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volostogekiss · 7 months

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you are always my life (1/??)

A few years after post-game. Established relationship. GN!reader. Unspecified home region, so up to you wherever you’re from! Summary: Not long after you return to your present-day world, Volo shows up, too. (Various shorts about domestic, modern-day moments with Volo. Probably will continue more of these at some point!)

clothes shopping – (day one.)

One of the first things that you decided when it had finally, totally, completely sunk in that Volo had also made it to the present day, was that he desperately needed new clothes.

He couldn’t be walking around in a kimono during winter. The weather had just started turning icy. Besides that, it was clear from the moment he’d appeared beside you that people were unfortunately intrigued by him. You had too many thoughts about why, although you tried to disregard them. It was hard to neglect just how attractive Volo was though, and that he stood quite obviously a head above most others. You’d also lent him an overcoat so that he could accompany you outdoors, but it didn’t fit him properly, and that only worsened the staring.

Then, there were the comments as well.

A group of college students passing by spent much too long gaping at Volo. You even heard one of them ask if he was some kind of cosplayer. Another was raising their phone for a photo, and that was when you tugged Volo away.

If you weren’t in such a rush to find suitable clothes so your lover wouldn’t freeze, you might’ve turned back around and snapped at them, but you had more important things on your mind. Like how you’d just been reminded that Volo would probably need a phone, too.

“Ho-oh’s tailfeathers,” you mumbled the curse under your breath.

Tightening your grip on Volo’s hand, you leaned in closer to him and ignored how he blinked back at the students in unabashed confusion.

“I will say,” Volo began as he threaded his fingers through yours, “I’m quite curious to know what a ‘cosplayer’ is.”

You were too busy watching the crosswalk light to humor him, however. “See? This is a crosswalk light. When it’s red, that means we can’t cross, but when it turns green, it means we can go. The flashing numbers mean how long we have before we can’t cross again.”

Volo nodded, keeping pace with you as you hurried down the street. There were plenty of things he didn’t yet understand about your modern world, but he was doing his best to remember all of them, at least.

“Oh, and,” you said with a start, when you made it to the other side, “I’ll explain what a cosplayer is some other time.”

“Perhaps it’s not something you need to worry about at all,” answered Volo immediately, his brows furrowing. He’d noticed that you were on-edge. It was obvious that his presence was concerning you to the point where you were stressing yourself out.

You shook your head. A knowing smile flitted onto your lips, despite how anxious you seemed. “Everything about you—whatever’s on your mind, whatever you want—that’s all I think about. You’re bound to have more questions anyway, aren’t you?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“We all know what happens when you have unanswered questions,” you laughed shortly, some amount of your anxiety melting away when you saw him huff and roll his eye at you.

“You’re quite unfair, my love.”

“And you’re not?”

However, you were unprepared for the smirk he gave you then, followed by the swift peck to your forehead.

Volo chuckled at your startled reaction. “Hm, I suppose I am.”

“I’ll get you for that one,” you promised him as you harrumphed. “But later.”

Without waiting for him to reply (you did hear him laugh), you headed into the department store. There was still plenty for you to do, after all.

The doors whirred shut behind the both of you. The warmth of the heater at the entrance was certainly welcome, and instinctively, you gathered Volo’s cold hand between yours, rubbing it slowly. He’d been preoccupied with the splendor of the building, but noticing what you were doing, he turned to you, a gentle smile on his face. Looking at him with a similar, tender expression, you left a kiss upon his fingertips, then dropped your linked hands back to your side.

Volo squeezed your hand. You squeezed his in reply.

Then, squaring your shoulders as if you’d just received a much needed burst of energy, you announced, “Okay. Let’s get you some new clothes.”

While you rode the escalator up a few floors, you explained what the machine was, what to expect when buying clothes, and that you were lucky you were visiting during early afternoon on a weekday. Fewer people were about, and you didn’t have to deal with fighting crowds of shoppers like on weekends.

Volo seemed amused by your final point, especially after you’d likened it to the days when Anthe released a new line of clothes. It was a bit nostalgic though, to think of the time now past you both, but Volo was just glad that you were with him now.

He was pondering the memory, nearly lost in his own musings, until you told him that you’d reached the boutique floor.

With another word of encouragement, you smiled at him again—really, all Volo needed was you, and oh, your smile, how that made him practically forget where he was—and walked toward the storefront.

An employee, dressed in a trimmed suit, bowed and greeted you both as you approached. However, when he straightened upright again, you saw his eyes widen, and one of his hands nearly lifted to cover his face.

“Oh my goodness,” he said, shocked, whether by Volo’s mismatched clothes or the fact that he was alarmingly handsome, you didn’t know.

Hesitantly, you waved at him before urging Volo inside the boutique. You wanted to pretend as if you hadn’t really been there at all.

After sequestering yourselves at the back of the store, you finally breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe the staff had deduced you could manage without any of their help, as they left you alone where you were. It was better if you avoided any questions, even those unspoken, and simply focused on Volo.

He was still holding your hand. He was also regarding you with a mixture of worry and kindness, so much so that your heart trembled.

You looked away, feeling an inexplicable nervousness, as if you were once again surreptitiously harboring a crush on the man.

“If you see something you like, just let me know. We’re looking for warmer clothes for now, but it would be nice to get something you want to wear,” you rattled off, trying to settle your heart again.

The look on his face changed as he dipped in close to you and whispered, “I would much rather trust your judgment about what looks best on me.”

“That may be a bit difficult…”

“Why? Is it because you prefer nothing on—”

“Volo!”

He just laughed at you. But you knew what he was doing. He was trying to take your mind off your troubles.

“I jest, my love.”

Sighing with a smile, you swung your intertwined hands forward, a sign you’d like him to walk with you as you inspected the displays. Although you’d been worried about Volo since he’d quite literally been dropped into your world only a few hours prior, you had to admit that you enjoyed this moment with him. Shopping together wasn’t really something you had often done in Hisui. It was different then, much different, despite how you’d already lived with one another for years, in your little home.

Briefly, you wondered what had happened to it.

“What about this?”

You were glad that Volo had brought you out of your reminiscing. He was here with you. That was what was important.

“Oh!” Your attention was now fully on the sweater Volo was holding. “That’s exactly what I was thinking we should look for first!”

Volo tilted his head meaningfully. “We think quite alike.”

You eyes softened.

“Of course we do.”

Reaching out, you took the sweater from him and examined it carefully. It was a pale cream color, with light blue buttons that reminded you of the markings on Togekiss. Your lips twitched upward. Of course, you probably weren’t the only one thinking of the resemblance.

You peered at the tag on inside its collar and at the rack it’d been on. “It’s a good brand, Altaria and Blu.”

“And what does its name mean?”

“They’re a family of Pokémon—Swablu and Altaria. They kind of look like clouds, but they’re actually birds.”

“Hm. I would like to see a Pokémon like that one day.”

Draping the long sweater over your arm, you returned to perusing the other options while chatting idly. It was peaceful—more than you’d thought it’d be. Maybe it was because your nerves had eased themselves a little. It also helped you overlook how much this all might cost you. You could manage. Anything, for him.

For the most part, however, Volo defaulted to letting you choose his clothing for him, despite how often you tried to get his input. It was nice that he trusted you to do so—even if he was right beside you, observing what you selected for him. Once more, you couldn’t help thinking of how regular something like this could be for the two of you.

A normal life. Maybe not like the one you’d had in Hisui, but one where you’d be together, forever. You smiled at the thought.

Volo seemed pleased, too. Maybe it was because he liked what the two of you had picked. Similar sweaters, warm cargo pants, a variety of button-downs, and some comfortable, stay-at-home clothes, among the other clothing necessities like undergarments and shoes. (The sandals he was wearing had to go.)

…Or maybe it wasn’t really the clothes, but the principle of it all. That he was just as happy to be with you as you were with him. You caught him staring at you fondly—once when you were deeply scrutinizing a trendy pair of track pants and then when you were describing the different fabrics often used for modern-day clothing. He only smiled at you when you’d asked if something was wrong, before saying that he simply loved hearing your voice.

You had to wait a moment before you could actually make your way to the register to pay.

The exchange with the cashier went about as you’d expected though. They seemed curious about Volo, but you appreciated that they didn’t say anything. They did grin when you mentioned that Volo would be wearing some of the clothes you’d purchased out.

You sighed as the two of you left the boutique. You were glad that everything had gone smoothly, even if you’d been particularly worried on the way here.

Taking Volo’s hand again, you checked the time, then said, “We’ll go shopping for more clothes on another day, but for now, this should hopefully work.”

“I was worried about you.”

“Huh?” You looked up at him, surprised by the unexpectedness of his remark.

Volo plucked the bag of clothes you’d been carrying and hooked it over his elbow. He glanced at you softly. “You were worried about me throughout the entire afternoon. I was unsure of what I could do to help.”

“Volo…”

He smiled at you, and then he was the one guiding you down the sidewalk.

“But there’s no need to worry about me. As long as I am with you, I will always be all right.”

Your heart fluttered. How could he always say such things like this…?

“More than all right, surely,” he continued, brushing his thumb over the back of your hand. “No amount of words describe how fortunate I am to have you with me.”

Volo leaned in and laid a kiss upon your cheek.

“I’m just happy to be here with you, my love.”

grocery shopping – (a few days.)

“What’s that?”

Stopping your shopping cart, you turned back to Volo. He was slightly bent over the open-top freezer stretching alongside you and pointing at something within one of the containers.

You poked your head over the edge of the freezer. When you saw what he was pointing at, you couldn’t help smiling.

“They’re frozen pancakes.”

Volo scrunched his nose. He seemed unsure of why they were the way they were.

“The amount of frozen food that is here is… astounding.”

You held back your laugh. It was cute to see Volo like this.

“Of course, you can make pancakes without having them frozen. Maybe we should make some tomorrow morning.”

Volo nodded, moving to you again. He laid his arms over yours as you turned to steer the cart, his chest pressed against your back.

“Lovely.” You felt his voice rumble up your spine, and his warmth was almost instantly overwhelming.

Why did it always feel like you were falling in love with him all over again?

“…You’re lovely,” you told him, tilting your head back to look at him with a grin.

Volo laughed, and before you had a chance to react, he stole a kiss from you.

cooking – (two weeks.)

You were exhausted.

Work, to put it plainly, had sucked.

What you needed now was a chance to relax, to forget about everything that had happened, and ready yourself to repeat it all tomorrow.

What you didn’t know you needed, however, was waiting for you when you opened the door to your apartment.

“I’m home,” you called out tiredly. You kicked off your shoes, unbothered by how they’d flown somewhere across the front entrance, and barely remembered to slide on your slippers before ambling farther inside.

Something smelled nice—a savory, light scent. Maybe Volo was cooking?

“Welcome back!” came the sing-song voice from the kitchen.

Immediately, a smile flickered onto your lips. Oh, this man…

Poking his head out from down the hall, Volo waved at you. He rounded the corner, and you noticed he was also wearing an apron, confirming what you’d thought earlier. You wanted to run to him, to laugh, to scream about how glad you were to see him, but instead, you could only offer him the weak smile that was already on your face.

Volo covered all the ground to you, then embraced you gently. It was wonderful to feel him so close to you, with his fingers tracing soothing circles into your back.

“Another rough day?”

“Mhm.”

“Hm. Perhaps I should ask Giratina to… pay a friendly visit to a select few.”

You laughed. That sounded nice. Giratina, scaring your terrible boss and awful coworker.

“Maybe. Maybe, Volo.”

…

Volo smiled. The two of you wandered back to the living room, where you finally saw what Volo had been up to. An array of dishes decorated the dining table, with a hot stew at the center of it all.

“It’s just something simple,” began Volo as he cradled your hands in his own, “but I thought it might be a nice to have a fuller meal.”

Warmth flooded your heart.

“I love you,” you murmured, leaning in to kiss him.

He was more than glad to accept your kiss, and then he answered, an echo of your words,

“I love you, too.”

#volo x reader #i guess we're back...!?#anyway yeah domestic life with volo i think it's a very healing thought :)#i wanna write about volo working at a library or the museum or smth next >:UU

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anotherblinder · 1 year

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Talk

Previous Parts || Betrayal P1|| Reunion P2 || He Wanted His POV||

Summary || After finding Alfie, you go talk with Thomas

Word Count || 1.1k

Pairing || Thomas Shelby x Reader

Warnings || Alfie s4 spoilers, mentions of being shot, swears

Notes || Yes this series is still going! There will either be one or 2 main parts after this one and one side one like He Wanted. I hope you all enjoy! And since this is my story Reader and Alfie still have Cyril. special shout out to @runnning-outof-time for helping me sort a few things out for this chapter. please go read her her she's amazing!

Rage, fear, pain. All those things you felt as you look at your husband. Lying in bed, nearly dead from a gunshot to the head. You’ve barely slept as you’ve tended to him. Alfie hasn’t woken up yet, it’s given you plenty of time to figure out what to say when he does. God, he thought the best way out was by having him killed. How selfish could he be? The deal was in sickness and in health. Did Alfie really think you’d turn away from him because of his skin cancer? Using the betrayal to Thomas as a way to get a quick death. Or maybe you were being selfish excepting him to fight through it.

Damn Thomas Shelby for doing as he asked. He could have just walked away, he should have. You knew he was a man of his word though. It was something you admired about him. Even now. Sighing, you stood from your seat and lightly placed your hand on Alfie’s cheek as you leaned over him and placed a kiss on his head. Scratching Cyril’s head as he lay next to Alfie, you left the room. You had a destination in mind, you needed to talk to Thomas.

A wave of nostalgia hit you as you walked through the door of the Garrison. You haven’t been here since that night. Could never bring yourself to come in because he owned it. Thomas would always be there and you never wanted to see him again. Now you wanted to shoot him in the head yourself. But since he’s been working with Alfie you’ve felt yourself slightly soften on him. Slightly.

“I never thought I’d see the day when you walked through those doors again.”

Turning your head to the familiar voice, a smile came to your face. One of apology and greeting. Polly gave you a smile, as she always did, as she walked up to you.

“Neither did I, but I have to speak with,” You hesitated almost calling him a more familiar name, “Thomas.”

“He’s home right now. But I have something for you.” Polly said

Curiosity took over as you watched her walk away to the back office. What could she possibly want to give to you? Moments later Polly came back holding a letter. Now you were really curious. The smile she gave you held something you couldn’t really tell. She handed it over and you saw your name scribbled on top of it with his writing. There was a hesitation in taking it. You never fully forgave Thomas, so you weren’t sure if you wanted to take the letter, she was giving you. Sighing, after a moment you took it from her and stared at the paper in your hand.

“Tommy always talked about giving it to you. Just never got the balls to do it. You need to talk with him.”

“About more than one thing it seems.” You muttered

You opened the letter and read over it. A feeling came over you, one you couldn’t place. It was obvious he wrote it after the fight years ago. You were tired, you missed him. Over the years you grew over your anger. The only one that stood right now is he shot your husband. Folding up the letter, you said goodbye to Polly and left the Garrison. The drive to Arrow house wasn’t bad as your mind was too preoccupied with what you were going to say. You wanted to keep a level head as much as possible. The car stopped and you stepped out. Not bothering to wait for your door to be opened. Walking up to the door you knocked and patiently waited for an answer. Not long after the door was opened, and you came face to face with a woman. From her outfit she is a maid in the house. You gave her a smile and fought the urge to just turn around and drive back home. Having some regret in coming to talk.

“May I help you ma'am?” She politely asked

“Yes, I’m here to talk to Mr. Shelby.”

“I’m sorry he’s not taking people at the moment.”

You held back a sigh as you looked at the woman. You knew she was just doing her job, but this was slightly getting on your already worked up nerves. Discreetly you let out a sigh and gave her a nod. Maybe you should just turn around and go home. This could be a sign to just say fuck it and never come back again. Then you saw the image of Alfie lying there in bed and couldn’t bring yourself to leave. You had to talk to Tommy, it was years overdue.

“Tell him Mrs. Solomons needs to speak with him, please.”

The maid paused at the door, and you could tell she was just as annoyed as you were. It was obvious most people just walked away hearing that. Only you weren’t leaving and if he said no, you were going to storm into his office yourself. Going home without a talk wasn’t an option. After a moment she opened the door wider and directed you to step inside.

“Please wait here as I talk to Mr. Shelby.” She informed you

“Thank you,” you replied as she walked away.

It was a nice home; you were glad Thomas was finally getting the life he deserved. Well, some of it at least. You’d be lying if you said you never imagined this being your home with Thomas by your side. It seemed the future had very different plans for you. You saw the picture of Grace and still couldn’t help the pit of hatred you felt for her. Had she never gotten into his life, you’d still be in it. But she sabotaged your relationship with him. For that you’ll never forgive Grace. What you could feel happiness for, was the joy and happiness she brought to Thomas in the time they were together. For that you will be forever grateful to her. Heels clicking against the floor brought your attention to the maid coming back over to you. Seemingly annoyed but doing a good job masking it. Only you could see right through it.

“Mr. Shelby will see you in his office. If you’ll follow me, please.” She spoke

“No need, I can get there myself. Thank you.”

You walked past her and walked over to his office door. There was no turning back now. Taking a deep breath, you entered the room. This wasn’t the first time you’ve been here. No, you’ve been a few times when Alfie had to deal with business and wanted you by his side. This was the first time you’re here alone. Thomas sat at his desk, but his attention turned to the door as you came in. Both of you stared at the other in silence before you fully stepped into the room and closed the door behind you.

“Tommy, we need to talk.”

Tags || @violet-19999 | @dreamy-caramel | @selenaelena | @slytherinambitious | @andreead | @janelongxox | @bdudette |

if you want to be tagged/untagged in this please let me know! if i missed you i apologize!

#thomas shelby x reader #tommy shelby x reader #peaky blinders x reader #thomas shelby imagine #tommy shelby imagine #peaky blinders imagine

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precious-little-scoundrel · 7 months

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Do you have anything else for your POW AU? I want to know what happens to them. Do they run away with Buck or do they stay with Bucky?

I HAVE SO MUCH!

thank you for asking about it, it’s killing me being preoccupied with it and planning it and yet so little has been published that not as many folks are excited about it so the interaction is meager…I’m not whining, or if I am I’m sorry for doing and will shut my trap. I’m just terribly excited for this one and can’t wait to be at a place where we can all scream about it more freely together.

-Which is up to me to get the content out for it. And hopefully that will be soon. Very soon.

As I see it I have one more establishing part of the fic to write, to get them into the camp, and then from then on it’ll be a prompt based thing, hopefully. Which means, regarding who got away and who didn’t … you can ask for that then. 😈

Aaaand here’s a tiny sliver of the draft from Part 2 of Those Who Can:

“All right,” Ida’s voice carried as well as it ever had, commanding immediate quiet and attention, “those in the 420th, 418th, yeah -on me. Gather ‘round. That’s it, come on. Alright, well, we made it, well done. Truly, well done to all of you. Now I know you well enough to not accuse any of you of being idiots, just because we made it to where we wanted to go doesn’t mean any of what’s ahead is going to be easy. Be wary, don’t let your guard down, you don’t know plenty of these men and they don’t know you, I’m sure there are measures in place for spying already. Be sensible. I am certain we can rely on the kindness of those in the hundredth, but even then keep in mind, if you are cold, they are too, if you're hungry, you best believe they are hungrier, the last thing we need is a crisis of chivalry in here. Rely on them, except their help, but don’t ever take from them. Understood? And one more thing, since the human spirit is irrepressible I feel it’s warranted to make one more housekeeping note. None, and I do mean none, no inner relations at all are allowed. I don’t care how cold you are, how sweet he’s been, or how much you’ve missed him. The Red Cross aren’t sending rubbers. You’re officers, act like it. Do you want a one-way ticket to a death camp or a bullet to the head? Get pregnant. Simple as that. You think the Jerries think poorly of you now for being female? Try being a matron. The point is to blend in as much as possible, keep that in mind. Whatever you do, keep that in mind. Understood?”

