#i hope you know that this ask is what single handedly shot me back into my mcd hyperfixation

[ithinkdogshouldvote]

its tots cool if not but... I saw ur mcd art and I... I need more maybe like shadow night laurnance.. (I'm normal abt him trust) and garroth and aph :33

please and thank you ur art maks me happy.......

Breaking points

[justastraymoa]

Yet Unnamed

Chapter 4

masterlist

Korean is in italics

Warnings for Yet Unnamed: Kidnapping, cuffs, injuries, drugging by injection, mentions of needles, lots of swearing, kissing, fluff, angst, idiots in love all around.

Nothing within reflects anyone or anything irl. Pics off pinterest.

************************************************************************

"I gave you the night. It's time to go public with her." JYP stated.

"You go public, and you will destroy yourself and Stray Kids, dumbass." You snapped. You had literally just established this with the others and were not feeling generous enough to have it again.

"Whether you like it or not you are contracted to JYPE. Best get over it."

"You drugged me and had me sign the contract! I do not have anything to do with JYPE!"

"Think again, honey. You signed the same contract Stray Kids signed. You are legally ours."

You gag at the pet name coming from that man's mouth.

"It won't stick. I'll tell them I was drugged. There is enough physical evidence on me to be believed." You pointed out.

JYP smirked. "You tell them that and you will be single handedly responsible for the downfall of Stray Kids. You willing to do that?"

You purse your lips and glare at him. He had you cornered, and he damn well knew it. He knew what he was doing from the very beginning. But what was his plan to get around the media finding out anyways? Or did he think he was so powerful he could make it all dissapear?

"No." Chan said firmly.

"What do you mean no? I assure you; it very much will end you. If not by media, then by me." JYP threatened.

"I don't care. You will not blackmail Y/n."

You blinked, shocked by this turn and his declaration. Looking around, it seemed like everyone was in agreement with him too.

"You would give all this up. For her?" JYP asked in disbalief.

Hyunjin stepped forward. "You underestimate our soul bond. You have done enough to her. No more."

JYP was stunned into silence. There was no way he saw this coming. You didn't even see this coming! You only just met them, yet they are willing to give up everything for you.

This whole fucking ordeal is absolutely insane. From the very beginning. What even was your life right now? This was a lose-lose situation. Either you get blackmailed into working as JYPs slave and risk the media finding out. Or Stray Kids stands against JYP for you. Either way Stray Kids are done for. Unless somehow the media never finds out the truth.

There had to be a way to head the media off at the pass. You have a degree in business with a specialty in social media and production. If anyone could do it, it was someone like you.

You gasped. You had an idea. "Let's renegotiate the contract JYP." You crossed your arms and half smirked, a plan forming that would benefit all involved.

Lee Know placed a hand on your arm. "You don't need to do that, Y/n. We have your back." He hummed quietly.

You laced your fingers with his. "I appreciate it so much. However, I think I can fix all our problems."

"And how are you going to do that?" JYP challenged.

"You really should have paid more attention to my profile when you hunted me down. I am a social media expert. Given time and the right resources, I can manipulate the facts in our favor."

"What does that mean?" Chan asked.

You smiled, giddy. You couldn't believe you were actually going to do this. "It means, if JYP will meet my terms, I won't have to hide."

"We can show you off?" Felix asked, hope overflowing his entire body.

"What do you say JYP? Tear up that sham of a contract you drugged me into signing and work with me on a new one?"

~

An hour and a half later you were wearing a pair of Hans jeans with a belt and a sweatshirt from I.N. You and Chan sat at a table in a conference room of JYPE way too similar to the room you woke up in just the day before. You eyed the couch warily as you settled in across from JYP and his big shot legal guy.

Chan would be able to help you negotiate a good contract and navigate all the tricky wording. He was a pro at this by now. Or well, better than you were at least.

It took 7 hours of going back and forth. You were not budging on your demands. You weren’t asking for anything outrageous. After what JYP did, he could bend a little for your requests. It was literally the bare fucking minimum.

The craziest thing you were asking for was to be solely in charge of all Stray Kids social media. Both solo accounts and group accounts. Even what went on JYPE pages. And every aspect that went into the posts or on any type of media.

This was part of your plan to head off anyone finding out your origin story. Plus, it gave you a job and a place here, so you weren’t just dead weight getting in people’s way or mooching off everyone. It was also the main demand that JYP was against. He didn’t want to give up that power. You weren’t going to let him keep it. It was now a game of who was going to give in first. And you were one stubborn son of a bitch.

Your heart also hadn’t stopped racing since negotiation began. Chan gripped your cold hand the entire time, not saying a word when adrenaline made your hands sweaty and start to shake. That was the only outward indication of your panic. With tremendous effort you kept your voice steady and firm the entire day.

The other members trickled in one by one as they finished up with their days, starting with Seungmin. They were interested in what was going on and even put in their own opinions at times. But mostly they made themselves comfortable and were just happy to be nearby.

In the end, JYP caved, and we reached an agreement. A terrifying, binding, agreement that was bigger than anything I ever thought I would be a part of in this lifetime.

As such you were now officially the ninth member of the Stray Kids soul group.

“I cannot believe I did this.” You whispered when JYP and his mucky much left with their copy of the new contract, your copy under the fingers of the hand Chan was not holding.

“Do you have regrets?” Chan asked quietly. There was excited chatter around the room from the others now that it was official, and you were able to go with them and not have to be hidden or blackmailed.

You pulled Chan’s hand into your lap and drew your knees up to curl around it. “More freaking out. I have never done something this huge. Or stood up to someone so huge either. I’m not sure what came over me.”

He squeezed your hand where they were both now hidden. “You did fucking amazing. And we have your back.”

Lee Know sidled up to your other side and rested his forehead on your shoulder. “Thank you. For fighting.” He whispered.

In the chaos that followed you had forgotten what happened this morning. You were so happy you wouldn’t be the cause of anyone’s pain. Lee Know snapping this morning absolutely broke your heart.

You reached up to scratch his scalp. “That’s not something you should be thanking me for.” Even though it was for the right reasons, even talking about separating and keeping me hidden caused your soulmates pain. You had caused them pain.

~

Back at the apartment the things you had requested the personal shopper get you had been delivered. And that brought up another issue that needed to be addressed.

“I am not going to permanently steal your room, Chan. I can set up a roll out in the living room and borrow some drawers.” You gesture towards the living room as you talk. Though you were sure eventually you would be close enough to all of them that you could sleep in whoever’s bed for a night or two and they wouldn’t care.

But Chan was already shaking his head before you even finished. “No. The arrangement we have works great. No way are you sleeping on a roll out.”

“Stay in the room you are in. We are all always sleeping in each other’s beds anyways, but you are the only girl. You should have your own space and your own bathroom.” Hyunjin pointed out.

Oh fuck. You were surrounded by 8 men. You are so fucked. The number of farts you were going to have to put up with on a daily basis alone was staggering!

“You know what. I’m exhausted from looking and talking with JYPs ugly ass all day, so I don’t care. I want cuddles. Who is going to cuddle me?” You asked. If you were going to do this whole soul bond thing, you were not about to do it half assed or slowly. That sounded exhausting. You’re all in. And that means your needy ass wants cuddles.

You spin on your heel and go to the living room, grabbing every pillow and blanket you could see, you piled it all up on the floor and turned on the TV.

Behind you a hushed argument was happening between the others.

“You two got to cuddle her last night!”

“Lee Know got time with her this morning after his temper tantrum.”

“Yah, fuck you!”

“Chan spent all day with her!”

"Negotiating her contract. That hardly counts!”

“You held her hand!”

“She was panicking!”

“What? She was?”

“She didn’t seem like it.”

“Trust me, she was.”

“Wow. I am impressed.”

“She did stand up to JYP.”

“You should have heard her yesterday. She looked him square in the eye, told him she didn’t like him, then called his bluff afterward!”

“Yeah, and she said she got those bruises because she broke out of her restraints. Twice.”

You sigh. They had gotten off track. “I’m awfully cold and lonely over here!” You call to them.

“Okay, okay. So, Innie, Seungmin, or Hyunjin. They are the only ones who haven’t gotten to spend a lot of time with her yet.”

“Take turns?”

“Youngest first.”

I.N finally joined you in the living room, looking awkward. You smiled gently at him from your nest of comfort.

“Do I…Do I just grab you?” He asked.

You tried not to laugh at him. He was very cute. Very unsure. “Do you want to cuddle. I won’t take offense.” You had to be sure he wasn’t just doing it because you had asked for cuddles.

His face screwed up a bit. “I want to be close. Can I just use your belly as a pillow?”

You got more comfortable and patted your stomach in invitation, quietly hoping it wouldn’t make any weird sounds when I.N had his ear pressed up against it.

“J-Jinnie can cuddle you.” He hesitated now for some reason.

You shake your head. “It’s your turn. C’mon, little bug.” You coax.

I.N blushed lightly and curled up next to you, gently laying his head on your stomach. Immediately you buried your fingers in his hair, twisting strands absently as you flipped through channels on the TV.

The others joined you a few seconds later, all finding their places around the room. Draping over chairs, couches, and each other.

Sometime later, from a cue you didn’t see or hear, I.N rolled off you and Hyunjin laid next to you, half his body on top of yours. One leg and one arm thrown over you and face in your neck. You giggle and squirm as his breath tickled down your skin.

“Mm, sorry. I just pushed through the awkward and went for it.” He explained. He shifted a bit closer, and his breath no longer tickled.

You wrapped both arms around his ribs tightly. “S’kay. I understand. Are you comfortable?”

Hyunjin hummed in affirmation. You gently traced shaped on his back with your fingertips. I.N still lay next to you, just no longer using your stomach as a pillow, instead he was using his own arm. You couldn’t see his face, but you were pretty sure he was at least half asleep. You fold one of the blankets you were laying on over his legs so he wouldn’t get chilled without our shared body heat.

Hyunjin was warm enough on his own to keep us both warm. He was playing on a phone absently as we relaxed. Everyone was quietly doing their own things, just enjoying the moment. Every once in a while, there were murmurs as they chatted or a video playing softly on their phones.

Then Hyunjin handed you the phone he had been on suddenly. “We all entered our number and socials for you already. And you are hooked to our shared calendar.” He told me in explanation.

You had honestly forgotten you were getting a phone. You had no idea what they did with the old one when they took you, you would need to cancel it anyway. Who knew if it would even work over here. And if it did what kind of massive charges it would incur.

Slowly, with one hand, you begin setting up your new phone to your preferences and logging into everything of yours.

“Hey look.” You said lifting the phone up and snapping a pic of you and Hyunjin as soon as he looked.

He watched as you set it as his contact photo. “I look awful.” He grumbled.

“You look cute and squishy.” You liked the photo. It was soft and authentic. No practiced or rehearsed looks or smiles. Just the two of you.

You would eventually get one of everyone, Hyunjin just happened to be right here and looking so photogenic.

“You are in charge of announcing yourself to the world now. Do you have a plan?” Chan asked.

If you were honest, not really. More half-baked ideas and a final goal. “That’s tomorrow’s issue. Today I need to book a plane ticket to my apartment.” Meaning you needed to go back and pack up, transfer everything to Korea, sell shit off, etc.

Hyunjins head popped up and several others moved towards me. “You’re leaving?” Felix asked.

“Did you think I would just leave everything behind?” You were confused about their reactions.

“But you’re coming back.” Hyunjin asked to confirm.

Oh! “Yes! I’m sorry, yes, I’m coming back. I just need to pack my things and tie up loose ends.” You assured them all. Reaching up you brushed away Hyunjins hair.

The room palpably relaxed. You needed to be more careful. It seems like they are a little attached to you right now. And you understood the feeling. If you could, you would stay with them, but there were things back at the apartment you couldn’t just abandon. Being apart would hurt, but it was necessary. And hopefully the last time you would need to be apart for a while.

“We can go with you.” Chan suggested.

You shook your read and pulled up the shared calendar on your new phone. The schedule for everyone was full to the brim for the following week and more. “You have things you have promised to be at.”

“We can cancel. We canceled several things yesterday and today.”

“And it’s starting to get suspicious. I need to stay hidden until I can get the plan in motion or none of this will work. And I don’t officially take over your socials and start enacting the plan for a little while yet while the things that are already in motion finish up.” You pulled Hyunjin back down to cuddle, he went easily enough.

“Why not take one or two of us then?” Han suggested. You knew none of them would mind joining you in the least.

“Are you worried about me, or are you worried I won’t come back?” You were sort of teasing them. You knew there would be a small part of them that would worry you would leave them for a long time yet. It was natural. Just like how you worried they wouldn’t like what you brought to the group, and they would ask you to leave.

You hit confirmation on your two-way ticket purchase. “I’ll be back in 2 weeks.” You told them before anyone could try and answer your teasing question.

“Two weeks!” Several voices nearly shouted.

You sighed. “Even though I was probably fired, I did have a job. I should at least try and give them a two week notice to find a replacement. Plus, I can’t pack up and sell my entire life in a day. Two weeks will be crazy enough!”

“Are you going to be anywhere near our fashion shows?” Felix asked. He and Hyunjin would be in New York to participate in several runway walks and appearances.

“It’s too far of a distance to drive and flying is just not feasible. You would get no rest and waste jet fuel in the process.”

Binnie pouted. “I don’t like it.”

Honestly, you didn’t either. You were hoping to get done sooner and dip a few days early, but you couldn’t be sure that would happen, so you didn’t even bring it up. Didn’t want to get their hopes up.

“When do you leave?” Chan asked sad but resigned.

“Early tomorrow afternoon.

“Move, Hyune. My turn.” Seungmin ordered. Instead of coming down to the floor with you, he pulled you onto the couch with him, settling you so you were laying on top of him, his thighs framing your hips and your head on his sternum. You relaxed into the embrace immediately. “Only have tonight, getting everything I can.” He grumbled.

Han scooted over and sat at my feet, placing a hand on my ankle and resting his head on my knee.

You open a new text, adding everyone and naming it ‘Nonet’ before sending a test text through and watching as one by one each member got the message and checked it. It’s not like they wouldn’t have a group chat eventually anyway. And you could keep in touch all day and night with this.

“Nonet. Good one.” Chan chuckled. You shrugged with a smirk at your own little joke.

“Texting won’t be enough! We just got you!” Binnie complained.

