” He says, reaching into the pocket of his sweats to fish out his wallet. 

“Okay, coming right up.” You try not to sound nervous as you turn, working quickly. It seems like today really isn’t your day, you burn your hand as you fix him the tea and drop the glass, cursing in pain. You turn to grab ice.

“Did you burn yourself?” He asks, voice concerned. 

“I’m sorry, your drink will be right out.” You say as he smoothly walks around the counter. 

“Not worried about that right now.” He takes the ice from your hand. “May I see?” He asks, he’s so tall up close, and he smells like pine even though he should smell like sweat. You nod your head as his fingers gently turn your hand so he can see the burn. He turns on the faucet. “Ice won’t do the trick, you need cool or lukewarm water.” He says, feeling the water before gently pulling your hand under it. You're both so close, his arm brushes against your shoulder.

“Am I gonna live, doc?” You ask as the man laughs, you made him laugh twice now and each time it stutters your heart. He looks good serious but even fucking better when laughing and smiling. 

“I think you’ll live.” He says. 

You wrap up your hand and finish making him the tea, this time carefully without injuring yourself. You slide it to him across the counter and he picks it up. 

“It’s green.”

“It’s matcha.” You smile, watching him pull the cup to his lips, taking a slow careful sip. He lets it ruminate before humming slightly. 

“Mhm, it’s good.” He says and a giant smile slides on your lips. 

“You like it?” You ask.

“I do. I should’ve asked your favorite a long time ago.” He says, pulling out money.

“Oh, you don’t have to pay, it’s on me.” You say but that doesn’t stop him.

“I insist.” He says, pulling out a one hundred dollar bill.

“Please, after helping with my hand it’s my treat.” You say but he hands it to you anyways. 

“Well, consider that my tip then.” He says. “That’s too much, sir, I can’t,” You start. “It’s Nanami.” He says and you realize that he’s told you his name. He’s known yours this entire time due to your name tag.

“You're too kind,” You say, sliding the money back to him. “I’d feel like I’m robbing you.” He doesn’t make any move to grab the money, just takes another sip of his matcha.

“It’s hardly robbing if I’m giving it to you.” He says with another warm laugh.

“I can’t take it. I’m sorry.” You say, and he nods his head.

“How about a date then?” He says and you snap your eyes up to him. He has that serious look about him again.

“A date?”

“Mhm.” He nods.

“You and me?”

“Ideally.” He smirks and your entire body blushes. You wondered where all this confidence came from, but honestly it didn’t matter. You liked it. 

“I get off at 8.” You say and you see his cheeks blush as he smiles at you. 

“I’ll pick you up then.” 

[dreamingonfilm]

✧˖*°࿐ Pumpkin Bread | N.L.

Neville Longbottom x gn!reader, fluff

Summary: In which Neville helps you with Herbology, despite the fact that you can’t stand him.

w/c: 2.9k

part 2

You stood in front of the library doors, preoccupied listening to the pang of your heartbeat in your ears. The books and paperwork inside your backpack seemingly feel as if they now weighed tons. You sharply take a breath of the cold air and open the doors – taking a step inside the stuffy library; your thoughts come to a halt when you hear your name.

“(Y/N), over here!” the boy calls. Turning your head to the side, your eyes finally meet his. 

It’s not that you hate the boy or anything, but for some reason you two could never get along. Maybe it was the fact that he was always kind to you, or the fact that none of your insults or cold remarks could ever cut through him. Despite him being a nervous wreck all the time, the shudder of his shoulders and stammering of his voice always seemed to be cut short whenever you were around. And you almost hated him for it. 

You walked over to the table where he sat, giving a bitter look to anyone who dared look at you, and tried to calm down the anger that was slowly brewing inside. Neville however, was unaware of this anger, and this only seemed to frustrate you more as he pulled your chair out and handed you a slice of pumpkin bread. 

“I figured you’d want something to eat, you know, since we’re going to be here rather late and all.” He said sheepishly, giving you a soft smile as you took the pastry. 

You muttered a soft “thanks.” and went to open your book. It was a Friday night at Hogwarts and here you were in the library being tutored by none other than Neville Longbottom, the laughing-stock of Gryffindor. The flickering lights above you were already starting to give you a migraine, and the soft squeaks from your chairs were only distracting you from your own thoughts. How were you to do anything in here?

“S-so, I was thinking that maybe we could start with just going over what we’ve been learning in class so far,” he cut your concerns short, flipping through the pages of his book until he finally landed on the one he was looking for, “this is Stinksap! I-it's one of my favorites actually. My aunt gave me one for my birthda-”

“Neville, not to be rude or anything but I don’t really care.” You cut him off. The light in his face seemed to dim out as he shook his head in understanding. 

“Oh, well that’s alright. If you want we can review last weeks–”

Once again you cut him off with a loud groan. It was bad enough that you had to go to tutoring in general, but the fact that it was Neville, the one person who cared about Herbology, made it so much worse. You knew that there was no way to escape studying, and all you could focus on was how slowly the hands on the clock overhead turned. Two hours seemed to be so far away, and all you wanted was to get out of the library and go back to your dorm where you could do absolutely nothing and be content. 

“Look, I don’t want to be here just as much as you don’t want to be here. So let’s just sit here in silence for the next two hours and then part ways. Alright?” You sneered, closing your textbook and going back to stare at the clock. 

The boy next to you started to shift uncomfortably back and forth in his seat. He fidgeted with the hem of his sweater for a moment before going on to agree with you once more. Closing his book and replacing it with a small piece of parchment. 

You both sat in an awkward silence. The library slowly got emptier as the time went on in a brutally slow pace, the silence occasionally broken by the dinging of chairs and the sound of his quill on the parchment. 

You groan. The sound of the parchment fills your ears. You take a bite of the, now cold, pumpkin bread. The sound of the parchment fills your ears. You turn to face the window. The sound of the parchment fills your ears. 

And after forty minutes of sitting next to him, and listening to the god-awful sound of his quill, you finally snap.

“STOP IT!” You scream at him in full volume, standing up out of your chair as your ears go red.

The library goes quiet, quieter than usual, as everyone turns to look at you. The turning of book pages, the chatter between friends, and the sound of the parchment now gone. If you were to even take a breath right now, everyone would hear it. 

Neville stares at you with an unknowing and rather concerned look, his face flushing in embarrassment as he realizes that everyone is staring right at your table. In one quick motion he grabs you by the wrist and pulls you back down into the chair. 

“What’s wrong with you!” he whispers, trying to ignore the glare of everyone surrounding you two. You only roll your eyes and start to pack up your things. You didn’t need to deal with this and you surely weren’t going to force yourself through two hours of pure torture. The repercussion was something you could deal with later, but for right now you needed to go back to your dorm and get away from Neville.

You turn the corner to leave the library but not before hearing his soft voice speak once more.

“I never said that I don’t want to be here.”

—-

It has been two weeks since your tutoring lesson, or lack of, with Neville and things only seemed to get worse. Professor Sprout was furious when she found out about the scene you caused in the library, and about how you failed to stick to her assigned lesson plan. 

And that’s how you found yourself here, in the greenhouse, preparing pots for an upcoming lesson. This would be your second home for the next two months. 

Despite your constant whining, you started to find some sense of comfort in the greenhouse. You’ve grown accustomed to the echoing of your footsteps in the empty building, and the dripping of water every few seconds. While it was rather eery at first, being alone in a new environment at night, it started to become a nice part of your routine. It was certainly much better than tutoring after all. 

However, as the days passed by, you started to feel some sort of looming presence in the greenhouse. One night, you left the faucet to the watering system on. You were already halfway to your common room when you realized, but once you got back to the greenhouse, the faucet was already turned off. 

At first, you shook it off as you having a bad memory. But over time, things only got stranger and stranger. You complained about it being too cold in the garden, the next day there would be a sweater, with your house emblem waiting for you on a chair by the front door. You complained about the pots being cracked and there would be a fresh set of newly purchased pots not even a few hours later. There was this one instance where you forgot your backpack, and once you got to your dorm you found it there laying on your bed. How on earth, did your backpack get to your room before you? 

You were losing it. 

Your friends suggested that it was from a lack of sleep, and that you should talk to the professor about cutting down your workload, but you insisted that you were fine. And while the events truly did startle you, you really were fine, that would be up until today.

—

“(Y/L/N), may I have a word with you after class?” Professor Sprout spoke. 

Your train of thought broke as the class turned to stare at you. You lifted your head up before responding. “Yes Professor.”

The remainder of class went by quickly, students rushing out of the room as you went up to the professor's desk. She didn’t seem to notice you at first, and while you’d normally be aggravated due to your lack of patience, you found yourself rather calm. After all, you've grown really close to the Herbology teacher.

You let out a small cough and she finally looked up. “Ah! (Y/N)! Take a seat my dear.” she motioned to you. 

You awkwardly sat down in front of the professor. Your mind began to wander as you questioned what she could have called you for. Perhaps she’s extending your punishment, or maybe you messed up really badly last night? You go over the past few days, and nothing completely terrible seems to come to mind.

Finally you speak up. “What did you need to see me for?”

“Oh! I just wanted to check up on you! I know how overwhelming the greenhouse work may get, especially during this time of the year. Have you been alright?” She asked.

“Yeah, everything’s been fine,” you respond, not knowing whether or not you should bring up the strange events that have been happening. After all, Professor Sprout should have a reasonable explanation as to what has been going on, “actually Professor now that you mention in, there has been some strange stuff going o–” 

But your concerns get interrupted as she continues to speak.

“And I trust Neville hasn’t been giving you a hard time?”

Your eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Neville? You hadn’t seen him since two Fridays ago, so why on Earth would she bring him up now? 

“Huh? Why would Neville give me a hard time? I haven’t seen him sinc–”

“Oh that’s wonderful to hear! I was worried that he wouldn’t want to help you out after what happened during your tutoring! But he seemed rather excited when I asked him to watch over you. After all, your grade isn’t nearly well off enough for me to trust you alone in the greenhou…..”

But her voice slowly started to fade away as you realized what had happened. It was fucking Neville Longbottom. 

—

The corridor is filled with the echoing of your footsteps and your heavy breathing. The items in your backpack making a ruckus as they all clattered together due to your running down the hall. All you could see was red. 

“Where the fuck is he?” you thought to yourself, booking it to every corner of the castle. This was it, you finally lost your mind. 

As you turned to go back to your common room in a great defeat, you saw him. How could it not be? His tall stature, fluffy hair, and soft hands that you oh so badly wanted to rip out of his sockets.

Neville stood there, talking to himself as he tried to memorize the answers to next week's potions exam, as well as trying to figure out where he could get some more pumpkin bread, as he had heard you mention it to your friends that same morning. He ran a hand through his hair and groaned, “she’s driving me crazy.” As he started turning the corner, he heard a high-pitched screech from down the hall.