#masters of the air #mota fanfic #mota blurbs #archive #mine #Ida Brady #mota oc #mota asks #those who can

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nahoney22 · 2 years

Note

Hi, honey!!!! Congratulations on 3K!!!! You deserve all of them!!!!

Would it be possible to get a smutty f!reader for Tech??? With the prompt “How fast do you think i can make you come?” Pleaseee and thank youuu! 💖💖💖

-kaminocasey

Prompt List Celebration 3000 Followers

Tech X F!Reader

word count: 850

NSFW

Prompt: “How fast do you think I can make you cum?”

warnings: NSFW, 18+ only. Fingering (reader receving), dirty talk, pussy eating, praises, swearing, dom!tech, reader is female. Established relationship.

Authors Note: thanks for the kind words beautiful. Enjoy ❤️ @kaminocasey

Tech had been seemingly preoccupied ever since the two of you became alone in the Marauder. He would pace, mumble things to himself quietly and even when you asked what was on his mind he would shrug it off. That was until a sudden bolt of courage shot through him when he turns to you and says,

“How fast do you think I can make you cum?”

You’re taken aback, not quite sure you had heard him correctly as you quickly spin round on the pilot's seat to face him with a confused look. “What did you just say?”

“I have been thinking,” he crosses over to you, taking your hands into his and helping you stand, “about stimulating you to the perfect orgasm through an experiment. Or just to simply satisfy us both.”

His words make you blush, unsure where all this had suddenly stemmed from. Yourself and Tech were rather frisky together when alone anyway but that was always after kissing. You had just mindlessly been relaxing when Tech started to discuss this.

“I see…” you say slowly, fingers tracing over the backs of his hands. “And you will be satisfied upon seeing me cum?“

Tech nods, licking his lips as the prospect was already making him clearly around - you too.

You ponder his filthy thoughts, knowing that the two of you would be alone for perhaps another hour or two and if he wanted to do things quickly, you both had plenty of time.

“Who am I to deny my handsome, genius?” You grin in acceptance, tapping his nose once with the tip of your finger but you let out a gasp of excitement when his arms around your waist and you’re being lifted onto the main console.

“I am so very pleased you agreed to this my starlight. If I have learned anything from our sexual endeavors it is that I know what stimulates you the most.” His hands reach the hem of your pants, yanking them down past your hips with your panties without even thinking about undoing the zip or button. “And my tongue on your clit is the best chance.”

Words are failing you, watching your boyfriend get on his knees before you with his warm breath fanning over your now exposed heat. For a second, he presses a few buttons on his left arm and then not even a moment later, his mouth is pressed to your folds.

You almost double over, not quite expecting him to go as hard and fast as he did but Maker, it didn’t half make you moan.

“O-oh gods, Tech!” You’re whimpering, legs threatening to shut over his head as he stares up at you through lust-filled eyes. His hands keep your legs parted, lapping away at your pussy like a man deprived of oxygen before he starts to make a beautiful assault on your clit.

Sucking and pulling, teeth ever so gently grinding over your pearl, you felt that heat pool in your stomach that makes you stutter his name.

Tech grins against you, moving a finger towards your entrance and pushing it inside you for that extra sensation you adored. “You’re close aren’t you? Only a minute in and I can already tell you’re about to cum all over my tongue, mesh’la.”

His voice against you sends vibrations up and down your body, his curled finger pulsating in and out of you. And despite it being slow, it somehow made you want to cum faster. Then, he adds another finger.

“Maker, you’re so fucking good at that.” You pant, eyelids closing as you bask in the feeling of him working away at you like you’re an assignment that needs its deadline met in only a matter of minutes.

Your hand takes a hold of the back of his head, holding him closer to your core as your legs start to sake. Fuck, how are you this close already?

“That is it darling, be a good girl and cum.” He praises, knowing that his words are another way to make you just teeter a little more over that edge.

“Mmmm- f-fuck.” You whimper through gritted teeth, head rolled back.

“Cum.”

And that’s all it took - basically screaming his name in pleasure as a wave of extasy washes over you and came hard. Tech groans, lapping up your pouring juices with his tongue before slamming his hand over his arm to what you assume was a timer.

He pulls back, wiping his chin and stands tall with slightly shaking legs. “Was that satisfactory, darling?“ He asks gently, brushing your hair back with his fingers and leaning his forehead against yours as you cum down from your high.

“You tell me.” You sigh breathlessly, a lazy smile on your lips as he chuckles and checks the results.

“Interesting. I made you climax in approximately three minutes and twenty two seconds.” He comments, not showing an expression if he was pleased with the result or not… until he looks at you with dark eyes and a smirk.

“But I am sure I can do it a lot faster.”

Prompt List - Available until the 10th of February

Masterlist

tags: @nunanuggets @andyoufollowyourheart @littlefeatherr @kaitou2417 @eyecandyeoz @captxin-rex @cwarssimp @jesseeka @ashotofspotchka @oohyesplease @megafrost4 @theroguesully @equalityforcats @mustluvecho @misogirl828 @ladykatakuri @jambolska-grozdova @chxpsi @arctrooper69 @padawancat97 @rain-on-kamino @either-madness-or-brilliance @cosmic-persephone @imalovernotahater @swiftiexstarwarssimp @staycalmandhugaclone @ko-neko-san @echos-girlfriend @whore4rex @fiveshelmet @by-the-primes @tech-aficionado @grizabellasolo @therealnekomari i @autumnleaves1991-blog @tech-depression-inventory @brynhildrmimi @greaser-wolf @lucyysthings @tinyreadersmur @agenteliix @myinnerwonderlandmind @rintheemolion @hotpinkplastoid @discofern @the-good-shittt @photogirl894

#bad batch tech #tbb tech #tech x f!reader #tbb tech x fem reader #tbb tech x reader #the bad batch #tbb #tech bad batch #nahoney22 writes

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johnsbleu · 8 months

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Hold My Hand: John Wick x Reader Chapter 167

warnings: a little long and nsfw hmh masterlist

Today has been frustrating to say the least. John has been talking a lot more about Helen lately, and usually it doesn’t bother you but lately it has been. Her birthday is coming up soon, so you’re sure it’s just that which is causing him to talk about her so much. You don’t mind hearing stories about her since, at the end of the day, John is married to you and the two of you have a child together, but there’s only so many Helen stories you can hear before you start to feel a little jealous in a way.

John had told you about three different stories in the past two days, and you tried to gently tell him that you’re a little sick of the stories, but Ronan threw up everywhere and ruined the moment. Babies, right? You ended up getting so frustrated with John’s stories that you’ve been pretty much ignoring him all day. If you do talk to him, you’re usually pretty short with him, and he’s obviously picked up on it that something is wrong with you since he’s keeping his distance.

Or maybe he just doesn’t care.

Ronan is at your parents’ house for the night, so you’re hoping that you can get a little dressed up and try to take John’s mind off of Helen and put his focus back onto you. You dropped Ronan off, then you went to the mall and grabbed a few new pieces of lingerie in hopes that John will finally give you a little more attention.

Again you’re aware that John is married to you and that Helen isn’t…coming back to steal him, but it sucks that his mind has been so preoccupied with Helen lately. Your marriage is starting to suffer a little bit, and now you’re even getting into little spats over nothing. You literally yelled at him over something that usually wouldn’t annoy you at all.

Inhaling deeply, you get out of the car and head inside to hear John talking on the phone. You left your bag in the car since you knew John would be around the house, so you just walk into the kitchen and see him at the kitchen table.

John looks over his shoulder at you and waves, then he turns back around, “Yeah, man, sounds good. Alright, bye.”

You set your purse on the table and look at John as he gets up, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, Aurelio asked if I wanted to go play some pool tonight, so I said yes.” he says as he opens the fridge to get something to eat.

“Oh,” you slouch a little, “Okay.”

John looks at you and raises his eyebrows, “Is that okay, or…”

“You don’t need my permission.” you say as you look at him, then you shrug, “Have fun then.”

“Well, what are you going to do tonight?”

You inhale as you shrug, “Uh, I don’t know. There’s a lot that I can do. I need to go through Ro’s closet and pack away her clothes that don’t fit. I need to do some laundry. I mean, I’d hang out with Tess, but they’re up at the lake house with Jimmy’s family for the week.”

John nods, “Yeah, I thought about that.”

“I’ll find something. There’s plenty I can do around the house. I do have a new book that I’ve wanted to read, so…” you say, putting a fake smile on your face.

Nodding his head, John looks down at his bottle of water, “Uh, do you think you’ll manage the dogs tonight? I might not be back in time to take them for a walk. Sadie can be a handful.”

“Yeah, of course. I was thinking about taking them to the Oyster Bay dog park.” you say as you shrug, and John nods his head. “I don’t have anything else planned, so…”

“I better go shower. Aurelio is going to pick me up. He’s got a new car he wants to show me.” John says, and you nod as you look up him.

John leans down and kisses your cheek before he leaves, and you slouch a little since you’re going to be spending the night alone. There are several things that you need to get done around the house, but they won’t take more than an hour. Maybe you can surprise John when he gets home though.

“Well, I might as well get started on laundry.” you say to yourself, then you head upstairs to your bedroom as John shuffles though his drawers. You take the laundry basket and set it aside before you head into the bathroom to grab any dirty towels and clothes, then you come back out to find John looking at you.

“So, are you just going to continue to pretend you’re not mad at me?” John asks, and you look at him. He gestures to you and shakes his head, “I know you’re mad at me.”

You wave it off, “It’s nothing.”

“It’s something. You’ve been giving me the cold shoulder all day.” he says, and you shrug as you walk over to the laundry basket. “Tell me now before I leave.”

You furrow your brow as you look at him, “You--”

“Not leave,” he says, shaking his head, “But I mean before I leave in a bit.”

“Nah, it’s all good.” you say, and John huffs as you look at him, “God, fine. I just thought we’d hang out tonight. Since you know, it’s been a few nights since we’ve been alone, but I get it. You have friends too.”

John shrugs, “I haven’t hung out with Aurelio in a while. Thought it’d be fun.”

“Hey,” you reach out for his hand and smile, “It’s all good.”

Obviously it hurts your feelings that John doesn’t realize that you’re hurt that he’s been talking about Helen so much and not really spending time with you, but you’ll let it go for now. You’d hate to upset him before he goes out for some fun. You had an ex who did that to you all the time and it’s not fair--you refuse to do the same to John.

Squeezing his arm a little, you smile at him, then you grab the laundry basket and head down to do the laundry, but John calls out for you.

“I know you’re mad at me.” he says, and you shrug. “Can we talk about it later?”

“Of course.” you nod, then you head downstairs.

Bleu and Sadie had so much fun at the dog park and they tired themselves out, so you dropped them off at home before you decided to take a long drive. You got yourself a greasy cheeseburger, some fries and a chocolate shake, then you drove around aimlessly for about two hours just listening to music. You have to admit that it was nice to have an evening to just yourself. You needed it more than you even realized, and you’re feeling a little bit better than you did earlier. That is until you look down at your phone to see that you don’t have any texts from John.

John’s been gone for about five hours now, and usually he’ll just text you a simple little message, even just a heart emoji to let you know that he’s thinking about you. Today you’ve gotten nothing. Either he’s ignoring you now or he’s having a lot of fun.

You pull into the driveway and open the garage to put your car in, then you sigh as you get out of the car. You’re greeted by Bleu and Sadie as you walk inside, and you lean down to pet them before you let them into the backyard for a bit.

Whenever your mom has Ronan, you always call her before she goes down for the night, so you sit down on the couch and pull your phone out, pressing it to your ear.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” you sigh softly, “How is Ro?”

Your mom laughs, “She’s good, like she always is. She’s laying in Dan’s arms right now getting her bottle before she goes down. She’s been an angel today! We went for a nice walk this afternoon and played with some bubbles, then she had some steamed chicken for lunch.”

“Oh, she’s a big fan of chicken.”

“She gets it from her mom,” your mom says, and you smile a little. “Ro, say goodnight to your momma and daddy.”

The smile fades from your face when you realize your mom thinks John is with you. You hear Ronan babbling on the other end of the phone, and you smile to yourself.

“Goodnight, baby!” you say to her even though she probably can’t hear you, then you sigh as you sit back on the couch.

“No goodnight from dad?”

You inhale deeply and sigh, “Uh, no, he’s out with Aurelio tonight. They went to play pool or something.”

“I bet that’s been nice to just have a day to yourself.”

“Yeah, it’s been alright.” you shrug, then you get up and head to your bedroom. “I’m probably gonna crash early since Ro is with you and John is out.”

Your mom laughs, “Nothing wrong with that, honey. Get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Give Ro a kiss for me and her dad. Love you.” you say, then you sit down on the bed and look down at your phone as you hang up with your mom. You look over at the drawer where you have the lingerie tucked in, then you get up and grab it before you head to the bathroom.

Fixing the lace on the garter belt, you look at yourself in the mirror and smile, then you poke your head out to the bedroom when you hear the front door open. You quickly fluff your hair up and fix your makeup a little, then you peek around the corner as John walks in and sits down on the bed.

“Hey,” you say, and he barely glances over his shoulder, “How was your night?”

“Pretty good. We played a couple rounds of pool, a few of darts, and I unfortunately had too many drinks since I feel a little tipsy.” he says, keeping his back to you as he pulls his shirt off and kicks his shoes off. “It was a good thing I didn’t drive.”

You lean against the wall seductively since you’re expecting John to turn around and see you, but he just lays back to pull his pants off. He groans as he sits back up and tosses his pants carelessly onto the floor, and you slouch a little.

Walking over to the bed, you crawl onto it and kiss John’s back up to his neck in hopes that it’ll get him in the mood. He looks over his shoulder at you and smiles softly as you move to kiss his neck, then he leans back a little to look at what you’re wearing. You move closer to him as you kiss his face and move your hand to his crotch, but he pulls your hand off of him.

“We need to talk.”

“We don’t need to talk it out right now,” you whisper as you move closer to him, “We can just…work our way through it first.”

John gently takes your hands and pulls them off his chest, “Not tonight, baby.”

You hold his gaze for a moment as you grow sad and embarrassed, tears filling your eyes, then you pull on your robe that you left on the bed. You kick off your heels and pull your robe shut as your chin wobbles, and you grab your pajamas from your drawer before you grab your pillow and phone.

“I’m sleeping downstairs.”

John sighs, “You don’t have to sleep downstairs. It’s fine, peach.”

“No,” you look down to avoid his gaze since you’re so damn embarrassed, “I want to sleep alone tonight.”

Holding tight to your pillow, you head down to the guest bedroom, then you close the door and lock it since you know John will probably try to come talk it out at some point, and you’re so embarrassed that you don’t even want to see him right now.

You pull off the lingerie like it’s infected and leave it on the en suite bathroom floor, then you pull on your pajama shorts and shirt before you crawl into the bed and pull the blankets over your head as you cry.

It’s Thursday, which means John works the morning until about noon, then the two of you would usually go and get Ronan. You’re planning on getting her and dropping her off with John for the rest of the day. You’ve successfully avoided John before he left for work--not that it was really that hard. You just don’t want to even see him right now, and apparently he’s fine with it since he hasn’t tried to talk to you.

Looking into your mirror, you see that your eyes are a little swollen and bloodshot from crying so much last night, but you put on a brave face and head in to get Ronan. You open the door and smile when you hear Ronan squealing and babbling, and you wave at her as you walk into the living room.

“Hi, bug!” you smile, leaning down to get her, and as soon as she’s in your arms, you begin to cry softly. You sniffle as you lean back to look at her, and you smile when she tugs your hair, “I missed you!”

“She’s been so good,” your mom says, then she looks over to the door in confusion, “Jonathan isn’t with you?”

You hold her gaze as you shake your head and start to cry, and she immediately reaches out and pulls you to the couch. She holds you in her arms as you cry, calming you down and telling you that everything is okay, and you cling to Ronan a little tighter.

“I don’t know what’s going on. I know this is just normal marriage stuff, but I never thought John and I would be affected by it.” you whisper as you sit up, “We just haven’t been ourselves lately.”

Your mom nods, “Maybe you two need some time alone to talk things through.”

“I really need Tess right now,” you say, and your mom nods. “It’s just…a little awkward talking about sex with you, mom.”

Your mom laughs softly, “Okay, I’m sure.”

“Is it okay if I just leave Ronan with you for the rest of the day? I can get her tonight before dinner.”

“Of course!” your mom smiles as she rubs your back, “If John shows up…”

You nod, “He can take her. I’m sure he’ll be confused to not see her when he gets home or whatever. I don’t really know what he’s thinking lately.”

“That’s new.”

“It is!” you laugh as you set Ronan back down on the floor so she can play with her toys, “In all honesty, I just don’t really want to see him right now. Not while my emotions are so intense. I just…”

Your mom wraps her arm around you and rubs your back as you cry, “It’s okay.”

You sigh as you look over at her, “He’s been talking about Helen a lot more lately. It just hurts my feelings. Usually I don’t care, but him talking about her all the time and then not really giving the usual amount of affection is just weird. I just feel like there’s a disconnect and I’m not sure if it was intentional.”

“I can promise that it’s no intentional, honey.” she smiles as you look at her, and you inhale deeply when you realize John has talked to her. “I promise you. Just go home and talk to him.”

Nodding your head, you look down at your wedding ring as you sniffle, then you inhale deeply and exhale as you get up to hug and kiss Ronan, “I love you, bug. I’ll be back to get you later.”

You wave at your mom as you walk over to grab your purse, and she gives you two thumbs up as you laugh.

Sitting at the table as you flip through a magazine, you hear the door open and the dogs both get up to greet John. You clear your throat a little as you sit at the table and wait for John to find you, but there’s a part of you that feels like maybe he doesn’t care that you’re even home.

“Hey,” John walks in the kitchen and furrows his brow a little, “Where’s the bug?”

“Uh, at my mom’s still. I’m gonna get her later.”

John looks at you for a moment, then he nods his head and looks down, “Uh, I have a book I need to get done by tomorrow, so I just really need to focus on that. It’s just that there’s a deadline and I haven’t been focused so much on it lately, so…”

“Okay.” you bite your cheek as you look at him, then you slouch when he leaves the room.

You’ll just have to talk to him later.

Since John was still downstairs working on his book, you decided to just sleep in the guest bedroom again. You haven’t talked to him at all, and you even called to ask if Ronan could stay the night again. Your mom took it as a good sign, though it really wasn’t.

You sit up in bed as your stomach growls and look over to see it’s nearly 2 in the morning. You stretch a little, then you get up and quietly open the door to find John laying back against the wall as he sleeps. You smile to yourself as you look at him, then you kneel down and gently brush your thumb over his cheek.

“John,” you whisper to him, then you smile when he opens his eyes, “Go up to bed. Go to bed. You can’t be comfortable here.”

“You locked the door.” he says softly as you nod, then he sits up a little, “I can’t do this anymore.”

You look down as you tear up, “I know. Me neither.”

John reaches over to touch your cheek, “That doesn’t mean what I think it means, does it?”

“Well, what did you mean?”

“I miss my wife.” he whispers, then he rubs his thumb over your cheek and down to your bottom lip, “I miss my best friend.”

Tears roll down your cheeks as you sit down on the floor, then you look at him and nod, “I miss mine too.”

“I promise that we can talk through everything in the morning, but for now, can I just hold my wife?” John asks, and you nod your head. He gets up and reaches for your hands, then he helps you stand up.

Holding hands with John, you head up to your bedroom with him and smile to yourself, feeling your hand in his for the first time in what seems like weeks. You crawl into bed and lay down on your side only to realize you left your pillow down in the guest bedroom. John lays down on the bed and moves his pillow over to share with you, then he smiles when you get under the blankets with him.