“We still have her, Bin. We ripped her from her life. Can’t just expect her to be able to start a new one right away and leave everything behind.” Lee Know explained from the other couch.

You opened your camera to get a profile picture of Seungmin, only to snap one of him making an ugly face at the camera. You snort and set it as his contact photo. “Just wait. I’ll post that on insta.” You threatened lightly.

“Nah, you won’t.”

“STAY would love it. Meme the shit out of it. You would never live it down.”

“It’s going to be interesting having you control our socials now. You think like STAY.” Lee Know mused. You wondered if he meant that as a good thing or a bad thing.

“I am STAY.” You point out.

“Not anymore. Now you’re one of us.”

That was vaguely creepy. “I’ll always be STAY.” I argued. It’s not like I just wasn’t a fan anymore just because I was in this soul group.

“No, he’s right, y/n. You will have your own fanbase now. You will need official socials and everything.” Chan said.

You very much doubted you would have fans. You would have a hate club. Everyone has haters, obviously, but as the only female in Stray Kids soul bond there would be a lot of judgement.

“I don’t think I’ll have any socials. I’ll delete them soon. Bett for my future mental health.”

Seungmin poked my cheek. “A social media expert with no social media?”

Admittedly it was weird. But you wouldn’t have time for your own socials anyways if you were going to manage the boys. It would be around the clock thing with them. Random posts, scheduled posts, bubble, lives, comments. You wouldn’t miss your own much. The itch would be scratched.

The boys were supposed to leave early in the morning. Much earlier than you planned to wake up. As such, you made sure to say your goodbyes before you went to bed for the evening. You packed a small carry-on backpack for your flight and put the rest of the things the personal shopper brought you away in your new room. When you get back from your trip, you could start personalizing the room a little maybe. Make it feel more yours and not a guest room.

♤♤♤♤♤♤

A/n my tumblr is driving me nuts and not saving and posting without permission so apologies

Yet Unnamed Taglist: @fackeraccount @velvetmoonlght @hyunjinstolemyheart @vampkittenb82 @happy-jj @estella-novella @demigoddreamon-blog @tiana-maxivar @ms-flowergirl @jennibahng @whatdoyouwanttocallmefor @mimimiloomeelomi @simpforskz143148 @xxeiraxx @lil-bear08 @brbwritingfanfic @jisungs-iced-americano @zofia515

General Taglist @stellasays45 @beebee18 @weird-bookworm @velvetmoonlght

[lila-lou]

✨His second exception - Pt. 31/?✨

Summary: The moment Ben found out you were pregnant was probably the happiest moment of his life. However, happiness proved fleeting. Now, he is faced with the aftermath of his shattered dreams. Of what is left of you, and what is left of him.

Pairing: Soldier Boy x Reader

Warnings: Language, FLUFF

Word Count: 6981

A/N: This is the sequel to “His only exeption” - and Part 31 of "His second exception".

English isn’t my first language, so please be lenient. 💙

Your mom and dad had been quietly watching from across the room, but now they couldn’t resist chiming in. Your dad, leaning back in his chair with a knowing grin, was the first to speak.

“Well”, he said, his voice dripping with amusement. “Look at this. The mighty Soldier Boy, the man who could take on armies single-handedly, now sitting here feeding a little baby girl. Never thought I’d see the day”.

Ben glanced up from Aria, his green eyes narrowing slightly as his smirk turned sharp. “You got something to say, old man?”, he shot back, though his tone carried more humor than heat. “’Cause I can still take you in five seconds flat”.

Your dad raised his hands in mock surrender, his grin widening. “Hey, I’m just saying. Big change from the guy who used to storm into rooms and bark orders like he owned the place”.

You couldn’t help but join in, the warmth of the moment giving you just enough energy to speak up. “Oh, come on, Dad”, you said, your voice soft but teasing. “He still storms into rooms and barks orders. Now he just does it with a baby bottle in his hand”.

Ben turned his sharp green eyes on you, raising an eyebrow. “Really?”, he asked, his tone flat but tinged with humor. “You’re fucking ganging up on me now?”.

You grinned weakly, resting your head back against the pillows. “What can I say? You’re too easy to tease”.

Your mom, never one to miss an opportunity, chimed in. “She’s right. You’ve got that whole tough-guy act going, but look at you now. Feeding a baby with more concentration than I’ve ever seen you give anything else”.

Ben scoffed, his smirk returning as he glanced down at Aria, who had slowed her feeding, her tiny fingers brushing against his hand. “This is more important than anything else I’ve ever done”, he said simply, his voice low but firm. “Doesn’t mean I won’t put you all in your place if you keep running your mouths”.

Your dad laughed, shaking his head. “You’re outnumbered, Ben”, he said with a grin. “You might as well just take it”.

“Oh, I’m taking it”, Ben muttered, adjusting the bottle slightly as Aria squirmed in his arms. “But don’t forget, I’ve got the kid. That means I’ve got all the leverage”.

You couldn’t help but laugh at that, your tired body shaking slightly. “You’re really using our baby as leverage?”.

Ben smirked, finally glancing up at you, his green eyes glinting with mischief. “Damn right I am”, he said. “And it’s working”.

Your mom shook her head, though she was smiling as she leaned back in her chair. “Unbelievable”, she muttered, though the affection in her voice was unmistakable. “You know, for all your bluster, you’re doing a pretty good job”.

Ben’s expression softened slightly as he looked back down at Aria, her tiny body cradled securely in his large hands. “Yeah, well”, he said gruffly, his voice quieter now. “Not like I’m gonna let her down”.

The teasing paused for a moment, the atmosphere shifting into something softer, more tender. You reached out weakly, your hand brushing against Ben’s arm. “You won’t”, you whispered, your voice full of quiet conviction. “You’re already her hero”.

Ben’s smirk faded as he glanced back down at Aria, his green eyes clouding with something heavier. He shifted slightly, adjusting her tiny frame in his arms, and you saw his jaw tighten for a moment before he muttered, almost too quietly, “I hope it stays that way”.

The weight of his words lingered in the air, cutting through the teasing warmth from earlier. You knew what he meant, even if he didn’t say it outright. Ben carried the shadows of his past with him, the weight of every mistake, every regret. Now, holding Aria in his arms, the stakes felt higher than anything he’d ever faced before.

“It will”, you said softly, your hand still resting on his arm. “Ben, look at her. She already adores you”.

Ben’s lips twitched, the heaviness in his eyes retreating as he quickly composed himself. “Yeah”, he muttered, his voice gruff but edged with his usual dry humor. “That’s ‘cause I feed her. Same with you. Give a woman a little attention and some snacks, and she’s all putty”.

You let out a soft laugh, shaking your head as you nudged his arm weakly. “Oh, is that how it works? All this time, you’ve been keeping me around with snacks?”.

Ben shrugged, smirking now as he glanced at you, his green eyes glinting with mischief. “Don’t act like it’s not true. Toss you a bag of chips, rub your feet for five minutes, and suddenly I’m your favorite person”.

Your dad snorted from his chair, shaking his head as he leaned back. “Sounds about right”, he said with a grin, clearly enjoying the banter. “Though I wouldn’t go throwing that strategy around too much, Ben. Works on my daughter, but not everyone’s that easy”.

“Who said I’m looking for it to work on anyone else?”, Ben shot back smoothly, adjusting Aria in his arms as she began to squirm. “Got my hands full already”.

"You better”, you murmured, your voice soft but teasing as you leaned over and pressed a light kiss to his biceps. The gesture was small, but it carried all the affection you couldn’t quite put into words at the moment.

Ben raised an eyebrow, glancing down at where your lips had just been before looking back at you, his smirk widening into something more cocky. “Oh, so now we’re kissing the muscles?”, he drawled, his green eyes glinting with mischief. “Didn’t think I needed the snacks after all”.

You rolled your eyes, though you couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at your lips. “Don’t let it go to your head, tough guy. It’s a one-time deal”.

“Sure it is”, he shot back, his tone as smooth as ever. “Let me guess—next time you’ll be asking me to… flex”.

Your dad groaned loudly, leaning back in his chair. “Can you two not?”, he said, though his grin betrayed his amusement. “We’re right here, you know”.

Your mom chuckled softly, shaking her head as she moved to check on the blanket around Aria. “Oh, let them have their moment”, she said lightly, her voice full of affection. “It’s not every day you see Ben being soft”.

Ben’s smirk faded just slightly, and he glanced down at Aria, her tiny body nestled against him. His hand moved instinctively to adjust her position, his large fingers brushing against her cheek with a tenderness that seemed almost out of place for someone like him.

“Not soft”, he muttered under his breath, his tone gruff but quiet. “Just… doing what needs to be done”.

A week later, the day you’d been waiting for finally arrived—you were allowed to go home. The hospital’s walls, though safe, had started to feel suffocating, and the thought of being back in your own space brought a mix of relief and excitement. The extra doses of V in your system had done their job, leaving you feeling stronger, though you were still told to take it easy and rest as much as possible. Ben, of course, had taken that advice to heart—perhaps too much.

As you stood outside the hospital, the crisp air brushing against your face, Ben hovered close. He carried Aria’s car seat in one hand, her tiny body snug inside and wrapped in the soft blanket your mom had brought. She was dressed in the onesie Ben had insisted on—Daddy’s Little Soldier scrawled across the front in bold letters. It was equal parts adorable and hilariously on-brand for him.

With his other hand, Ben steadied you, his grip firm but not overbearing. “Take it slow”, he muttered, his green eyes scanning your face like he was waiting for you to wobble or stumble. “Last thing we need is you fucking face-planting before we even get to the car”.

You rolled your eyes, though the corners of your mouth twitched into a smile. “I’m fine, Ben. I can walk, you know”.

He raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed with your attempt at downplaying things. “Sure you can”, he said dryly. “Until you can’t. Humor me, sweetheart”.

You let out a soft laugh, leaning into his steady presence as you made your way to the car. The last week had been a whirlwind of checkups, adjustments, and learning how to navigate this new chapter of your lives. Both you and Aria had appointments lined up for the coming weeks—Dr. Collins wanted to monitor you closely—but for today, all that mattered was getting home.

Ben carefully secured Aria’s car seat in the back, double-checking every strap and latch like it was a bomb he was defusing. “She’s good”, he muttered after a final tug on the seatbelt. Then he turned back to you, his hand on your back as he guided you toward the passenger seat. “Alright, your turn”.

You slid into the seat carefully, watching as he shut the door with one last glance at you, his expression unreadable. By the time he climbed into the driver’s seat, he seemed a little more relaxed, though his hand still rested protectively on the center console as if he needed to stay connected to you somehow.

The drive home was quiet, the hum of the car engine and Aria’s soft breaths filling the space. You glanced back at her occasionally, your heart swelling every time you saw her tiny face nestled in the seat. Ben caught you looking in the rearview mirror and smirked. “Told you”, he said, his tone smug. “She’s got that effect”.

When you finally pulled into the driveway, the sight of home made you exhale a breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding. Ben got out first, unbuckling Aria with the same care he’d used earlier. He carried her in one hand, her car seat swinging slightly as he reached out to steady you with the other.

As you walked toward the door together, a warm sense of peace settled over you. It wasn’t going to be easy—between the constant monitoring, the sleepless nights, and your slow recovery, you knew challenges lay ahead. But standing there with Ben at your side, steady as always, and Aria cradled in his strong arms, you felt ready to face whatever came next.

“Welcome home, chicken”, Ben murmured as he stepped inside, glancing down at Aria with a faint smirk. Then, without missing a beat, he looked at you. “You too, sweetheart”.

Ben gently placed the car seat on the table, his movements careful yet efficient. Without missing a beat, he leaned over and unfastened the straps, muttering something under his breath about “overcomplicated baby gear”. In one swift motion, he scooped Aria up, her tiny body practically disappearing against his broad chest as he cradled her securely in his massive hands.

Her head rested just below his chin, and he instinctively adjusted the blanket around her, ensuring she was covered and snug. From where you sat, it was hard not to smile at the sight—Ben, the man who used to intimidate everyone in his path, now completely wrapped up in this impossibly tiny person.

“She’s barely visible”, you teased softly, watching him fuss over her like he’d been doing it for years. “It’s like you’re holding a little bird”.

“Yeah, well, this bird’s got some issues”, he grumbled, his tone low but tinged with affection. He shifted her slightly, trying to adjust her scrunched-up legs. “Look at these”, he muttered, his large hand carefully nudging at her tiny feet. “I keep trying to straighten them out, but no—she just folds ‘em right back up”.

You laughed softly, the sound warming the room. “She’s comfortable like that”, you said, leaning back against the cushions. “She spent months curled up inside me. It’s natural”.

Ben raised an eyebrow, glancing down at Aria’s legs as she wriggled slightly, pulling them back into that familiar scrunched-up position. “Natural, huh?”, he said, his tone laced with mock skepticism. “Looks like a lazy workout to me. She’s gonna need to start stretching eventually. Can’t walk around like this forever”.

“She’s a newborn, Ben”, you said, shaking your head with amusement. “She’s got time before she starts walking”.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t get her started early”, he shot back, his smirk widening as he carefully rocked her against his chest. “Discipline, sweetheart. Starts young”.

Aria let out a soft little coo, her tiny fists brushing against his chest, and Ben’s smirk softened instantly. His hand came up to cup her head, his thumb brushing lightly over her soft hair. “Alright, fine”, he murmured, his voice dropping to a near whisper. “You can keep the legs. For now… chicken”.

Ben held Aria close, her tiny head resting snugly against his chest as he began to slowly walk through the house. His steps were steady and purposeful, like he was showing her around his kingdom. One of his large hands supported her completely, her little body barely taking up any space in his grasp.

“Alright”, he muttered, his tone gruff but oddly gentle, “let’s give you the grand tour. Don’t say I never taught you anything”.

You watched from the couch, a soft smile spreading across your face as Ben moved into the living room first. He glanced down at Aria, as though she was fully capable of understanding him, and gestured toward the room with his free hand.

“This is where your mom makes me watch her boring shows”, he said, his voice carrying that familiar mix of affection and teasing. “But don’t worry, I’ll get you into the classics. Stuff that actually matters. None of that soap opera garbage”.

He moved over to the fireplace, pointing it out with a slight nod. “And this? That’s a fireplace. Not much use for it, but it looks good. One day, I’ll teach you how to build a real fire. Just don’t try it without me, alright? Don’t need you burning the place down”.