He shot back, turning around to see who could be the source of this demonic noise. And there you were. Your whole face red, knuckles white as you clutched the strap of your backpack; you could practically see the steam coming out of your ears.

“This is it,” he thought, “this is how I die.”

“NEVILLE!” You scream once more, running towards the boy whose face looked almost as pale as Malfoy’s, “EXPLAIN YOURSELF!” You began to hit his chest, fist clashing as he attempted to push you away to avoid either of you getting hurt.

“(Y/N), p-please calm down,” he said, trying his best to keep you from hitting him any more, “what are you talking about?”

You stopped your attempts at assault and looked at him. He was staring right back at you, concern written all over his face. “Don’t play dumb, Longbottom.”

He shivered when he heard the way you said his last name. If he would have known any better, he would have thought that you were Draco based on how you said it. Pronounced in the same way that everyone before him has said it, with a hint of disappointment.

“I know that you’ve been with me in the greenhouse!” You finished.

His face went pale. A simple, “Oh.” was all he could manage to spit out. He didn’t know what you wanted to hear, and even worse, he didn’t know what he could say. 

After a few more seconds of excruciating silence, you spoke once more.

“So then,” you adjusted the straps of your bag, “what are you, some pervert?”

His tongue nearly fell out of his mouth. “What?” 

“I mean, you’ve clearly been watching me! How else would you know to get me a sweater! Or the pots! How else did you manage to get into my room!” You spat. You were more annoyed now than ever, here you were with the evidence that Neville is a creep, but he didn’t want to admit it. You didn’t even care at this point. All you wanted was to be rid of him forever.

“First of all I’m not some pervert,” he stated, going on to move out of your way, “and secondly, the only reason I know those things is because we’re in class together!”

“And?”

“And you talk rather loudly,” he responded, “very loud actually.”

You shoot him a cold glare before hitting him once more on the arm. 

“Hey!”

“Okay, and what about my backpack?” You questioned. This was your holy grail, there is no excuse that he could come up with now that could prove to you that he isn’t some sick freak. You awaited his response as he stared at you uncomfortably.

“Oh right, I asked your friend to give it to you.”

You looked at him with a blank expression, embarrassment growing in the apples of your cheeks. The tension in the air grew awkward. So he isn’t a pervert. 

He coughed a few times and started shifting back and forth between his feet.

“Anyways, I- I think I’m going to head back now.” He gave you a small nod before heading off.

“Wait Neville,” you called out to him, grabbing his wrist, almost replicating that night in the library, “I’m sorry.” 

You looked down at your feet. You were not only embarrassed, but you were extremely disappointed in yourself and your lack of judgment. For years you saw Neville as this dorky git, who couldn’t do anything right. But here you were apologizing to him, as he has been the one that has been keeping your grade somewhat afloat, and taking care of the plants in the greenhouse. Your high ego failed to make you realize that there was no way you could ever keep those plants alive on your own.

A small laugh cracked the tension in the air as Neville gave you a soft smile. “It’s alright (Y/N),” he insisted, “I know how you are.”

“W-What do you mean? We don’t know each other.” You responded, confused by Neville’s choice of words.

“Six years together and you don’t think I pay attention to you?” He rolled his eyes. You felt a blush creep up to your cheeks at his statement. You were about to politely reject his advances before he spoke up again, “not like that! I- I mean, we’ve always had Herbology together and you were always messing up you know? How could I not notice when you almost burnt the classroom down?” 

“Oh.” Once again, your ego was crushed. You shook your head and watched as Neville began to walk away. You followed him. Maybe it was the way he looked at you when your face fell, or maybe it was the way that he didn’t seem to shudder when your voice got icy, but something about this boy was different; something about you was different. 

“Where are you going?” You asked him, looking up to make eye contact. 

“To the greenhouse.” He smiled at you, reaching his hand into his pocket to pull out a small key – an exact copy of the one that you have been using for the past two weeks. 

“But, it’s dinner? Why would you go right now?” You asked once more, as the entrance to the greenhouse reached near. Both of your footsteps echoing in the empty hall, for right now and just this moment, it was only you two. 

He went up ahead and unlocked the glass door, opening it and moving to the side to let you in first. The scent of blooming petals and dirt hitting your nose all at once, the cold air hugging you tightly. But before you brought yourself to complain or shiver, Neville handed you the sweater.

“Trust me,” he laughed, as he went to smooth out the wrinkles from the fabric, your face flushing as he did so, “you need the help.”

There you sat, watching as the brown-haired boy did your work. The ambiance of the greenhouse now soothing you as his voice filled the room. For the first time in your life, you didn’t complain. Even when the dirt got on your hands, and even when Neville went to clean them for you.

Part 2

✧˖*°࿐

thank you for reading! check out my masterlist here

[lambergeier]

all your ducks in a row – 7k, phoenix/miles, a prequel to the pacific rim au

it's done :) first two scenes below

After waiting ten minutes in Ema’s lab sans Ema, Miles makes an extremely flashy show of checking his watch.

“Who are you doing that for?” Phoenix asks him. “I bought you that watch, you think I don’t know how expensive your watch is?”

Miles growls at him, brings the watch a few inches closer to his face (not a show, Phoenix took most of their nearsight for an earlier briefing and has yet to give it back), then shakes his sleeve back over his wrist. “She’s late.”

“You know how I knew that? I don’t have a watch, it’s sad, but there is a clock on the wall that—”

“Oh, shut up,” Miles says, and buffets Phoenix with an old memory, rubbed near to loving smoothness, of: Phoenix Wright, newest technician at the Los Angeles Shatterdome. Big wounded eyes, crisply-starched uniform, the way he’d tottered to attention like a baby flamingo every time Miles Edgeworth passed him in the hall, like if Miles would just spare a look for the razor-thin crease in Phoenix’s slacks he might drop to his knees right then and there and—

“Alright, alright!” Phoenix laughs, waving a hand between them as if Miles’ love is a cloud that might ever be dispelled. “You can have your little vanities.”

“Thank you,” Miles sniffs, prim, and smiles as Phoenix does. “She is late, though.”

“Yeah, yeah. One more minute and then we’ll give her a call.” It’s well into evening but loud in the Dome, the thumping boots of night shift filling the halls as swing shift stumbles past them to their beds. Miles wants them out of here, quickly. He’s doing his best to keep his impatience to himself but the little hooks of it snag at Phoenix, too. When Phoenix reaches into the space between them, the aura of Miles’ incoming migraine haloes his vision. “She’s almost here,” he says to Miles.

“And how could you possibly know that,” Miles replies with an unbecoming roll of his eyes at the exact moment Ema throws herself into the room.

“Sorry, sirs!” she yells, stack of papers clutched to her chest, and Miles doesn’t acknowledge Phoenix’s smirk as they make their greetings and all sit down except that he’s forced to, intrinsically, because he melted his neurology to Phoenix’s in a massive industrial accident. Sucker.

“Okay,” Ema says, leaning over her spread of papers like a dealer trying to remember which color chip is the 50. “So I finally got my guy on the phone.”

There’s a little sparkler of panic from Miles, who can’t get the memory in time. Phoenix provides: her guy is an academic and neuro specialist that Meraktis reluctantly put Ema in touch with before his retirement. Well, “retirement.” His wife and two of his three children died trying to escape the city during the last attack and he’s leaving California while he still has a family left. Maybe better to just keep calling it a retirement.

“He thinks it might work,” Ema says.

Miles leans forward, whole sordid body alert. “He does.”

Phoenix says, “Keep talking.”

When Miles and Phoenix’s tangled health began, a few years after Ratel Cerulean, to stabilize, the good Dr. Meraktis had told them to consider themselves unbelievably, inconceivably lucky. Symptoms that were bad in a predictable way were a gift from god compared to the alternative. When they knew all of Miles’ migraine triggers, and all the weather patterns that would make the screws in Phoenix’s spine sing like malevolent tuning forks, and it had been years since they’d last had a seizure of even the little baby kind—that was a real life. They could live like that. Miles had been intensely grateful, as had Phoenix. He’d never say he wasn’t. But Ema, then Meraktis’ spunky neurology sidekick, had thought there might be more they could still try, and Meraktis had called her ideas ridiculous, but Phoenix had heard her out. Their problems were the making of a drift gone wrong. Could they be further resolved by a drift gone right?

It took years to get Miles on board. Until Meraktis fled the coast and couldn’t stop Ema from making her pitches anymore. Miles still isn’t totally on board—as he listens to Ema describe imaging results and hypothetical neural bridges, his fear is a bright and chattering flame.

Phoenix imagines the sensation of his hand on the back of Miles’ head, pushing his fingers through Miles’ hair. He remembers the feeling, many years familiar, of the stubbly back of Miles’ neck rubbed beneath the pressure of his thumb. In the seat beside him, Miles’s hands slowly release their white-knuckle grip on the arms of his chair. “So all we would need to do,” Miles says, as Ema’s explanation slows for breath, “is start a new drift?”

“I think so,” Ema says. “It could work. There’s no guarantee, there’s no, like, precedent for what’s going on with you guys but—I think so.” She shuffles her papers across her desk with a nervous hand. “I think so.”

She’s not selling this so well, certainly not enough for Miles’ flagging confidence. That’s fine. Miles doesn’t need to be sure of it. Phoenix is, enough for them both. This will work. This will help them. This will be okay. He cups Miles’ faith in the palms of his hands.

“Alright,” Miles says. “Let’s try it.”

---

Miles’ tentative optimism doesn’t withstand the rest of their working day, which includes a review of the Jumphawk’s latest no-light maneuvers, a call to Brussels, a call to his sister (way more harrowing than the EU), and a final visit to Angel, who hates them, just before the clock flips to 2:00 AM. It’s bad for both of them—Miles who was up at six yesterday morning and Phoenix who will be up again at six this coming morning. If Miles hadn’t begun to spiral as they trudged towards their mockery of a bedtime, Phoenix might have actually started to worry.

“We are—we’re delusional for even considering this,” Miles says, pacing their awful fucking rooms with his arms locked right behind his back. He’s going to pull something in his shoulder. They should really let the janitorial staff dust in here more often. “Frankly,” Miles says, “we should court-martial ourselves and hand control of the dome to Franziska now, for even thinking of this.”

“Sure, baby,” Phoenix says. His forearm lays heavy over his eyes. He tracks Miles’ movements by other means. “We both know how much you love handing your sister control of things.”

He remembers, before Miles can stop him, the “surprise” “party” Franziska has organized for Miles, the one time they’d visited Sydney before Miles became Marshall. It had been a poor surprise and an even worse party. When Franziska had mistaken Flight Commander Wright for a member of her own terrified support staff and ordered him to fetch more non-alcoholic wine spritzers, Phoenix had experienced nothing except relief.