John gently rubs his thumb over your cheek as you look at him, “I love you.”

“Do you?” you ask as you tear up again.

“I do.” he nods, then he pulls you closer until you’re inches from his face, “I will never stop loving you. It’s a promise.”

You nod your head as you look at him, “We’ll talk in the morning?”

“Of course.” he whispers, then he leans forward to kiss you. He pulls you closer as he lays on his back, then he holds you in his arms, “I love you more than anything.”

“I love you too.”

You feel John pressing kisses to your face and neck as you lay in bed, and you slowly open your eyes and smile when you see him next to you. You inhale deeply and roll onto your side, and you’re a little taken aback when he leans over and kisses you. He slips his tongue into your mouth as he crawls on top of you, and you laugh when he buries his face in the crook of your neck.

“God, I’ve missed you,” he smiles, then he sits up to look at you, “Missed that laugh.”

“We still need to talk, so don’t start getting all lovey-dovey. I’m not sure you’re going to love me after this conversation.” you say as you tuck his hair away from his face.

John gives you a blank stare, then he shakes his head, “You could tell me that you hate my guts and wished I was dead, and I’d still love you.”

“You know I’d never say that though, and I definitely don’t hate you or wish you were dead.”

“Well, I would hope not.” he says, and you both start to laugh.

Taking a deep breath, you sit up in bed and cross your legs before you look down at your hands and spin your wedding ring. John sits up next to you and wraps his right arm around your waist, then he presses a soft kiss to your shoulder.

“I don’t want to hurt your feelings.”

“I hurt yours the other night…” John whispers to you, and you look over at him, your cheeks growing warm and red when you remember how embarrassed you were, “You could kill me and I’d think it was justified because I hurt you.”

You bite your cheek as you look at him, then you look down and frown, “I know that Helen’s birthday is coming up, and you know that I usually don’t mind hearing stories about her, but lately it’s just been one story after another. You haven’t been giving me the same amount of affection as usual, and I just thought…maybe you weren’t all in with me anymore. Like the novelty of me wore off or something. Like…like you were just over me and you were ready to move on to the next.”

John moves your hair away from your face and nods when you look at him, giving you more time to get out everything that you need to say.

“Lately it has been painfully obvious who you wish was still here with you.” you whisper as John’s eyes grow sad. “You swapped out kissing me for telling me stories about the time you and Helen went to Fiji. You stopped holding my hand and replaced it when the story about the time you and Helen took a roadtrip. You stopped having sex with me, showing me affection, giving me even just an ounce of your love, and I noticed that I’m not the main focus anymore. I’ve completely been replaced by a ghost from your past. And…unfortunately, between you and me, if I can’t be your main focus anymore, then…”

“Stop!” John shakes his head as he looks away, then he looks back at you with tears in his eyes, “So, you want a divorce?”

“So, you’re admitting that I’m not your main focus anymore? Your dead wife is?” you get off the bed and laugh as you grab out something to wear, “It’s funny how you promised me that I was always going to be your main focus. You always reassured me that it was me who you cared about most. And yeah, if you can’t see what you have in front of you and you’re going to continue to live in the past, then yes, I want a divorce! I’m not going to feel inferior in my relationship again. I did it before and I refuse to do it again. I deserve to be put first. I deserve to be someone’s main focus.”

John gently touches your arm and shakes his head, “She’s not my main focus--you are! You’re my main focus. You and Ronan are everything to me, you know this! I know you know this!”

“Then why can’t you stop talking about Helen?”

“Because I want her to see how happy I am and I’m sad that she’s missing out on it.” he says, and you shake your head as you walk away. “Baby, I promise that you’re the only one I want. I need you. I need you more than I’ve never needed someone before. I can’t function without you!”

You look over at him and shrug, “I don’t believe you anymore.”

“What can I do to make you believe me?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe stop talking about your dead wife all the time.” you say, and John immediately nods his head. You groan as you close your eyes, “I’m hearing the way I’m talking, and I hate it. I hate that I’ve gotten to this point--being jealous over her, but I can’t keep pushing aside my feelings just to protect you. I used to push aside my feelings for other people and I refuse to do that now.”

“And I don’t want you to. I want you to tell me how you’re feeling.” John says as he walks over to you, reaching out for your hands. “I want you to be honest with me. We’ve always been honest with each other about things, we’ve always talked things through. It’s always worked for us. Why change that now? Come here. Please.”

You walk with John back over to the bed, and you sigh loudly as you sit down with him, “I’m scared that we can’t come back from this.”

“Yes, we can.” John whispers, rubbing his thumb over your cheek, “You found guns in the basement and we came back from that. We got into a huge fight about that pregnancy test, and we came back from that. We can come back from this. We can come back from anything.”

Wiping away the tears on your face, you look down as you cry harder, “I’m scared you don’t love me as much anymore, like all the love you had for me in the beginning has dried up and you don’t have any more.”

“Listen to me,” John tilts your chin up and smiles at you, “It’s because I love you so damn much that I’ve been talking about Helen. I know it doesn’t sound like it makes sense, but just hear me out.”

You laugh tearfully, “You better make it make sense, Wick.”

John takes a deep breath and exhales as he holds your hand, “I think there’s still this part of me that feels a little guilty. I’m married to this amazing, beautiful, smart, kind, everything-under-the-sun-that-is-wonderful woman, and we have a beautiful daughter together. We live this amazing life with each other, and every day is an absolute dream. So, I think there’s this part of me that feels guilty because I feel like I’m truly giving my all to you, and I didn’t do that with Helen--she didn’t even know my past. I’m so sorry that I’ve been talking about her so much, and I’m so sorry that I’ve made you feel like you’re not important to me. I promise to you that you are my best friend and the only person I can see myself with. You’re the love of my life, and I’m so fucking sorry that I haven’t made you feel as important as you are. You have given me so much: a great marriage, our sweet bug, an amazing fucking life. I owe everything to you. I am so sorry for how I’ve treated you.”

You reach over to hug John as you cry, then you bury your face in the crook of his neck as he holds you. He pulls you closer until you’re almost in his lap, and he clings to you like his life depends on it.

“And the implication that you’re just some novelty or trophy wife hurts.” he whispers into your hair, “You’re everything, Y/N. Everything to me. I don’t want you to ever think that there’s a time limit on my love for you. It’s never going to go away or wear off. If anything, my love for you gets deeper every day.”

You nod, “I know.”

“I love you so much, baby.” John says, then he leans back and cups your face, “And I’m sorry for embarrassing you the other night.”

You immediately look down as your cheeks turn red, then you sit back and shrug, “It’s okay.”

“I want you to know that I thought you looked fucking amazing.” he smiles as you look at him, and you shrug again. “I just…didn’t want you to think that I was not in the mood to talk but I wanted to have sex, you know? I didn’t want you to think I was using you or anything.”

“But I was the one initiating the sex…”

John nods, “I know, but I just didn’t want you to think I was just using you to have sex and that I was going to go back to just treating you like shit.”

You shrug as you look over at him, “I just wanted to know if you still found me attractive.”

“Oh, trust me, I do!” John laughs as you start to smile, “And I definitely realized that we haven’t had time alone, and I’m suffering.”

Looking up at John, you hold his gaze as you smile softly, then you look down and exhale, “I still feel a little stupid.”

“I’m sure,” John nods, then he tilts your chin up, “But it’s nothing compared to how I feel. I’ve treated the one person who loves me endlessly like shit. I’m embarrassed and shocked--shocked that you didn’t pack a bag and leave me.”

“I wasn’t going to leave you, John. I just wanted us to get back to the way we were.”

John reaches over for your hand and kisses the back of it, “And we will. I promise that I’ll work harder than ever to prove that to you.”

“I believe you.” you whisper as you hold his gaze, then you gesture to the bathroom, “I better shower. I need to get Ro soon.”

“Can I come with? When you pick up bug?”

You nod as you get up from the bed, “Of course, John.”

John sighs as he looks up at you, then he reaches out for your hand, “I really am so sorry.”

“I know,” you nod, then you squeeze his hand, “I love you.”

“I love you more.” he whispers, then he lets go of your hand as you walk into the bathroom.

Ronan was so excited to see her daddy when you picked her up earlier, and she’s been clinging to him all night. You’ve been clinging to him too, well, more like he’s been clinging to you! He’s been giving you an explosion of affection but you’re not complaining about it at all. He’s definitely not doing that toxic love bomb thing though--John is always affectionate.

“Dada!” Ronan squeals loudly as John pushes her stroller, and you lean down to look at her. She reaches out to touch your face as she giggles, and you playfully chew on her fingers.

Holding tight to John’s arm, you walk with him up the driveway and smile when he leans over to kiss your head.

“I need to finish that book tonight, but I think I’ll be able to finish it quickly. Probably within 45 minutes.” John says, and you reach down to get Ronan out of her stroller, “Then I thought we could watch a movie.”

“Sounds good.”

John smiles as he folds up Ronan’s stroller and rests it against the wall when he gets inside, then he turns to you, “I do wanna come with and say goodnight to my favorite bug.”

You hold Ronan in your arms as you walk up to her room with John behind you, then you set her down while you grab out her pajamas and the lotion she needs for her skin so she doesn’t get too dry at night. She has a fan that she’s been sleeping with to keep her cool at night, but sometimes it dries out her skin.

“Why are you getting so big, huh?” John says as he sits down to change Ronan’s diaper, and you turn around and smile as he tickles her tummy. Ronan laughs as John blows raspberries on her tummy, then she puts her hands on John’s face when John lifts her up and kisses her. “Our baby is growing up so fast.”

You frown as you sit down on the floor next to him, “I know. I can’t believe how big she’s getting.”

“Time is flying,” he whispers, watching as Ronan walks over to get a toy, “I feel like I’ve been saying that since the day you got pregnant. Makes me sad how fast it’s going by.”

You nod as you look over at him, “But it really hasn’t been that long. Seems like it, but it hasn’t.”

“True,” John smiles as Ronan walks over to him with a toy, and he smiles wide and playfully grabs her and makes a loud chomping noise on her stomach as she squeals with laughter.

John is the best dad ever, and Ronan is always laughing non-stop when he’s around. He’s always playing with her on the floor and encouraging her, and you’re so happy that she has such a great dad.

“Okay, okay, let’s not get too crazy.” you laugh as you stand up, “We’re trying to get her to sleep, remember?”

John laughs as he gets up from the floor, then he reaches down for Ronan and cradles her in his arms. He bounces her a little and smiles at her as she sucks her thumb, and you walk over to get a better look at her sweet face. Ronan looks over at you and reaches out for your face and she smiles when you playfully nibble on her fingers. You watch Ronan’s eyes growing heavy with sleep, and before you know it, she’s out.

“Babies,” you laugh as John leans down so you can kiss her, “I wish I could fall asleep that fast.”

John chuckles, “Give you a few cocktails and you do fall asleep that fast.”

“Yeah, true.”

“Goodnight, bug.” John whispers as he kisses Ronan’s cheek, then he lays her down while you turn on her nightlight and fan. He reaches for your hand and walks with you out of the bedroom, then he pats Bleu’s side as he trots in to stand guard all night. “Okay, I’m gonna head downstairs to finish up the book real quick, then I promise you have my undivided attention all night.”

You wrap your arms around John’s neck and lean up to kiss him, “Okay.”

“I promise that I am going to make up for the other night.” he whispers against your lips, and you nod your head. “I’ll be back up soon.”

You kiss John once more than you watch as he quickly heads down to the basement. You know that John will most likely take 30 minutes to get everything done, but you honestly want to join him. He doesn’t mind you hanging out with him while he works but he usually gets distracted by you since he always offers to let you help. Tonight you want to distract him in a different way.

Taking a deep breath, you head into your bedroom and open your drawer to get out the lingerie that you tried to wear for John, and you stare down at it.

“You can do this.” you whisper to yourself to get yourself hyped up, then you exhale shakily as you run a marquee of bad thoughts through your head.

What if John doesn’t like it? What if he doesn’t want to have sex with you right now? What if he gets mad at you for distracting him?

“Stop,” you whisper, silencing the thoughts clouding your head, then you stand up and look at yourself in the mirror, “He loves you, he thinks you’re sexy. He’ll love this.”

You head into the bathroom to get changed into the lingerie, and you grab out your make up bag to touch of your makeup that you’re already wearing. You exhale shakily as you stand in the bathroom and continue to get yourself a pep talk in your head, then you begin to undress.

Standing in front of the mirror, you turn to the side a little and smile as you check yourself out, then you fix the bra straps a little more. You look really good, and if John doesn’t think so, he’s out of his mind. You grab your robe off the hook and put it on, then you decide to forget the shoes since John will immediately turn around when he hears you’re wearing heels.

“Okay, you can do this. Who knows? This could be the best sex of your life…” you whisper to yourself as you walk down to the living room. You place your hand on the door handle as you try to calm yourself down, then you open the door and head downstairs.

John still has his back to you when you get to the bottom of the stairs, and you walk up behind him and lean against his back. He glances over his shoulder at you, then he leans back a little to kiss you.

“Bored upstairs?”

“Yeah, a little bit.” you say, then you wrap your arms around his waist, “Thought I’d come join you.”

John chuckles, “Well, you might be just as bored.”

You let go of John to pull off your robe, then you toss it on the couch behind you. Your hands shake as you stand there for a moment since you don’t know what to do, then you tap John’s shoulder and watch as he looks over his shoulder. He furrows his brow a little and spins around in his chair to get a better look at you, and his mouth instantly drops open as he stares at you.

“Do I look okay?”

John lets out a laugh in disbelief, then he grabs you and kisses you hard on the lips as he lifts you into his lap. He tosses the tool he was using over his shoulder as he kisses your neck, and you laugh when it rolls off the table and onto the floor.

“Should we go upstairs?” you ask as John continues to kiss your neck.

“No,” he shakes his head and sets you down, then he walks over to the sleeper sofa and pulls out the bed with little to no effort that makes the ache between your legs throb, “I’m taking you here. I can’t wait any longer.”

You shrug as you look at him, “Probably a good idea considering I think I might a little too loud.”

“No such thing.”

You smile as you watch John getting the bed all set up, and you laugh when he walks back over and grabs you to pull you into his arms. John carefully lays you down on the bed as you smile at him, then he crawls up to you and leaves kisses along your body. He tugs the garter belt that you’re wearing as you let out a small laugh, and you lean up to look at him as he gazes at you.

“So beautiful,” he whispers, pecking you before he gives your body more attention, “You look so fucking hot, baby.”

John continues to kiss all over your stomach and thighs, and you smile when he spreads your legs apart and gently rubs you over your underwear. You whimper softly as he slides his hand into your panties, then you prop yourself up on your elbows as you look down at him.

“You make me so wet, John.” you whisper as he smiles at you, then you lay back down so he can pull your underwear off. John loves a garter belt and stockings duo, so of course he doesn’t dare touch those. You close your eyes and bite your bottom lip when you feel John’s tongue sliding between your legs, and you arch your back and moan loudly when he sucks on your clit, “Oh, shit!”

John sucks on his finger before he slides it into your pussy, and you grip the mattress as he pumps his finger in and out slowly. He crawls up to you as he continues to finger you, and you grab him to pull him down to your lips.

“Fuck me,” you whisper to him as you frantically unbuckle his belt, and you smile when John lets out a small laugh, “What? I want you!”

“I want you too.” he whispers as he kneels on the bed to pull his shirt off, then he quickly kicks his pants and boxers off before he lays back down on top of you, “I always want you. Always.”

You wrap one arm around his neck and place your other hand on his cheek as he lays down on top and gets himself situated. You hold his gaze as he leans closer to your face, his lips brushing against yours and his breath hot against your skin, and you moan softly as he slips between your legs. John lets out a small breath as he pushes himself in deeper, then he swallows hard and shudders when he moves as far in as he can get. He says something about the feeling but it gets caught in his throat, so you’re not sure exactly what it was. You’ll take it as a compliment.

John slowly begins to thrust his hips as he holds your gaze, then he leans down to kiss you before he continues looking at you, “God, you’re so beautiful. I love you so much.”

“I love you,” you whisper to him as he smiles at you, “I love you more than anything.”

Digging your nails into John’s biceps, you arch your back and moan loudly as pleasure courses through your body, electrifying every nerve. The sound of John between your legs grows louder as you become wetter, and you cling to him as he picks up speed.

“Does that feel good?” he croons in your ear, and you whimper loudly, nodding your head, “You want me deeper?”

“Oh, fuck!” you scream loudly as John sits up to get a better angle, and you reach down and rub circles on your clit as John watches. He pats your thigh a little to get you to roll over, then he holds your hips as you kneel on the bed and wait for him to slide back between your legs.

John’s right hand slides up your back to your neck as he slowly pumps his hips, then he helps you sit up to lean against his chest. You look down as John pulls your bra off and tosses it to the floor, then you close your eyes and smile when John caresses your breasts and sucks on your neck. He immediately begins to fondle your breast with the piercing, and you let out a small laugh.

“Fuck, yes…” John whispers as he thrusts his hips, and you feel his hand sliding between your legs. You lean your hands on the back of the sofa as John grips your hips tighter and pounds into you, then you smile when he leans down to kiss your cheek. “My girl. My favorite person on this planet. Fuck, I love how you feel.”

You whimper as you lean back more to kiss John, then you squeeze your eyes shut and feel John’s breath against your neck as you both moan loudly. John jerks his hips harder one last time, then he lays down and smiles when you crawl on top of him. He holds your waist as you slide down every inch of him, and you place your hands on his chest as you roll your hips.

“You feel…” you shiver as your teeth begin to chatter, then you grip John’s chest harder, “You feel so…good! I need you to fuck me harder!”

John bends his knees and wraps his arms around you so you’ll lay against his chest, then he kisses you as he thrusts his hips. You cling to John as you let out a loud string of moans, then you grip his bicep as you nearly scream his name.

“Oh, shit! Oh, fuck, John! John!” you scream into the crook of his neck, then your body begins to jolt as you come.

John’s hips begin to move faster as he brings on his orgasm, and you cling to him even tighter since he’s losing his rhythm. He holds tight to you as he jerks his hips one last time to fill you up, then he frantically moves your hair out of your face to kiss you.

“Oh, god!” you moan loudly as John holds tight to you and rolls you onto the bed, then he kisses down to your chest, taking your nipple into his mouth. “Mm…”

“You…are so good.” John whispers, and you open your eyes to finally look at him, “So good, baby. I love you more than anything in this world, and I can promise that that will never change. You are the only person I want, the only person who I think of. You are a constant thought in my mind. No one else. Just my favorite girl.”

You reach up to touch John’s cheek, then you nod your head when he wipes away the tear slowly sliding down your cheek, “I love you so much, John. I just don’t want to lose you.”

“You are never losing me. I am with you until our last days.” he whispers, then he gently kisses you, “You’re the love of my life. The absolute love of my life, and that will never change.”

You sit up and pull your knees close to your chest to cover your breasts since you always feel a little self-conscious after you and John are intimate, then you look at him and tilt your head a little as you try to unscramble your thoughts.

“I’m sorry for being so blunt about Helen,” you whisper as John reaches over for your hand.

“Don’t be,” he shakes his head and moves closer, “Sometimes it’s okay to be blunt, especially when your husband is being clueless.”

You shake your head, “I don’t want you to think I’m still here always worrying about your love for me, or thinking that you’re still in love with Helen. Helen hasn’t been a subject of conversation for…a long time, then all of the sudden every story is about her. I know her birthday is soon…”

John nods as he sits up, then he looks over at you still covering yourself up. He lets out a small laugh, then he reaches over for his t-shirt, offering it to you. He grabs his boxers from the floor and pulls them on, then he smiles when you pull your hair away from your face.