Aria let out a tiny coo, her hands twitching against his chest, and Ben’s smirk softened slightly. “Yeah, I get it. Fire’s exciting. But it’s a dad job. Got it?”.

He moved into the kitchen next, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial tone as he glanced around. “Now, this is where the magic happens”, he said, shifting her slightly so she could ‘see’ the counters and appliances. “When I say magic, I mean snacks. Real snacks, not the mush you’re stuck with for now”.

Ben smirked as he shifted Aria slightly in his arms, his green eyes flicking to you lounging on the couch. “Now, your mom makes some pretty good food”, he began, his tone casual, but that mischievous glint in his eyes warned you he was about to say something completely inappropriate. “Well, at least when I’ve made sure she’s in a really good mood, you know… like after I’ve—”.

“Ben!”, you interrupted sharply, your cheeks instantly heating as you glared at him. “Not in front of Aria!”.

Ben rolled his eyes, letting out an exaggerated sigh as he adjusted Aria in his arms, her tiny form cradled carefully against his chest. “If it starts like this”, he muttered, his voice dripping with mock misery, “I’m gonna have a fucking boring life now. No making out, no sex, no dirty—”.

Before he could finish, you grabbed the nearest pillow and launched it at his back with surprising accuracy. The soft thud interrupted him mid-sentence, and he froze for a moment before slowly turning his head to look at you, one eyebrow raised.

“Really?”, he drawled, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You’re resorting to violence now?”.

“You deserved it”, you shot back, trying to look stern despite the grin tugging at your lips. “You can’t just say stuff like that with her right there!”.

Ben chuckled, shaking his head as he turned his attention back to Aria. “Relax, sweetheart”, he said, his tone light and teasing. “She doesn’t even know what I’m saying. Right now, she’s just focused on staying warm and waiting for her next bottle”.

You crossed your arms, still glaring at him half-heartedly. “Still, it’s the principle of the thing. And besides, I don’t want her first words to be one of your… colorful phrases”.

Ben let out a low laugh, rocking Aria slightly in his arms as she let out a soft coo. “Fine”, he said, smirking down at her. “Guess I’ll have to keep it PG, at least for now. Don’t want the chicken getting any bad habits too early”.

You couldn’t help but smile despite yourself, watching the way he cradled her with such care, his massive hands dwarfing her tiny form. “You’re impossible, you know that?”, you muttered, though your voice was full of affection.

“And yet”, Ben replied, shooting you a cocky grin, “you still keep me around. Must be doing something right”.

You rolled your eyes, laughing softly as you leaned back against the cushions. Despite his teasing and his larger-than-life personality, moments like this reminded you why you loved him—because beneath all of it, he was completely devoted to you and your daughter. Even if he couldn’t resist being a smartass about it.

Ben, still smirking, adjusted Aria in his arms and stood up straighter, resuming his slow tour of the house. “Alright”, he muttered, his voice full of mock authority, “let’s get back to it. Your mom’s already trying to ruin the fun, but I’ve got plenty more to show you”.

He started toward the hallway, his large frame moving with surprising gentleness to keep Aria comfortable. “This”, he said, pointing to the hallway closet, “is where we keep all the boring stuff. Towels, blankets, random crap your mom insists we need but never actually uses. Don’t worry about this place; you’ll have no reason to come here unless you’re hiding from me because you broke something”.

You let out a laugh from the couch. “Ben, she’s a baby, not a teenager. And I don’t hoard random crap”.

He glanced over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. “You’ve got six throw blankets in there. Who needs six throw blankets? What are we, a Bed Bath & Beyond?”.

You sighed, shaking your head but smiling nonetheless as he turned back to Aria.

Ben moved into the bathroom next, gesturing grandly at the space as though it were some kind of palace. “This is the bathroom”, he said, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “The one place in this house where I can pretend to get some peace. But don’t worry, I know you’re gonna ruin that soon enough with bath toys and splashing everywhere. It’s fine. I’ll allow it”.

Aria let out a tiny sound, her little fists brushing against his chest, and Ben’s smirk softened. “See? She’s already planning it”, he muttered, rocking her gently. “It’s a mutiny in the making”.

When he moved into the nursery, his pace slowed slightly, and his voice dropped to something quieter, almost reverent. “And this”, he murmured, stepping inside, “is your room”.

Ben stepped further into the nursery, his eyes scanning the soft pastels and delicate decorations you’d worked so hard to perfect. He let out a long, dramatic sigh, shifting Aria slightly against his chest as he muttered, “You’re definitely not the boy I was hoping for, so I bet soon enough everything in here’s gonna be fucking pink”.

Without thinking, he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her tiny head, his lips brushing over the soft, dark hair that barely covered her scalp. The touch was so light, so careful, like he was afraid to break her.

Aria reacted instantly, scrunching up her face and letting out a series of funny little noises—somewhere between a squeak and a grunt. Ben froze, his green eyes widening slightly as he looked down at her.

Then, he snorted, a rare, genuine laugh slipping out as he stared down at Aria. “What the hell was that?”, he muttered, his green eyes narrowing playfully as he adjusted her in his arms. “Did you just grunt at me, chicken? You trying to tell me something?”.

Aria squirmed again, letting out another little noise, her tiny fists flailing for a moment before settling back against his chest. Ben smirked, shaking his head in disbelief. “Unbelievable”, he muttered, his tone dripping with amusement. “Not even a month old, and already got opinions”.

From the doorway, you watched the scene unfold, a soft smile tugging at your lips. Slowly, you stepped into the room, your movements careful but deliberate as you made your way toward them. “What’s going on in here?”, you asked gently, your voice light and teasing. “Is she giving you a hard time already?”.

Ben glanced up at you, his smirk widening as he met your eyes. “You didn’t tell me she made noises like that”, he said, jerking his chin toward Aria. “She’s got this little grunt thing going on. Sounds like she’s trying to talk, but all she’s got is… whatever that was”.

You chuckled, shaking your head as you moved closer. “She’s just figuring out how to use her voice”, you said, leaning against the edge of the crib for support. “She’s probably trying to tell you she doesn’t appreciate being called a chicken”.

Ben raised an eyebrow, his smirk turning mischievous. “Oh, no, she loves it. Don’t you, chicken?”. He kissed her head again, and Aria let out another funny little grunt, making him snort. “See? That’s her way of agreeing with me”.

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped. “You’ve got an answer for everything, don’t you?”.

“Damn right I do”, Ben replied, shifting Aria slightly so she was cradled more securely in his arms. “And right now, the answer is that this kid’s already got some serious attitude. Wonder where she gets it from”.

You smirked, crossing your arms as you leaned a little closer to him. “Oh, I have a pretty good idea”, you teased. “But I don’t think it’s from me”.

Without warning, his free hand shot out, giving your ass a quick, playful pinch.

“Hey!”, you yelped, jumping slightly, though the corners of your mouth twitched with amusement.

He raised an eyebrow, his green eyes glinting with mischief as he muttered, “Why aren’t you all cozy on the couch, like the doc told you?”.

You rolled your eyes, swatting at his hand half-heartedly. “Because I wanted to see what you were up to”, you shot back, though your voice was softened by the affection you couldn’t quite hide. “Someone’s gotta make sure you’re not teaching her bad habits already”.

Ben snorted, glancing down at Aria as she let out another tiny grunt, her little face scrunching up. “Bad habits?”, he repeated, his tone dripping with mock offense. “This kid’s got nothing but good habits so far. She eats, sleeps, and grunts. Perfect little soldier in the making”.

You shook your head, leaning against the edge of the crib for support. “She’s a baby, not a recruit”.

“She can be both”, Ben quipped, his smirk turning cocky. “Gotta start her early. Discipline, structure, and—”. He paused as Aria squirmed in his arms again, making another funny noise. “And apparently, opinions. You’ve got a lot to say, huh, chicken?”.

You smiled, watching the way he cradled her so effortlessly despite his teasing demeanor. “You know”, you said softly, “you’re a lot better at this than you give yourself credit for”.

Ben glanced at you, his expression softening for a moment before he shrugged. “Yeah, well”, he muttered, “you’re not making it easy to slack off. Always watching me like a hawk”.

“That’s my job”, you teased, reaching out to brush your fingers lightly against Aria’s tiny hand. “Just like it’s your job to make sure I actually rest”.

Ben smirked again, stepping closer and tilting his head slightly. “Then get your ass back to the couch”, he said, his voice low but full of amusement. “I’m not carrying both of you if you pass out”.

“Bossy”, you muttered, but you turned to head back to the couch, a small smile still tugging at your lips as you felt his gaze follow you the whole way.

As the evening settled in, the moment arrived for Aria’s first bath. You sat on the small bench next to the bathtub, watching as Ben crouched by the tub, his large hands fumbling with the tiny buttons and snaps of Aria’s onesie. The bathroom was warm—too warm, thanks to the extra steam from the hot water—and you noticed beads of sweat starting to form on his forehead as he worked.

Aria, of course, wasn’t making it easy. Her scrunched-up legs were once again causing problems, folding up tightly every time Ben tried to stretch them out to get her undressed. He huffed under his breath, his green eyes narrowing as though trying to out-stubborn her.

“Come on, chicken”, he muttered, his voice low but strained. “You’re not making this easy. What’s with the damn legs? Just… cooperate for once”.

You couldn’t help but laugh softly, your smile growing as you watched him struggle. “I didn’t know supes could sweat like this”, you teased, leaning forward slightly to get a better view of his efforts. “You okay there, tough guy? Need me to grab you a towel?”.

Ben shot you a glare, though it was more playful than threatening. “It’s hot as hell in here”, he grumbled, finally managing to undo the last snap. “And this kid’s got more fight in her than half the cocksucker I’ve gone up against”.

You bit back a laugh, watching as he carefully peeled the onesie off of Aria, her tiny body wriggling slightly as she let out a soft coo. “She’s just testing you”, you said, leaning back against the wall. “Making sure her dad can handle the tough stuff”.

Ben snorted, tossing the tiny onesie into the laundry pile before cradling Aria in his hands. “Tough stuff”, he muttered, glancing at her scrunched-up legs as though they were mocking him.

Aria let out a tiny squeak, her fists flailing slightly, and you couldn’t hold back your laughter this time. “You’re doing fine”, you said reassuringly.

Ben carefully lowered Aria into the warm water, his hands cradling her tiny body with surprising gentleness. The moment her skin touched the water, she let out a soft coo, her little fists waving in the air as though testing this new sensation.

But almost immediately, Ben let out a frustrated grumble, his brows furrowing. “Why the hell is she so slippery?”, he muttered, trying to keep a steady grip on her. “It’s like trying to hold onto a bar of soap”.

You bit back a laugh, watching as his large hands adjusted awkwardly to keep Aria secure. “She’s got soft skin. Add water, and yeah, she’s going to be slippery”, you said, your voice full of amusement

Ben narrowed his eyes at you, clearly not appreciating the humor in the situation. “No one warned me about this”, he grumbled, his tone edged with irritation. “They just said, ‘Oh, give her a bath, it’ll be fine’. Didn’t say a damn word about her turning into a little greased-up chicken”.

You couldn’t help it—you burst out laughing, the sound filling the warm bathroom as you watched him struggle. “Greased-up chicken?”, you echoed, wiping a tear from your eye. “Ben, you’ve fought villains, survived explosions, and dealt with God knows what else. And now you’re losing to a baby in a bathtub?”.

Ben’s green eyes snapped to yours, his glare sharp but tinged with amusement. “I’m not losing”, he shot back, though his hands shifted again as Aria squirmed slightly in the water. “I’m just… figuring it out. She’s squirmier than I expected”.

Aria let out a tiny hiccup of a sound, her legs kicking slightly against the water, splashing a bit onto Ben’s shirt. He groaned, glaring down at her. “See? Slippery and messy”, he muttered. “You’re a lot of work for someone who doesn’t even pay rent”.

“She’s your daughter”, you teased, still grinning. “You signed up for this”.

Ben sighed dramatically, one hand gently supporting Aria’s back while the other carefully poured a little water over her head with a washcloth. “Yeah, yeah”, he muttered, his tone softening as he focused on her again. “Guess I did”.

You watched as his expression shifted, the irritation melting away as he gently wiped her tiny face with the cloth, his large hands so careful it was almost mesmerizing. Despite all his grumbling, there was a tenderness in the way he handled her—a rare side of Ben that you knew was reserved for the two of you.

Eventually, the chaos of the evening began to wind down. Aria, freshly bathed and swaddled in her soft blanket, had finally drifted off to sleep. You and Ben made your way to the couch, exhaustion tugging at both of you. Ben collapsed onto the cushions with a heavy sigh, his arm slung over the back of the couch as though he’d just fought a battle—which, in a way, he had.

You nestled beside him, your body fitting perfectly into his side as his arm instinctively wrapped around your shoulders. Aria rested on your chest, her tiny body curled up and her soft breaths barely audible. She looked utterly peaceful, completely unaware of the exhaustion she’d inflicted on both of you.

Ben tilted his head back against the couch, letting out a long exhale as his eyes closed for a moment. “That kid’s got more energy than I thought was possible for something that tiny”, he muttered, his voice low and gravelly.

You chuckled softly, leaning into him as your fingers brushed over Aria’s blanket. “She wore you out, didn’t she?”, you teased, glancing up at him with a small smile. “Mighty Soldier Boy, taken down by a four-pound baby”.

Ben let out a low, tired chuckle, his lips twitching into a faint smirk even as his eyes remained closed. “I’m so tired I won’t even fight you on that right now”, he muttered, his voice gruff but tinged with affection. He tilted his head slightly, pressing a soft kiss to the top of your head. “You win. Congratulations”.

You smiled, your heart swelling at the rare moment of vulnerability he allowed himself. Leaning into him, you let out a soft sigh, your voice dropping to a near whisper. “Thank you”.

His eyes cracked open, and he glanced down at you, his brow furrowing slightly. “For what?”, he asked, his tone curious but still laced with exhaustion.

“For everything”, you said simply, your fingers brushing over Aria’s tiny hand where it peeked out from the blanket. “For being here. For taking care of us. For… being you”.