“You weren’t wearing your uniform,” Miles muttered, face heating sharply. “How was she supposed to recognize you?”

She wouldn’t have even perceived the uniform. Phoenix could have been wearing a trophy from all three of his and Miles’ kills-to-date and she still would have told Phoenix to go get more toothpicks for the cocktail weiners which no one was enjoying and everyone was avoiding.

“Back to my original point,” Miles growls, before Phoenix can really get started on remembering the taste of the weiners (bad).

He sighs. “And what was that, baby?”

“Phoenix. We haven’t tried to drift in years. To just throw ourselves at it like this, with no practice, with no time to think—”

“We’re currently drifting. We’re drifting right now. What other practice do we need?”

Miles turns in his pacing at the edge of the bed, his inner ear off tonight, the pivot too deep for comfort. “This isn’t a game. This is dangerous. What—if something goes wrong, after what it did to you last time—”

“To us,” Phoenix says.

It’s Miles’ memories that sweep them this time, strong as the breakers. Phoenix as he’d hung from the harness in Ratel’s burning, electrified cockpit. A corpse, a scarecrow, a bare-ribbed carcass awaiting the butcher, etc. etc. Phoenix wasn't really there. Phoenix remembers very little of the four hours it took their rescuers to cut into Ratel Cerulean, hesitant as they were to set off her distempered nuclear heart. He remembers pain and Miles screaming. Howling. He’d been informed afterwards, by surgeons and Miles’ fear, how bad it had been. Miles remembers, far beyond his own pain, the burning smell of Phoenix’s skin and the blood emerging in fat slugs from the seams of Phoenix’s suit. Miles’ mind had been peeling open like fruit beneath a knife. He’d been so sure, for days after, until Phoenix woke up and could be examined himself, that Phoenix’s eye had been gone. He was sure he’d seen it sluicing away.

Phoenix, in bed, rubs a hand over his eye, calluses catching on the scar. It was just the scar. His eye was fine. The eye had been fine. “You didn’t do that to me,” Phoenix says. “Don’t apologize for that.”

Miles had been commanding officer.

“C’mon,” Phoenix murmurs.

Miles slides away from him, slipping the noose of Phoenix’s grace. That’s not his word—Phoenix would never call it grace. Miles, half the room away, says, “It’s dangerous. It’s—beyond that. God knows what we’d risk. How many people in the Dome’s medical staff are even aware of our neurology?” He hates calling it a drift. “What happens when something goes wrong and they have no idea what they’re looking at?”

“911’s still operational, right?”

“Phoenix, take this seriously!”

“Miles, it’ll be okay.” Miles doesn’t believe him. Phoenix says it again. “We’ve been over this a million times. We’re not out fighting a kaiju this time. We’re not even leaving the shop floor. We’ll be in the dome, with Ema, with her two guys that know the stuff, with like one Jaeger tech, and no one else around. Nobody’s going to find out about our drift and nobody else will need to find out, because it’ll be fine. It’s just a drift test. It’s going to work. We’ll be fine.”

He’s still so afraid. He’s only admitted to like half of the things he’s terrified of. He starts to pace, stops again. Here comes another big slice of the pie: “What about Trucy?” Miles asks.

“She won’t even be here,” Phoenix says. “Maya’s picking her up tomorrow. You know that.”

Miles hates that, too, though he won’t fully articulate why and doesn’t appreciate Phoenix picking at that lack of articulation, thank you. Trucy distant, Trucy away—Miles’ fists tighten bloodlessly into themselves.

“What, you’d prefer she stick around?” Phoenix asks. That Trucy would give them a week of subtle teenage hell for canceling her girls’ Kurain weekend is too obvious to need saying. “You’d want her to see if anything goes wrong?”

“So you admit something might go wrong!”

Phoenix groans and laughs and finally lets his arm fall from his eyes. Their junky old room is dim and hazy, pressure-spotted a sickly green. Miles watches him from just out of arms’ reach. He looks just miserable.

“You really should have been some big, hot-shot lawyer, you know that?” Phoenix says. “Always putting me on trial.”

He holds out his hand. “C’mere,” he says.

Slowly, Miles takes it. Phoenix pulls him into their bed. He helps Miles kick his shoes off, nudging them off of the sheets. He sets Miles’ watch on the table beside their bed.

Miles, voiceless, traces the dark flat scars of the burns on Phoenix’s neck. His fingertips shake.

It must be nearly 3:00 AM. “S okay,” Phoenix says. “You didn’t do that to me. It’s going to work.”

Miles wants so badly to believe him. Miles wants, with a desperation he loathes, to catch just a handful of the thing that makes Phoenix so sure.

Neither of them will get to sleep like this. “C’mere,” Phoenix says again, taking Miles’ hands in his own.

He pictures the snow. Mt. Shasta, when he was young, maybe eight. He remembers sitting in the formless powder. He’d been warm. The sun had been just above the trees. No cold drips down his gloves yet, no slush in his boots. The sky had been blue and entire. The world was in concert hushed. Snow had moved with the ease of air between his fingers.

Miles is beside him. He draws Miles’ hand into the snow, making a many-fingered shape with his own. He shows Miles how to sit deeper in the powder, to let it form around you in a smooth bowl. He breathes and Miles breathes with him, exhalations rocketing from their mouths.

read the rest on ao3 👍👍👍

[genshin-impact-unofficial]

Naughty Little Secret Pt.3

Reactions of Genshin men finding your spicy literature.

Bonus Ft. Scaramouche, Itto, and Xiao

(Part 1) Diluc, Cyno, and Thoma (Part 2) Childe, Albedo, and Alhaitham

Tags: PG-13, Sexual Themes, GN!Reader, Technically SFW, Crushes, Lot more cussing in this one, Use of the word dick but not sexual lol, All these boys dont know how to regulate emotions, Bullying scaramouche, fluff-ish?, Spoiler: Xiao wants to be dominated! Notes: (repost)

Scaramouche

You worked your ass off to rise up in the Fatui ranks. Not everyone could handle the cut throat atmosphere that you had to endure day in and day out. But still, it really takes a special kind of self-loathing to accept the position as the right hand General of the Balladeer. It’s almost like he enjoys making your life hell. You endured it simply because you’ve come too far to let that little brat ruin it all. 

 “General Y/N, be ready to leave at dawn.” The harbinger stated to you, lounging casually at his desk, appearing not to have a care in the world. You turn around slowly and don't even try to hide your annoyance on your face. Your hands were already literally and figuratively full of paperwork that you had every intention of completing before this point. You take a deep sigh and pinch the bridge of your nose to keep the growing migraine at bay. 

“Yes sir, where shall I prepare us to go?” You ask calmly, it was not worth it to get snippy with him this early. He would surely only take it as a challenge.

“Hmm... I feel like exploring the ruins of Mondstadt.” The man shrugged, glancing over at you to see your reaction. 

“Mondstadt?!?! That’s a three day trip sir. Are you-” You stopped yourself when you saw the devilish grin on his features. This was exactly what he wanted. “Orders received, I’ll inform the convoy to be ready at dawn.” You stated sharply and swiftly turned to exit the room. What a dick. You were no stranger to these impromptu expeditions. Chances were, Scaramouche really did have business to attend to at the destination. What never ceased to boil your blood, was the fact that he loved to withhold this information from you until the very last minute. You packed light and awaited your next orders like usual. 

 -

The first leg of the journey was incredibly dull since you had refused to travel in the same wagon as Scaramouche. Even when he went out of his way to push your buttons during stops, you would only give him a short reply and walk away. It was quite annoying to the harbinger. Having nothing to entertain himself with left the Balladeer in a terrible mood. By the time camp was set up for the night, he stormily resigned to his quarters immediately.  Scaramouch’s belongings were already left on his sleeping cot when he entered. It was no doubt set up in advance to avoid risking anyone getting on his bad side. He opened is bags to retrieve his intelligence reports.... but the contents inside were unfamiliar to him. What an incompetent crew!

“I’m going to have someones head for thi-” His agitation ceased when he read your name written neatly on the ledger inside the pack. About time...something interesting. Without any regard for your privacy, he flipped through your notes. Ugh, you could be such a bore sometimes. You were his favorite play thing, but above all else you were also a diligent attendant. There was nothing but concise notations on work matters inside, so Scaramouche tossed it aside and searched further into the bag. His next finding was a book, seemingly a fiction novel with a bookmark indicating you were still in the midst of reading it. Boring.... The man thought while mindlessly skimming through the pages. 

The cool night breeze hit her bare skin, raising goosebumps all over her body. Only the scorching warmth of his hands could be felt as they explored her every curve. The lewd sounds of their passion rang throughout the trees and her legs began to tremble in pleasure as he- Scaramouche immediately slammed the book closed with far too much force and threw it back into your bag. He didn’t even bother zipping it up before storming outside. 

You had just finished your duties for the night. It took twice as long since your infuriating boss just had to throw a tantrum and go hole himself up in his quarters. Your tent was luckily also set up and ready for use. Maybe you would even treat yourself to a little reading, that is if you didn’t pass out from exhaustion as soon as your head hit the pillow. You didn’t think twice before opening the bag atop your bed. Huh? This isn’t- 

“Y/N TAKE YOUR STUPID STUFF! ESPECIALLY THAT FILTHY PORNOGRAPHIC BOOK OF YOURS!” Scaramouche was bursting into your tent and just about whipped your bag at you. The boy’s expression was incredibly uneasy, his bright angry blush could be seen from Celestia. On one hand, you were positively furious that he had the nerve to snoop through your things, but on the other hand you examined the sight of your flustered boss.... now that was new. 

“It’s not porn...” You forced down your utter embarrassment and rolled your eyes at him. “It’s just a little romance novel, don’t tell me that’s what’s got you so utterly nervous? Did you need someone to guide you through its contents?” You asked in a low sultry tone while taking a couple slow prowling steps towards the harbinger. His eyes were now as wide as saucers, bewildered, he stood frozen in place. 

“You’re being ridiculous.. I don’t - How dare you assume-” Scaramouche tried to form a complete thought, or maybe a threat, but it was painfully obvious he had lost his ability to think straight with you leaning in so close to him. Personal space was getting awfully scarce when you saw the Balladeer’s eyes flicker for a fraction of a second to your lips and back. You grinned wickedly, deciding it was time to put the helpless boy out of his misery. 

“Well then!” You suddenly clasped your hands together, leaned back, and shoved Scaramouche’s pack roughly into his arms. “Since you’re all set, then out you go.” You smiled cheerily, spinning him around and kicking him out of your tent without a second glance. “Nighty night, see ya in the morning sir.” 