He used to never be this comfortable around you. When you first started dating, he wouldn’t dare be completely naked in front of you. Obviously he was naked when you’d have sex, but after he’d usually put a blanket over his waist. Not anymore. Nope. He’ll just lay right there in front of you, completely naked. You certainly don’t mind. John is very well endowed, so you definitely don’t mind when he wants to…let it all hang out. He’s confident and it’s sexy.

“You know you don’t need to cover up around me.” he says, and you chuckle as you nod. “Why do you do that?”

“Just self-conscious, I guess.” you shrug, looking at him, “I’ve always been like that after sex though.”

Probably has something to do with your ex. He’d love your body during sex but he was usually pretty critical of it afterwards. John has never been like that but sometimes it’s hard to let go of trauma and rewire your brain. John definitely makes you feel sexy though and you know he’d never say a bad thing about your body.

John nods, “I know. But you should never feel insecure around me. I love your body.”

A smile spreads across your face as John lightly brushes his fingers over the stretchmarks on your thighs that you always worry about, then he moves closer to kiss you.

“Your body is…” John whispers as you hold his gaze, “Incredible.”

You laugh loudly, then you shove John’s shoulder a little, “You’re full of shit.”

John shakes his head as he lounges out next to you, “Not at all, Mrs. Wick. You look great.”

“Thanks,” you smile and lean down to kiss him.

“I know that I’ve been talking about Helen more and like I said the other night, I just wish she could be here to see how happy I am.” John whispers, and your eyes soften when he looks down at your hand in his, “We have the life that Helen and I would have wanted; quiet, simple, relaxed. We also have this other life that you and I want which is just chaotic and loud and unpredictable.”

You laugh as you nod, “Well, that’s life with a baby.”

“And it’s great!” he smiles, then it slowly fades a little, “I just wish Helen could see how happy you and Ronan make me. It’s all so confusing to me, so I’m sure it is for you as well.”

“No, I get it.” you nod when he looks at you, “It’s a great life, why wouldn’t you want her to see that?”

John nods, “Helen wasn’t just my wife, she was my friend. She was my only friend. I didn’t have Jimmy and Aurelio then.”

You reach over and cup his face when his chin wobbles a little, “I know.”

“She’d be happy for me.” he says, and you scoot closer to him, “I know there was a part of Helen that knew I wanted a family. I didn’t even know it until I met you, but maybe it was always there. She just figured it out before me. Having a family was something that she couldn’t give me. Only you could give me all of this.”

You smile tenderly when John looks up at you, and you lean over to kiss him a few times as he rubs his thumb over your cheek. You hold his gaze for a moment, then you look down at his hand on your thigh.

“She would be so happy to know that I’ve found my peace,” he says, and you look at him, remembering the words from Helen’s final card to John. “You’re my peace. In this chaotic world we live in, you give me peace. You calm me, you settle my brain and unscramble my mind. There is no one in this world that can give me that but you. I know this and you know this. You’re my soulmate.”

You sniffle as you look up at him, “I’m not asking you to never speak about her. I have never asked you to not speak about her or tell me stories about her. I’m well aware that you were married once before and you had a pretty good life with her, and believe it or not, I am so happy that you had that.”

John smiles softly, “I know you are.”

“I’m glad that you had her and had a beautiful life while it lasted.” you smile as you reach over to cup his face, “I’m glad you had someone to take care of you until I got here.”

“Me too,” he whispers, kissing the palm of your hand.

You sigh a little as you hold his gaze, “Maybe you want Helen to meet Ronan…”

John looks down and nods his head as he holds your hand, “I was thinking about asking you, but I wasn’t sure. I don’t want to cross any lines.”

“Maybe if she meets her…”

“I’ll stop talking about her,” he says, and you slouch and look down as you tear up, feeling guilty about being so upset. “Hey, hey, look at me.”

You look up at John as he tilts your chin up, “I feel bad now.”

“Don’t.” he shakes his head, “Don’t feel bad. I apologize for how I’ve made you feel, okay? I’m sorry.”

“I know,” you smile as you look at him, “And I am too.”

John smiles as he wraps his arms around you to hug you tight, and you melt in the warmth and security of his arms. You bury your face in the crook of his neck and inhale his cologne sticking to his skin, then you lean back and smile when he moves your hair out of your face.

“Why don’t we go out and see Helen tomorrow?” you say, and John nods his head. You get up from the bed and grab your lingerie that is thrown around the basement, then you smile at John as he grabs his jeans. “Sorry I distracted you from finishing your book.”

“It was a much welcomed distraction,” he whispers against your lips, then he stands back as you trade out his t-shirt for your robe since he’ll need to finish his work. He pulls his shirt back on and smiles as he sits down on the stool and pulls you between his legs, “I’ll be up in about 20 minutes.”

You wrap your arms around his neck and look into his eyes, “Okay.”

“I love you more than anything in this world. I want you to know that,” he whispers as you tear up, “You’re the only one for me.”

“I love you too.” you lean forward to kiss him, then you gesture to his book as you sniffle, “I’ll let you finish that.”

John pats your side as he smiles at you, “I’ll be up soon. Please don’t go up there and cry.”

“I wont,” you say, despite the fact that you’re tearing up. John tilts his head and gives you a look that makes you laugh, “I won’t! It’s just a little extra leftover tears from our conversation.”

“I mean it, peach,” he pulls you back to him, “If you’re still feeling upset, talk to me. I want to make sure you’re okay.”

You cup his face and hold his gaze, “I am. I promise. I’m okay.”

John looks into your eyes for a moment longer, then he kisses you gently, “Okay. Just keep checking in with me, okay? I don’t want you to feel upset or anything.”

“I know.”

He’s truly the best man. He really, really is.

A smile spreads across your face as you watch John turning back to finish his book, and you head upstairs to take a shower.

John stopped by the florist to get some flowers for Helen, and you laughed when he came out with a huge bouquet for you as well. You’re certainly not upset with him anymore, but it is nice that he has apologized and acknowledged that he was talking about Helen too much.

You would never ask him to stop talking about her since you know he’s not purposely doing it to hurt your feelings. He’s just happy in his life and he feels guilty that he’s so happy and living a great life. It’s a hard thing for even John to wrap his head around half the time, so he doesn’t expect you to fully understand, but you understand enough.

Leaning against the tree, you smile as you watch John kneel down in front of Helen’s tombstone as he holds Ronan. You’re too far from him to be able to hear what he’s saying, but you can see his mouth moving. He bounces Ronan in his arms a little and kisses her cheek, then he looks at the granite tombstone as you tiptoe closer.

“Best thing that has ever happened to me, Hel, I swear. Being a dad is…amazing. It’s better than anything I could have imagined.” he whispers, and you stand back a little, “I still don’t know how I got so lucky. I’ll never understand what I did to deserve them. First with Y/N and now with Ronan. Still don’t know if I even deserve them. I’m trying my best not to let them down, but I might have failed lately with Y/N, but I’m trying. I’m trying every day to be better because that’s what she deserves. She’s…so amazing.”

Ronan looks over John’s shoulder and waves at you, and you smile as you wave back at her. She reaches out for you and causes John to look over his shoulder, and you grimace.

“Sorry,” you point at Ronan, “I can take her.”

“Nah, come here.” he sits down in the grass and reaches for your hand.

You sit down next to John and take Ronan to set her in your lap, then you look at him, “When was the last time you were here?”

“When we came here and her sister showed up,” he says, and you scrunch your face a little as he laughs, “Yeah. Well, I just wanted Helen to meet Ro since this is the last time I’ll be coming out here.”

You furrow your brow and shake your head, “John, I--”

“I know. I know you’re not suggesting that,” he nods as he looks at you, then he smiles, “But I think Helen would understand. I can already hear her yelling at me and telling me to stop coming to visit her when I have you and this chunky bug at home.”

You look down at Ronan as John pinches her cheek, then you look up at him as he continues.

“I have such a great life with you, peach.” he whispers, then he shakes his head as he gestures to the tombstone, “I’d be upset too if the tables were turned, so don’t ever think you’re wrong for feeling the way you feel. It’s just you and I now.”

“Us and the bug.”

John chuckles, nodding his head, “Us and the bug. And I love it.”

“We love you.” you smile as you meet him halfway to kiss him.

“Let’s get out of here,” he says, groaning a little as he gets up. He reaches down to help you up, then he brushes away the grass on the back of your pants before reaching for your hand, “I think we deserve some ice cream.”

You chuckle softly, “I’m not trying to blame everything on it because it obviously wasn’t all me, but…I got my period this morning.”

John looks down at you and laughs, “Really?”

“Yeah…” you blush a little as you nod, then you look at him, “I know I was being a little…dramatic, but now it’s a little more obvious as to why. My periods since having Ro have been…rough, so to speak.”

“That’s okay,” John smiles as he wraps his arm around your shoulder, “I was mostly to blame though.”

You stop at the car and watch as John gets Ronan in her car seat, then you smile at him and wrap your arms around him tight. He smooths your hair away from your face with both his hands, then he cups your face and kisses you tenderly as your eyes roll shut. He wraps his arms around your waist and places his hands firmly on your ass, and you both start to laugh when he squeezes a handful a few times.

“So grateful for you, peach.” he whispers, and you tilt your head as you smile at him. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” you peck him again, then you get in the car and watch as he looks over at Helen’s tombstone one last time, which causes you to tear up a little. You smile as John gets in the car and reaches for your hand, and you let out a small laugh when Ronan squeals loudly in the backseat. “Yeah, you tell him, Ro. Hurry up, dad!”

John leans up to look in the rearview mirror at Ronan, then he laughs, “Okay, okay! Let’s go get some ice cream!”

You wander around the house and look for any of Ronan’s toys that might have been snuck away by Sadie, who is notorious for stealing toys, and you smile when you walk past the office and see John looking at the computer screen.

“Hey, you…” John says just as you walk past, and you lean against the door frame and look at him, “What are you doing?”

“Well,” you take a deep breath and cross your arms, “Tess called me a little bit ago and told me to keep an eye on Ro’s toys since Sadie likes to chew on baby toys, so I am currently hunting any lost toys down.”

John chuckles, “Found any yet?”

“Nope,” you shake your head, then you walk in and look around the office, “Oh! Spoke too soon.”

You bend over and find a toy hidden under a pillow, then you hold it up and look at it. It’s not one of Ronan’s most played with toys, so you’re not too upset about it. You’re not upset with Sadie either; these things happen.

“Ro never plays with that anyway,” John says, and you nod as you toss it into the garbage can next to him. He turns in the chair a little and smiles, and you walk over to sit in his lap as he wraps his arm around you, “You smell good, like…vanilla.”

“It’s the perfume you bought me.” you smile, then you inhale deeply before you look at him, “Look, I know the conversation has moved on, we’re all good, it’s been hours, but…I don’t want you to not go see Helen anymore, and I know you’re probably thinking ‘she’s just going to be upset when I go’, but I won’t. I don’t want to take that away from you. Seeing the way you took one last look at her grave just broke my heart. I can’t take that from you.”

John rubs your back and shakes his head, “You’re not taking it from me. I’m choosing you. I’m choosing to put the past in the past.”

“But she has no family here,” you say as John wipes away the tear on your cheek, “She has no one here to tend to her grave or come out to give her flowers for her birthday. I can’t stand the thought of that. I’ve always tried my best to respect your relationship with Helen because I know if I ever say anything bad or negative about her, you’re gone. You’d leave.”

“I would not.” John says, seeming hurt by the accusation.

You look down at your hands and swallow hard, “Or you’d hold resentment towards me for it.”

“No. I know you,” John whispers, rubbing his thumb against your chin, “I know you better than I know myself, so I know you’d never say anything bad about Helen. You’re not that kind of person.”

“I would never say anything bad about her,” you say softly, and he nods as you inhale deeply, “I’m not saying we need to go have picnics out there for her birthday and every holiday, but...”

John smiles, “How about this? How about when I feel like going out there, I will?”

You hold his gaze for a moment, then you look down at your wedding ring, “Um…”

A small laugh escapes John’s lips as you look back up at him, “You think I’m going to go there all the time now, don’t you?”

“Well…” you look at him and laugh a little since he caught you.

“I’m not,” he shakes his head, then he sits back a little and looks at you, “I think this is where I should spend most of my time, and I like that. I like it here. Just the three of us.”

You nod, “I guess there’s this part of me that knows that if it were you that…passed, I would sleep on your grave.”

John chuckles, “Well, I’m flattered.”

“I am so desperately in love with you that I can’t imagine moving on and marrying someone else.”

“That’s good…” John nods, raising his brows, “Considering I’m alive and healthy.”

You playfully roll your eyes and shove his shoulder, “You know what I mean!”

“I do,” he nods as he holds your gaze, “And before I met you, I felt the same way. Who knows, maybe after I--”

“Oh, fuck no!” you get up from his lap and put your hand out, “We are definitely not going there. You’re living until you’re 160.”

John laughs as he reaches for your hand, “As long as you’re here with me, I am totally fine with that.”

Letting out a small sigh, you walk back over to him and stand between his legs as you cup his face, “I love you.”

“I love you,” he smiles, leaning up a little to kiss you, “I’m not going anywhere. You’re gonna be sick of me soon.”

“Impossible.” you whisper, then you kiss his forehead and smile at him as you lightly rub your thumb over his beard, “Popcorn and a movie?”

John gets up from the chair and nods his head, then he wraps his arms around you from behind and walks into the kitchen with you still tight in his grip. He buries his face in the crook of your neck as you get a bag of popcorn out to pop, and you laugh when he doesn’t let go.

“Not letting go?”

“Never,” he whispers, and you look over your shoulder at him and smile when he tightens his grip.

You close your eyes and wrap his arms around you more, then you lean back against his chest and feel the warmth he radiates soaking into your skin as you smile.

“Good.”

taglist:

@sakurachan-9 @beingnerdyissupercool @tnu-ree @ruby-octo @scream-queen-25 @ladyren33

#john wick x reader #john wick x you #john wick imagine #john wick x y/n #fic: hold my hand #she's a better person than me lemme tell u that #i would have made some enemies lmao bc my self esteem could never #but at the same time john wasn't being intentional and doesn't ever want to hurt her or make her feel like she isnt loved #theyre just perfect for each other IM SORRY I KNOW IM BIASED BUT IT'S TRUE #anyway im rambling #ok i hope u enjoy

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tiny-wooden-robot-fics · 5 months

Text

Against the Tide - Thirteen

Rating: Explicit Pairing(s): Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez x Original Female Character, Silvio Ricci x Original Female Character Characters: Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez (Bleach), Silvio Ricci (Ikemen Prince), Olivia DuBois (Original Female Character of Color) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergent, Pirates and Princes, Slow Burn, Action/Adventure, Worldbuilding, Angst, Some Subtle Racism, Sexual Tension, Political Subplot

Previous Chapter: Twelve | Next Chapter: Fourteen

Summary:

"I... don't know," she confesses. "I thought that maybe... you might not be happy if you knew I'd seen you that way."

"What way?" He peers closely at her, studying her face.

She shrugs, looking briefly away from him. "Sad. Vulnerable... jealous and hurt."

He expels a chuckle. "Yeah, well now you know."

“Know what?” She turns to look back at him.

“All the shit I hide from ya when I’m sober,” he exhales.

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“Well,” Silvio says, “I guess this ship isn’t a worthless piece of shit after all.”

“Watch your fuckin’ mouth about my ship,” the Captain growls. It has noticeably less fury behind it than it would normally, Daisy notes. She wonders if it’s because he’s preoccupied with being worried about Olivia. “I told you we’d catch up to this bastard, didn’t I?”

The Prince looks worried too, Daisy notices. His face is scrunched up into a scowl, and he’s fidgety.

If she weren’t so worried about Olivia herself, she might think it was cute, the way these two tough men are both clearly wound up about her Lady’s safety.

“He’s stoppin’,” Grimmjow observes, watching as the Sea Queen furls its sails. “The hell is he doing?”

“They’ve clearly spotted us,” Silvio murmurs. He turns to face the Captain. “Could they be waiting to ambush us?”

Grimmjow seems to consider his question. “Don’t think so. It’s not like we ain’t been in firin’ range for a while now.”

“How do you know that?” Daisy asks.

He turns to her, his hard gaze softening a bit as he speaks to her. “See, his ship’s near about the same size as the Hellcat,” he explains. “Means he’s got cannons about as big as hers. If mine could fire from here and reach him - and they can - stands to reason the same’d be true for him.” He pauses. “He ain’t fired yet, which means one of two things.”

Silvio raises his eyebrows. “What?”

“Either he’s waitin’ for us to make the first move, or he ain’t plannin’ to make a move at all.”

Daisy chews her lower lip anxiously. “Captain… which do you think it is?”

“I’d bet it’s that he ain’t plannin’ to make a move at all,” he tells her honestly.

“And what makes you so sure about that?” The Prince looks skeptical, but there is nothing in his gaze to suggest that he disagrees with the Captain.

“Like I said, he’s in firin’ range. If he really wanted to hurt the Hellcat, he’d have fired by now. He ain’t. And he knows we won’t fire ‘cause we don’t know where Livvy is and whether firin’ at the Sea Queen would hurt her.”

Grudgingly, Silvio has to admit that the pirate makes a good point. He says nothing to this effect aloud, however. “So what now?”

Grimmjow turns to him with a smirk. “Can’t sneak up on him,” he starts. “So we may as well go up and greet him proper, get right next to him and find out if she’s okay.”

The noon sun is high in the sky by the time the Hellcat gets near enough to the Sea Queen for Olivia to see them.

Jarron Barnes is standing next to her, his shoulders tense and drawn up. “I have half a mind to tie you back up,” he tells her quietly.

“Why?” She turns to face him. “Do you really think I would make a run for it?”

“You might. The calvary is in sight, isn’t it?”

It makes her sigh. “It’s a shame that I’ve been stuck on this damned boat with you for seventeen days and you’ve learned next to nothing about me.”

“I know plenty about you,” he laughs. “Just not the things you thought I’d learn.”

Olivia doesn’t want to launch into a discussion about what he thinks he knows about her, and so she keeps her mouth shut.

“So who’s it gonna be - the Prince or the Pirate?” Barnes goads her. “Will they duel to find out which of them gets to rescue you?”

“You really are insufferable,” she mutters. “I have half a mind to ask him to fire at you anyway.”

“I see I’ve touched a nerve,” he laughs.

Olivia ignores him.

“Come on,” Silvio says to Daisy once the sails of the Hellcat have been furled. He grabs her arm.

“The fuck you think you’re goin’?”

“Down to the local tavern at the bottom of the sea,” Silvio replies sarcastically. “Where the fuck do you think I’m going? I’m boarding that ship.”

“The hell you ain’t,” Grimmjow shakes his head.

“Oh? And who’s going to stop me?”

The Captain steps in front of them. “Like I said before,” he starts, his voice low and quiet, “you need to stop actin’ like you’re the only one with a personal stake in this. We came as a team.”

Silvio’s blue eyes flash dark. “As far as I remember, the only agreement I made was to stay out of your way. I’ve held up my end of that bargain, now I’m asking you to do me the same courtesy.”

“And I agreed not to kill you,” Grimmjow’s own blue eyes narrow. “So far I feel like I been pretty generous in puttin’ up with your shit, but my patience ain’t everlastin’.”

“Um,” Daisy says nervously. Two sets of angry blue eyes look down at her. It unnerves her, but she inhales deeply to calm herself. “I do think,” she starts, “that we should talk about it before we… before we do anything.”

As always, Grimmjow is the first of the two to concede to her. “You got a plan?”

She thanks her lucky stars for the soft spot he has for her and takes another deep breath. “What if I went aboard the Sea Queen… alone?”

Silvio looks perplexed. “Why the fuck would you do that?”

Daisy tries not to flinch at his tone. He’s just worried about Lady Olivia, she reminds herself. And it’s making him sound more upset than he probably is. “Because I don’t think they’ll try to hurt me,” she explains. “I’m just a lady’s maid, not important to this mission at all. And they might be more willing to let me see Lady Olivia than one of you.”