Ben didn’t respond immediately, his green eyes studying your face like he was trying to figure out what to say. Finally, he shook his head slightly, his smirk returning, though it was softer this time. “Don’t get all fucking sappy on me now”, he muttered, though his hand tightened slightly around your shoulder, pulling you closer.

You ignored his teasing, your gaze steady as you whispered, “I love you, Ben”.

For a moment, he just looked at you, his expression unreadable. Then, his hand came up to cup your cheek, his thumb brushing lightly against your skin. “Yeah”, he said softly, his voice unusually gentle. “I love you too”.

The words, so simple but so weighty coming from him, settled between you like an anchor, grounding you in the moment. You rested your head against his chest, feeling the steady rise and fall of his breathing as Aria shifted slightly in her sleep, a soft sigh escaping her tiny lips.

As the quiet of the evening wrapped around you, you felt a sense of peace you hadn’t experienced in months. Despite the chaos, the exhaustion, and the uncertainty of what lay ahead, you knew one thing for sure: you were exactly where you were meant to be—with Ben and Aria, tangled together on the couch, your little family whole and complete.

Another week passed, and with it came the small victories that felt monumental after everything you’d been through. At just two weeks old, Aria was thriving, and you were finally starting to feel like yourself again—though not entirely. You were allowed to take on little tasks now, like showering by yourself and even changing Aria’s diaper, but Ben kept a close watch, ensuring you didn’t overdo it.

It was barely three in the morning when Aria’s cries echoed through the bedroom, pulling you from a light, restless sleep. Her wails were sharp and insistent, the unmistakable demand of a newborn needing something now.

You stirred, your body still heavy with exhaustion but far stronger than it had been days ago. Instinctively, you moved to sit up, but before you could even swing your legs over the side of the bed, Ben was already on his feet.

“I’ve got it”, he muttered, his voice rough with sleep as he rubbed a hand over his face. His green eyes were bleary, but his movements were steady as he crossed the room to the bassinet where Aria lay squirming and crying.

“Ben, I can—”, you began, but he shot you a look over his shoulder, one eyebrow arched in a way that silenced you instantly.

“Don’t start”, he said gruffly, leaning down to scoop Aria up with practiced ease. “You’re still on light duty. Stay fucking put”.

You sighed, sinking back against the pillows as you watched him cradle Aria against his chest. She was still crying, her tiny fists flailing as Ben swayed slightly, his large hand patting her back in a rhythm that was becoming second nature to him.

“Alright, chicken”, he murmured, his voice softer now as he paced slowly across the room. “What’s the deal this time? Hungry? Wet? Or just in the mood to torture me?”.

Despite your exhaustion, you smiled at the sight of him—shirtless, his hair mussed from sleep, and his expression caught somewhere between annoyance and adoration as he comforted your daughter. It was a side of him you never thought you’d see, and it made your heart swell every time.

“She probably needs a diaper change”, you said softly, your voice breaking the quiet hum of the moment.

Ben let out a low sigh, glancing down at the squirming bundle in his arms. “Of course she does”, he muttered. “Kid’s got perfect timing”.

He carried Aria over to the changing table, his movements surprisingly fluid for someone who looked like he’d barely slept in days. You couldn’t help but watch as he carefully laid her down, his large hands working with more patience than you’d ever seen from him.

“She’s lucky I’m a quick learner”, he grumbled, unfastening her tiny onesie with deft fingers. “I could’ve left all this to you, you know. But no, I’m here, in the trenches, dealing with the fucking chaos”.

“You love it”, you teased, your smile widening as you rested your head against the headboard.

Ben glanced at you, his smirk returning briefly before he turned back to Aria. “Yeah", he muttered under his breath, his voice so low you almost didn’t hear it. “Maybe I do”.

As he worked, Aria’s cries began to fade, replaced by soft little hiccups and whimpers. By the time he’d finished changing her, she was calm, her wide eyes blinking up at him as though she was sizing him up.

Ben picked her up again, cradling her against his chest as he walked back toward the bed. “There”, he said, his voice a mix of satisfaction and weariness. “Crisis averted. For now”.

You held out your arms, silently asking to hold her, and Ben hesitated for a moment before carefully placing her in your lap. “You sure you’re good?”, he asked, his tone serious despite the softness in his eyes.

You nodded, cradling Aria close as you brushed a kiss against her tiny forehead. “I’m good”, you said softly.

Ben had barely let his eyes close, his body finally relaxing into the bed, when the sound of Aria sucking on her pacifier like her life depended on it filled the room. The soft, rhythmic noise was unmistakable and persistent, her tiny mouth working furiously as though trying to send a very clear signal.

His eyes opened slowly, a low groan escaping him as he turned his head toward you and Aria. “She’s at it again”, he muttered, his voice thick with exhaustion. “What’s the deal this time?”.

You shifted slightly in bed, cradling Aria closer as you glanced down at her. Even in the dim light, you could see her little fists clenching, her face scrunching up as she worked the pacifier. “She’s hungry”, you murmured, already knowing the routine. “It’s time”.

Ben’s brow furrowed, but he sat up a little, glancing at you. “You sure you’re good for this? You just started back up yesterday. I can grab a bottle if you need me to”.

You smiled softly, touched by his concern, even as your body still felt the pull of exhaustion. “I’m okay”, you said quietly. “The doctor said nights are the best time for this. Less moving around for me”.

Ben still looked unconvinced, his green eyes scanning your face for any sign of strain. Finally, he sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. “Fine”, he said gruffly, though his tone carried a thread of warmth.

You carefully adjusted yourself, pulling down your bra with practiced movements, and gently guided Aria toward you. The instant she latched on, her tiny body relaxed, and the urgent sucking noises filled the quiet room. You exhaled softly, the familiar but still slightly uncomfortable sensation making you wince for just a moment.

Ben, sitting up beside you, watched the scene with a lazy smirk spreading across his face. His green eyes glinted in the dim light, and you knew exactly what was coming before he even opened his mouth.

“Well”, he drawled, leaning back against the headboard with a smug expression, “if I’d known that’s how it works, I would’ve cried louder”.

You rolled your eyes, though you couldn’t suppress the small laugh that bubbled out of you. “Ben”, you said, your tone half-scolding but mostly amused. “Really?”.

“What?”, he said, feigning innocence as his smirk widened. “I’m just saying, if I make the same noises, maybe I get the same treatment”.

"Oh shut up”, you grumbled, shooting Ben a halfhearted glare as you tried to focus on Aria. The smirk on his face only widened, and he let out a low snort of amusement.

“Touchy”, he muttered, his tone still dripping with teasing. “Guess that means no tits for me”.

Before you could retort, a sharp, unexpected pain made you gasp softly. Aria, without teeth but somehow managing to pinch your nipple with surprising force, had bitten down. “Ow, ow, ow”, you whined, shifting slightly to try to adjust her latch. “Aria, no, no biting”.

Ben’s eyebrows shot up, and his smirk morphed into something closer to a grin as he leaned closer. “She bit you?”, he asked, his voice tinged with both surprise and amusement. “Already? Kid’s got a mean streak, huh?”.

You glared at him through the pain, wincing as you carefully pulled Aria off for a moment to reposition her. “It’s not funny, Ben”, you grumbled, though your flushed cheeks betrayed a touch of embarrassment.

“Oh, it’s a little funny”, he countered, leaning his head back against the headboard as he watched you.

As soon as you pulled Aria off to adjust her, her tiny face scrunched up, and within seconds, a loud wail echoed through the room. Her little fists flailed in protest, and her cries escalated as if she were starving and the world was ending simultaneously.

“Great”, you muttered, sighing as you tried to calm her down.

Ben chuckled, clearly amused by the dramatic display. “She’s got your attitude”, he said, smirking. “No patience, immediate outrage when she doesn’t get what she wants. Yeah, definitely takes after you”.

—��—————————

A/N: We're getting closer to saying goodbye... Please let me know what you think. 🥰

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Part 32

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Taglist: @deangirl96, @thatgirljayy, @suckitands33, @deans-spinster-witch@mimaria420@kaz11283@uncle-eggy@jackles010378@vxnilla-hxrddrugs @meowmeowyoongles@sarahgracej @zemosdarling228 @leila22rogers @mostlymarvelgirl@emily-winchester @blacknoirr @onlyangel-444@seasonofthenerd@staple-your-mouth@artemys-ackles@selfdestructionandrhum@mystic-mara @kat-nee @samanddeaninatrenchcoat @star-yawnznn @me1501 @CheyNovaK @faephoria @hobby27 @baby19sthings @fitxgrld @winchesterwild78 @uddiifiigj @libby99hb @urgogodancer @urinternetmom @mochminnie @laaadygisbooornex3 @fallout-girl219 @whump-loverz @ @fallout-girl219

[chaoticbardlady99]

Repose, My Love, I Have Sinned Enough (Astarion x F! reader)

CW and just content- violence, brief description of gore, enemies to lovers, mutual pining, brief mentions of sexual shiznet

Synopsis- You are a cleric of Kelemvor- a God that detests the undead and resurrection due to it disrupting the natural process. However, the Pale Elf you met in the aftermath of the mind-flayer incident is important to the bigger picture.

You’ve defeated Cazador and Orin, but Bhaal Cultists are still at large and they are specifically looking to kill you.

Song for this particular one shot is Eternally Yours by Motionless in White. Title is derived from the song.

Author note- I can’t remember when I recently read a few concepts on tumblr that I integrated into this writing (I.e. a God did answer Astarion’s prayers- I put my own twist on it, used a line from the game in a different spot for plot reasons). If anyone wants me to write any spin offs about specific moments, please let me know cause I love these two and I lowkey want to write mutually consensual ‘Gods I cannot stand you’ sex.

Hope you enjoy!

Photo belongs to @cheekylittlepupp on Tumblr

You hated him.

Astarion Acunín was single-handedly the worst thing that could have happened to you.

And you had quite literally fell out of the fucking sky with a tadpole in your head.

“My apologies” your ass. The minute he held that knife to your throat should have been enough. He duped you and he duped you good.

Overtime, you thought that Astarion was a pompous ass and you hated him for his existence- everything your God, Kelemvor, rejected. In spite of it all, you still let the man drink from you when he needed blood.

Kelemvor heard your prayers and allowed you to work with Astarion with no retribution to you. Being a part of a Divine plan to save the world has ultimately saved the Spawn.

Oh and Astarion despised you just as much- maybe even more. You were a threat to his safety- only allowed to protect him because your God had allowed it. So what happened once you no longer had need of him?

The two of you fought like cats and dogs, but your actions towards each other were in direct opposition with every nasty word you flung at each other.

The second week into the journey had demolished your armor and destroyed your only camp clothes. You had been silently upset about the endeavor- knowing there won’t be anyone selling any lounge clothes until you get to Baldur’s Gate.

The armor was an easy replacement- people sell plenty of that shit apparently.

You had asked everyone in camp (minus Astarion) if they either knew how to sew, had an extra blanket or cape you could use that they didn’t need, or had an extra shirt. Everyone told you no, but they would keep an eye out.

You tried your best to stitch it up yourself, but the thing had been a damn mess. You were sitting in your bra and leather pants while successfully tangling your shirt with the string.

You had finally had it and screamed at the top of your lungs. You threw the shirt on the floor of your camp and walked off with your Mace. It took an hour of hitting a tree and two wild hog kills before you had calmed down enough to attempt to return to your work. It was almost evening when you left and now it was getting dark as you got back- still in only your (sports like Karlach’s armor btw) bra, leather pants, and your flimsy camp shoes.

Gale had been thrilled to have the fresh meat, but had made you feel horribly embarrassed because he was trying to not gawk.

You had been a good sport about it- ignoring it entirely- and then went back to your tent to try to have something resembling a shirt before dinner.

Except the heap of string and cloth that had been strewn everywhere was gone- your shirt was perfectly stitched up and folded. There was a note attached.

So Gale doesn’t die from a boner induced stroke- Astarion p.s. I still hate your guts.

You gave him the Necromancy of Thay as a thank you and with the condition that Gale never knows.

You’ve also surprised him a multitude of times. You knew the right thing to do was to give him over to Galendral. It was just you and Astarion. You could team up with the monster hunter and just tell the group it had been a sudden “oh shit now I’m allergic to fire” moment.

Instead you helped Astarion kill the man and oooed and aweed over his very nice crossbow together.

Or the time that Araj wouldn’t stop asking him to drink her blood. You got so fed up that you knocked her out cold, woke her up, asked if she got the message, she said yes, and then you knocked her out cold again. Just because it felt good at that point.

“A woman after my own heart.” Astarion teased.

Your companions would frequently yell at you to get a room and you’d both scream about how awful the other is before storming off.

However, the two of you were formidable in battle when you worked side by side. It was the only time the group had any reprieve from your bickering. He stayed close to you and refused to let you go anywhere without him. You finally confronted him on it when he complained for the millionth time about all the walking.

It ended up with you two fighting in front of a very knowing Karlach and Shadowheart, yelling at each other nonsensically, and then Astarion suddenly broke up the fight by saying, “it’s not my fault your God won’t let me resurrect you if you die doing something stupid- which is very possible knowing the nature of this group!”

He stormed off in a huff and you shut up pretty quickly after that.

A flip had switched in your relationship following the first major fight the group had engaged in.

While making your way through the Goblin Camp- you had been injured fatally while trying to protect Gale from Minthara. You had been laughing and borderline crying with the irony of it all- you were allowed to keep the Spawn alive and anyone could resurrect him- but you got to sit there and die. For the first time- you aren’t comforted by the fact that your God will be waiting for you. In fact, all you can think about is Astarion.

Shadowheart was helping kill Priestess Gut and Halsin was in the middle of trying not to be killed by Dro Ragzlin. It was only you, Gale, and Astarion fighting and you are completely out of magic to heal yourself. You swallowed against the lump in your throat and took one last conscious ragged breath. You had let the world start to fade to black and the last thing you saw was Astarion running towards you.

Then you woke up next to the fire hours later with Astarion sitting on the log next to you- his book casting a shadow over his face.

Shadowheart told you that Astarion had practically half dragged her to where you were as Gale was forcing your unconscious body to take healing potion after healing potion. She told him not to worry- they could always resurrect you. Shadowheart says she regrets even uttering those words.

“Are you that incredibly unobservant or are you that ignorant, Sharran?” Astarion snarled, “she’s a Cleric of Kelemvor- resurrecting her would quite literally ruin her life so you better have a better back up plan than that.”