Scaramouch stood rigidly outside your tent, face burning, utterly disheveled, and reeling from the interaction he had just had. His heart pounded wildly in his chest, but he couldn’t tell if it was from the thrill of your attention or from how absolutely fucking livid he was at you.

Itto

You weren’t an ‘official’ member of the Arataki Gang per say, but you were no stranger to their big goofball leader. Itto had slowly wormed his way into your daily routine and he had no plans of leaving anytime soon. The oni and his friends were a blast to be around, but you just weren’t the type to run around causing mischief. You worried that you would just end up being a killjoy. Instead of being a stick in their ever-exciting mud, you settled for hanging in the background of their antics and just reveling in their positive energy. You even brought your own entertainment so you wouldn’t be a bother to them. 

Itto on the other hand, had been dying to recruit you into the gang since FOREVER! You were so cool and smart all the time! But every time he offered you a spot, you politely declined. Damn! That just made you even cooler! He wouldn’t quit here though, it just wasn’t in his nature to give up on something so important. Itto gathered his boys and hashed out their next plan. Impressing you with their mad skills didn’t seem to do the trick. Maybe.... maybe they needed to impress you even HARDER! The gang chattered in excitement, an extravagant burping tournament already forming in their little heads.

“OR how about you try to appeal to Y/N’s interests?... Ya know, like trying to get to know them more?” Shinobu interjected before their tournament plan actually got momentum. Itto contemplated her words for a moment before breaking out into a wide grin. 

“Yeah, yeah yeah! You’re onto somethin’ Shinobu!” Itto praised. “I gotta show them how well we get them! Then Y/N will be begging to join the gang!” 

“Ok well... I don’t know about-” 

“Come on boys! We got some work to do!” It was too late. Itto was charging full steam ahead before his second in command could get another word in. The oni had to play it cool the next time he saw you. If you caught wind of what they were trying to do, it might ruin the whole plan. The whole operation was considered a “Super-Top-Secret-Arataki-Gang-Stealth-Mission”. It was all so brilliant, but the only problem was.... how was he supposed to figure out your interests without asking you? 

You were always so thoughtful, like when you make the time to listen to Itto rant on and on about his latest and greatest plans. He just wanted to listen about your favorite things too! Itto hardly took his eyes off you as you settled into your usual spot to read. That’s it! He’ll get into reading! That way he could talk book stuff or something! All he had to do was read all the books you read. Easy!  

The next day, Itto scoured high and low at every bookshop in for the title he saw you reading. He got some strange looks from some of the shop owners, but in the end he found it! He ended up selling a couple of his Genius Invokation TCG cards for the mora, but it would all be worth it in the end if it meant you would become their newest member. The oni was so excited he couldn’t even wait for the boys. He ended up sitting right outside the bookshop and cracking open the volume. Itto flipped around the pages, his version of ‘speed reading’ as he calls it, until a specific passage stuck out at him.

He sunk his teeth into her supple skin, and latched onto her neck. Red and purple love marks littered her needy body. Big rough hands gripped at her thighs, sharp claws claiming them for his own. The next sound was that of tearing fabric for her undergarments were no more. His mouth watered, it craved her, and he would restrain himself no longer.- 

“Boss! Did you find it?” Itto was startled when he heard his gang arrive. 

“Uhhhh HEy! Nope! Not a thing.” He said shutting the book and shooting to his feet. “Wow look at the time! I- uh... I got to go eat supple. I MeAN GEt SuPPER. Hahahah I A GOtta gO ByE!!!” Itto could hardly control the words spilling from his mouth. He took off running, leaving the gang utterly confused.

Itto struggled to sleep that night, unable to grasp the thought of you reading those graphic depictions all the time with a straight face. The next time you encountered the oni, it was transparently obvious that something was very wrong. Itto’s signature loud and confident personality had done a complete 180. He refused to look at you... like at all. You feared you’d done something to offend the big lovable goof and you decides this had to be sorted out right away.

“Itto is something wrong?” You had to resort to cornering the man to get him to talk to you. It was a humorous sight to see, you blocking the path of a huge oni that could easily barrel through you. Of course, the moment Itto’s eyes met yours, a fresh blush began to bloom across his face. He broke, instantly coming clean about everything.

“WeWantedToHaveYouJoinSOSoSoBadWeTriedToFindOutMoreAboutYouYourBookIsFullOfSomeDirtyScenesAndNowIDontThinkIWasSupposed-” Itto spoke impossibly fast and you couldn’t understand the flustered jumbled mess at all. You placed a comforting hand on his arm, encouraging him to take a deep breath. After giving him a moment to collect himself, you prompt him to start again but slowly... 

“The gang and I really like when you’re around. We want you to enjoy being around us too. So I thought if I, uh.... ya know. If I figured out what you were always reading about, that I would learn more about you. I just ah... didn’t expect the um...” 

“You read my...” You paused, the pieces finally slotted together in your head. “Oh archons! Uh actually, you can just leave me here Itto. I need to find a big rock to go die under now.” You said absolutely mortified. It was your turn to not be able to look for friend in the eye ever again. Covered your cheeks that were sure to be red as the oni’s horns now.

“What? Hey, come on now Y/N.” Itto jumped to action and like a switch he was immediately trying to cheer you up. “It’s not that bad! The rest of the gang doesn’t know a thing, and I promise my mouth is locked shut! I swear, oni’s honor!” He held one hand in the air and the other over his heart. “How about I tell you a secret? That way we’re even and no one has to be embarrassed, yeah?” Itto suggested. He leaned down to meet your eye line and to offer you a sweet smile. “Let’s see, ooooo I got it! So one time when I was practicing my mad skills on the beach my great sword slipped right out of my hand, the handle hit me straight on the noggin. Knocked me right out for hours.” You couldn’t help but giggle a little, it did sound very Itto after all. Seeing you smile spurred him to continue. “That’s not even the worst of it! When I woke up, bunch of salt water leaches were latched on my neck and chest. I couldn’t let the boys know, I have an image I gotta keep here. So when they asked me about the marks... I may have told a little tiny lie that they were hickeys.” Now you were struggling to breath with how hard you were laughing at the ridiculous story. 

“Okay okay I feel better. You win.” You hold up your hands in playful surrender and Itto’s triumphant smile was once again where it belonged. It reminded you why you loved his company so much.

“Of course I win! They don’t call me the one and oni for nothin! HAHA!” 

Xiao

Reading mortal ‘light novels’ was something relatively new to Xiao. He may not be able to see why you love it so much, but he respected seeing the passion in your eyes while recanting the epic fictional battles. It was endearing enough that the yaksha agreed to read some of the suggestions you made for him. The strange nuanced situations sometimes confused Xiao, but you were always happy to break it down logically for him. It had become a pleasant pass time for both of you.

“Y/N I finished this one.... It was good i think.” Xiao handed you back the book you had lent him. 

“Pfft, you think? Did you like the story?” You chuckled, amused. 

“The last one, I liked that one more.” The adeptus stated decisively. Xiao would never speak negatively about your interests. But... sometimes he opted to change the subject instead. 

“Ah, you have good taste.” You praised him, the excitement was evident from your expression. “I just finished the squeal yesterday! It should be on the desk over there, you should definitely check it out!” Xiao nodded and couldn't help but be amused. He grabbed the top book off your desk, not caring in particular if it was the correct one. The trivial plots were not his reason for doing any of this anyway. He would never tell you, but it was so he could in sit here beside you and just be content in your company. He didn’t know many people comfortable enough to spend hours together in silence. It was a relief not to be required to fill it with idle conversation. Xiao settled in the chair next to you and absentmindedly began to read the repetitive lines of words. Just  like the volumes before, he began to see the plot set up to follow the same tropes and struggles all over again except, huh....

He sat obediently in front his charge, and it was as if her power hungry gaze could swallow him whole. She wanted to control his every breath and moan while she had him here. His heart, body, and mind belonged to her to do with as she pleased. Her orders were direct and clear and he would always desperately follow. When he dis as he was told he was always rewarded by her noises of ecstasy. The sound of it sent a pleasant shiver down his own spine. He lived for this, for her, and he would serve her until she was nothing but satisfied-

“Xiao are you alright? You look feverish.“ Xiao tore his eyes from the pages and locked onto your concerned gaze. He was lost. How was he supposed to handle the thoughts swirling in his head? Your book was so... lewd. How could someone like you read? Did that mean you thought of.. “Xiao?”

In a split second, the yaksha was gone in a puff of black smoke. You were left alone and baffled by what the hell just happened. Was something wrong? He usually explained before leaving suddenly, or at least had the decency to say goodbye. You thought over and over in your head, but it all became clear when you spotted the abandoned romance novel on the chair. Ohhh no. 

-

It had been two weeks since your interaction Xiao. It only took a couple of days before you were able to push past your humiliation and call out to him. You waited.... but It became clear that the adeptus was avoiding you. Even your trips up to Wangshu Inn proved fruitless time and time again. Was this guy being serious right now? The remaining feelings of embarrassment and annoyance had completely dissolved into fear by the second week. You began feeling worried that your friend may have just completely dropped you, or was out there hurt. The weight of it all was eating away at you. You finally made the decision that you had to know for sure.

“XIAO!” You yelled off the rooftop of the inn. “I know you hear me! If you didn’t want anything to do with me anymore, at least tell me to my face! I won’t force you to be my friend, but at least be honest! Please, I just can’t take this!” You call out loudly into the wind. It would look absolutely mad to any passersby but you didn’t care anymore. 

“You’re being absurd.” Xiao’s voice muttered, appearing without a sound on the rooftop.

“Xiao! I’m so glad you’re o-” You almost were so excited to see the boy again that you started to step forward without thinking. Remembering the situation, you restrained yourself. You wouldn't want to make him uncomfortable. It was obvious from his avoidant gaze and rosy complexion that he was just as uneasy as when you last saw him.

“Who’s telling you that I want nothing to do with you. It’s nothing but a lie.” Xiao stated seriously. Blush or not, he seemed offended by the accusation.

“No one said anything. I assumed as much since you’ve been ignoring me for weeks! What am I supposed to think Xiao?” You explained to him frustrated. You perhaps still felt a little hurt, but you didn’t realize how much. Not until you felt tears begin to prick at your eyes. “It’s hurtful to go from having a best friend, to meaning nothing to them.” You cross your arms and try to blink away the tears threatening to fall. Xiao is the one to step forward next, clearly processing what you had just said and barely coming to a realization. Fuck, this guy can be so dense sometimes.

“Y/N, I’m sorry. I have hurt you while I was only thinking of my own shame.” His voice was soft and earnest. “Please believe me when I say, I never wanted to stop being close to you. And please allow me to resume doing so.” You smiled, of course forgiving Xiao without hesitation. But not without conditions.