“And what you plannin’ on doin’ once you get aboard?” Grimmjow asks her with genuine curiosity.

“First, making sure she’s alright,” Daisy asserts. “That they haven’t hurt her in any way.” Her mouth turns down into a soft, pensive frown. “They’d probably let me talk to her in private. And I can…” She trails off. “I can check places on her that maybe nobody else would see.”

The moment the words are out of her mouth, she regrets it. Both men look absolutely livid.

“I’ll fuckin’ gut anybody---” Grimmjow starts, just as Silvio says, “That son of a bitch---”

“It’s just a precaution,” Daisy quickly interjects, waving her hands frantically to stave off the onslaught of swears she’s sure is coming. “The point is that I think I should go because they won’t see me as a threat,” she goes on, flashing them both what she hopes is a reassuring smile. “If one of you goes, well… they might immediately go on-guard.”

They both fall silent. The Captain seems to be considering it; the Prince merely looks put-out.

“I promise I’ll be careful,” she adds helpfully.

Grimmjow turns reluctantly to Silvio. “She’s got a point,” he says.

The Prince shrugs. “I’m surrounded by fucking idiots,” he mumbles.

“Listen.” Grimmjow leans down to look her in the eye. “I dunno about the pretty little prince here, but I’m only willin’ to let ya go under one condition.”

Curious, she looks back up at him. “What’s that?”

He reaches behind him, pulling a sheath out of his belt. “You take one of my guys with you, and take this.” He hands the sheath to her, placing it in her palm.

Daisy looks down at it. In his hands, it’s a dagger. To her, it feels and looks like a greatsword. “I don’t know how to use this,” she protests. “I fear I’d only make things worse if someone attacked me.”

“Just make sure the pointy end goes inside ‘em,” he laughs, “and you’ll be alright.”

Uncertainly, she looks over at the Prince. He shrugs again. “So once you figure out whether or not she’s alright, then what?”

“I-- I didn’t think that far ahead,” she admits.

Surprisingly, this makes him laugh. “Fine then,” he says, when his laughter has subsided a bit. “Why don’t you send us a signal?”

She nods, rummaging in her apron pocket. “What about this?” She asks, pulling her yellow handkerchief out. “If everything is alright, I’ll wave this.” She pauses. “And Lady Olivia will know what to do after.”

“Daisy, thank goodness.” Olivia folds the girl into her arms once Daisy is safely onboard the Sea Queen. She pulls back a little to look at her. “Are you alright?”

“I should be asking you that, Lady Olivia,” the girl smiles.

“I’m fine,” Olivia answers, waving a hand dismissively. “Why on earth would they send you over here?”

Daisy shakes her head. “They didn’t,” she answers proudly. “I volunteered to come.” She peers up at Olivia closely once more. “Are you sure you’re alright?” She asks again, concerned. “Did they hurt you?”

“They didn’t, and I’m fine,” Olivia assures her. She watches, flummoxed, as Daisy pulls a bright yellow handkerchief out of her apron pocket and waves it in the direction of the Hellcat.

“Our signal,” the younger woman explains at Olivia’s look of bafflement. “I told them that if you were alright, I would wave this so they could know.”

“I’m sorry to leave you stuck with those two,” Olivia laughs regretfully. “I’m sure they must be a handful.”

Daisy offers her a sheepish smile. “I was going to tell you they aren’t, but I think you’d probably know I was lying.”

“Well, you’ve managed to keep them from killing each other,” Olivia points out. “So you must be doing something right.” She glances over at Jarron Barnes, who is watching them from a short distance away.

“A touching reunion,” he remarks dryly. His next words are addressed to Daisy. “Now that you’ve seen with your own eyes that she’s alright, you’re going back to the Hellcat.”

“What?” This comes from Olivia. “Why would you send her back when she just got here?”

“Because she’s going to deliver a message for me,” Barnes replies. “Tell the good Captain to put his best mate in charge and bring himself over here.”

Olivia and Daisy both look at him in shock. Behind them, the young man the Captain has sent with Daisy - Kenny is his name - shifts uneasily. “Beggin’ yer pardon, but Cap’n don’t like nobody else steering the ‘Cat,” he speaks up. “It’s like his baby, y’know? Nobody touches the helm but him. ‘Less’n it’s some kinda emergency and he can’t.”

“Then consider this an emergency,” Jarron Barnes shrugs. “As a matter of fact, you relay that message, Mr…?” He trails off expectantly.

“Kenny. My name’s Kenny.”

“Kenny,” Barnes repeats. “I’m entrusting this message to you, and I want you to relay it exactly as I tell you. Actually,” he goes on thoughtfully, “let me write it down for you. That way all you have to do is hand it over.”

The two women exchange glances as Barnes pulls a small pad and a thin stick of charcoal out of his breast pocket. He scribbles something on the pad, then rips the page off and hands it to Kenny. “Tell him he has until sunset to get here,” Barnes declares. “If he’s not here by the time the last rays dip below the horizon, both these women go overboard. It’s written there, so you don’t have to say all of that,” he adds, his tone cheerful. “But the sunset bit? Make sure he knows about that.”

“Why him?” Olivia asks a few minutes after Kenny has begun rowing back to the Hellcat. “Why the Captain?”

Barnes looks shrewdly at her. “Because I know he won’t insult my intelligence by throwing money at me in an attempt to fix the problem.”

“No, but he’ll throw something else at you, I’m sure,” Olivia murmurs under her breath. Daisy fidgets nervously beside her, and she flashes the younger woman a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. Everything will be alright.”

It is late afternoon when Olivia notices the activity on the Hellcat. For lack of anything better to do, she has spent most of the morning showing Daisy around the Sea Queen, and now the two of them are standing on the upper deck, watching as Grimmjow and Kenny lower themselves into a boat and begin rowing.

“He’s really coming,” Daisy breathes.

Olivia would love to tell the girl that she’s surprised, but she isn’t. She has known all along that Grimmjow would rather leave his precious, beloved ship in the hands of another man than to risk anything happening to Olivia.

It is a testament to how much he cares about her, and the thought is responsible for the lump in her throat. “You idiot,” she mumbles. “How many times are you going to come to my rescue before you get tired of it?”

“What was that, Lady Olivia?” Daisy’s voice startles her out of her thoughts, and she turns to look at the lady’s maid. “What did you say?”

“It was nothing,” she smiles. “I guess I was just thinking out loud.”

As expected, Grimmjow is incensed.

The second he sets foot on the Sea Queen, he closes the distance between himself and Jarron Barnes in a few short strides. The rest of the world, Olivia thinks, is moving in slow motion. She knows what is going to happen before it does, but she cannot get her feet to move quickly enough to stop it.

She is only halfway to Grimmjow when his fist smashes into the other man’s face.

Olivia has seen - and doled out - her fair share of punches. She knows enough to know that Grimmjow pulls his punch at the last second, very likely to avoid breaking Jarron’s jaw. Still, the sound of his fist hitting the other man’s face sounds overly loud, even in the noise of the bustling ship. There is a moment of quiet, a hush just as Olivia reaches the Hellcat’s captain. “Grimmjow,” she says softly, her hand on his arm.

He spares her a brief glance, but his attention turns back to Barnes very quickly. “If you ever threaten me again, you son of a bitch,” he starts, his voice steely and unforgiving, “I will cut your fuckin’ intestines out and feed ‘em to the birds while you watch.”

Olivia’s heart is racing. She’s sure Barnes will retaliate in some way, and she fears what he will come up with. To her surprise, he simply shakes his head and puts a hand on his jaw. When he speaks, there is obvious pain in his voice. Still, he manages to chuckle. “Just as I thought,” he slurs. “Your soft spot for the lady is still there… and even better, your propensity to kill a man is still there, too.”

Grimmjow opens his mouth to respond, his eyes flashing with what can only be described as murderous intent. Olivia tugs urgently at his sleeve, and finally he turns to her again. He looks positively worn out; there are dark circles under his eyes that not even his tanned skin can hide. He looks haggard, as though he hasn’t eaten or slept in days.

“You’ve been running yourself ragged,” she observes, reaching up and letting her fingertips caress his face. “All on account of me. I’m sorry, Grimm.”

Despite how tired he looks, he grins down at her. “Couldn’t let this bastard show the Hellcat up, now could I?”

She bites back a sob, throwing her arms around him and burying her face in his shirt.

He lets her hold him closely that way for a minute, then gently pulls her away from him to get a good look at her. “You hurt?” He asks seriously, his eyes darting up to Jarron Barnes.

Olivia shakes her head. “No,” she tells him truthfully. “I was worried that I would be… but aside from the initial roughing up it took to get me here, I’m fine.”

“She’s more than fine,” Barnes interjects, his words still slurred. “She’s living better here than some of my crew.”

Grimmjow's gaze turns steely again. “So now what?”

“Now we go to Vora,” Barnes says simply. “The way we were heading before you got here.”

“I tried to talk him out of it,” Olivia tells him later, in her cabin. “I tried to convince him to let you catch up with us, let us take him to Clario where he could air his grievances to the King and my father.” She shakes her head sadly. “It was no use, though.”

“And once we get to Vora?” Grimmjow raises his eyebrows. “What’s he gonna do then?”

“I don’t even think he knows,” Olivia admits. She sighs. “With the exception of placing himself on the throne as self-appointed ruler of Vora, what he wants isn’t unreasonable.”

“Go on,” Grimmjow says, looking at her quizzically.

“As we learned before, he wants independence for Vora,” she explains. “He wants it to have its own separate government once more, to regulate its own trade, taxes, and resource allocation.”

“So…” Grimmjow pauses, thoughtful. “Vora the way it was thirty years ago.”

“More like fifty or sixty years ago,” she amends. “The way it was even before Vora and Clario formed a partnership.”

“Is that gonna be possible?”

“It can be,” Olivia replies slowly. “The whole reason Vora asked Clario for aid in the first place was because they lacked the technology and resources to do it for themselves. Now that things have progressed, they want their freedom back. They want to be able to say who they trade - and don’t trade with. They want to mine their own minerals and choose how those minerals are used, whether it’s selling them to other countries or keeping them to further advance their own technology. They want to be able to build their own ships with timber from the trees in the Voraen forests.”

He looks surprised. “Yeah,” he concedes. “That’s reasonable.”

“The problem is that he’s going about it all wrong,” Olivia sighs, “and for someone who claims to want to lead, he hasn’t come up with any tangible solutions to those problems. And between you and me,” she adds, “I don’t think he would make a very good leader anyway.”

“Not if his plans involve kidnappin’ people to get his way,” Grimmjow mutters angrily.

“Exactly,” she agrees. “Which is why I wanted him to come back to Clario with us and present his case before the King, like any sane human would. But he refused, and I don’t think threatening to start a war with a bigger, more populated country with a stronger military force is how he’s going to see the change that he wants.”

He nods, mulling over everything she’s told him.

“I’m sorry that you got tangled up in this mess,” she offers softly, her tone rueful.

Stunned, he looks over at her. “You got nothin’ to apologize for, Sae,” he counters, his own voice softening. “It’s partly my fault you ended up here in the first place - you only went out that night ‘cause you were lookin’ after me.” He shakes his head. “A grown damn man, mopin’ around like some heartbroken kid and gettin’ shitfaced drunk like that. Oughta be ashamed of myself. And I am.”

“Ah, so you do remember,” she surmises. “I was hoping you wouldn’t.”

“Why?”

“I… don’t know,” she confesses. “I thought that maybe… you might not be happy if you knew I’d seen you that way.”

“What way?” He peers closely at her, studying her face.

She shrugs, looking briefly away from him. “Sad. Vulnerable… jealous and hurt.”

He expels a quiet chuckle. “Yeah, well now you know.”

“Know what?” She turns to look back at him.

“All the shit I hide from ya when I’m sober,” he exhales.

But that’s the problem, isn’t it? You love the pirate, too. She curses Jarron Barnes for how his words are stuck on a loop in her brain. “Grimmjow…”

“You ain’t gotta say it,” he cuts her off. “Feels like you’re just gonna tell me somethin’ that’s s’posed to make me feel better but doesn’t.” He raises his pale eyebrows at her. “Am I right?”

Had she been? She hesitates, thinking it over. “I don’t know,” she says finally, after a few seconds have passed. “I think I was just going to tell you how I feel.”

Up to now, he’s been leaning on the taffrail, his eyes on the ocean in front of them. Now he turns around, his back against the rail and his eyes on her. “I’m listenin’.”

Olivia inhales deeply, letting the breath out on a slow exhale that gives her time to collect her thoughts. “I do love you,” she starts, her voice quiet. “I don’t know if I love you more or less than Silvio… or if I love you the same.”

“Ouch. Way to stroke a man’s ego,” he chuckles wryly.

She smiles at him, a little sadly. “I know it sounds horrible, and I’m sorry… but there’s no other way for me to say it right now. I’m still sorting my feelings out, and it’s much harder than I expected it to be.”

“Guess I should be happy about that at least,” he jokes. “Means I’m still in the runnin’.”

She reaches up, her thumb ghosting over his bottom lip. “You worked too hard,” she gently scolds him. “And gave up command of your ship for me.”

He nips at her thumb. “Would do it again if I had to.”

“Why?” She shakes her head. “I don’t deserve that.”

“Wrong,” he smirks. “Sae… you know I’d go get the moon for you if ya asked me to.”

Her eyelids flutter shut. Her heart feels like it’s bursting. “You shouldn’t say things like that.”

Grimmjow looks at her again. “Yeah, maybe not,” he assents. “But what’s it you said before? I’m just… tellin’ ya how I feel.”

It takes her a long time to be able to swallow past the lump in her throat and speak again. “I know.”

“So… have you reignited the flame?”

Olivia casts him a withering look. “I don’t know what you’re playing at here,” she starts, “but I don’t appreciate you doing… whatever it is you’re doing in an attempt to meddle with my personal affairs.”

Barnes shrugs. “You seem to think I care enough about your personal affairs to meddle with them.” His tone is slightly mocking. It makes Olivia wish Grimmjow actually had broken his jaw - if for nothing else but to keep him from running his mouth.

She says as much aloud. “I wish he hadn’t pulled his punch.”

This makes him laugh. “As angry as he was, I was sure he’d pull his sword on me instead of just his fist. I’ve heard stories about him doing much worse to people for lesser offenses against him.”

“I think you’re making a big mistake,” she opines, completely bypassing his statement. “I think you should go back to Clario and state your case to the King.”

“I want this discussion to happen on my turf,” Barnes declares. “I want the Prince to see with his own eyes what Vora has the ability to do for itself.”

“And I think that’s a great idea,” Olivia admits. “But you’re going about it all wrong. For Grimmjow, this is a minor irritation. But for Silvio - who’s serving as a representative of Clario in this instance - this is a lot more serious than just minor irritation. On top of that, you’re putting him in an incredibly difficult situation. Even if he sees the point you’re so elaborately trying to make, he alone doesn’t have the power to snap his fingers and magically make all your requests come to fruition.”

“Maybe not,” Barnes shrugs, “but he can certainly go a long way towards convincing the rest of the powers that be.”

She mulls over his words. “He isn’t going to be happy about this in the slightest,” she says finally. “And because of that, you may have just decreased your chances of success by an exponential number.”

“That’s just a risk I’m willing to take.”

It’s clear to Olivia that nothing she says is going to change Jarron Barnes’ mind. She sighs unhappily. “You may regret that.”

Previous Chapter: Twelve | Next Chapter: Fourteen

Tag list: @chrissie2003 @kryptoniteforsale

#tinywoodenrobot fics #black oc #bleach fanfiction #ikemen prince fanfiction #bleach #ikemen prince #ikepri #bleach grimmjow #grimmjow jaegerjaquez x oc #grimmjow jaegerjaquez #silvio ricci #ikepri silvio #olivia dubois #ikepri silvio x oc #silvio ricci x oc

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world-of-fire-and-flight · 1 year

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The Lair in the Woods: Part 10

A/N: I’M SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT, Y’ALL😭💜 Life’s been busy, but it’s all good stuff (okay well, not all of it but like 90% of it cause life is life and it’s not perfect😂) Good news: book 2 is published, formatting for book 3 is well under way, and I love the job I started around the time of my last update😎 Bad news: I have no idea what free time is anymore (hence my overall disappearance from social media aside from scheduled posts and the dramatic decline in my interactions on here and the actual hellsites)😵

Warnings: reference to being stalked, deception, reference to anxiety, reference to potential murder, hidden identity, some swearing…I think that’s it?? If I missed anything, please let me know😊

My Masterlist | Taglist Info or Taglist Request Form | The Lair in the Woods masterlist

Supervillain wiped their hands dry on a kitchen towel without much thought to the action. Their mind was too preoccupied by Civilian.

More specifically, speculations about who their stalker might be wholly consumed their mind until their phone buzzing on the counter broke their concentration. Setting the towel aside, Supervillain’s brows drew together as they read the caller ID.

“And here I thought I’d have to call you,” they said quietly.

“Yeah, well,” Hero said, “it’s considered professional courtesy to keep each other informed, so don’t get used to it because once we find Civilian Surname’s stalker, this ends and I go back to investigating you.”

Supervillain hummed. “Then I suppose we needn’t drag this out any longer, because I’d rather not get too close to one of the Agency’s pawns.”

They didn’t have to see Hero to know the look on their face. They’d seen it plenty enough times when they’d goaded them in the past—truth be told though, that felt like another lifetime now. Supervillain’s smirk only grew sharper at the tension in Hero’s voice when they replied.

“Very funny,” they said, “but I have better things to do with my time than investigate something so—”

Supervillain’s smirk fell. “Hero, we had an agreement, you said—”

“And there it is.” The Hero’s grin was irritatingly audible, causing Supervillain to clench their jaw as they could see the expression as clear as day in their mind. “We do have an agreement, which is why I’m calling you in the first place. I just hope reminding you that this is a partnership for Civilian’s sake isn’t going to be a recurring thing because I do have better things to do with my time that isn’t rubbing elbows with a wanted criminal.”

Supervillain let out the breath they’d been holding in an effort to stop themselves from snapping at Hero. “What did you find?”

“That’s better. So anyway, I formally adopted the case and took a look, but as far as I can tell, the police investigation is as thorough as it can be. Whoever Civlian’s stalker is, they’re either a professional or have a little extra help, maybe both. I’ve gotta ask,” Hero started, taking a breath, “who are they again?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Supervillain mumbled. Pinching the bridge of their nose, Supervillain turned around and leaned against the counter. Just as they went to respond, a shadow of movement caught their attention. Their eyes flicked toward the movement in time to see Civilian quietly slinking into the living room and sitting back down by the fire. “I’ve got to go. I’ll see what I can find and have Right Hand send you what they’ve dug up thus far.”

“Wait, what do you me—”

Supervillain didn’t let them finish, hanging up and shoving their phone in their pocket.

Making certain their footfalls were heavy enough that Civilian could hear them coming but soft enough that they wouldn’t startle them, Supervillain joined them, sitting in their favorite armchair and offering them a smile.

“Feeling better?”

Civilian met their gaze. “Yeah, actually. I think I am.” They paused, glancing about uncertainly. Nibbling on their lip, Civilian’s eyes slowly gravitated back toward them. “Was that your contact, in the city?”

“It was,” Supervillain nodded. “They told me that they’ve started looking into your case and confirmed that the investigation conducted by the local PD was at least thorough.”

Civilian bobbed their head, though their face remained unchanged. Supervillain studied them curiously.

“So what does that mean for me?”

“Well…” Supervillain began hesitantly, “maybe you could help me? Do you mind if I ask you some questions about your life, your routine, the people you know, things of that nature?”