Astarion had been a mess and when they tried to put you in your tent- he had gotten pissed at them even more.

“She sleeps next to the fire, you incompetent fools,” he scoffed, “you can’t honestly expect her to heal in the coldest fucking corner of camp in that shitty excuse of a tent.”

You didn’t know how it happened- let alone twice, but you and Astarion did end up sleeping together. Kelemvor disapproved greatly (making it known after you helped Astarion kill a devil for Raphael) and you pushed Astarion away when he asked you to try to be in a relationship with him.

When he asked why- you told the truth. You were always meant to be enemies- you had allowed this to go on for too long and you should never have indulged in feelings that were silly- foolish even. Astarion’s heart was broken and he has been bitter towards you ever since.

You are the only one who knows that every word you said felt like you were being given a thousand papercuts. You want him so desperately- in every sentimental way you can think of.

But you are nothing- basically powerless- without Kelemvor. You can’t protect Astarion if you have no magic or the ability to heal.

The only exception to his bitterness was the day you barely saved him in time from Cazador.

You had found a blood stain next to his bed when you went to check on him. You had a weird feeling that you needed to. Astarion told you he had to grab something from upstairs before joining you all for a drink.

You had never run so fast- shouting at your companions to get in their gear and meet you at the Crimson Palace. Your lungs hurt as you raced through Baldur’s Gate with angry, vengeful tears streaming down your face.

You had basically demolished every single creature and person who was in your way- your abilities against the Undead coming in handy. Cazador had barely started the ritual when you came in and began slaughtering all the creatures guarding him- your companions were on your heels and came just in time.

You were able to focus on killing Cazador and stopping the ritual. You succeeded. When you released Astarion from his bindings so he could finish Cazador once and for all- the first thing he did was pull you into him and he clung to you for dear life.

“I thought I’d never see you again.”

Astarion decided not to ascend by some miracle. He still hasn’t told you why.

He took you to his grave and asked if you would give your blessing for his new birthdate. You had been absolutely bewildered- saying that is for your God to say, not you.

“I don’t care about your God, Tav,” Astarion said with desperation, “I just want to know you acknowledge that I am living- that I’m worthy of this new beginning. If you don’t feel that way or you just can’t- I will never bother you again.

“But if you do feel that way… please,” he stared at you earnestly, “you are the only one I know worth worshipping- yours is the only blessing I want to have.”

Kelemvor had told you you were on thin ice in a dream that night- your blessing had meant the world to Astarion, but was a cardinal sin to your God.

Kelemvor didn’t have anything to worry about- Astarion went back to being bitter and hateful towards you two weeks later anyway. One day you went from being friends to him bringing partners to fuck in the private room on your floor. He was also back to arguing with you and being nasty as all get out.

You don’t know why the Wood Elf at the Carnival specifically sought the two of you out the other day. You both scoffed at the idea, went into it expecting it to be a disaster, and then promptly avoided each other in the aftermath.

She told you your love for each other is impenetrable.

Considering the current situation- you think it was all just a shitty carnival trick.

It’s moments like these, as you watch him flirt with a very beautiful woman across the room at Elfsong, where you cling to those moments of intimacy you had been able to experience with him.

You are always heartbroken when he brings someone to the private room. It’s close to your bed and you can hear everything.

You couldn’t bring yourself to pretend you are okay with it today. You couldn’t pretend to be ‘just fine’ or unfazed. A child had died under your watch and you had barely killed Orin- the battle was gruesome and you saved Lae’zel in time (Thank Gods).

It has been a hard day. You are incredibly tired and your tipsy brain is grieving the fact that you don’t get to curl up next to him at the end of the day anymore. You haven’t been sleeping well since you stopped sleeping next to him- your nightmares came back in full force.

Your heart is entirely crushed like your spirit. You are certain that it’s beginning to show on your face and it makes you feel gross. You try not to be too obvious with how much you want to leave, but your little walk- sprint is far too awkward and telling.

There are plenty of Taverns to drink from with plenty of people to talk to. It may only be an hour and a half before the sun rises, but tomorrow is a day off so who cares? Besides, Baldur’s Gate never sleeps.

You don’t see Astarion watching you leave, the woman in front of him storming off in envy.

You don’t know that Astarion saw how you looked his way when he got closer to the woman in front of him- let alone that interacting with another person this way instead of being with you makes him equally as heartbroken.

None of these encounters felt right nor did they feel good. He had declined to Ascend- taking it to heart when you said you want him to be a man he can be proud of. Not to mention, you had destroyed an entire palace (Godey was scattered all over the halls) to get to him when he had been sitting there begging Selune of all fucking people to alert Isobel, Dame Aylin, Shadowheart- literally anyone- that he needed to be saved. Then he threw Jergal out there as a “fuck it, let’s try it” and not even 30 minutes later- you were there. Your eyes were full of bloodlust, anger, and vengeance.

Enemies to Lovers to Friends to Enemies again. Both of you are evidently in love with one another and cannot be together because Kelemvor said “psych”. The bards in Faerun will have a field day when that information comes out.

Ever since your display of brutal vengeance, he silently begged for you to finally just be with him. The light touches, the flirty conversations, the yearning looks- just denounce Kelemvor already!

There are plenty of Gods! Jergal could be fucking hiring for all Astarion knows at this point. It’s not like the ancient God of the dead and scribes wasn’t in their camp. He gave Withers a very suspecting look when they got back to camp- the skeleton merely bowed his head in acknowledgment.

Astarion had waited for two weeks- hoping maybe you had a change of heart and just needed the time to come to peace with it.

Nope. Absolutely nothing but friendship so he went back to trying to make you jealous. He knows it’s childish. What were you supposed to do? Denounce your God? The same God that had been there for you when your mother died in your childhood? No- that was and is unfair of him. He doesn’t know what to do anymore.

Astarion just wants one last moment- a tryst even- before you have to become enemies again. His heart aches for you- he adores you and he even admires your dedication to your faith. You’re passionate about the work you do- helping families grieve, providing them assurance that their loved one is safe on the other side, and saving towns from Undead individuals who truly mean harm.

If only he had met you in a different time period- before he was a Vampire- maybe then he could have been with you without the consequences. He couldn’t live with the crushing guilt of making you turn away from your God for him. Astarion can’t ask that of you and he knows he needs to stop trying to manipulate you into it as well.

He leaves the bar and searches the street for you. Astarion is relieved you haven't gotten very far. Bhaal cultists are still on the rise and with their leader freshly dead by your hand- well, it’s safe to assume you made enemies of the cult very quickly.

On the other hand, you continue to be lost in your confusing daze of emotions. The battle against Orin is far from your mind right now and Bhaal cultists aren’t even a thought.

What do you do when the person you want is someone you can’t have because your God says no? People don’t write books or scrolls for this kind of stuff.

Do you run away? Do you let them figure out the Elderbrain on their own? Do you denounc-

No, you think sharply whilst pushing the thought out of your mind. You can’t just stop worshiping Kelemvor.

Or can you?

Your internal war has given you tunnel vision in your pursuit to find the nearest bar- so much so that you don’t see the Bhaal assassin begin his attempt at your life from the alleyway.

You wouldn’t have known you were mere seconds from dying if you hadn’t been roughly pushed to the ground, landing flat on your face.

You scramble to your feet and what you see horrified you. The Bhaal assassin is standing over Astarion- who is now well and truly dead- his throat slit to the bone and a massive wooden stake in his chest.

The scream that tears through you is animalistic- the Bhaal assassin’s eyes widen. You paralyze him and use telekinesis to fling him into the dark alley. You break his arms, his legs, his jaw- the man is gurgling out for help. You mutilate his entire body- avoiding his head. The man is barely clinging to life when you light his entire existence on fire with the Blood of Lathander. You watch as his face melts off and you relish in his fear until his eyes no longer exist.

You almost forget that Astarion is dead. Almost, but only because you refuse to believe it. You drag him into the alley behind some boxes to shield the scene from onlookers. You gently pull the wooden stake out and press on his sternum with your fist.

“Astarion,” you croak, “Astarion- my love- please wake up.”

You are in front of him and trying so hard to see if there is any possible sign of life- you are throwing all of your healing magic at him as you beg him to get up. He can’t be dead. If he’s dead you can’t resurrect him and if you can’t resurrect him…

Your head is spinning and you feel like you can’t breathe.

This is the way of life.

That is what the doctrine teaches. Astarion lived 200 years too long- this is what was always supposed to happen.

You try to walk away- several times actually, but your heart cries out every time in protest.

He’s alone- don’t leave him. He can’t be alone right now. He’s probably so scared and-, You think.

You inhale and exhale- looking at him. You had closed his eyes so that the emptiness no longer haunted you. Nothing about this rest looks peaceful. His lips are still contorted in pain.

I can bring him back- there’s no time for for our companions. Kelemvor will take his soul when the Sun has come completely over the horizon.

You peer out at the sky- the purple sky was already turning to pink. You need to make a decision now and the decision is clear to you. You dump out the contents of your smaller bag of holding and the reincarnation scroll Astarion insisted you keep after the Goblin Camp hits the ground.

You can lose your God. There are many others- maybe even one who will let you love who you want to. On the flip side, there’s only one cheeky vampire rogue that makes you happy though and you can’t let that go.

You open it- the parchment burning your hands and you can feel your power being ripped from you.

Kelemvor is quick- as soon as the incantation leaves your lips and Astarion jolts back to life- you feel all your magic leave your body.

You feel cold, but all you can do is stare at him and cry silently. He’s alive and that is worth far more than any God’s blessing.

Astarion is coughing- touching his chest and throat as he becomes reorientated to his surroundings. Then he looks at you- his eyes going wide when he sees the used Scroll of Revivify in your hands.

“You-“ he chokes on his words, he looks at you with tears in his eyes, “you brought me back.”

You nod back and your lip trembles- you want to wrap your arms around him. You want to feel him hold you back- you want to know he’s alive.

“Why?” Astarion huffs in disbelief, “Kelemvor-“

Really!? Now he cares what Kelemvor THINKS!?

“I could give a shit less what Kelemvor thinks! You- you!,” you snap and throw your arms in the air, “you prick! I want you! I chose you! If I knew you’d be ungra-“

You are pulled into his lap with lightning speed and his lips are pressed roughly against yours. You are flush against each other as if you mean to consume one another. The kiss is sloppy, needy, and full of want- you finally have to break the kiss and breathe.

When you open your eyes to look at him- you are almost rendered breathless immediately after you inhale.

The warm oranges and pinks make him look like an ethereal creature- something celestial instead of undead. Astarion’s smile is a thousand times more bewitching in this light. Astarion is your Heaven and he is your home.

“I’ve missed you,” you say heavily, “and I hate every weirdo you took to bed,” you sniff and wipe your tears on your sleeves “- not cool by the way.”

Astarion’s face is quickly swimming with guilt and he rubs soft circles into your hips with his thumbs. Stray tears are falling down his cheeks.

“I’m sorry Darling- I was being childish and I guess I thought I could… get you to be with me one last time if you were jealous enough.”

You squint at him through unamused, wet eyes and he chuckles nervously- his smile reflecting the “my bad” expression.

“You’re lucky I only had one resurrection scroll on me- otherwise I would kill you right now and bring you back again,” you say with a huff, “or maybe not. You are very beautiful.”

“Why thank you,” Astarion flashes a cheeky grin, “you could stand to mention it more, my Love.”

You roll your eyes at him and you cup his face with your hands- pulling his mouth up to yours to continue pressing soft kisses to his lips. You stay that way until your stomach growls and you flush in embarrassment.

You head back to Elfsong, hand in hand, undeath and Gods no longer keeping you apart.

“Wait,” Astarion stops abruptly and looks around, “what about the Bhaal Assassin? Did he get away?”

You chuckle awkwardly and scratch the back of your head, “I definitely didn’t fatally mutilate him and then burn him alive with the Blood of Lathander… if that’s what you are asking…”

Astarion blinks twice before he throws his head back in laughter, “how quickly did you start that endeavor?”

“Uh… maybe a second or two, give or take,” you frown, “why?”

Astarion rubs the worry from your brow with his thumb and places a chaste kiss on your lips. He smiles down at you cheekily.

“You couldn’t wait 10 seconds before being an absolute freak?”

You beam at him, “for you? Never.”

*************************************

How peculiar.

A die hard Kelemvor Cleric renouncing her faith and celebrating the rebirth of a creature with 200 more years than he was supposed to have under his belt, Withers thinks while striking Astarion’s name off the record, I have much to learn. Matters of the heart are tricky- or so it seems.

Withers had, in fact, responded to Astarion’s prayer. Hells- he answered multiple times about 28 years ago when you were brought into the world. It took a lot of generations to get to you, but it eventually happened within the last 200 years- did it not?

You and Astarion were either meant to collide in one of two ways because Astarion had prayed for two separate things on multiple occasions. One of those prayers was to let him die and the other was to be saved- to eventually be given the opportunity to have a happy life.

You would either kill him in the name of your God and eventually become Kelemvor’s Chosen or you would fall in love with each other and you would denounce Kelemvor- ultimately finding a new God in the chaos. One that doesn’t dictate your romantic relationships, but maybe is a little judgemental of them. Kelemvor and Withers left that to your own free will- Kelemvor testing you time and time again.

The future was leaning heavily towards you becoming Kelemvor’s chosen. It had surprised Withers and Kelemvor when the scales of fate had changed.

Withers watches with neutral eyes as you and Astarion sleep on Astarion’s bed- curled around each other for a post breakfast nap.

Astarion is an enigma to Withers. Vampire Spawn rarely think of others outside of the people they knew in their past. The man had approached him at camp during the early days and flat out asked him if he was Jergal. Withers declined to answer.

The boy is smart- Withers will give him that.

Both parties look content, peaceful, and happier than they had in the last several weeks. Withers returns to his list and his curious thoughts.

The girl has lost her powers- exchanging them for love and she sleeps like a babe.

How will she complete her destiny now, Withers ponders, already knowing the answer.

I could use a cleric or two again…

[in1-nutshell]

Hey, not too long ago. There was a prompt about bot crash landing on to earth and getting adopted by ten year old buddy. If requests are open, might I suggest the same prompt with Rodimus and Drift (separately).

The concept for these two interactions has been stuck in my brain for days.