“I forgive you... But as my best friend, you have to promise not to tell a living soul about that book. Not a peep, nothing! I’m talking, take this secret to your grave.” You beam up at him, officially declaring him your best friend for the first time. 

“R-right of course.” Xiao’s composure stuttered once again, a fierce blush returning to his cheeks. “I promise, not a word...”

<A/N: This was an ask from my old blog! I was scared for a moment it was lost to the ether but I found it in my documents! Writing flustered Scara is so fun NGL!>

[leaawrites]

Meer

Eli Hewson x fem!reader

Summary: a quiet conversation at the beach, based on Meer by Jeremias.

Warnings: fluff, I love a good quiet talk about something, school and migraines have been keeping me from writing so here is this.

Wordcount: 0.7k

Masterlist

Slow crashes were making a soft melody appear in the salt air surrounding them. The sand beneath the towel they were cuddled together on, flew over their skin every time the wind blew it from it’s surface and into the air. No one of them said a word, enjoying the silence they’ve been longing for so long.

With his fingers tangled up in her hair and her head resting on his thigh, Eli couldn’t stop his eyes from trailing away from the ocean and down to her. The one, he was sure, that would stay. His own hair was still wet, almost weighting down his head so he was forced to look at her. He could see the hair on her arms standing up, goosebumps appearing on her body with every breeze flying by.

Eli loved music, he really did. Creating it, listening to it, feeling it. Though sometimes silence was the most comfort one could get. With being on tour the last four months, they hadn’t seen each other as much as they wanted to. Messages and calls not doing the face to face conversations they’d have justice. And when he was finally back in her arms, with his head buried in her chest, her breathing reminded him of the sea. The calm, steady rhythm that made you close your eyes and just forget every bad thing around. With both of them by his side, he had never felt better.

The attention and fans and appreciation was worth the work, every bit of his career was worth fighting for, but he loved not having to fight for something for once.

His hand travelled further down her body, laying just beneath her breast to feel her heartbeat against his own pulse. Feeling it quicken before it slowed down again, matching with his like it’d always do. Their hearts beating as one.

“I never want to loose you,” Eli whispered, almost afraid to voice his concern about the future.

They’d never talked about it this serious. It was always just drunken giggles over wine late at night or little whispers while the other was already asleep in their arms. Having this conversation now seemed almost too serious to be taking a good turn, in his eyes.

“You won’t,” she promised him without hesitation like there wasn’t any in her mind. Like she knew this was what she’d feel forever and how she wanted to feel forever.

“How are you so sure about that?” Burying his hands in her hair and letting them move over her scalp made her close her eyes and snuggled a bit closer to his skin, leaving a kiss on his leg before sitting up and facing him.

Taking his face in her hands she held him softly, her cold cooling the warmth on his face.

“Because, sometimes, when you aren’t home, or already asleep next to me, I can’t help but wonder how your skin would feel beneath mine in seventy years. If I’d still hold you like I do now, in fear of breaking your delicate body because I’ve never seen anything as beautiful as you. I can’t help but fantasize about everything we haven’t done yet and what we’ll never be able to do, but what I want to experience with no one else with you,” she said, not letting her eyes flick away from his gaze once. “I want you, in every of those thoughts. Every thought I think is about you and I don’t ever want that to change.”

Silence settled over them for a few seconds, his hands finding the top of hers and pulling her closer to lean his forehead against hers. His breath, filled with cigarettes and peppermint, flying over her face in the process, the familiar feeling sending shivers down her spine.

“I bet I’ll be all wrinkly and gross to touch,” he said. “Won’t even be alive then anymore probably.”

“Oh, Hewson, I’ll make sure you live as long as I want you to.”

A stream of laughter erupted from him, breaking the silence around the empty beach and melting a part of her. Infecting her too. Making them a mess of love and laughter, kisses shared between the two like words in a steady conversation. A river of love flowing through their veins and making them one of the same.

[dreamescapeswriting]

Right Here For You ~ HHJ

WORD COUNT: 1.2k

PAIRING: Hyunjin x fem!Reader

GENRE: established relationships, caring for hyunjin, soft, sweet

⤜Copyright: © DreamEscapesWriting - May 2023

⤜MASTERLIST

Hyunjin groaned from beside you and you whimpered a little seeing him in the state that he was in and your stomach completely dropped. The two of you had driven over to his parents for the weekend and at first when he started to feel sick you figured he was having a little bit of travel sickness but the more time you spent with him you realised just how wrong you were about that. It turned out that while he was on tour he'd caught a pretty bad case of the flu and wasn't quite able to shake it as quickly as you thought he would be able to. The boys had all gotten a variant of the flu but none of them seemed to be handling it quite as badly as Hyunjin,

"Can I get you anything?" You whispered, slowly stroking your hand through his hair and gently untangling the strands as he whined a little. His eyes squeezed shut as he did his best to avoid the burning sensation the light was given to him and he let out a low groan. You'd been like this most of the night, every now and again he would drift off to get a little sleep but for the rest of the time he was wide awake and in a lot of pain with his head. It seemed as though he had a migraine paired with his headache and all you wanted to do was take away his pain and give it to yourself.

"A cloth for my head?" His voice was barely coming out as a whisper, he was terrified if he spoke any louder he would end up hurting his own head. You smiled weakly and gently slid out of the bed carefully going across the hall to go and wet a cloth for his forehead. So far, your weekend had consisted of watching over your boyfriend and taking care of him while he was sick - not that you minded at all. You always loved to look after those you loved and Hyunjin needed you,

"Yn," You span around, hand clutching your chest as you heard Hyunjin's mother call your name out. You thought everyone would have been asleep long before now,

"Did I wake you? I'm so sorry," You whimpered a little, looking at her as she smiled warmly and shook her head at you. She stepped closer to you and gently rubbed your arm, your eyes glanced over at the window and you noticed that the sun was peeking through the blinds inside of the bathroom and your mouth fell open. You'd been awake all night? 

"Not at all. It's almost 11 am. I was just coming to check on the two of you." She must have been worried about him since he currently seemed as though he needed to be in the hospital. It wasn't as bad as that though, it was a simple flu but for some reason, it was hitting Hyunjin a little harder than you thought it was going to. Maybe it was because he was so run down with work and getting sick was suddenly making him more drained. If you could switch places with him you would do it in a matter of seconds, you couldn't stand the thought of the love of your life being sick while you could do nothing about it.

"I'm just grabbing him a cold cloth, he didn't sleep much last night so I was hoping that this would help him," You smiled a little running the tap and gently running a cloth under the water before ringing it out and smiling at her as she nods. The two of you had met a few times before this and she treated you like you were one of her own, even texting you a few times a month. There were even sometimes when she would come to Seoul and the two of you would go for food together, the two of you had a very good relationship with one another.

"I'll go and get you both some hot tea as well as some painkillers. The two of you should at least try and sleep today though," She rubbed your lower back before her hand slowly travelled up to your cheek as she slowly rubbed her thumb over your cheek frowning a little when she felt how warm your cheek was.

"Are you getting sick too? You feel a little warm," She pouted out her lip before gently sitting you down on the edge of the bath, beginning to search the cabinets for a thermometer. You watched as she grabbed a small box filled with sickness tablets and everything someone could need to feel better.

"I'm okay, I just want to make sure he feels okay." You sighed a little but she was already placing the thermometer into your ear and smiling down at you running her free hand over your cheek and smiling warmly at you. 

"You can take this back through to him, I'll bring up some tea as well as something to eat for you both. It's not good to have an empty stomach," She explained before the thermometer beeped and you looked at her as she shook her head looking at the digital screen. There was no fever at all but she was still worried about you maybe catching something from Hyunjin and the last thing either of you needed was both of you sick at the same time.

"No fever, but still." She handed you the cloth and patted your shoulder putting the small box away into the cupboard and watching you.

"Take it easy," She finished before slowly pushing you back down the hall toward Hyunjin's room, when you walked inside you smiled down at the sight of him. He was curled up inside of the blankets like a blanket burrito and pouting when he saw you coming into the room.

"I missed you," He whimpered as you crawled onto the bed beside him and gently laid the cold cloth on his head and smiled down at him.

"Missed you too handsome," You whispered, gently kissing his cheek and trying to make sure he was comfortable enough. That was the thing about Hyunjin, whenever he was sick he would get a little clingy and want to be around you more and more.

The tea had gone down well but Hyunjin had barely touched the food that his mother had prepared for him, claiming he was too sick to eat anything and you didn't blame him at all. 

"You should get some sleep," You told Hyunjin when you noticed his eyes were beginning to get heavy and he swallowed the lump in his throat and shook his head. If he slept during the day he was going to throw his sleeping schedule out of the window and it was the one thing he needed to be strong in his life.

"We have practice when I go back, if I sleep I'll be all over the place," You hated that while he was sick his mind was still on work and what he had to do in the future instead of looking after himself.

"From this point on, I'm ordering you to focus on yourself," You pouted your bottom lip out, carefully pulling the covers up over him and tucking him in. He whined a little and pulled you to lay down with your head on his chest, your fingers stroking up and down his skin gently as you tried to soothe him into a deep sleep. 

It didn’t take long for Hyunjin to be nursed back to full health but by the time he was, you had fallen sick and it had become his turn to nurse you back to health. Giving you the same speech that you had given to him, making you promise you wouldn’t rush back into work and take it easy while you did your best to get better.

tagline: @chiisaiblog @hanasonmi @sw33tnight @taestannie @illicee @army24--7 @acciocriativity​ @scarletemeterio​ @halesandy​ @aerastus​ @lost-leopard-beanie​ @laylasbunbunny​ @critssq​ @lenfilms​ @btsiguess-kpop​ @meowmeowisdaname​ @imafivestarkpopstan​

[candyeyeunicornskull]

Toxic Positivity within a Honor killing 𖤓grimdark𖤓

Author by CandySkullz aka me! , editor is @nmsanz

Chapter 1

|| "Reflecting Psychodrama" ||

There was a splash of cold water against dream's face. His eyes drooped, grunting and sighing. Exhausted from fighting the bad sanses and abit woozy from a painful migraine. Trying to clean the blood off with a rag,he brushed it against his face roughly, his skeletal body shivering from the water and the coldness of the bathroom. Dream could feel his body was in pain, heavy and stinging in agony from cuts and bruises. He let out a tired groan, just trying to get to bed, but, lately, the thought of sleeping was dreadful.

He started mumbling to himself, "Fucking hell..." he huffed, looking at his dim, yellow eyelights in the mirror, observing his dark, round eyebags aswell. Leaning his palms against the edge of the counter, he curled up his lips as he began to become lost in thought. Questioning if he should sleep even a bit, or stay up again to avoid nightmares. Dream felt his stomach twist, uncomfortability at such dark night terrors apparent as he picked up the toothbrush, squeezing toothpaste over the bristles. Brushing his teeth, the closest comfort he had gotten was the chirping of crickets and the whooshing water going down the drain. A wave of exhaustion hit him again, drowning out the uncomfortable bullshit feelings. Lower his shoulders, numbly staring at himself in the mirror. He started to inner dialogue.