Civilian drew their knees up to their chest and wrapped their arms around them. They still looked exhausted, but behind their eyes was a spark. Supervillain wondered if that meant they were ready to start fighting instead of trying to outrun their stalker.

If so, that was good.

Better than good, it was perfect, actually.

Already, a plan began to bloom in Supervillain’s mind as they asked about anything that could help shed a light to help guide their own investigation.

***

Hero stared at their phone with a frown. Whoever Civilian was, they’d certain changed Supervillain. But now they knew Supervillain didn’t know Civilian Surname. That as much was true.

That’s what I’m trying to figure out, they’d said, sounding just as confused and in the dark as Hero was.

Over and over again, their question and Supervillain’s unguarded response echoed in their head. But it wasn’t as simple as who was Civilian Surname. What really mattered was, how?

How did Civilian catch their stalker’s eye? What made their stalker drawn to them? Where had they first seen Civilian? And when had they chosen to stalk Civilian? How many times had they seen them before that decision was made?

The place they’d first seen or had been in contact with Civilian was perhaps the most important in Hero’s opinion. If they could just narrow it down to that, then maybe they could narrow down a list of suspects specific to that particular facet of Civilian’s life.

Shaking their head, Hero pulled their coat back on and grabbed their keys. They’d just barely have enough time to pick up some coffee before their meeting with Detective…and still be five minutes early like Detective liked. So help the fool that that showed up late. Hero learned that the hard way one time. It didn’t matter that they’d stopped Other Villain from melting Central Museum’s vault and stealing the Precious Artifact worth millions on the black market that could’ve funded their world domination plan, all Detective had cared about was the disrespect they’d shown them by being late.

And so began the vicious cycle of Detective returning the courtesy by making Hero’s job as difficult as possible for the next two weeks until Hero finally decided to show up an hour early and sat and waited for Detective outside their office to get a records release form signed.

Hero hadn’t thought Detective would come around after that, but as it turned out they were both spitefully petty.

Ever since then, they’d had one hell of a working relationship and tight-knit friendship.

“Well, well, well, look who’s early. I wish all my caped partners were as punctual.”

Hero pressed a hand to their chest in mock offense. “Detective, are you working with other heroes behind my back?”

“What can I say,” Detective sighed, taking the coffee Hero offered them, “someone’s got to do your grunt work and we all know that when Other Detective does the paperwork, it’s never admissible in court because they don’t do it right.”

“Vigilante case fell through again?” Hero sat on the edge of Detective’s desk as they resumed their seat.

Detective groaned in response. “Don’t even get me started. It’s like they want the case thrown out.”

“Have you ever wonder—”

“Every. Single. Time.” Detective’s face turned to stone. Their eyes withdrew, focusing on whatever internal thoughts were flitting through their head.

“Well Supervillain owes me a favor,” Hero said quickly, taking an innocuous sip of coffee.

“What?” Detective shot up and slammed their hands on their desk, nearly toppling over their coffee cup and the precarious stacks of paperwork scattered across their desk. “You mean Supervillain, the most ruthless criminal that’s always one step ahead of the law and probably has dossiers on all of us, owes you a favor because you promised to help their precious civilian?”

“Isn’t that what I just said?”

Detective rolled their eyes. “Wow. So, Supervillian gave away one of the most powerful chips in the caped community—no, the entire professional world regardless of profession—to the likes of you.” Detective plopped back down in their seat with a crooked smile. “This has got to be the worst week of their career!” Detective sobered, “Well, this and when Partner dropped off the face of the earth. That’s another one I can’t seem to find. It’s like they’re a ghost.”

Hero’s brows furrowed. They dropped their gaze to the floor. “They’re probably dead. I’ll bet all I have that Supervillain killed them and that’s why you can’t find a body. There probably isn’t one, if Supervillain’s reputation is anywhere near accurate.”

Detective threw their head back laughing.

“You’re probably right! There’s no way Supervillain would let someone, anyone, walk away. I guess you’ll just have to do a little digging for me while you’re working with them to catch Civilian’s stalker.”

“I’ll do my best, but no promises, Detective.”

“And that’s what I like about working with you,” they said, motioning for them to hand over the copies of Civilian’s files Hero had made up for them. “You don’t have a super-inflated ego or think that I’m somehow lesser than you just because I haven’t got a cape and mask and glowing hands or whatever.”

“Superhero again?”

“YES!” Detective burst, “If the media knew half the shit I do about them, they’d drag Supes through town square like they deserve.”

“Or I could make sure back up shows up a little late and they take a few more punches to the face from Other Supervillain?”

“I would love that,” Detective smiled, scanning the pages before them. “This is it? This is all we have to work with?”

Hero nodded. “Supervillain said they’d have Right Hand send over what they’ve got so far.”

“It’s a start, I guess,” Detective grumbled, “If we manage to find their stalker and bring them to justice, it’ll be nothing short of a miracle.”

Hero didn’t bother to agree. Whatever Supervillain was scheming in order to catch Civilian’s stalker, they only hoped it ended the whole affair sooner rather than later, like before anyone had a chance to connect the dots.

The Lair in the Woods Taglist: @just-a-space-rabbit @classicplesiosaur @pigeonwhumps @heninthegarden @kaiwewi @korejon @rivalriotrenegade @alpacamelons @averyconfusedhuman @amerementdoux @istealpants @sweetpeaflower01 @theimportantbreadtraveler Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed (no reason necessary😊)! You can also fill out this handy dandy form if you’d like to be added too!

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here-2suffer · 2 years

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Happy Valentines day yall! Here's a lil treat! A big thank you to @kattramen for helping me with this, I don't think I would've been ready with it today if it wasn't for them. This is based on/inspired by @gniteruirui 's au thing! Hope you all enjoy! Long post warning!

It's February 14th, Valentines day. But instead of being happy and in love like everyone else is, you're devastated and alone.

You look across the daycare to see Sun talking with another daycare assistant, they seem so happy.

Why can't you be happy with this?

...

You know why.

You love him. You love him so much, but he loves them. You want to be happy for them, you really do, but you just can't bring yourself to.

You pretend it's fine though. You're not gonna make them feel bad and ruin their days just because you feel bad, and especially not on Valentines day. So you busy yourself with reorganizing everything on the desk, again. At least it gives you something to distract yourself with.

Except it doesn't. You can hear their talking, so you reach for your headphones to tune them out with music, until you realize you forgot to bring your headphones today.

Lucky you.

"Hey there! Happy cupid day!" Mark suddenly materializes next to you with a pink rose in hand.

"Ack!-" You step back in surprise and almost trip over your own two feet. "B- Jeezus Mark! You've got to stop sneaking up on me like that!" The talking from Sun and the other employee has stopped, but you're too preoccupied with the idiot (affectionate) that jumpscared you.

"Ha, sorry about that." He held out the rose to you. "Here, have this as an apology." He smiled and you took the rose. "It's fake, so you don't have to worry about it dying." He winked. You roll your eyes. "Geez, thanks for being so considerate." He grinned triumphantly. "Yeah, it's my job as your best friend."

You're about to say something back when Sun speaks loudly from the middle of the daycare. "Allllright everybody! It's gift giving time for our favorite love holiday! Get your gifts and gather around!" His voice is as loud and energetic as always. You're heart starts to hurt again hearing his voice, you don't want to go, but you don't really have a choice. Mark grabs your hand and gives it a little squeeze, offering you a comforting smile, one that says "You got this." You smile and squeeze his hand back, then you grab your gifts for everyone and head to middle of the daycare.

It only takes a couple minutes before everyone is gathered here with their gifts, Sun has decided we'll be going around in a circle so no one is left out of gift giving.

The first one up is... the one Sun likes. Of course. They go around and give everyone a Hershey's kiss. The next person goes, giving everyone a drawing they've done, it's really good actually. Things keep going with smiles and laughter until Mark's turn.

He goes around and gives everyone a friendship bracelets, everyone except you, that is. You don't mind, he's made you plenty before, and he's already given you a gift, but everyone else doesn't know that.

There's small gasps and someone chokes on their chocolate kiss. "Hey Mark, I think you forgot about them." Kent points at you. You wave it off. "No, no, Mark didn't forget about me. He already gave me my gift earlier, don't worry about it." Eveyone seemed to relax, there was some sighs of relief. Mark put on a mock offended face. "You guys really think I'd leave my bestest friend in the whole wide world out of this?" A lighthearted joke to get things back to normal and moving again.

Sun gave everyone tiny origami butterflies, and then it was your turn.

You brought roses. You didn't want to give what other people gave out, and you didn't know what else to give, so you brought roses. You gave everyone 2 roses, and everyone had 1 yellow rose, and whatever other color depending on how you felt towards them.

That was until you got to Sun, the last one you needed to give roses to. You gave him one blue rose, unable to meet his gaze as you handed it to him. "Sorry Sun, guess I miscounted, I only have enough to give you one."

His usual happy smile faltered a little, but he gingerly took the rose. "It's a-okay! Roses are very popular around this time of year, I totally understand if they ran out of roses for you!" You put on your best smile and walked back to Mark, never once meeting Sun's gaze. He kept looking to see if you would look back, to see if you cared, but you didn't look back. He was a little hurt that he was the only one who got one rose, but he knew that there were probably no more roses at the stores you went to. At least that's what he wanted to believe.

Everyone went back to doing their own thing when it was finished. Sun started talking with same person again (seriously, does he ever talk to anyone else?), and you went back to the security desk with Mark.

...

Mark takes your hand in his own. "Listen, I know you're trying to get over him, but did you really have to do that?" He's whispering, making sure no one else eavesdrops on your conversation. You sigh. "I... No, but I can't help it. I don't want to hurt his feelings, but for some reason I don't feel like I can just do nothing but avoid him, I felt like I needed to do something else to make me feel better."

"Well, do you feel better?" He gave your hand a little squeeze, he never judged you or thought you cruel for the things you did, he always understood. "...No. I think I might feel worse.." You felt the tears coming to your eyes and your voiced cracked, you were never good with your emotions.

He pulled you into a hug. "It'll be okay."

Sun watched from across the daycare as you hugged him back, he was beginning to wonder if he should come and ask what was wrong. He hated seeing you upset, he wanted to comfort you.

"But he didn't really seem to care anyway." Right. He was in a conversation with someone, it would be rude to leave. So he stayed with this special person, and you stayed with Mark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Almost everyone was gone now, even Sun's best friend. It was only you, Kent, and someone else who's name you forgot (you didn't talk to them anyway). The lights are off so you didn't have to worry about avoiding Sun to save your heart, but you did have to worry about Moon. He's been talking to you more than usual lately.

He's on top of the tallest play structure, directly above your coworker like a cat ready to pounce an unsuspecting victim, but he never makes the move to do so. But the person has to clock out now, so they do. Moon stays on the play structure, though now he's looking directly at you.

You look around, Kent is across the daycare, he's too preoccupied with his tasks and music to notice if anything happens to you. That usually wouldn't be a good thing, but it is today.

You wave at Moon with a smile, signaling for him to come over. He tilts his head, he doesn't do anything but stay still. You think he might not come, but then his wire comes down and connects to the latch on his back and he starts swimming in the air towards you.

Once he's like 5 feet away from you, he stops swimming and just stays there, he doesn't even go back on the ground. You put your bag on the table and reach inside, he keeps looking between you and your bag. You smile and pull out 2 roses, one blue and one orange. His eyes widen in surprise.

"Uh, so. I notice that you don't really get any gifts from any holiday, and I wanted to give you one because you.. mean a lot to me." You hold out the roses and smile.

He just stares at them for a couple of seconds. You got him roses? Two of them.. He reaches out to take the roses, but instead of taking them, he grabs your wrist and pulls you close. It's so sudden you don't even have time to react before you find yourself in his embrace.

He's hugging you. He's holding up your wrist with the roses in them so they don't get damaged somehow in the hug. Once the shock wears off, which only took a second or two, you hug him back.

"Thank you..." He whispers into your ear and hugs you a little tighter for a second before letting go and taking the roses. A part of you is a little disappointed he let go, but the way he holds the roses and looks at the with awe makes everything okay. For a moment, everything else vanishes, and it's just you and Moon. He looks back up at you.

"Orange and blue... For sun and mine's colors?" You blink, not understanding what he means for a second. Then you get it and your eyes widen a little. "Oh no! Not at all. Uh, those roses are for you. I gave everyone roses, the colors are based of of my feelings for them, and these are based of my feelings for you."

He looks back down to the roses. "Okay. Thank you. Like them." He smiles a little, it makes you feel butterflies. All the butterflies you've been trying to put to rest are now going wild now. Your brain starts screaming at you.

Stop it.

They don't like you like that. Give it up.

Your alarm rings, you jump at the sudden noise. You turn it off and look at Moon again. "Heh, sorry. I guess I have to go now. Bye Moon, I'll see you tomorrow!" You grab your bags and wave to Moon as you leave. He wears the same smile and waves you off until you're out of sight.

He wanted to stay with you a little longer..

Sun was online, he still hadn't gone to "sleep". He saw everything.

You said you ran out of roses. But you brought two for Moon. Did you lie? Why? His metaphorical heart was broken.

"Moon- why.. why did I only get one? Do.. do they hate me?" Moon paused. He he was so caught up in the fact you gave him a gift that he forgot what happened with Sun earlier.

He was always online during gift giving time, he wanted to see what everyone brought. He saw you only give Sun one rose. One blue rose.

"I gave everyone roses, the colors are based of of my feelings for them."

Blue. "They gave roses based on feelings. What does blue rose mean?" A quick internet search in their head. "Mystery or attaining the impossible?"

...

You gave them both a blue rose.

What did that mean? What's so impossible for you to get of them?

...

Sun went offline. Now it was just Moon and Kent in the room.

So much for a happy Valentines day.

#Jsjsjshabj #happy valentines day you guys!#my writing #sun x reader #i guess?#idk #moon x reader #i think #long post

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awwfur · 18 days

Text

WoF x TWST

the prologue’s prologue. (Aka what Yuu’s doing before getting yoinked)

Ah minor content warning! Very mild depiction of violence (dragon getting stabbed no blood or anything and it’s not described in detail, but just gonna warn you that it’s there)

The teen ran. Vaulting over a wall, stumbling a bit they rolled to ground themself again. They jumped, pulling themselves up over a wall, and landed on their feet with a thump!

“Done!” They called out between pants, before brushing some pink hair out of their face.

“Two minutes exactly! That’s your best time yet, Yuu!” A tall blond called to them with a smile, waving a stopwatch above his head.

Yuu’s face contorted into a wary lopsided smile, “I just- wish it was a little faster. You know?”

“And how do you expect to go faster?” The blond frowned, letting his arm drop.

They bit the inside of their cheek, “Well, my wall jumping might have been a little sloppy, and I had to catch myself with a roll at one point. Maybe I should practice it a little more-“

“OR,” the blond interrupted, “you could take a break. You’ve been doing the same parkour- thing, for hours! Aren’t you tired? Or board?” He poked Yuu between the eyes, “besides, you just got back from caving. You need a BRAKE!”

“Jasper!” Yuu huffed, smacking away their friend’s hand, “one, don’t do that. And two, I’m fine!” They were, at least mostly fine. Yuu would be lying if they said they weren’t at least a little sore.

He just shook his head and sighed. “Whatever, Yuu. I’m going to go get something to drink at the fast food joint down the road, will you at least come with me and get water?”

Yuu smirked, “You wound me my friend, I always have plenty of water!” Proudly they walked over to a (rather plain) black backpack and pulled out a large water bottle. And to emphasize their point, the teen proceeded to pour some water on top of their head. “EEP! That’s still cold!”

“Pfff, suffer,” Jasper snarked, earning a glare from Yuu. “Well, I’m going to get water and find a bite probably. Watching you made me hungry, too”.

“Yea, yea. Be gone with yee already! Leave the stopwatch though, I'd like to keep using it,” The pink haired teen demanded.

“Yea, no. Maybe it’ll force you to take a break,” with that Jasper stuffed the device into his pocket and took off.

“Hey! Common no fair!” Yuu yelled after him, although they made no move to run after. The longer they just stood around the more the aching soreness, possibly due to overworking their body with little to no brakes, caused. They sighed, running a hand through their now cold and wet hair. Gold-silver eyes wandered across the street, opposite to where Jasper had run off.

A gas station sat just across the road. They bit the inside of their cheek again. It wouldn’t kill them to take a breather and maybe eat something too. Besides, Jasper would be gone for at least an hour. Likely in hopes Yuu would take a break with their now frustrating lack of a stopwatch. Especially with their unwillingness to use their phone and risk breaking the damn thing. They rubbed at their face, not wanting to move. But the idea of nabbing a candy bar was slowly winning.

Before they knew it they found themselves crossing the road. Their mind too preoccupied by debating between what candy bar they should get, to notice the galloping of hooves getting closer, or the ground shaking as the sound grew louder. Up until a loud winny finally made them look over. Only to see black carriage pulled by black horses, both of which completely dwarfed Yuu with their size, barreling towards them.

For a moment, a very terrifying moment at that, the teen’s legs would. Not. Move. As they watched the impossibly sized horses pulling an equally impossibly sized carriage get ever closer, and it didn’t seem intent on stopping. Finally, however, flight or fight kicked them into motion as they regained motor control and dived towards the sidewalk. Yuu’s frantic movements causing them to land roughly on their side before passing out.

It was dark. Hell, Yuu would argue that it was darker than dark, if that was possible. They couldn’t see their own hand in front of their face. The teen sat up, or attempted to. Yuu felt like they’d been suspended in midair, weightless and helpless. The stamping of hooves lightly echoed around them. And for a moment they wondered if they’d died.

“Beware the tainted hearts. Beware the darkened stones,” the sound of someone’s voice echoed, making Yuu look around frantically. Nearly missing the moment the darkness faded to a colorless rose garden, then a savanna, then to under the sea, to a desert, to a castle, to somewhere underground, and lastly to thorns covering something.

“Time is short, his powers unknown,” it continued, as the thorns faded, instead replaced by the silhouette of some large cat-like thing. Or, at least it looked cat-like to Yuu, besides what maybe looked like a fire mane and some other odd feature they couldn’t quite pinpoint with it being a shadow and all. Especially as the image flickered as if it was being projected.

“They’re coming to take the beast, they’re coming to take the land”. Ropes pined the creature down, playing slowly like a slideshow. Before the scene changed to a forest fire, with something that resembled a castle burning further back.

“Tribes will fall to bloodied steel,” the image flickered, morphing into something that resembled something from medieval times. A dragon silhouette, the beast reared up in pain, with a sword piercing its neck. Yuu’s body moved on its own as they took a step forward and reached out-

“Unless the tamer takes their hand-“ they said alongside the voice. The images faded, darkness consumed them again, as gravity pulled them down. And Yuu collapsed.

——————-

bonus: art tie in for the chapter ^^”

Ah, yea something something. I tried making a prophecy for this AU. And I’ll post it in full on the master post later

#WoF x twst #Awwfur wrote a thing #Send help idk what I’m doing #Ahhhhh I hope this is good T^T

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she-posts-nerdy-stuff · 1 month

Text

Portrait of a Dead Girl

Summary:

Alina Starkov was given to Duke Aleksander Morozova of Os Alta in marriage when she was fifteen years old. Within a year, she was dead. The official cause of Alina's death was marked as putrid fever, but many at the time believed, and many in the future will go on to believe, that she was poisoned by her husband.