Rodimus- I'm a dad now, this is my kid.

Magnus- you can barely take care of yourself, how do you expect to take care of a human child.

&

Drift- heeeeyyyyyy Ratchet... how do you feel about kids.

Wow! First request! I haven't put up a message for that yet...BUT consider this the first of many to come. I will be posting when the request will be open and some guidelines as soon after this posted.

Hope you enjoy this and feel free to request!

Rodimus and Drift (separately) accidentally crash lands and is slightly injured on Earth and meets a 10-year-old Human Buddy

SFW, Familial, platonic, mention of injury, Human reader

MTMTE/LL

Rodimus

Rodimus groaned as he sat up feeling slight pain in his struts. He looked around him and nearly did a double take. He was on Earth. It had to be, He recognize those pine trees and fuzzy moss anywhere. Unless he was on some weird simulation, or Swearth again.

He hears a small sneeze and attempts to reach for his blaster before his wrist began to hurt. He prepares for whatever is coming his way.

A small human with a bucket filled with water waddles into his clearing. They take one look at him and waddle their way to his acheing pede and proceed to dump the water on it.

“Cold! That was cold! Why did you do that for?”--Rodimus

“You were overheating. I had to cool you down. The names Buddy by the way Mr. McQueen.”—Buddy

“McQueen? Who—nevermind. My name is Rodimus, rodimus Prime.”--Rodimus

He goes to shake Buddy’s hand but his wrist shot in pain causing him to hiss. Buddy dropped their bucket and reached into their pocket and pulled out 3 Hot Wheel bandaids and with a concentrated face began sticking them all over his servo.

“Uhhh… What are you doing?”--Rodimus

“I’m helping obviously.”--Buddy

“While I appreciate—”--Rodimus

“Shhh! Let the band aids do their thing Mr. Prime.”--Buddy

“Rodimus. Just Rodimus. Anyways where’s your parents? They should be too far.”—Rodimus

“Never met them Rodimus.”--Buddy

“Wait what?”—Rodimus

Rodimus pauses taking in that information in

He tries to lighten the mood a bit and asks Buddy some basic questions he heard that little kids liked answering.

“So, what’s your favorite color?”--Rodimus

“I like orange. Like the one on you, it’s a pretty color.”--Buddy

“It is! I always tell my friends it’s a cool color!”--Rodimus

“Oh! Do you like cheetah’s? They are like, super-duper-fast!”--Buddy

“Don’t know what that is but if its fast then it has to be awsome!”--Rodimus

“Right!”—Buddy

The two eventually fall into a nice conversation until Rodimus notices the sun fall across the horizon. He asks Buddy if they know a place where they could lie low for a bit. Buddy nods and begins walking further into the thick wood.

Rodimus slowly followed in tow.

Buddy eventually comes to an old, abandoned gas station. Good for Rodimus. No other humans to know of his existence. Buddy goes to the back and opens the back garage door. A place for Rodimus, sure a little cramped but still better than sleeping in the thick wood.

Buddy went back in the store and retrieved dozens of trash bags and a sleeping bag for their improv sleepover.

“At a sleep over, you have to tell stories before we go to sleep.”--Buddy

“Any story?”--Rodimus

“Any story.”--Buddy

“Well, I have one. Let me tell you about the time I single handedly wrestled a Sparkeater.”--Rodimus

“I don’t know what that is, but it sounds cool and creepy. Tell me!”--Buddy

To his surprise Buddy was fully interested in his stories. And it was cute to see Buddy fighting to stay awake to hear the rest of the story. They ended up falling asleep, curling next to Rodimus’s leg.

That sound? That’s definitely not Rodimus’s spark screaming at the cuteness before him. Nope, definitely not that.

Rodimus is confident that his team will find him so most of his time is spent with Buddy.

Between telling stories to one another, admitting one to the other of some loneliness before meeting the other. Rodimus defiantly pulls Buddy into a hug after one of those heavy emotion sessions about the past. It’s good for the pair.

It’s now been two weeks since Rodimus had come back to Earth. Buddy decided to take him to their favorite place to look at the stars. A little field not too far from their “home”.

Approaching the clearing, they weren’t expecting Lost Light to appear over the horizon. Rodimus was so happy to see his ship he almost forgot that Buddy was on his shoulder.

“They’re here! They’re here! Oh, I can’t wait to get back to my Captain’s chair!”--Rodimus

“Oh…”--Buddy

“And I can’t wait for you to get a mini chair next to mines!”--Rodimus

“Wait…”

“Yeah, we can have it with orange designs and all. I’m pretty sure Ten won’t have much problem doing the details on the chair.”--Rodimus

Buddy just looks at him in disbelief and in happy tears hugs the side of Rodimus’s helm.

Rodimus finally catching to the reality for Buddy pauses a bit and does his best to hug them back telling them that he wouldn’t leave them even if it made all of his reports disappear.

The Rod Pod touches down and Rodimus wastes no time in running to it with Buddy holding to his chassis.

Magnus was not prepared for Rodimus to show up with a little human.

“Rodimus—”—Ultra Magnus

“Behold the newest addition to the Lost Light!”--Rodimus

“Hi.”--Buddy

“… I’ll get the supplies ready then…”—Ultra Magnus

Rodimus explains the whole story to everyone on the Rod Pod and does the same when he gets back to the ship. Buddy is having the time of their life meeting new friends. Rodimus is glad that he managed to help his friend and hopes to give them a better life than the one they had on Earth.

Drift

Drift wakes up to a cold shudder.

He looks around at his surroundings. It looked like he was in an old barn. A cold old barn with the paint falling off just like the snow outside. He then feels a sharp pain near his pede.

It not his room or the medbay. It wasn’t even a part of the ship. He remembers… the crash… He remembered trying to send one last message to ratchet about his coordinates before he blacked out.

He goes to examine the wound when he hears little footsteps. Drift reaches for one of his swords when a little human came out of one of the barns shadows. They looked like one of the children in Swerve’s human movie night films.

The child had some protective layers on, but clearly not enough for the snow falling. They had a bunch of old miss matched blankets in their hands.

“Hi…My name is Buddy.”--Buddy

“Hello? My name is Drift.”—Drift

Drift ever dumbfounded waved back before clutching his pede in pain again. Buddy carefully puts down the blankets and slowly moves towards his pede. Drift curious slowly releases his pede and watched the human pull out some sort of wrappings and began wrapping his pede the best they could.

“Buddy, as much as I appreciate the help, that isn’t—”--Drift

“Shh!”--Buddy

“Did- did you just shush me?”--Drift

“Yes, and I’ll do it again. Shh!”--Buddy

They then grabbed the blankets and attempted to… tuck him in?

He thanked them shivering a bit feeling the cold seep in.

The human smiled and left him alone in the barn before falling into a much-needed recharge.

The next morning, Buddy returned to check back and pulled a chair to sit right next to him. The two ended up talking about how Drift had gotten to Earth and how to get him back home. Drift was surprised to see Buddy eager to help him get back home.

“C’mon Drift. Let’s help you get home. And don’t worry I won’t let any evil corrupt government spy take you.”--Buddy

“That sounded oddly specific but thanks?”--Drift

Together the two end up borrowing some tech from a nearby scrap yard to help create a distress beacon. Sure, Drift was by no means an engineer, but he hopes that his time with Perceptor will help him now.

During the next 3 weeks it goes by, Drift learns a bit about Buddy’s life. About them being an orphan and finding haven in the old crumbly barn.

Buddy learns a bit about Drift too. They learn about how he used to be a bad guy before turning good, how he made some new friends on the Lost light, and his misadventures with a medic named Ratchet.

“You really chopped the bad guy’s hands?”--Buddy

“Yeah, the were going to hurt Ratchet. I had to protect him.”--Drift

“He sounds like a nice guy. Wish I could meet him.”--Buddy

It was early dawn when Buddy woke up from a nightmare and came to Drift for comfort.

“You- you just left! You didn’t even say goodbye!”--Buddy

“Buddy, it was all a dream. A bad one. Anyways I could never leave you even if I tried to.”--Drift

“What? What about the Lost Light? What about Ratchet?”--Buddy

“… Would you like to come with me? Mean, You can say no and all—”--Drift

“YES!”--Buddy

Buddy attempts to hug Drift nodding furiously. A tearful confirmation that made the pair happy.

A sudden crackle is heard from outside the barn.

Drift is immediately up, holding Buddy close to his spark and sword in the other servo. Buddy is completely dwarfed in his servo and shakes a bit in the suspense in the air. Drift is prepared to fight whatever is outside of the barn.

Multiple footsteps are heard which only makes Drift’s grip on the sword tighten.

Then the door swings open and Drift kicks down the intruder straight in the chassis pointing the sword at them. Rodimus, on the ground groaning at the sudden attack.

“Geez Drift I know we had our differences but that was a bit harsh don’t you think?”--Rodimus

“Rodimus?”--Drift

“Drift!”--Ratchet

“Ratchet!”--Drift

“Oh thank—is that a human?”--Ratchet

“Hi… I’m Buddy. You must be Ratchet. Drift tells some of the best stories about you.”--Buddy

“Does he now?”--Ratchet

“Uh… Buddy—”--Drift

“Shh!”—Buddy and Ratchet

“I like this kid.”--Ratchet

“Are you guys my parents now?”--Buddy

“What?”—Drift and Ratchet

“What?”—Buddy

And that is how Buddy ended up joining the Lost light and how Drift and Ratchet ended up being their guardians. Never leaving Buddy alone in danger and never feeling cold again.

[bahrtofane]

Dialogue 15 and trope 19 with Kylian 💞 Your writing is so good!

thank u sm !! enjoy lovely <333

- "Can we start over, just you and me?" -  Second Chance

word count - 600+

watch it - kinda toxic relationship but its okay kinda happy ending hehe

In some parallel universe there's a version of you and kylian that haven't broken up and you're still in his home cozy in his expensive comforters without a care in the world as he pressed kisses to your cheeks. 

This is not your universe and the reality that you live is instead that you haven seen him in weeks and the last you did you stormed off screaming at dinner. Hey can you really blame yourself? 

Kylian has dragged you on a wild ride filled with so much drama you could actually kneel over and die just from thinking about it. 

And if you ask him, he'd say you were never together. The nerve. 

You hope he breaks a knee or something. That would shut him up. You think hes single handedly the most egotistical person you have ever had the misery of meeting. 

To him, he was untouchable. On and off the pitch. He was-is- Kylian Mbappe, what does anyone have to say to his face but praise? Nothing. 

Funny thing is you never meant to get involved this much. At the wrong moment at the wrong time. And boom you collided. Literally. At a friend's birthday dinner you got up to fix your dress, and here comes Mr hot shot not looking where he was going and slammed right into you. Sending you right into the table ribs first. That bruise was sore for ages. 

And the rest is history. A very miserable depressing history that leaves you with a pile of keepsakes under your bed. You have yet to find the heart to throw them out. 

And through all this you still let him come obver after practice to ‘talk.’ what the hell is there to talk about? The rumors that made you leave? The amount of times he never outright said you were together? God. 

He shows up soon enough. In all black and with flowers and a bag. You toss them into your kitchen table and guide him to your couch. 

“What is this about Kylian?” you sigh. 

He wrings his hands together, unable to look you in the eye. 

"Can we start over, just you and me?" soft. Gentle. 

“Kylain.” you warn. 

“I'm serious. I let talk and rumors get the best of me. I failed you in the process.”

“We start over and we what, do the same thing over and watch how you embarrass me?” you lash out. 

He winces,”no. I want you back and I want to treat you properly. I'm sorry for all I put you through. That's on me and always will be. But I can't just let you leave. I need you.”

"Fine," you relent, your tone laced with reluctance. "Let's start over. But this time, Kylian, we do it on my terms. No more games, no more lies. Just honesty, trust, and a genuine effort to make things work."

Kylian's expression softens, he's relieved. "I promise, this time will be different. I'll do whatever it takes to earn back your trust and make things right."

You nod, though the doubts still linger in the back of your mind. "We'll see," you murmur, unwilling to fully let your guard down just yet. You know him well enough to know not to jump for joy. He needs to prove all this talk to you first. 

As Kylian reaches out to take your hand, you can't help but wonder if you're making a mistake, if you're setting yourself up for heartbreak once again. But amidst the uncertainty, there's a glimmer of hope—a belief that maybe, just maybe, this time will be different.

Together, you take a tentative step forward, ready to give love another chance, praying that this time, it won't end in disappointment. Praying that you won't have to tear down every little thing that reminds you of him. That maybe Kylian has space for you in his life rather than just  haphazard room he's made on a whim from shoving things aside till they swallow you whole. 

Only time will tell. 

[hxltic]

Omg omg I love your writing. May i please order a cup of Ghost, König, Roach (or really any other COD character) with an s/o who randomly decides to ask them what their bodycount is and then gets upset when it’s a lot ;( like their s/o asks them about their past hookups and they’re like 16 or something and their s/o gets all pouty and teary eyed cause they don’t like the thought of someone else touching them in an intimate manner. SORRY IF THIS IS TOO DETAILED OML

I really wanted to do one of the three you named but I’m gonna do Gaz cus he’s hot and young and the least traumatized out of all of them LMAO IM SORRY (this is so late but I have motivation again and I’m back!!)

Gaz connects the silver chain around his neck, watching his reflection copy in the mirror, then he shines a smile that hides the strawberry gum he’s chewing somewhere behind his teeth. Once he’s satisfied with a simple black tee that hugs him in all the right spots, he leaves the bathroom with a spritz of his expensive, vanilla scented cologne hanging in the air.

On his few days off duty, who better to spend it with than you?

He pours himself a single shot before you stroll out of your shared bedroom. Makeup done, heels high, and dress short— you were more than ready.

“Damn, you look good. You trying to kill me?” He rubs his jaw as he scans you.

Giggling, you twirl in your skin-tight dress, “Maybe.”

“Alright, let’s go before I do something I’ll regret.”

. .

You arrive with his arm slung around your waist as you pass the foyer and into the living room. Some of his high school friends await, new faces to you. They catch sight of you first, then him, and it instantly switches the mood when they holler out happily.

“Yo, Kyle!”

“Long time no see!”

A few hugs and handshakes later, you both take a seat and sink comfortably into the couch. His arm switches to rest over your shoulders protectively.

He inquires, “So, this is her right?”