"UGHHHH-! I hate my brother so fucking much! why did he have to drag the fight out for so long!? ...why can't we commit to a truce!? For once, FOR FUCKING ONCE--" dream clutched the handle of his toothbrush tightly, pausing then before continuing. He tried to compose himself, dismissing the feeling. "...god, I forgot that lack of sleep makes you go crazy. . .should I even sleep? if I do, I just gonna have nightmares of the murder trio killing me brutally again. . . .almost like last time I got kidnapped by them. ." He could still feel the burn inside his mouth and the smell of mint from the toothpaste, his mouth drowning in freshly scented bubbles.

"I know that they're their own people, but those versions of them were crueler then they've ever been....." his lips trembled, trying to hold back tears as dream's eyelids furrowed. "..I'm so tired of fighting the same people, saving the same universe, over the same thing for years......is it selfish for me to say it's getting boring and frustrating? Am I trapped in this loop? The continuous torture of being a guardian? To have a normal life for once..."  dream felt another huge wave of exhaustion hit, much heavier then the last. Once again, his eyes became heavy while holding back a yawn. He felt his shoulders slump, brushing his teeth slower than before, lacking energy. "Mediation....how many times do I have do this shit?"

All he did was blink, which he had assumed, but he was wrong, dream woke up to a different environment than before. Dream's eyelids widened in horror, staring at the people around the dinner table. It was half of the villagers from his own Universe to the left, a multitude of alternate sanses to the right.

They were all dark silhouettes, hard to make out. Their eyes glew eerily, their mouths melted and clumped, a foamy with purple substance dripping out of each and every one of their agape mouths. Dream stared at them, frozen with unbelievable fear and confusion as their silverware clacked against the plates. Peacefully eating their applepie. The room echoed with the sound of clacking and munching; crunching onto the apple pies.

"Wh--why am I....here?.."

At the far end of the table, a silhouette of a bunny like villager with long ears let out a low, sinister chuckle as they smiled widely in a most inhumane way. His hair covered up his eyes, although their silhouettes were dark, the purple substance glowed enough to almost see the outline of their bodies, illuminated with that violet light. The bunny leans in, slamming his elbow onto the table while resting his palms on top one another underneath his chin.

It spoke to him, in a mocking tone "Thanks for the applepie, Dream." Dream's eyes darted down, and flinched in fright at the sight of a trail of blood across the table, golden blood… his own, golden blood… He then noticed a hole in the middle of his chest, his ribs broken. Dream’s shoulders tensed up as he let out a whine. He blinked rapidly, breathing becoming shaky after putting the pieces together on what they had done. Slowly getting overstimulated by the clashing of emotions, sadness and boiled anger started to stir inside of him. His mind slowly began to spin, until he heard a voice from behind him.

"D r e a m. .. "  It spoke in agony..a voice sounding so almost too familiar. Dream's head whipped around to see a horrific sight, his guts started to twist again. Trying not to vomit, he felt squeezy from even seeing that. Dream's body froze in fright, his eyelights darkened, eyes going bloodshot. It was the bad sanses, or what had been left of them.

Almost looking similar to sixbones, they looked as if they we're melted together into nightmare's goop of negativity, or at least he hoped so, as their faces were almost unidentifiable. Their bodies gushed and smooshed together, letting out a disgusting sloshing sound. Expect for killer. His neck was too long. It stretched far, like a giraffe. His jaw unhinged and gaped out onto the floor, his hateful teary eyes mixing with the dark substance, giving a illusion of his teeth becoming long and disgustingly stretched out, which might just be the actual case. 

It leaned close into dream, mumbling and whispering gibberish. Dream had no idea what it was saying, he was stuck somewhere between being absolutely terrified and confused by this…Abysmal thing. Dream's body became hotter as he heavily panted from the heat. Feeling woozy as this thing with hot, boiling, melting limbs, caressed his cheek. But yet, he felt strangely entranced by it. As static and bells rang into his ears, he slowly lost touch of what was happening. But there was something new, a voice. Coming from behind him, slowly breaking down the static. Until–

"DREAM!!!!!!!" Swap cried out, firmly holding his shoulders from behind him. Dream’s eyelights darted around the room as he blinked, he was-- he was back in the bathroom. The familiar sound of water echoed in the bathroom, dream let out a soft sigh of relief. Stuttering his words after...all that. "Ye..yeah, swap?" Swap furrowed his eyes in concern, leaning into dream's face and replying, "Dream, you’ve been brushing your teeth for the past twenty minutes! You fell asleep standing up!”

Dream felt his cheekbones heat up, getting flushed with embarrassment. Noticing how much foam dripped from his mouth, a shy smile curled up onto his lips. "....no, but ..I’m sorry for taking so long."  Swap sighed, deciding to spare him from a lecture, patting his back and rubbing it. He then kisses his cheek before walking away, softly waving at dream. "It's fine, sugar! But don't ya wait too long! Ink and I wanna go to bed with ya!” Dream's anxious smile grew into a cheeky one, his flushed face growing brighter. Lowering his brows, secretly rattled up over that weird shit from earlier. "Sure thing sugarcube! I'll be there in a sec.” he snored and slumped over eachother beside him. He tossed himself over and onto his side, covering himself with the bedsheets. Staring at the moon and stars from his window, It was cold and quiet as the moonlight reflected onto his face. He couldn't stop thinking. He couldn't stop thinking of what happened earlier, it digged it's claws into his skull, nagging him relentlessly. He tsked and groaned, quietly talking to himself. "...what was all that even about?"  He laid on his stomach, wrapping his arms around and underneath the pillow, smothering it. "....why did it upset me so much of villagers eating apple pie then–whatever those things are..."

"Why did it piss me off so much?"

His question goes unheard and unanswered while he looked up at the vast, twinkling night sky. He could rely on the fact that his head was on the edge of imploding on itself from overthinking it. He started to weakly mumble, "....I wish mom was here to help me." He melted onto the blankets, cozy but overwhelmed as tears started to roll down his cheeks, throat clenching and making him choke on air inbetween ugly sobs as he buried his face deep into the pillow. "....fuck."

He did this every night, he sobs every night. He never wished to be such a burden.

A pitiful fucking annoyance.

Dream sat up, grabbing a pack of cigarettes from his drawer. And lit one after snatching it out of the container haphazardly with his shaking hands, huffing out smoke after inhaling the heavy nicotine. "......I'll handle it myself. It's gonna be fine." The hypocrisy dripped into his sentence, his tears slowly sparkling into stars.

Authors note: I'm still making the comic, I just need to figure out the scenes and story. That's why I'm writing it too, so this includes feature spoilers of the comic dub I was making. <3

[honeysuckleharringtons]

Part Five: "Seasonal Specials" ~ S. Harrington

Summary: (Then) Christmas Eve has rolled around, and unfortunately for a very pregnant Reader, she is stuck at home with a migraine. Luckily for her, her younger brother doesn't make for too bad of company. — (Now) A slow shift at Brew and Me turns out to be a good night for advice and a call from everyone's favorite nursing student.

Pairing: Nurse!Steve Harrington x Fem!Byers!Reader

Word Count: 1,900

Content Warning: teen pregnancy, discussions of homophobia, discussions of abuse and allusions to physical abuse, discussions of slut-shaming, Reader is lowkey bad at advice when it comes to these topics LMAO, explicit language, food consumption (Reader drinks hot chocolate), not really a warning but Will is gay and autistic in this series, as always lmk if i missed anything!

Extra Notes: this should've been posted way earlier, i am so sorry it wasn't. hope you guys enjoy though!

Originally Written: 12/21/2023 through 12/25/2023

honeysuckleharringtons' main masterlist can be found here!

'brew and me' series masterlist can be found here!

[ Then, December of 1987 ]

Christmas Eve. It was Christmas Eve and you were stuck at home with an excruciating headache.

You supposed it wasn't all bad. After all, staying at home was preferable over the rare occasion that you did leave the house, when everyone would stare you down like some caged animal at the zoo. Unfortunately, the same could be said for your family—no, not your immediate family, who'd helped you more than ever since you'd entered your third and final trimester—whose reactions had ranged from disgusted to sympathetic.

When you'd gone to the family's end-of-summer family reunion, you'd tried your best to hide the tiny bump you were sporting at the time. However, your aunt Judy had taken notice of your particularly round belly, and immediately figured out that it wasn't from one too many hot dogs at the cookout. Ever since then, you'd heard every comment in the book, everything from "whore throwing her life away" to "so sad she thought that was her only option."

So, instead of listening to the endless insults from your distant relatives, you'd prayed for some way out of the gathering. Unfortunately for you, God had a sense of humor, hence the excruciating headache.

The sound of the microwave beeping in the next room over set you off all over again, the noise like a hammer to the head. "Will, can't you tell that thing to shut up?" you groaned, covering your face with the compress he'd made you.

"Unfortunately, I don't think that's going to help," he joked. You couldn't tell if you wanted to laugh or kill him for his sense of humor. "Here's your hot chocolate."

You sat up ever-so-slightly, taking a small drink of the deep brown liquid. Almost instantly, the warmth of it made you feel a little better. "Thank you." You reached a hand over, ruffling his already messy hair. "By the way, you didn't have to stay home with me."

"And listen to Uncle Howie tell me how we're both going to hell? I'd rather have that headache of yours."

A snicker escaped your lips, knowing exactly what he meant. "Okay, maybe Uncle Howie is a bit too opinionated on the sex lives of sixteen and eighteen year olds, but you don't have to listen to him. I mean, you're missing out on Grandma's fruitcake, which is your favorite part of the holidays."

"After last year, listening to half our cousins tell me I'm fruitier than the cake, I don't think I'll ever eat it again." Will pulled his knees up to his chest, his face overtaken by an expression that looked a lot like longing. "Besides, it's not really worth it to me."

You set your mug aside before placing a hand on his knee. "What do you mean?"

"The way the family talks about you… I thought I was the black sheep of the family. You might as well be a purple sheep."

Your pregnancy hormones must've taken over, because instead of a normal reaction, you found yourself beginning to cry from his words. No, not because of pain from his statement, but rather comfort in knowing that he'd rather miss out on the finer things of life if it meant sticking up for you.

Will, and his lack of social cue skills, stared at you for a moment, unsure what to say. Eventually, he landed on, "Sorry if I made you more upset. I didn't-"

A small huff of amusement left your mouth as you shook your head. "No, Will," you smiled, reaching up to wipe away your excess tears, "I'm just… I'm really happy to have you."