This fic is completely inspired by The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrel, which is a work of historical fiction based on the real lives of Duchess Lucrezia d'Este (née de' Medici) and Duke Alfonso ii d'Este of Ferrara. You don't need any prior knowledge of The Marriage Portrait or history to read and enjoy this fic, but know that my writing is very much going to mimic that of O'Farrel in format and although I'm hoping to write the story in my personal usual writing style I will definitely be borrowing a lot of my descriptors, symbols, and so on and so forth from O'Farrel - there will be some of mine too though :)

Warnings for this chapter: discussions of death, murder references, manipulation, forced marriage, misogyny, violence, abuse, child abuse

AO3 link

If anyone would like to be tagged let me know :)

Chapter Six - Necessary Action

Krepost, near Pykan - Now

Aleksander is keen for Alina to eat a good meal, but the thought of her impending death has stolen her appetite. He persists, despite her half-hearted claims of simply feeling full, and encourages her to try some of the venison, baked in wine, laying in wait on one of the many plates scattered across the table. Despite the large array of food before her, all Alina has done so far is pick distractedly at bread - though at least she managed to finish most of her soup. She didn’t much care for soup. She hoped it was not the last thing she was going to eat.

It was this thought, more than Aleksander’s insistence although she supposed she ought to look as though she cared about that too, that made Alina agree to take a bite of the venison. The idea of venison disturbs her. It does not mean, like many of the words pertaining to meat usually do, to refer to any specific part of the beast she is eating. It only means, at least to Alina’s understanding, this is meat, we cut it off a deer, it could be any individual part of the deer and we probably don’t even know which one, but I’m sure it's probably fine. And there was something about eating a deer that made her nervous, that felt different to any other meat that might have been placed in front of her. She imagines a stag as she dares to approach this meal, and a beautiful one at that. Where on her beautiful animal has this come from? She imagines antlers protruding from the food, or a mournful, frightened eye. She doesn’t know why eating deer bothers her far more than beef or pork or lamb - not even lamb, when she has always found the little creatures so sweet and dear, bothers her like this - she only knows for certain that it does, and that is that.

Still, it makes Aleksander smile when she manages to gulp down a mouthful, and then another. He tells that she’s looking thin, that he wants her to recover from her recent illness, that it is good to eat plenty of meat and keep your strength high. She wonders why he cares, if he is going to kill her anyway, but she stomachs another bite of the meat that she is still trying to separate from the pretty stag still living free and safe inside her mind.

“It is important for a person to have meat juices in their blood,” Aleksander says, watching her.

Alina nods and takes another bite, preoccupied by cutting the rest of her meat into small pieces and dropping them into her napkin when he turns his head. It is an upsettingly childish image, she thinks. She is supposed to be strong, in her mind even if not in her body. She is supposed to be forming a plan, like she had promised the voice of Ana Kuya sitting by her side.

It has been three years since Alina last made any kind of real plan, and looking back on it now she feels it was a weak one. She had stepped over the hallowed threshold of her father’s office with such determination that she hoped the sheer amount of it would counterbalance her lack of confidence, repeating in her head the words she had practised in her room. The place was buzzing with the work of secretaries and scribes, several of whom glanced up and showed aghast expressions at the small girl, barely thirteen, with her head held high and her hands clasped tightly together at her front, before quickly lowering their gazes back to their work. Alina reminded herself that they did not know the reason she held her grip on her own fingers so tightly was so that the shaking would cease; they saw poise, she told herself, and they saw defiance. Defiance could be powerful, if you used it right. It could also be painfully crushing if you did not.

Gregor Starkov was standing before a lectern, his advisor, Perlich, hovering by his shoulder as was his seemingly perpetual place. He did not look up when Alina first attempted to get his attention; he was reading something, who knew what, with his finger placed upon the line to keep his place as his eyes moved through the words.

“Father?” she tried again, twisting her fingers against each other now and suddenly feeling that they looked far less poised than they did frightened.

Her shoulders had hunched and she told them off silently as she corrected her posture. Perlich, without looking up from the document to see her, held up a hand so his blank palm, an empty sheet of paper, was facing Alina. But Alina could not hold in her words for much longer. She was running out of time. At any moment the marriage contract might be signed and sealed and shipped away to Os Alta, and then what would she ever be able to do to escape it?

“Papa? I…” she breathed, “I do not wish to marry this man. I am sorry if this disappoints you, but-”

Gregor looked up.

“My dear,” he moved away from his desk, cocking his head to one side as he studied the unprecedented sight of his youngest daughter, his scrawniest child, standing in his offices as he and his people worked, “Come,”

He beckoned her with a single finger. His fingers were longer than Alina’s, she thought vaguely, and they looked stronger too, like they would be able to hold more weight balanced on top of them than Alina could clutch between her arms. She moved slowly towards the desk, unsure what was about to happen.

“Alina,” he placed a hand on each of her shoulders and eased her another step closer, so that she was enclosed on either side by the falling sweep of his dark cloak.

Like a cavern, she thought, mindlessly, like a shroud.

“I understand that you are nervous,” he said, voice gentle, leaning in so close their foreheads could almost touch, “Marriage is a big change for a young woman; it can be a daunting prospect,”

“I-”

“But you must not worry, ‘Lina. Your mother will prepare you for every part of married life, as she did your sister - and look at Eva. She was nervous before her wedding, wasn’t she? And is she not happy now?”

Eva, at least in front of her younger sister, had professed no nerves whatsoever. But it was different for her. Eva’s husband was not too dissimilar in age to her, was he? And Eva got to live here, in Os Kervo, whilst her husband stayed in Ryevost and they only saw each other once every two months or so, whilst Alina was to be sent away to Os Alta, to a city she didn’t know, a dialect she’d never spoken, a world beyond the walls of the dvorets she had left so few times she could count them on her hands.

“And I would only ever choose the best type of man for you, wouldn’t I? How else could I possibly bear to part with my precious girl?”

He tucked a lock of hair behind Alina’s ear, smiling, and for one fleeting moment she felt hope sparking in her chest. He cares about me. I am his precious girl, and when he sees just how much this hurts me he’ll understand, he’ll cancel all of it to keep me safe.

“You do trust your Papa, don’t you?”

“Of course, Papa, but-”

“Have I not always taken care of you?”

“Yes, Papa, but-”

“Well then, all this worrying is for nothing. I mean, look at myself and your mother - we had barely met before our marriage, as you well know for how many times you asked to hear our love story, my sunbeam - and we could not be happier. Aleksander is a good man. He will one day be a Duke. He is cultured, and wise, and-”

“He is so old!” Alina blurted, not sure if she’d intended to or not.

“He is not yet thirty. What am I by your standards, ‘Lina, a crumbling, ancient man on his way to the grave?”

His tone was playful, but Alina didn’t miss the warning in his eyes, the hidden sharp edge beneath his words.

“Worry no more,” he said, linking his arm through hers as he began to steer her towards the door, “This is going to be a most successful match, little sunbeam. I promise you,”

The doorway was approaching, and then the hallway, and then failure. Doom. Last chance.

“Could we not marry him to my cousin instead?” she almost cried out, far less smoothly and politely than she’d rehearsed.

Gregor paused, looking down at his daughter as though he had only just realised the real depth of her pleas.

“Excuse me?”

“Ivanna is of maritable age – closer in age to Aleksander than me, and she is very beautiful. We could say that I cannot marry, for some reason - that I am sickly maybe - but that he could marry her instead. I’m sure that Aleksander and his father would like if they saw her, and-”

Alina had just been rambling by that point, spilling so many words from between her lips so quickly that she was starting to lose track of where she was going, to the point that she was almost grateful for her father’s interruption.

“Ivanna will marry your brother, Petro,” he said coolly, “It was already been agreed upon,”

Alina blinked. Her first thought was that a match between Ivanna and Petro made unbelievably little sense, considering their personalities. Her second thought, if she had known more curses than she did, would have been oh, fuck but was instead more like a blind panic, or an alarm bell ringing in the distance.

“But what if we-”

“I said it has already been agreed upon. The decision has been made,”

Alina’s mind scrambled for a new plan, a new idea, anything to stop the walls from closing in around her as the one exit route she’d seen vanished before her eyes. What would Ana do? What would Zoya have done?

Alina had been struck, in that moment, with wondering whether Zoya had wanted to marry Aleksander. Part of her hoped that she had done, because it meant that death was not the only escape route. Part of her hoped that she hadn’t done, and that was the part that kept reminding her about the nightmares she’d had, nightmares of Zoya blaming Alina for stealing her life.

“I have corresponded with Aleksander’s father a great deal, and we are both certain that this shall be a celebrated marriage. One day you will look back on this conversation, and you will think-”

“Papa, please,” Alina’s voice cracked. She could feel the dangerous press of tears gathering behind her eyes, in the back of her throat, “I don’t want to marry him. Please, don’t give me to him,”

Gregor leaned back slightly, regarding her with an expression she did not know how to read, before he spun on his heel and paced back towards his lectern with a dismissive wave of the hand. In the future Alina will never be sure whether or not he intended to hear the words he muttered then:

“Intolerable. It will be a miracle if they don’t regret the union and return her to us within a month,”

Alina is drawn back into the room at the krepost somewhat distractedly, and realises after a beat that she is supposed to be listening to some story or other that is leaving her husband’s mouth in a slow, monotonous drone. Something about a hunting trip here when he was a small child, eight or nine perhaps, brought along with his father, and how he found a wild boar but could not bring himself to fire a single arrow.

“It was a female,” he tells her, “and there were three young travelling with her. I should have shot, and I knew my father would be angry if he knew I’d missed the chance, but I couldn't do it. I just watched them from horseback, until they moved on,”

“And was your father angry?”

Alina cannot tell if Aleksander is smiling or grimacing.

“He had me beaten,” he said, simply, “He said it was so I would always remember not to let sentiment get in the way of necessary action,”

She considers this advice, an unpleasant gift from a dead father, and turns it over in her head. Sentiment. Necessary action. Was it not possible for them to co-exist?

“My father keeps a menagerie at his dvorets,” Alina says, though she’s not entirely certain why she’s telling him, “He keeps all manner of animals there,”

“I have heard of this,” Aleksander nods, eagerly, “Did you ever see them fight?”

“That was only for visitors,” Alina concedes easily, “And perhaps my brothers, I don’t know. But I went there once, he let my elder siblings and I visit when I was young. There was this tiger, you see, and I-”

Why is she saying this? Why is she giving him this piece of herself? Alina closes her mouth.

Aleksander is regarding her with close interest, gathering information and insights, pulling her loose threads together until he’s prepared to unravel her into bear pieces.

She could have told him about the tiger coming at her, she was just seven years old, of the anger and fear that had burned inside its eyes as it approached. She could have told him about her little girl’s certainty that this beautiful, strong creature would not hurt her, because it would see that they shared something deep inside their souls. She had reached out to the flank of the tiger with her tiny hand and laid her palm gently into its fur, and had felt something that even now she didn’t have the words for glowing inside her chest. But then everyone was shouting, everyone was terrified, and a guard had looped his arm around Alina’s waist and lifted her clean off the ground to carry her away from the cage, his feet jolting her up and down as he ran. Alina had cried out, tried desperately to wriggle free, to at least see the tiger one more time, but then she was outside and the door was closing and the servants and the guards and her father were all ushering the children away with ashen faces. She could tell him that this is one of the few memories she has of her father hugging her, and that all she had wanted to do was run away from his embrace. She could tell him that she felt like she had lost something, broken something, that could not be found or repaired again.

“That was dangerous,” Zoya had said to her, afterwards, “Why would you do that?”

Alina shrugged. She didn’t have an answer that made sense.

She could tell Aleksander all of this. She could tell him that, some time later when her father was overseeing one of their music lessons, she had plucked up the courage to ask him if there was any chance of seeing the tiger again and he had torn her world apart with casual, carefree words.

“I’m afraid the tiger has been killed,”

“Killed?” she’d asked, as though the word belonged to a language that she was yet to learn.

“The lion and lioness both set upon her together; a careless servant left the partition between their cages open. The beast fought bravely, but it was no match for both of them together,” he gave a shrug of annoyance, “And what’s worse is that the pelt was ruined, so it couldn’t even be taken from the carcass. It greatly disappointed your mother,”

Alina could tell Aleksander that she was taken ill that very afternoon. A medik came to bleed her, to lay a poultice on her chest, to check her temperature, before administering a sedative and diagnosing her with a fever if the nerves. Alina was quarantined on one of the lower floors, and the medik regretfully informed her parents that it was difficult to say if she’d survive.

She spent several weeks alone, seeing only the dvorets medik and the servant who’d been charged with her care. Her mother would visit her from time to time and Alina began to rally only when she did so. Once she swam up from a fitful sleep, full of strange images and unreadable messages, to find that Milana was sitting at her bedside. The lower half of her face was covered by a scarf to prevent inhalation of the sickness.

“Mama?”

Milana was unwrapping little brown packages with swift fingers, each one revealing a little glass statue of an animal, no bigger than Alina’s seven-year-old thumb, and placing them around the bedsheets. A blue stag, a green fish Alina could not identify, a red and orange bird. She was telling Alina, though Alina was bleary and ill and exhausted so did not entirely take every detail in, that she had ordered them as a special gift from Weddle because the Zemeni city was famous for its glass artists. All the way from Weddle? Alina thought, Right on the other side of the True Sea? Milana was also telling her that, after a brief line of people following the art tutor, a drawing of Alina’s had made its way into her possession.

“It is believed,” she said, still unwrapping more of the little glass animals and holding each of them up in turn for Alina to see, “that you should join the drawing lessons with your siblings. Would you like that, ‘Lina?”

She danced a little glass bear in front of Alina’s face to make her smile, which Alina did even though she was distractedly searching her addled mind to try and figure out what drawing her mother could possibly be talking about.

“Yes, Mama,” she managed, though her voice was strained from illness, because even through her pain and confusion she knew that this would make her mother happy, “Thank you,”

Milana smiled, but her eyes were still frightened, tinged maybe with the edge of desperate hope.

“You must get well, then,” she whispered, stroking her daughter’s cheek, “So you can begin. You will get well, Alina?”

Alina hadn’t been entirely certain if that was a question or not, but she nodded anyway and gripped her mother’s hand tightly.

When Alina returned, she was thinner and quieter than ever. She spent hours on end arranging and rearranging her glass animals on the nursery window ledges, seemingly content to speak to no-one. She began to partake in drawing lessons, and after a few weeks of this the art tutor began to stay behind after the lessons to tutor her alone. In these sessions he would not so much teach as sit with her whilst they drew together and he would provide her guidance.

Alina could tell Aleksander all of this, thereby giving him keys to certain gates and doors inside herself, but she does not. She will not permit him access. She will not admit that without the art tuition, which continued until her marriage, she does not think she would have recovered or survived her bout of illness. She will not admit that the glass animals were the only thing that had ever made her feel close to her mother, and that she cried and screamed when her brother Petro knocked them off the window ledge and trod on the ones that didn’t smash upon first impact. She will keep all these words locked up tightly inside of her, and when Aleksander asks what happened to the tiger she gives him a banal smile and says:

“I’ve no idea, but perhaps my father sold her. My mother hates the menagerie, and my father is always eager to make her happy,”

Aleksander nods, reaching across to the table again to wrap his hand around hers.

“You are cold, my love,” his voice is like velvet, “Have some more of the venison. It will warm you,”

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slashingdisneypasta · 1 year

Note

Alrighty, here's the Ursula and octopus facts ask I promised. I hope you get a kick out of these facts!

(I know you said that you'd be focusing on your school and original writing for a few weeks. I promise I'm not trying to get you to respond or anything, these asks are meant to be for later before I forget to send them. Though if you'd rather I stop, I completely understand and I apologize)

- around two-thirds of an octopus' neurons are in their tentacles, meaning they actually have a mind of their own in more ways than one. Imagine you're hanging out with Ursula, but she's too focused on her potion-making or something to notice you or pay attention to you, but her tentacles are just immediately drawn to you (this can be as sweet or spicy as you want it to be)

- The blood of an octopus is blue. Considering the popular saying that royalty have blue blood and the fact that Ursula said she was a part of the royal court, I like to think that was a silent nod to this fact.

- As the image shows, what you might expect to be where an octopus' hoohah is, is actually where its mouth, or beak, is. Can you imagine your trying to get intimate with Ursula and you're trying to find her area, only to encounter this? (Obviously, since she's neither human nor octopus, her anatomy most likely won't be exactly like one or the other. But I find the idea of nearly getting my fingers bit off while trying to find the octo-V hilarious so I'm going with this)

- Speaking of the beak, since octopuses have no skeleton aside from the beak, they can fit through... Pretty much anything that their beak can fit through. There are plenty of videos on YouTube of octopuses squeezing through things they shouldn't. I know we saw Ursula's skeleton when Eric stabbed her, but can you imagine if your octo-wife just squeezed her entire body through one of the smallest openings in your home to come inside?

- Octopuses have been known to form a kind of symbiotic relationship with other fish; the fish helps them hunt, and in turn, they split the kill. However, some octopuses have been seen punching (Yes, punching) the fish they are supposed to be working with. Some researchers believe it might be because the fish crossed them before, it's to keep the fish in line, or simply because the octopus felt spiteful (they do have the brain capacity of a two-year-old, so they should theoretically be able to be spiteful like a child). Considering what kind if buisness Ursula runs, this checks out.

- Octopus can change not only their colors, but the texture of their skin to match their environment and blend in. Can you imagine visiting Ursula and at first you don't see her, and then it turns out she was camouflaged against the wall? (Could also be taken as funny, sweet, or spicy you want)

- And finally, octopuses have been seen changing their colors and textures while sleeping, implying that they dream (not confirmed, but still an implication). Imagine you're sleeping with Ursula, and you see her whole body shifting while she's snoozing. I wonder what she'd dream about?

And that's it for today. I hope you like these! ^^

Some of these are actually really really cute!! I see what you mean, that some of these can be cute or spicy XD Definitely XD I'm going with cute for now, because like--

Now I cant stop imagining the one where Ursula's busy but her tentacles at least 'still love you' (Not that Ursula doesn't, she's just preoccupied XD More like 'they have attention for you'. They're more then happy to take you for a while), wrapping around you and touching your face and making you giggle. They're allll affection. Rubbing your sides, swiping under your eyes, softly poking your cheeks, nudging your chin upwards, slithering up and down your fingers and around and around your arms, etc. They just cannot get enough of you!!

Uhhhh and I know I said we were gonna look at the cute stuff buttttt... Imagine Ursula waiting, camouflaged against a wall, for you to come in so she can ambush you. Her minds a wreck, she's so gone. Her tentacles going haywire, her movements quick and frenzied. She's been thinkin about you all day, sweetheart!! All she can think about is your sweet lips, your lovely fingers, your beautiful skin... picture her cornering you against a dark wall, her hair wafting in her face, a sharp smirk on her mouth!! She's begging you but she is in the position of power, she cant help it. Its in her dna!

Also I love the punching thing XDD I loved all these actually, thank you for sending them!! ^^

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shipsgaysfordays · 1 year

Text

What? (Mary and Sirius POV)

Links to the other chapters here

I’m updating this fic again, I know it’s a shocker. I’m really hoping to get this done over the summer. Also, if you haven’t read any of this fic, I’ll be honest that I think it is totally possible to just jump in in this chapter. Like some shit might not make as much sense, but I’m happy if anyone gets into the fic at any point please.

“There’s a lovin’ in your eyes, all the way. If I listen to your lies would you say, I’m a man, without conviction? I’m a man who doesn’t know how to make a decision. You come and go, you come and go-o-o-o.”

Mary’s portable radio emits Boy George’s voice, as Harry and her listen along. A stuffed bear in the boys hands, crochet together, sewn up in spots, thin with years of love causing stuffing to spew out.

As the chorus begins and the “karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon” is repeated over and over on the radio, Harry’s leg shakes with excitement and he flops the bear (Mr. Beary) ‘s arms around.

Sitting on the couch, Mary hears the sound of a car engine running, driving closer and closer. She grins from ear to ear at Harry, both gitty that his parents would be home in just a few moments.

The door bangs into the wall with momentum, as Lily bolts inside, running into the living room, and wraps her son in her arms. Kissing him all over, Harry giggles.

“See, I told you she would be home soon,” Mary smiled.