“In the flesh,” he responds casually.

The man leans over from his spot and reaches his hand out, hoping you’ll take it. Your lips curl upwards politely when you do.

“Nice to meet you.”

“You too. He talks about you all the time, so when I saw you, I knew who you were immediately. I’m Tyler.”

“Does he now?” Your shoot a curious glance to him who’s watching the conversation unfold. “And what would he say?”

“All good things, all good things,” Kyle jests. His thumb caresses your shoulder. Tilting your head to lean into his neck, faint cologne seems to override everyone else’s in the room when his two-toned lips kiss your forehead.

“It’s good to see him finally settle down. Out of your ways, right man?”

Tyler mindlessly giggles as what he said runs over your head. Then, it takes a U-turn and comes back, dropping your expression to a blank stare at nothing in particular as the cogs turn in your brain.

Out of his ways. You repeat. What were his ways?

Unaware that he’d single-handedly ruined your night, Tyler continues talking to his friends. One of which was Kyle, someone trained to pay attention to those around him, so he notices your switch in demeanor but truthfully has no idea why.

To be completely honest, you didn’t know why either. He was a good man, one you trust with your life (literally), so why do you care about who he was? You didn’t know if this was riding a thin line of slut-shaming, but you were so curious that being lost in your train of thought negated the feeling of his hand resting on your bouncing knee.

“What’s the matter?” He tucks a strand of your hair back gingerly. “Let me fix it.”

Even if he didn’t know what it was, he always said those four words. “Let me fix it.” If it was things he couldn’t fix, he’d sure as hell try.

Your eyes dart to his soft ones. He gazes at you like you’re the only person in the room; the only girl in world. “It’s nothing.”

“If you don’t want to talk about it now, I’m askin’ again later. Would you prefer me do that?”

You consider his negotiation, running the scenario of later through your head, then nod quietly. He nods back but it’s evident he isn’t completely enjoying himself the rest of the night. How can he when you aren’t?

Half-assed responses and deep sighs fall from his lips, the irritation growing despite the previous longing to hear from his old friends. He began to grow overstimulated from that point on, but not wanting to ruin the mood, he kept his mouth shut.

. .

The second you slipped through the door, fast food in hand (from his efforts to lighten your mood), the tension transferred from the majorly silent car ride to your home. Your breaths were shallow as if the thoughts circulating overwhelmed you.

Nothing matters beforehand. Your relationship was still fresh, there wasn’t even enough time for him to have a “military girlfriend”. But could that mean you’re next? You trust him, just not your judgement.

“What’s wrong, beautiful? Ya barely ate.”

He closes the door behind you, treading carefully around your emotions as to not hurt you more. As much as you wanted to curl up in a ball, unfortunately, there’s nothing to fault him for in this situation, so you can’t do anything but talk about it. The guilt eats away at your love for him as you gather the words you call shameful.

“If you had to guess, how many people did you date before me?”

His eyes widen in surprise, then fade away as he searches his brain for memories.

The deliberation of the question should let you know the status of what he did. They could have been one night stands— and the thought makes you cringe— but nothing would evoke the most culpability than it being various, genuine relationships.

“Three,” he states. There was no extra talk, even though you’re sure he had pieced together why you were asking.

“How many different people have you been intimate with? Including me?”

“Uhh…”

Answering wasn’t the problem. It’s just that if it made you this upset and you hadn’t even known the answer yet, hearing the actual reply would absolutely crush you.

He chose against saying it, just releasing a deep sigh, which is basically the same thing. It told you all you needed to know.

“Hey, look,” he begins walking toward you and his logic is warred with his heart when you don’t step away, but just stand there sadly. There was nothing to be afraid of, and you weren’t scared of him anyway. “I know this feels cliché, but you’re the one I want. Ty wasn’t lyin’ when he said I’ve settled down.”

Both of his hands gently find yours as if he were attempting to telepathically transport his sincerity to you. “I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

And he shows it, most certainly— the kiss he sweetly places to your temple nothing but evidence— yet all you can think about were your previous thoughts. What if you’re next?

“So what’s the answer?” Your focus remains to the hardwood floor, attempting to look for invisible specs of dust to avoid the tears threatening to swell in your eyes.

It shocks him because he didn’t think you’d speak, concluding you were too upset. One of his hands removes yours and drags it over his face. “Fuck, baby— I don’t even have count.”

He was right, it did upset you more, but there wasn’t anything you could blame him for. And living in uncertainty within a relationship that he promises he’s dedicated to sounds like hell. He hasn’t done anything to prove you shouldn’t, so your best option, quite literally, is to trust him. “Okay.”

“Look at me, love.” He slowly raises your chin by a few fingers, only to feel a painful throb behind his ribs at the sight. “I was young, and stupid, and wanted the wrong things from the people around me. I joined the military because of it, and thank God I did. I found the right values of life.”

There was a wetness to your cheek that he wiped away with his thumb, but you wouldn’t be able to tell why it was there. Overwhelming affection or sadness?

“In fact, there isn’t anything I can thank more than the world for the time we met. Now, I can cherish you in a way I wouldn’t have been able to before.”

You listen closely to the words, just thinking of how okay you’ll be. He was a good man, and if you unintentionally painted him out to be anything otherwise, it would show. But until then, you two would be fine (assuming he wasn’t still a man-whore, of course).

©️ hxltic

[bellaxgiornata]

Falling For the Devil [Part eighty-four: "The Late Night Snack Hunt"]

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader

Summary: Your friend group and you have a night out at Josie's and end up hungry and in need of snacks.

Or The five of you get drunk and you have a very interesting night.

[Series of one-shots about Reader meeting, falling for, and dating Matt Murdock.]

Warnings: 18+ for this series; contains humor, fluff, romance, angst, smut (like...a lot of it later in the series), language, some violence

Word Count: 4.8k

a/n: Here's a fluffy installment that I've been teasing for awhile from a title that was suggested to me back when I was taking title suggestions (and I still have a good few more coming). We finally get the friend group back! I realized it had been a long time since we saw more than just Fog! I hope you enjoy and know that I wrote the last half of this with a fever today, but I wanted to get it finished on time! Feedback is always appreciated!

Tag List: @ninacotte @mattkinsella @stilldreaming666 @murdocksclient @madscamp02 @1988-fiend @lina-mar @pinkratts @schneeflocky @acharliecoxedfan @yarrystyleeza @theetherealbloom @danzer8705 @lionalsowrites

“Ellison was not thrilled with that story,” you told her, a grin spreading along your mouth. “I’ll tell you that much.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Karen said with a laugh. “You’re going to single handedly become the reason that man loses all his hair.”

“I mean it’s not like I was being unsafe covering that story. I have had outside help getting information,” you replied, glancing over your shoulder.

Matt was at the bar counter with Foggy, the pair of them getting another round of drinks for the table. As if he was aware you were looking at him–and knowing Matt he probably was–he glanced over at the table you, Karen, and Marci were seated at. You saw his mouth curl up into a smirk and you couldn’t fight the smile in return.

“That is still incredibly weird,” Marci pointed out.

Your attention returned to the table, your eyes landing on Marci sitting across from you. Her focus was fixed on Matt now, her fingers tapping along the glass in her hands.

“What is?” you asked her.

Her head gestured towards Matt. “His superhuman hearing,” she replied. “And the fact that I can’t actually have a girl’s chat with you if he’s around.”

You shrugged, picking up your beer and downing the last bit of it. Setting it back onto the table you asked, “Why, is there something you want to talk about?”

Marci’s eyes shifted straight towards you, a pointed look on her face as she raised a single brow. Beside you, Karen leaned her elbows onto the table, making the exact same face back at you. Your eyes darted between the pair of them curiously.

“What?” you asked. “What’s with the faces?”

“You’re literally moving in with Matt next weekend. You don’t think we have questions?” Marci asked.

“Lots of questions,” Karen added.

“Oh,” you answered. “Right, yeah. It is next weekend, isn’t it?”

“Yes! And we’ve been dying to talk to you about it!” Marci said.

Matt appeared at your side, sliding another beer along the table in front of you. You thanked him softly as he casually wrapped his arm around your shoulders. Leaning into his side, your attention shifted back to Marci and Karen.

“It’s not like you can’t talk to me about it with Matt here,” you pointed out. 

“Well in that case,” Marci said, both of her elbows coming to rest along the table as she also leaned forward towards you, a devious smile on her face. “Are you freaking out? Because I know you and I’m sure you’re freaking out.”

“Yeah, a little,” you answered her.

Matt shook his head beside you, drawing his beer to his lips. “That’s a lie,” he told her. “She’s freaking out a lot. Constantly. I’m pretty sure she’s still trying to find ways to hide having her period around me.”

Turning in your chair, you gawked at Matt and the little smirk on his face as he took a pull from his beer. Karen, Marci, and even Foggy all broke into a laugh around the table. You felt your cheeks heat instantly.

“Matt!” you whined.

He set his beer back down, shrugging his shoulders as he glanced at you beside him. “What?” he asked, that smirk still on his lips. “You think I don’t know why you’re always so supportive of me going out and doing my nightly hobby for a particular week straight every month lately?”

“Oh my God ,” you groaned, burying your face in your hands. “You didn’t need to announce that to our friends.”

“Yes he did,” Karen disagreed. “So now Marci and I can tell you you’re being an idiot.”

“You have no room to say that,” you said, raising your head out of your hands and focusing on her to the right of you. “Because the guy you’ve been seeing doesn’t have heightened senses. Come back and tell me I’m being an idiot when he does .”

Matt’s hand started rubbing your shoulder comfortingly, pulling you further into his side. You felt him shift beside you, leaning over to kiss the top of your head. The embarrassment and the flush of your cheeks slowly began to dissipate at the affectionate gesture, a small smile slipping onto your lips as you contentedly melted into Matt.

“You two are freakishly adorable,” Foggy said, lifting his bottle of beer. “I can’t wait for when you both get married.”

Matt tensed instantly, his hand halting its soothing movement along your shoulder. Your brows furrowed at Foggy as he took a drink from his beer, silence falling over the table. Both Karen and Marci’s heads whipped in Foggy’s direction at his words, their eyes wide and brows raised in surprise. It took Foggy only two seconds before he was sputtering on his drink, waving a hand and shaking his head.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” he quickly corrected in a rush. “I just–just meant you and Matt are an adorable couple. And you’re–you’re moving in together soon. I feel like marriage is probably going to be on your minds at some point, you know? And I’m definitely rooting for you both,” he finished in a nervous rush. Across the table, he raised his fist and pumped it up in the air once as he awkwardly added, “Yay, go you two! Accomplishing normal relationship progressions and things.”

Somehow your brows only drew further together on your face as you stared back at Foggy like he’d finally lost it. Karen was still staring at him curiously, her blue eyes scanning his face closely. Beside Foggy, Marci was shaking her head, focusing back on her drink.

“That was weird, babe,” she told him. “Even for you.”

“Right, yeah, sorry,” Foggy muttered.

You watched as he ducked his head, suddenly quieting. Beside you, Karen’s focus shifted between you and Matt. She still had that look on her face, the same one she got when she was incredibly focused on a case.

“Have you both talked about marriage yet?” she asked slowly.

Marci’s head snapped up, her eyes alight with curiosity. “Ohh, yes, have you?” she pressed.

"Uh, well, yeah," you admitted shyly, eyes dropping down to the beer bottle you began fiddling with. "We've recently discussed it."

"And?" Marci pressed.

"And I think I should move in first before you all start trying to marry us off," you said, peeling the label on the beer bottle. 

"What about kids?" Marci asked next. "Have you talked about kids?"

Your head flew up, eyes wide as you gaped at Marci. She shrugged a shoulder innocently in response, still clearly waiting for your answer. Your eyes flew to Matt, wondering what his expression would be, but you couldn't quite decipher anything with his glasses on. From what you could see, his expression looked fairly controlled and neutral, impossible to read a reaction from.

“I uh, I think we should just focus on the moving in thing right now,” you said, voice pitched a bit higher.

“Alright fine,” Marci replied defeatedly.

You watched her deflate a little on the other side of the table. Though out of the corner of your eye, you were still watching Matt and wondering what was with his suddenly quiet and hard to read exterior. 

“I think we should celebrate the occasion with more drinks,” Karen suggested mischievously. 

Across the table, Foggy perked right back up, his usual energy clearly back. “Here, here!” he exclaimed, raising his beer. “To our little awkward journalist taming our elusive cocky Devil!”

Matt immediately released his arm from around your shoulders, waving his hand around as he shook his head. “Come on now, Fog,” he said. “No one’s taming anyone here.”

“Dude,” Foggy said with a grin on his face, “you’ve been talking about her moving in for months now. You have it literally scheduled on your phone calendar and have been counting down to that day all fucking month.” Foggy shook his head back at Matt, the grin never leaving his face. “You’ve never been like this over a girl before, don’t fucking try to deny it. Not to me, Matt.”

A pleased smile slowly made its way across your lips as you looked up at Matt beside you. His hands were on his hips now and he was clearly tonguing his cheek. His posture was stiff and rigid as he stared straight ahead to where Foggy was still grinning back at him. After a moment Matt exhaled a deep sigh, his shoulders dropping as his hands fell from his hips. He slung his arm back around your shoulders, glancing down in your direction. The dim light of Josie’s bar reflected off of his red lenses at the movement, but as he focused on you, you saw his expression gradually shift. His usual coy and cocky smile slowly crept its way onto his face.

“I guess you were the one to tame the Devil, sweetheart,” Matt admitted.

The table erupted in a loud chorus of cheers, but your focus remained on Matt as he smiled down at you. That pleased smile never left your face, instead it only grew at his admission.

___________

“I told you guys this place would still be open,” Foggy announced.

He came to a stop on unsteady feet in front of the grocery store, one hand gesturing wildly at the well lit building and the ‘open’ sign on the door. You pulled Matt to a stop beside you, both of your hands wrapped around his bicep. Squinting at the writing underneath the store’s name on the glass window, you read it slowly before excitedly tugging on Matt’s arm.

“Foggy!” you exclaimed. “You’re brilliant! They do have organic food here!” 

“Looks like they’re only–” Karen paused on a hiccup before she continued to read a sign by the door, “–open for another twenty or so minutes.”

“Well then let’s hurry the hell up!” Marci cried out.