He flashed you a closed-lip smile, one that felt so genuine and unapologetically Will. "I know you'd do the same for me."

[ Now, December of 1991 ]

"I would, kiddo. I really would."

Aster Bay was a different kind of beautiful at the holidays. Sure, the small college town was normally beautiful, but upon seeing the small-town glow overtake the place, you were sure you hadn't seen anything like it.

Apartments and beach-side condos decked out in Christmas lights, a tree as high as the clouds in the town square, students dressed in Christmas and Hanukkah sweaters, their dogs in matching attire. The town felt like your own personal snow globe, tiny flakes flooding the ground beneath your feet with every step.

The magic of the holidays of course carried over into your favorite little coffee shop, decorations of red and green covering the walls and counters while the smell of peppermint wafted through the air. Unfortunately for you and Max, the one thing your little coffee shop was lacking this Christmas Eve was customers.

Neither of you were really sure why the store was open. Nearly everyone had gone home for the holidays—students, patrons, and other baristas alike—and the store was dead quiet, aside from the soft sound of Sinead O'Conner playing on the overhead speaker. Silent Night is accurate, you thought to yourself.

"So, where's your lover boy at this Christmas Eve?" Max joked, breaking the long-winded silence.

You sighed, secretly longing for the nurse she spoke of. "Apparently they gave him a week off from the hospital so he went home to see his folks." A small wave of loneliness had come over you when Steve had told you about his departure a few days prior, when he stopped by to grab a latte for the road.

"That's nice. At least he's hopefully having a good time, not working on the holidays like some of us," she said lightheartedly. Though, you could've sworn you heard a hint of sadness in her tone.

"Hey, how come you aren't at home with your folks?" The question had been a simple one, but when Max looked up at you, you could tell her answer was about to be anything but simple.

Her arms folded tightly in front of her chest as she looked at you, a sigh falling between her plump lips. "It's… complicated."

You placed a loving hand on her shoulder. "I know we're only coworkers and we aren't really supposed to bring our personal lives to work with us, but you know you can talk to me, right? I'm your friend, plus I'm a mother so I have problem solving skills now."

She huffed in amusement at your last remark. "It's just… I can't really say a lot but my life in California, it's not as good as my life here. And as much as I love my mom, there's just… well, it's just better for me to stay here even as much as I miss her. Besides, it's not like I make enough to fly home and Neil certainly isn't going to pay for my flight."

You could tell from the clear distaste in the way she said Neil that she didn't like to say his name anymore than she had to. Unfortunately, you knew all too well what that was like, and there was a certain name that left a bad taste in your own mouth the same way Neil did for Max.

"I can't give you much advice because my dad was the one that left, but I promise, it does get better," you empathized. "You made the right decision by staying here. I'm proud of you, Max."

She began to fiddle with the sleeve of her flannel, her eyes darting away. "I hate being here though. I can't help my mom from here. There's no telling what he does to her when me and Billy are away."

You knew exactly what she meant by that too. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but that'll change too. Eventually he'll get tired of you and your mom fighting back and he'll leave. That's what my dad did anyway."

"The thing is," she paused, licking her lips, "I'm not sure my mom wants to fight back. It's like she wants to deal with Neil's bullshit. I mean, she divorced my dad over not making enough money and then she married Neil, who is still scraping at the bottom of the barrel to keep the lights on every month. Not to mention, she dated like ten guys in between and broke up with them for way less, but she'll always find a way to justify his actions."

You shrugged your shoulders. "My mom put up with it for seventeen years before she started to truly fight back." A small wave of silence came over the room before you continued, "I'm sorry I don't have much advice. I guess my situation was just a little different than most survivors'. One thing I can tell you though is that I'm proud of you for making the best decision for yourself. I know it's hard to put yourself first sometimes."

Max gave you a crooked smile, finally looking up at you again. "As much as it sucks that we've both been through a bad thing, I'm glad I have you to talk to about it."

"Of course, love. You're like a little sister to me."

Cutting your conversation short, the phone began to ring, the sound grating on your nerves. You loved your job, but it was Christmas Eve, damn it. In all honesty, you really just wanted to be at home, drinking hot chocolate with your girl in your lap and a movie playing on television.

Still, you picked up the phone, answering with the signature, "Happy holidays from Brew and Me. What can we do for you?"

"Can you tell me your seasonal specials?" said a familiar voice, his smirk audible in his tone.

"Steve! You're supposed to be on vacation," you scolded, though internally you were extremely happy to hear his voice. What is wrong with me? you pondered silently.

"I am, but I couldn't resist calling and ordering something."

Your brows furrowed at his statement. "How does that work?"

"Order anything you'd like and I'll pay you back when I get back to town. Think of it as a Christmas present, or whatever you celebrate."

"That feels like cheating, Harrington." Your eyes narrowed, despite his inability to see it.

"You don't have to tell me what it is, just how much I'll owe you," he replied. You could hear a fireplace crackling quietly in the background, and you could easily imagine him curled up in front of it, his skin covered with a thick Christmas sweater, glasses perched on his nose as he read a novel. "Same for Max or whoever else is working. Treat yourselves, courtesy of me."

"Well, thank you, Steve. We appreciate it," your lips curved upward into a smile as you spoke. "I hope you're enjoying your time off."

"I am. I'm sorry you have to work on Christmas Eve." You could almost hear the frown on his lips as he sympathized with you.

"It's not all bad. After all, I'm getting to hear from you."

"Careful, Byers, or I'll start to think you like me back," he smirked. Butterflies went off in your belly, your cheeks warm and surely rosy.

You were sure full sentences had escaped you, considering Steve had the ability to take your breath away and make you blush like no one else could. So, you stuck with what you knew you could say without stumbling over your words. "Happy holidays, Doc."

"It's a very happy holiday when I get to talk to you, Y/N."

So tumblr hates me...

I went over 24 hours thinking this chapter posted, only to find out tumblr ate it somewhere between my drafts, my queue, and my posts 🤦🏻‍♀️ this app loves to embarrass me

Anyway, I hope this was worth the extra long wait. It sucks that I'm posting it after the initial Christmas magic is over but I hope you guys liked it regardless! I will see you back here on Sunday for chapter six, which will be posted on time, fingers crossed!

-> taglist: @dungeons-are-too-cold @ducky-died-inside @awkotaco24 @liberhoe @princesseddie @corrodedseraphine @manuosorioh @esoltis280 @hazydespair @frostandflamesfanfic

[bansheeoftheforest]

Forever Aches [TKC Walt &/ Anubis]

This is the last oneshot in my backlog of stuff I have written and then couldn't be bothered to edit. I am not sure how Walt and Anubis managed to manifest into my brain so heavily but god damn.

This can be read both as a platonic and romantic fic!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wordcount: 3184 

Summary:  Walt is chronically ill, and life is agonizing, but Anubis is more than happy to help him pull through.

CW: Mentions and descriptions of chronic illness but nothing outside of what is standard for Walt.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Occasionally, life was agonizing.

  Walt had not been naive enough to think that his prolonged life would actively stop the curse which had burrowed into his soul. The damage was already done, to such an extent where he would live with the consequences for the rest of his life, even if it would not be the reason for his death... Hopefully.

  During his “good” days, his biggest struggle may be his joints. His muscles were weak and his joints ached with every movement, his spine creaked and the tension in his neck never seemed to disappear. On a “bad” day, it could manifest more mentally, a constant overwhelm caused by noise and light which made migraines flare up to the point where it felt like someone was taking an icepick to his head over and over. On an admittedly horrible day, the feeling of mostly imagined organ failure followed by stabbing pains left him able to do little else than curl up in bed, try not to vomit, and attempt to breathe. But he had lived most of his life like this, and he was used to it, and he was used to getting through it alone.

  Well... He wasn’t alone, now. Not anymore. 

  When they first met, and first started talking, Walt had assumed that Anubis’ worries were merely caused by a need to keep him alive for long enough to get him through the battle with Apep, as they needed as many magicians as possible on their side. Or perhaps he had assumed that the god’s worry came from the obvious advantage he had in the situation, as he might not have felt particularly keen on the idea of accepting a host who could keel over and die at any moment, but even after the serpent was defeated, and even after the curse got properly stabilized, it didn’t seem like the god really... Calmed. He still fretted, nagged at Walt to sit down, rest, drink water, eat- whatever it was that the god seemed convinced would help him in the moment. On rare occasions, Anubis would hold him and attempt to soothe his pains when it became too much for Walt to bear. He always seemed to be right by his side, always willing to do what he could to help. The more Walt thought about it, the more… Perhaps not weird, but unusual, it felt. After all, Anubis was a god, his god. It felt like the power dynamic should have been completely different, perhaps the god should be annoyed and indifferent to the weaknesses of his host, perhaps he should be regretting his offer to be hosted, and instead wish to have chosen a stronger, more capable vessel, but no. Anubis cared, and he cared a lot, always worried and doing his very best to make sure that Walt remained safe and healthy and taken care of, like a mother constantly worried for a sick child. Walt, to say the least, felt quite pampered. 

  Today, however, was one of those admittedly horrible days.

  He had felt it when he woke up. It was a few hours before his alarm would ring for him to get up and ready for school, but the aching in his joints pulled him out of his sleep. Nothing new, perhaps he simply slept in a bad position, he could pull through. 

  He got up and groaned. The window, which he always closed before turning in for the night, remained almost wide open. Cold, moist air always seemed to make his sickness flare up more, and so he made sure to close it properly before he trudged towards the bathroom, so as to not worsen how horrible he already felt. Perhaps he had been lucky that he had woken up a few hours early, perhaps he had time to take a nice, long bath and hope that it would soothe his joints. He turned the faucet on and let the tub fill while he brushed his teeth. The water felt scalding, but as he settled in the tub, he didn’t feel as swollen, a sigh of relief escaped his lips as he leaned his head back.

  He remained as such for an hour. He had almost fallen asleep, but had caught himself and hurried to get out of the water before his body could sink or the water could overflow. He knew he had death on his side, but he was not going to tempt fate by accidentally drowning himself, not today, at least. But the water had been marvelous and his body felt quite a lot better than before. Perhaps today wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

  Once he was wrapped snug in a towel or two, he returned to the bedroom, where his godly companion had appeared. Anubis sat on his bed, seemingly having waited for him. The way he perked up with such an obvious expression made Walt smile. It was like seeing a happy dog, minus the wagging tail. 

  “Good morning, bud.” Walt greeted, stretching slightly. Anubis merely looked at him for a moment, before he remembered that, in a conversation, it was polite to reply when spoken to. 

  “Good morning.” He continued to eye him, “how are you feeling?” 

  Walt moved towards the dresser, where he had folded and prepared some clothes for the day. At the question, he hummed slightly.