James walked in to find this scene, his wife and son together, and Mary just kind of there.

“Well, I was going to ask if I could have my son, but he seems a bit preoccupied. How did things go with babysitting, Mary?” He turned to face her.

“No fires, accidents, or pranks–so better than babysitting a drunk 16-year-old you,” she remarked.

“Give him time, greatness wasn’t made in a day.”

“It’s Rome wasn't built in a day,” Lily corrects, brushing her hand in Harry’s hair,“and you better not be insulting this sweet boy, trying to make him a troublemaker like you.”

“Nothing of the sort, just leaving options open,” James grins.

“Sure James, sure,” Mary winked.

“I don’t believe McGonagall would appreciate ANOTHER POTTER terrorizing the school with mischief.”

“And I don’t believe Harry should have his head glued to a textbook for his whole schooling experience.”

James picked up a magazine, flipped to a random page and placed it down on his son's head. Harry held onto his new hat, making sure to keep it on as his mother incessantly began swatting it off.

“I’m not saying that–” Lily interjected.

“But it’s his decision.”

“What would you like to do Harry?” Mary cut in, “when you finally go to Hogwarts?”

The kid thought for a moment, his hand on his chin in an adorable yet deep in thought expression, he glanced at his mother and father, “Don’t know…”

“Nothing comes to mind?”

“It’s a secret.”

“A secret?” the three adults spoke in unison.

“Can we know the secret?” James asked as Lily let Harry down, him having gotten a bit too big to be held for super long.

“You’ll find out later.”

Things went silent for a moment, until the little boy said, “Miss Mary can know.”

The husband and wife made an amused smirk as Harry waddled over and whispered in Mary’s ear, “Magic.”

Mary couldn’t help laughing, “Yeah, I think you’ll get plenty of opportunities to do that there.”

Harry leaned back over, “and quidditch!” He spoke just a bit too loud for the poor woman’s ear drums and for the secret status of the words.

Mary got up and tapped James on the shoulder, “He’s your son alright.”

“I’ve never felt the need to question the paternity of my child, but thank you for letting us know,” Lily quipped.

“So,” Lily taps the seat on the couch next to her, staring into Mary’s soul while in mom mode, “how did things go while we were away?”

“They went fine, again, he’s eaten and slept, he’s alive and you’re happy, right Harry?”

Harry laid on the floor, playing dead.

“Oh Merlin, we’ve lost him, noooooooo,” James played, shaking his son, “how could you do this Mary?”

“What did he eat?” Lily rolled her eyes at the antics.

“Cheese on toast for dinner, some yogurt and fruit for breakfast, and we haven’t eaten lunch just yet but he’s stolen quite a few of my biscuits as a snack so he may not want lunch too soon.”

“How much sleep did he get?”

“We went to bed around…8,” Mary lied.

“Lily, stop trying to interrogate her,” James interjected as he shook Harry’s arms about, still trying to get him up and alive.

“I’m not–”

“You are, lying doesn’t look good on you dear, either of you,” he winks at Mary.

Harry giggles as James begins tickling his stomach.

“HE’S ALIVE!” Mary gasps.

“I think I may need to get some tools and experiment on this great discovery of necromancy, if you need me or patient zero, we’ll be up in his room,” James holds Harry’s hand and leads him out the room, turning to Lily and winking before heading up the stairs.

“What was the wink about? Are you guys gonna get into some…interesting stuff of your own later?” Mary smirks.

Lily’s face is redder than her hair. “What? Heh, no, ummm, actually….oh, how do I say this?”

“Probably verbally, you could try sign though, I’m still pretty new to learning it though so I may not get it.”

“You’re learning sign language?”

“Here and there, but that’s beside the point.” Mary leans in holding Lily’s warm cheeks with her hands, “What’s your secret? Would it be better to whisper in my ear like the kid did?”

Lily smiles, “James and I aren’t in a romantic relationship anymore.”

Mary’s eyes go as wide as the world, scratch that, the galaxy.

“And that’s…okay, that’s good? You’re smiling about it, so…”

“Yes, it’s good, Mary.”

“So, you’re just fucking no strings attached…with a kid?”

“What? No,” Lily laughed, “I don’t–we just don’t feel that way about each other, we’re mates, and despite a long time of both of us denying it, we’re not really into each other.”

“Then why?” Mary asked, sounding as though a rock shattered her glass heart.

“It made his parents happy, it made my parents happy, everyone expected it. It was some fated love, something that was bound to happen, but when it came down to it there wasn’t much there. James is amazing, he’s the best father any kid could have, but I never really wanted a husband and he never truly wanted a wife.”

“So, no more marriage for Madame Lily?” Mary plastered a smile onto her face.

“Maybe someday, if Harry’s fine with it and it’s not too awkward for all of us. Not to a man though, I’m…a lesbian.”

“Oh…..did you find some gal here?”

“Sort of, she’s a lot more nearby than you would expect,” Lily leaned in.

She’s not, she cannot be saying, no.

“Oh,” the sound came out of Mary’s mouth without her even thinking of it, not even knowing as the neurotransmitters had sent signals from her brain right through the larynx and the sound landed out of her lips.

“I missed you, more than anything else in the world, I missed you,” Lily’s eyes were like moss, beautiful clumps of colors, begging to be seen, to be known, to be loved once more by this viewer of the earth.

“I missed you too, but–” Mary started.

Rudely she was interrupted by the sound of a loud thud and crackle of wall by the garage entrance followed by a quite loud “DAMN IT.”

(Changing to Sirius’ POV for a bit because it’s necessary for the story)

At the scene of the destruction as James is transfiguring the wall to be fixed with Sirius next to him, a little bit of blood on zer knuckles.

“I know that they are hurting and I need to give him time, but I am hurting too. And I love Moony, but…I am hurting too and I want to help him but I’m not even whole. How can I give myself when all that’s left are broken pieces and parts and screams and breaking walls and–” Sirius’ hands moved wildly as ze spoke, all culminating in zer sitting in the fetal position.

“Sirius,” James interrupted, “you’re fine to give yourself time, we could play some quidditch or do something else that you love, your world doesn’t have to revolve around Moony.”

Sirius stared off.

“I don’t know how to be with them anymore, still I don’t know how to live without them. They’re everything to me, and just yesterday they were trying to kill me.”

“Give yourself space.”

“But he needs–”

“He needs to figure themself out, just the same as you, you need to figure out whether it’s more beneficial to figure yourselves out together or apart.”

“I’ve been away from them for years, I don’t want to waste whatever time…” Sirius started to tear up.

“It’s not wasting time to get out, Sirius, but the decision is up to you.” James held zer hand up and examined it, “episkey,” he mutters softly.

There’s a moment of silence as the two men look at each other, the years wearing on both of them though more visibly obvious in Sirius, as though ze had been in Azkaban for 12 years rather than simply 3. Bandages still on zer neck. Hair long and knotted. Eyes having lost so much of the light and joy that James loved to see in his friend.

Their silence was interrupted by an only slightly muffled “FUCK” coming from outside.

Sirius had been staring off, in a bit of a trance.

“I’m going to go…check on them, can I? Will you be fine?” James touched zeir shoulder to get zer attention.

Ze nodded, “Just fine Prongs, just fine.”

(Mary POV once more)

When the women arrived at the sight of Sirius sitting on the ground and staring into space, Lily slowly slipped away as Mary turned to her and made a face. James looked at Mary and waved her off, mouthing “I’ve got this.” And despite Mary’s constant desire to interject, she too backed out of the situation knowing that her presence may make things too much for Sirius.

“I’m gonna make some tea, and maybe some sweets to go along with it. That would convince Remus, they always loved sweets, right?” Lily looked to Mary for assurance after they were out of earshot from James and Sirius.

“Yeah…” Mary stared back, are we gonna talk about, her mind wandered.

Flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, salt, everything that could get on the counters and their clothes somehow did get on the counters and their clothes. Finger sandwiches being made and cut. Store bought croissants being placed on a pan to be warmed up to hopefully fool Sirius into believing they homemade them. Gooey brownies leaving a sweet scent through the room.

As things were coming out of the oven and cooling off, Lily placed a pot of water to boil and stood next to Mary, both women stacking goodies onto plates.

“I really did miss you,” Lily said, looking down.

Unsure of what to say, Mary let the silence afterwards continue.

“Through all of it, honestly…”

“I missed you too,” Mary finally responded, “but–”

Lily closed the little distance that was between them, her warm breath tingling on Mary’s skin, “but?” she taunted.

“I–I don’t know if this is right,” Mary’s face was as hot as a furnace, “I don’t know if I can trust you anymore or love you that way anymore after everything.”

“Just be with me now, please, you’re everything to me,” Lily held Mary up against the fridge, and snogged her.

What about James? What about Harry? You have a family that I am not a part of. But Mary doesn’t say the quiet part out loud because she honestly did miss this.

#marylily #marylily fic #mary macdonald fic #mary macdonald #sirius black #post azkaban sirius #post azkaban wolfstar #complicated wolfstar #toxic wolfstar #like i'm sorry but i'll be honest it's a toxic relationship in this fic #little harry potter #james potter #james potter is the best friend ever #lily evans #lily potter #lily is in love with mary #wolfstar fic

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ranger-kellyn · 2 years

Text

Out of the Woods WIP (4)

Please note this is from my NaNoWriMo project this year, where it's "Legnds Arceus but it's Cynthia and Diantha who go back in time". As with all nano projects, editing is limited also. the only context i'll offer you is, for this fic, adaman and irida knew each other growing up, ALSO that one of the things i've added in this fic is giving some of my Tlingit culture to both the clans. there's a word in here that is Tlingit, and it's an endearment. it's roughly pronounced (soft t), t'say-yeh. a lot of tlingit vocalizations are just. impossible. to spell out lmao

AO3

------

Irida found herself pacing– desperately trying to come up with a solid reason to leave. Of course there were plenty. He was the leader of the other clan. Their clans were barely on amicable terms as it already was. It would only complicate things –never mind the part where they had already hurt one another once before… She wasn’t sure she could face that kind of pain ever again– not from the same man.

But the ghost of his hand on her waist remained. Warm amidst the icy cold of the caverns. Secure and splayed out across her stomach, spooked by the Zorua in the caverns, but not enough to push aside some clear desire to keep her safe.

He was a guest in her home…and any good leader would assure her guests were properly attended to.

Swallowing the last of her pride, she pressed on.

At the end of the clan house was the room given to him. Usually offered for visiting elders or sages, it was the best her clan could offer a visiting leader. To her knowledge, no other Diamond Clan leader in recent history had stepped foot into the building.

Warm pinks in the tapestries that lined the hall– the whole building was empty. With an early winter, travelers were few and far between, leaving Cynthia and Diantha at the front of the longhouse, and Adaman in the back.

His door was open, and she almost wished it hadn’t been. One last barrier to give her a reason to turn around…

He walked in front of the doorway, her heart lurching in her chest, but she remained unnoticed to him. Too busy preoccupied with moving a log into the fireplace to notice her.

Her pulse rose under her skin, lightheaded with anxiety –anticipation…she wasn’t sure.

She wasn’t even sure if the feeling was warranted. For all she knew, it was all in her head –completely one sided. He was merely humoring her– or just bored and there was still a part of her that was familiar enough–

She shook her head, drawing a sharp breath, trying to shake the doubt from her mind.

Coming to stand in the doorway, a quick knock of a knuckle on the frame. “Adaman,” she said, voice softer than she intended.

He turned at the sound of her voice, a smile-leaning smirk that left a stir in her stomach. He pushed his hair back over his head, the simple motion warming her in a way that distinctly felt shameful. “The Pearl Clan leader graces me with her presence,” he said, a lilt in his tone clearly trying to get a rise out of her. “To what do I owe the visit?” he asked.

She swallowed hard, averting her gaze to the warmth of the fireplace. His teasing was just enough to knock the wind out of her sails, worrying she simply was just a distraction. “What kind of leader would I be if I didn’t assure my guests were attended to?” she asked, begging her voice to remain even.

His shoulders rose in a suppressed laugh. “Have you already attended to Cynthia and Diantha?” he asked.

She spared him a glance. “Cynthia annoyed me enough for one day, thank you,” she huffed.

“But you haven’t got your fill of me?” he asked, the question bold enough to dust both their cheeks with color.

She whipped her head back over to him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.

He breathed a laugh, looking off to the side, cleverly having flustered himself. “What are you really here for?” he asked.

Leaning off the doorway, she broke against all reason, stepping into the warm space. “I meant that– you are a guest in my home. I want to ensure you are comfortable,” she lied.

He nodded, looking around the room. “I assure you I am. You have my gratitude,” he said, half turned from her. “I must admit, though– I fully never expected to see the inside of these halls,” he said.

She nodded, stepping ever so closer. “And now that you’ve seen them, what are you thinking?” she asked.

His voice softened, the teasing bravado leaving his posture. “I can only hope this won’t be the last time,” he said, hesitating.

The hesitation was almost the worst part. He was a man who valued his time. For him to hesitate– was he trying to not offend her? Did he want her to leave?

“I also hope to one day be able to extend the same kindness to you in Valor,” he said, color returning to his cheeks, while fire flooded hers.

He was there out of necessity. He was there because they needed assistance from the Great Braviary. To wish to extend the same to her could only be done after the –with any luck– upcoming time of peace.

She wanted to tell him she wished for the very same, but the words refused her, stuck behind her short breaths, which he mistook for a hard no.

“Ah– but I suppose that all…is wishful thinking. I understand if you–”

She was quick to cut him off, reaching out, but snatching her hand back at the last second. “No–!” She begged for her mind to catch up. “No– I– Adaman I would…love nothing more. In fact I…” She didn’t think she would necessarily breach the topic so soon– but it was now or never. “I had hoped to talk with you as a leader about something. Something I am planning for once all of this is over,” she said.

He glanced past her to the door –a hint she took.

“Do you have some time?” she asked.

“For you? Always,” he answered too quickly.

She nodded. Glancing down the hall before closing his door, she was grateful to Almighty Sinnoh that nobody was around to risk witnessing such a thing. Closing herself in the room with another leader– she’d be ousted by the Elders by morning…

Turning around, Adman stood by, brown eyes intent on her.

She stepped closer –closer than was necessary. “I know I will receive lots of pushback from our– the Pearl Clan Elders, but…once all of this is over, I plan on issuing a decree to–” She swallowed hard, her mouth dry. “To dismantle the separation of our clans. Any Pearl Clan Villages across Hisui will be open to anyone from the Diamond Clan.”

His heart skipped a beat. For a split second, he thought the need to pinch himself, to ensure this was real. Or to ensure it wasn’t the trick of some cruel Zoroark, feeding on his fears of being in the icelands. “You’re sure?” he asked, crossing his arms.

She nodded, looking up at him. “Positive. I know we are both well aware of how mixed our clans already are, and that we simply choose to not see it…but I wish to formalize it being…allowable? I suppose? I’m tired of pretending to not notice. I…I think it should be celebrated– however, the celebration of it cannot be achieved without your approval as well.” Every word simultaneously felt more blasphemous than the last. Her ancestors were surly cursing her from beyond the grave.

“You have it.”

She opened her mouth to further try to make her case, stopping short when she realized she didn't have to. “You’re sure?” she asked. “Just like that?” she followed up.

He nodded, uncrossing his arms. “Irida– it has never once escaped me that you and I were called upon to lead despite being from one of our most mixed villages. It also hasn’t escaped me that the same could be said for nearly every warden between our clans. I think…” He breathed a laugh, looking off to the side. “Damn woman,” he said under his breath with a laugh, confusing her. “Maybe it’s not wise to share such a thing with an outsider in the way she is– but after sharing my vision with Diantha– she is positive we misunderstood our calls to lead.”

Her heart skipped a beat. Cynthia had said the very same thing.

“Almighty Sinnoh wants us to cease all this meaningless fighting. To end these generations of separation and torment. We may not agree on who or what the true Almighty Sinnoh is, but�� I am willing to find that answer alongside you,” he said.

‘It won’t be easy,” she said in a whisper.

He stepped closer, enough to feel one another's warmth. “It won’t,” he agreed. “There is still much resentment between our Elders and our people closest to Valor and Acuity– but if our far flung villages can see the good in one another, I believe we can help Valor and Acuity see it, too. It was our dream all along, wasn’t it?” he asked.

“It was,” she said in a whisper. “It still is.”

Silence sat heavy between them.

The admission left them both desperate to reach out to one another. To see if they weren’t alone in their feelings. To be sure that despite having no choice but to break one another’s heart in the past, that they had never truly moved on. That their first choice was always the other.

“What are you really here for?” he asked again, putting the control of it all in her hands.

“Adaman,” she said, caving as she stepped closer to him, hands reaching for his coat. “You should probably tell me to leave now.”

His hands snaked around her back, keeping her in place. “I’m in your home. I don’t get to tell you what to do,” he said, swallowing hard. “Even if I did, I don’t want you to.”

As much as she had been wanting confirmation that he still felt the same– she hated the admission. She hated it to her very core. She hated it because she wanted to admit the very same. “We can’t,” she said, her voice lacking conviction. “Not yet.” Though, as she said it, she wasn’t even entirely sure that they truly ever would. Even if they did allow their clans to formally mix– would the same be afforded to them…?

“I am aware,” he said, pulling her flush against him, enjoying what he could of every second of her curves against him. “But why are we fighting what we know is mutual?”

He knew it was a stupid question. A question to avoid why they couldn't –because in the moment, the overwhelming want was enough to drown out all reason.

Her hand left his coat, trailing up to his cheek, holding him softly. A kindness both had nearly forgotten about, so accustomed to the years of holding onto resentment and putting up appearances. When he leaned into her touch, she felt her heart skip a painful beat. “Because we both know that if we give in once, we’ll give in again.” And again, and again, and again…

He hummed, the sound low as it reverberated in her own chest. It had been so long since he last held her in his arms. So long since he last had a chance to act upon anything…

If she would have him, he found no will to resist.

“I must admit, I want to make that tomorrow’s problem,” he said, turning his head just enough for his lips to brush her palm. Not a kiss, but at the same time…it wasn’t not a kiss.

She breathed a laugh. “You don’t leave problems to be solved later. Sounds to me like you want to waste time,” she teased, her thumb tracing his lips as he turned back.

“No time I spend in your presence is ever wasted,” he said.

She wanted to call him a liar. To point out every last instance of the times where it seemed he couldn't stand being around her for even a second longer– but she couldn't find it within herself to do so. Not when he was looking at her wish such conviction. Conviction and warmth, the fire bringing out all the warm undertones of his brown eyes.

“Tseiyï,” he said in a whisper, her heart threatening to rip clean out of her own chest with the way the word rolled off his tongue.

Such a simple word. Such a simple endearment…One she hadn’t heard in years.

Instead of calling him a liar, she pulled him down, having to stand on her toes to reach him. Years of want thrust into one kiss– warm and soft. When he sighed against her, he took with it every last thread of their mutual hesitance.

Pulling away for a breath, they just as quickly went back for another.

Then he laughed.

He laughed.

Pulling away, he looked off to the side –shy in a way she hadn’t seen since they were young.

“Why are you laughing?” she sputtered, her face warm enough to leave her lightheaded.

“Forgive me–” he said, reaching up to cradle her face. “For a man who says he values his time so much– I waited far too long to do that.”

She breathed a laugh, putting a hand up to his. “You’re telling me,” she said.

Pressing on boundaries, she moved her hands in his coat, seeking purchase of his back, pulling him into a warm hug. His arms were around her no sooner, warm and strong, he smelled like fresh sage –a soap from the coastlands.

The outside world be damned– she was fully content to stay in his arms all night –forever if she could. “I missed you,” she admitted, smiling when she heard his heart skip a beat.

#clanleadershipping #my fics #wip #wip wednesday #nano blogging #these two own my ass

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