  “Better now, I think.”

  It was true, and he didn’t really have to say much more. However, he warned the god that he would be  getting dressed, and so Anubis politely averted his gaze. 

  “Do you think you will be able to go on with today, then?” Anubis asked, Walt could hear him fiddling with a bit of jewelry from behind him. “I do not wish for you to overexert yourself.”

  Walt, with only his boxers and a t-shirt on, moved towards the bed where Anubis sat. The weight-shift made the god look up as Walt began to fiddle with his knee braces. 

  “I’ll be fine,” He hummed, “I just have to be a bit careful.” 

  His fingers felt heavy and clumsy as he attempted to separate the velcro on the first brace, but he only had to struggle for a few seconds before Anubis reached his hand out. Walt looked up, Anubis seemed to be silently asking for permission, to which the mortal nodded. 

  The god grabbed both braces and moved off of the bed, instead placing himself upon his knees in front of his host. Had it been a little later in the day, and had Walt’s energy been better, he might have made a joke about the position, what else the god had been on his knees for, or if he shouldn’t be the one kneeling for the god, but he decided to not bother the caretaker. Slender fingers easily separated the velcro, gentle hands moved his leg to position it against the god’s own knees, careful movements encased the aching knee within the brace. The movements repeated on the other leg, until both knees were braced and protected.

  Anubis got up, ignored Walt’s ‘thank you’, and grabbed the elbow braces which were a bit further away from the two of them. Walt laughed slightly. 

  “Now you’re overdoing it,” Walt couldn’t help but smile at his friend’s worry, “my arms are fine.” 

  Anubis stopped, and squinted.

  “They will not be if you do not protect them.” 

  Walt should know better, but he knew that there was no use trying to argue with a god like Anubis, as it seemed that he had said his final word on the matter. The god separated the velcro on the braces like before, and equally gentle hands grabbed Walt’s arm and positioned them, before he began to properly put them on. Walt merely sighed dramatically and gave up, letting the god have his way. He was done in only a few moments, repeating the same movements on the other arm until all limbs were protected, but then moved from Walt’s side until he was standing in front of him again, gently cupping the back of the mortal’s head and pushing him forward. The top of his head rested against Anubis’ torso, much to Walt’s confusion.

  “What are you-” 

  His question was cut off as the long fingers pushed into the muscles on his neck and shoulders, making him wince and breathe in sharply. Anubis, aware that the pain would make him feel better, simply continued. His anatomical skills and time spent in Walt’s body meant he knew almost exactly where it would or could hurt later, and so he spent especially long time getting those muscles warmed up and tender to remove the tension, ignoring Walt’s warm breath against his stomach and the noises he let out. By the time that Anubis was done, Walt’s brain was little less than scrambled eggs, his vision was foggy, and the room felt like it would begin to spin. Anubis simply let the mortal’s head move up into the correct position before he came closer, standing between Walt’s legs so that his torso once more became the perfect resting place for the other’s head, as he attempted to breathe through the disorientation. Thin fingers moved over his scalp, through his short hair, grounding him further. It took merely a few moments before Walt had pulled himself together. 

  “...Thank you.” 

  Walt’s breathless gratitude got Anubis to smile gently, even if the magician could not see it from this position. 

  “Of course.” 

  Once the room stopped spinning and his vision became clear, Walt straightened his back and the god moved away from him. The magician took a deep breath before he stood properly, although Anubis was quick to be back by his side when his legs began to wobble. An apologetic smile, and a reassuring one from the god, as Walt resumed getting properly dressed. He opted for a pair of sweatpants today, which wasn’t really his style, but the best option for a day such as today.

  His alarm rang, startling both of them. The realization of the cause got them both to sigh with near-relief, before Walt turned it off. 

  “What do you say about some breakfast, bud?” 

  Anubis wanted to roll his eyes, even though he had gotten quite used to that nickname. It was endearing, at the very least. But he- of course, already prepared for the day- nodded. Walt’s backpack was packed and placed by his bedroom door, next to his shoes. As the teen bent down to put them on, the god had to bite his tongue to not be overbearing and attempt to help, always worried for his host. But Walt managed fine, and with his bag over his shoulders, opened the bedroom door. 

  They ventured down into the Great Room, where a few of the school-goers were already gathering. It was a mere hour or two before they had to leave, and so they had time. They moved towards the kitchen area, which was currently empty, and Walt quickly scanned the fridge for one of his already-prepared sandwiches while Anubis put on the kettle to prepare tea for the two of them. Something herbal, probably. 

  The mortal, not knowing for how long his body would work and allow him to eat, sat down by the small, round table in the kitchen and began to eat immediately, soon joined by Anubis as the water had boiled and tea was prepared in two cups. Walt wasn’t really a tea-drinker, but he was not going to deny that teas and other warm liquids helped when his body was at its worst. He guessed that it was only a matter of time before Anubis would get properly mom-y and attempt to make soup for him, too. That thought was quite endearing. 

  Anubis’ ears flickered, alerting them both of the arrival of someone new in the kitchen space. Walt smiled gently as he watched Carter Kane, seemingly still half-asleep, trudge into the room with dragging feet. 

  “Morn.” The pharaoh yawned, although he, like Walt, quickly moved towards the fridge. 

  After he had found an item of interest, he moved towards their table and took the third chair in between the other two, Anubis unconsciously scooted further away from the former host of Horus. Carter, however, didn’t notice, and simply uncapped his yogurt and swirled it with the plastic spoon as he focused on Walt, noticing the elbow braces. 

  “Oh, bad day?” 

  Walt shook his head. 

  “No, not really.” He gestured towards Anubis, who observed them intently. “But he insisted.” 

  Carter grimaced.

  “Well, take it easy, then.” The pharaoh said, although he couldn’t help but mumble ‘I don’t like when he gets gut feelings like that...’

  Anubis gave the Kane an unreadable expression, but Walt smiled reassuringly at his friend. 

  “Don’t worry, I will.” 

  Carter nodded, and the remainder of the breakfast was eaten in silence.

  Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was time to leave. Once Carter had left the room and the two of them were alone, Anubis let his form shift into Walt’s, until they were reunited in body and soul once more. The magician let out a sigh of relief, like a burden had been lifted off of his shoulders, before he left with the rest.

  ...

Safe to say, by the time the last bell had rung and Walt had been on his way back to the Brooklyn House, he felt absolutely miserable. 

  Despite the braces, his joints ached, his muscles tensed and pulled and felt like they tore for every movement he made, his migraine had flared up, and he knew that the stabbing pains would soon return if he didn’t hurry to bed. The journey home had been agonizing, but he was back at the Brooklyn House, moments away from salvation. 

  He found his way back to his room eventually, where he immediately turned off the lights, kicked off his shoes, and practically fell into the bed, braces and clothes and all still on. He attempted to steady his breathing, but every inhale sent another stab throughout his already abused muscles, he could do little else but to curl up and attempt to get through the pain. 

  He felt Anubis’ form leave his, but he was thankful that it didn’t seem to worsen the pain. He heard the god’s footsteps going through the room, the blinds were shut and he heard various appliances being unplugged, even the electronic static could occasionally worsen his overwhelm and migraines. Finally, the room got even darker, but Walt didn’t open his eyes, not even as Anubis carefully sat down next to him on his bed. 

  The god continued to stay silent, not wishing to worsen his host’s headache. During the time they had known each other, they had gone through situations like these more than once, enough times that Anubis knew almost exactly what to do to make Walt feel better, even if it was not much, even if he wished he could do more. Pale hands moved over Walt’s form, not daring to touch, but gentle energy seeped through the palms and into the other, like balm massaged into his body. For a moment, it was like the easiest knots in his muscles were untied and untangled, leaving him with momentary relief and deep breaths of ease, as Anubis moved his hands over his shoulders, down his torso, his arms, his stomach, hips, and down his legs. Finally, the god moved back up towards Walt’s head, letting the soft chill ease the headache which tormented him. 

  The hardest pains still remained, those no healer could ever heal or ever remove, but the smaller torments were eased and didn’t feel as catastrophic or overwhelming as before. Anubis went off of the bed and observed his host for a moment. This is where his help would normally end, where Walt would feel that this was enough and request to be left alone, and where Anubis would disappear somewhere else, but he couldn’t help but worry. Walt, eased of pain and alone in the bed, allowed himself to uncurl, and lay on his back instead. His body felt heavy, and he did not want to risk the feeling of being crushed by his own bodyweight. Yet, as Anubis prepared to leave, he couldn’t help but wish to not be… Alone. 

  “... Anubis?” 

  The soft voice of the other immediately pulled Anubis’ attention back to him, who looked at him intently. Walt did what he could to look at the other, and made sure he was still there with him.

  “Yes?” 

  “Could you… Stay, a bit?” 

  His ears flickered, eyes widened. For a moment he couldn’t process his host’s request, yet he soon realized what he was being asked.

  “Oh. Oh, of course.” He hesitated again, “where… Where would you want me?” 

  Walt considered it for a moment, but the words became hard to say, and so he simply patted the spot next to him on the bed. Anubis, however, seemed to understand his request. He let his form shift into that of his canine counterpart, the black jackal, before his soft paws climbed onto the bed, and he settled next to Walt. More hesitance, before he carefully placed his head against Walt’s chest, so that he could hear his gentle heartbeat. Walt did not seem pained by the weight, instead another soft sigh escaped as his fingers moved towards Anubis’ head, settling between his ears, letting the thick fur move between them. The jackal could not help but to let out a soft whimper, a gentle sound of worry, of helplessness. 

  It was devotion, no doubt about it. Walt Stone had the god of death wrapped around his finger through nothing but devotion and loyalty. At the end of the day, Anubis was little more than a forever grieving dog. Neither were sure how they had ended up like this, but neither could remember a time before; a time where they both were alone and plagued by themselves, in their own ways. Anubis would stay by Walt’s side until the day he died, and perhaps longer. 

  “I can practically feel the cogs in your head, bud.” Walt’s thick finger pressed between the dog’s eyes, bringing the pathetic thing out of his thoughts. “I am not going anywhere.” 

  The canine’s tail flickered, but the soft laugh in Walt’s voice calmed him, soothed him. He lowered his head against his host’s body once more, golden eyes peering at the other. Walt looked back at him, small smile still upon his lips. 

  “You’re a good friend, y’know?” Walt ruffled Anubis’ fur, “Thank you.”

  It would have been hard to tell if the canine was listening, eyes large and glistening, had it not been for the thumpthumpthump of his tail against the mattress. That was enough for Walt, honestly. He needed little else as they both settled, as the canine calmed and as Walt managed to distract himself from the pain, just enough to rest.

  Yes, life is agonizing, cruel, unjust, unfair... But at least Walt could be happy, knowing he had Anubis by his side. 

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