She looped her arm through Fog’s before dragging him towards the door. You could see the cashier inside through one of the large windows. They were rolling their eyes at the sight of you and your friends and the clearly various inebriated states you all were in. You were about to lead Matt into the store after your friends, but were immediately distracted by Matt’s hand grabbing your ass. Head abruptly turning to the side, you blinked rapidly a few times until Matt stopped spinning in your vision. Seconds later you caught the sly smirk already on his lips as he continued to brazenly grope you.

“I think I could go for some cake,” Matt mused, his words slightly slurred. “That sounds like a good late night snack.”

“You sound like a good late night snack,” you blurted, the words slipping out of you before your brain even processed them.

Matt snorted in amusement, his smirk turning into an amused grin. You couldn’t resist the giggle that bubbled out of you afterwards. 

He did indeed look very fucking good right now. His beard was a few days past when he normally shaved because he’d been too busy with his nighttime hobby and kept oversleeping in the mornings to do so, so it was a bit darker and fuller than usual. You’d often found your fingers brushing over it lately, and even now you couldn’t resist releasing your hold on his arm, lifting a hand to affectionately stroke his cheek. He was also still dressed in his work attire, the top two buttons of his white shirt unbuttoned and his navy tie loose and partially askew. And of course he had his sleeves rolled up to just below his elbows, his muscular forearms on display along with the patch of dark hair covering them. His forearms alone had been turning you on all night–when did they not? Not to mention, his ass always looked so damn perfect in his dark dress slacks, especially with the way the material was always pulled taut over it. 

Matt’s head tilted to the side, the amused grin slipping off of his lips as something more devilish replaced it. He leaned in towards your ear, his lips just grazing the shell of it as he spoke. The sensation rose goosebumps along your arms.

“At this point I’d like to take you back to what is soon to be our apartment,” Matt whispered into your ear, “toss you onto our bed, and get these pants off of you. Then I’d like to–”

“Guys!”

Matt abruptly pulled away from you at the sound of Foggy’s reprimanding voice. Your head spun behind you, taking in the look of exasperation on his face.

“This place closes in like fifteen minutes,” he continued. “Save the grabby hands for later. We're looking for noms! And Matt, buddy, I thought you wanted that trail mix? You spent twenty minutes talking about it at Josie’s.”

“I did not!” Matt shot back.

You laughed, throwing a hand over your mouth when Matt’s dour expression turned on you. He really had spent a long time talking about it before you’d all left Josie’s trying to find a bodega or grocery store open that would have organic ingredients for you to make it for him.

“Stay focused!" Foggy said, pointing a firm finger at the pair of you.

Foggy turned and headed back inside the store, leaving you and Matt alone on the sidewalk once again. With a sigh your attention returned to Matt beside you.

“If you want me to make that trail mix, we should probably go in there now,” you told him. “Otherwise you’re going to be complaining to me later tonight for twenty minutes about how you didn’t get it.”

"Well it has been awhile since you made some," Matt replied.

"Matt, I made a huge batch a couple of weeks ago,” you pointed out.

"It wasn’t a huge batch," he disagreed. “I ate it in two days!”

You shook your head, both hands wrapping firmly around his bicep and pulling him towards the store. "Because I’m pretty sure that’s all you ate for two days, Matty.”

“I just really like the way you make it,” he mumbled.

You felt Matt shrug as you opened the door of the grocery store, leading him inside with you before you abruptly came to a stop. Your eyes immediately began scanning the aisle signs hanging from the ceiling, having to squint as you tried to focus. The store around you felt like it was moving, making it more difficult for you to read all the words.

"So we need nuts," you mused, trying to decide which aisle would be the one you needed.

Matt snickered beside you, the sound drawing your attention from the signs. There was a boyish grin on his face as he clearly continued to fight back his amusement. 

"What?" you asked him.

"I–" Matt snickered again, "–I might be able to help there."

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head at him as you grabbed a basket and began to lead the pair of you towards aisle six. 

"Don't think you want those in there, Matt," you replied. 

Matt was still shaking with silent laughter as you entered the aisle, your focus shifting to the row of nuts before you. You'd had to release your hold on Matt to try to closely scan the different packages, looking for the right nuts you always used that had no added anything–just the way Matt preferred it. Before you could grab the container from the shelf you’d decided on, you felt Matt's arms wrap around your waist as he drew you backwards and into the front of himself. His arms squeezed your waist tighter when you nearly lost your footing, keeping you from toppling over as you startled unexpectedly.

"Careful, Bambi," he teased playfully, chin resting along your shoulder.

"I'm only Bambi in heels," you countered, hands resting on his forearms to steady yourself.

Losing your focus from what you'd been doing, your eyes dropped down to his arms. Your fingers began dragging their way back and forth along the dark hair of them. Beside your ear, Matt let out a contented hum as he relaxed further into you. 

"How are your forearms so big?" you asked.

Matt chuckled at your question, the rumble of his chest vibrating along your back. You bit your lip, realizing what a ridiculous question that really had been. But for some reason your mouth wouldn’t shut up.

“Like your arms are huge, so it makes sense,” you rambled on, unwrapping one of his arms from your waist and raising it towards your face to examine it, “but why are your forearms huge?”

“I do work out,” Matt replied. “Or have you already forgotten that after your experience at Fogwells?”

Your cheeks heated at the memory of him shirtless doing handstand pushups–you certainly weren’t about to forget that . Tongue slipping out to wet your lips, your eyes lingered on his muscular forearm and his hand you were still holding in front of your face. You felt Matt nuzzle against your neck at the same moment you felt a flash of arousal strike your inebriated brain.

“Mmm, and what’s that about?” Matt murmured against your skin.

“I like your arms,” you blurted.

“Oh?” he asked curiously.

“And your hands.”

You winced when the words had fallen out of your mouth, your face feeling like it was on fire now. Why were you just admitting all of this in the middle of the grocery store? Especially when you could hear Foggy screaming about cheese a few aisles over.

“I already know you like my hands, sweetheart,” he whispered. “No need to be bashful.”

You shook your head, eyes still focused on his thick fingers that yours had begun absently playing with. “No, I mean besides that. I like–” you stopped short, eyes going wide as your hands halted their movement toying with his fingers.

Matt drew his head from where it had been burrowed against your neck, his eyes focused on you behind his red glasses. There was a serious expression on his face as his head tilted just a bit to the side. His tongue quickly darted out between his lips and you saw his nostrils flare a second later.

“Finish that thought,” he ordered huskily.

“I–I just mean you’re very tactile,” you breathed out, unable to tear your eyes away from the red lenses that were inches from your face. “And I…like watching the way you touch things.” 

Matt didn’t say anything, he only continued to silently stare intensely back at you. You found yourself speaking again before your brain could even catch up to the words falling out of your mouth.

“Like when you’re reading braille,” you blurted out. “Or when you’re tying or untying your tie. Or when you’re frustrated and you always put your hands on your hips.” You swallowed hard, Matt’s intense focus never wavering as your mouth wouldn’t shut up. “Or–or when you’re taking off the suit. Chopping vegetables in the kitchen. Honestly, anything you do with them is a turn on.”

Matt’s jaw tightened and you saw the way the muscle twitched in his cheek as the arm around your waist held you firmer against him. His nostrils flared again before his lips finally parted, about to speak–but before the words came out you heard laughter approaching the aisle you both were in. Both of your heads spun in the direction in time to spot your three friends standing at the end of the aisle. 

“Guys!” Foggy exclaimed, holding up a tray of something in his hands. “Cheese!”

Whatever moment you’d been having with Matt quickly disappeared. Matt released his hold on your waist, his head tilting to the side in confusion as he grinned at Foggy. You dropped Matt’s hand that you’d been holding, unable to fight the smile on your face at his exuberance.

“What about it, Fog?” Matt asked him.

“What if you–now hear me out,” Foggy said, making his way towards you both, “put cheese in the trail mix?”

Your nose scrunched up on your face as Matt chuckled, shaking his head. The giant smile on Foggy’s face did not waver as Karen and Marci rolled their eyes at him.

“No one puts cheese in trail mix,” Karen told him.

“Exactly!” Foggy exclaimed. “What a missed opportunity!”

“For cheese to spoil?” Matt asked him.

“No!” Foggy said, shaking his head quickly. “You could put cheese in there! A few different types. And maybe like…some salami?” His eyes grew wide as he nodded vigorously. “Yes! That’s also a brilliant idea! And maybe–maybe some grapes?”

“Foggy Bear, it sounds like you want a charcuterie tray,” Marci said, resting a hand on his shoulder. 

The expression on his face shifted to a look of confusion as his brows furrowed, eyes focusing on the tray of cheese in his hands. You bit your lip, fighting back the laughter as you watched him slowly nod, focusing on Marci.

“You’re right, babe,” he said. “Maybe we should grab one of those?”

She patted his shoulder as she said, “I’ll go grab one.”

Pouting, Foggy glanced down at the tray of cheese. “I still think it would be good in trail mix,” he muttered.

You laughed, turning and focusing back on the row of nuts beside you. Picking up the container you’d been about to grab before you’d been distracted by Matt, you placed it into the basket you were carrying. But before you could turn around and guide Matt down the aisle you’d need for the dried cherries, you felt his mouth suddenly beside your ear again.

“I’m going to remember what you said about my hands, sweetheart,” he purred.

___________

You squealed loudly as Matt dove forward, tackling you on the couch. The weight of him easily knocked you back into the cushions. Giggling, you struggled underneath him and tried to sit back up, but he buried his face in the crook of your neck and pinned you to the couch instead. 

“I love you,” he said, the smile apparent in his voice as he nuzzled his nose against your skin. “Have I told you that enough lately?”

Giggling a little more at the feel of his beard tickling your skin, you shifted your hips underneath him, trying to get comfortable as your hands grasped onto his shoulders. Above you, Matt adjusted himself so he was no longer crushing you.

“Only about twenty times since I made you that trail mix,” you replied. “I’m beginning to think you’re only with me for the trail mix.”

Matt’s head drew back, a look of faux offense spread over his face. “How could you possibly think that?” he asked, feigning hurt.

You giggled again, a hand reaching up to run your fingers along his jaw. Matt’s expression softened, his head leaning into your touch as a warm smile slipped onto his lips. All this time later and it still made your heart flutter when he responded to you like that. 

“You feeling a little better with some food in your stomach?” you asked him. “You drank a lot more than I did tonight.”

“Yes, and I blame Fog. He wouldn’t stop pushing the shots,” he said. “And of course he listened when you said no more. But me?”

“He’s just excited that we’re moving in together,” you told him, your hand falling to your side as Matt pulled himself off of you. “He’s texted me so much this past month freaking out himself because he’s so thrilled about you ‘finally settling down’. His words, not mine.”

You sat upright beside Matt, grinning when you watched him lean forward and stick his hand in the jar of trail mix on the coffee table. You’d made it for him the moment you two got back, Matt practically begging you the second you were through the door. He grabbed a handful and tossed it into his mouth, leaning against the backrest of the couch as he chewed.

“Yeah,” he said with his mouthful. “He certainly is. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already writing a best man speech.”

Nerves fluttered in your stomach at yet another implication of you and Matt possibly getting married tonight–though this time it actually came from Matt himself. You weren’t nearly as intoxicated now as you were earlier, but you were certainly still missing that filter between your brain and your mouth, finding yourself yet again saying things you normally wouldn’t.

“He’d make a good best man,” you said softly.

“Yeah, he would,” Matt agreed.

A moment of silence passed.

“And I already know you’d look good in a tux,” you whispered.

Matt’s gaze shifted towards you, his eyes no longer covered by his glasses now that you were both back at the apartment. For a moment they scanned around your face before you saw them abruptly shift down towards your chest, focusing directly on your heart.

“And I can only imagine the sound of your heartbeat when I call you Mrs. Murdock,” he murmured.

You audibly sucked in a breath in surprise, not expecting him to have said that . Lips parting, you gaped at him as you felt your own pulse erratically increase. A slow smile spread along his lips.

“Yeah,” he whispered, his eyes still focused on your chest. “I imagine it’d be something like that, actually.”

Stunned speechless, you sat there with your mouth hanging open as you just stared at his cocky grin. With an amused huff, he reached forward and grabbed another handful of trail mix from the glass jar, leisurely throwing a few pieces into his mouth as he settled back on the couch.

“Maybe we need this trail mix at the open bar, too,” Matt mused between bites. “Pretty sure I’ll be craving it. Especially if Fog will be forcing alcohol down my throat all night.”

You didn’t know how to respond as Matt had continued on, talking as if he’d already decided on proposing and marrying you. Your mouth was still hanging wide open as he continued to toss bits of trail mix into his mouth.

Was he being serious? Or was it the alcohol in his system making him tease you like this? Was that all it was–him teasing you? Because you knew how much he liked to do that to get a reaction out of your body. But at the same time, why would he tease you about something so big like that? He had to know marriage wasn’t a topic for poking fun at you about.

Something hit your chin and you startled out of your thoughts. Matt’s entertained chuckle hit your ears as your brows drew together, your mouth finally closing. Glancing down, you saw a cashew on your lap.

“Did you just–just throw a cashew at me?” you asked him in disbelief.

“Well if you’re going to sit there gawking at me with your mouth open like that,” Matt teased, “I figured I’d see if I could make one in. Guess I missed, though.”

Your eyes drew back up to his face, taking in the wide smile settled there. The dimple you loved so much was visible, his eyes creased at the corners as he gazed back at you. 

“Why?” you asked him, picking up the cashew and tossing it into your mouth.

His smile never faltered as he shrugged. “Broke you out of your spiraling thoughts, didn’t it?” he questioned back.

“How did you…?”

“I know you, love,” he replied simply.

Your eyes dropped down to the hand he’d gently placed on your knee. Your heart fluttered in your chest at the rare term of endearment he occasionally called you. A second later he patted your knee twice.

“How about we get ready for bed?” he suggested. “I’m pretty tired and honestly curling up with you sounds perfect right now.”

“Yeah, okay,” you said with a nod. “I’ll uh, I’ll grab those noise-reducing earbuds and leave them on your nightstand. I have a feeling you’ll need them in the morning.”

The pair of you rose from the couch together, but before you could make your way to where he kept the earbuds in that bowl in his entryway, his hands landed on your hips. He drew you towards himself, slipping his arms around your waist as he pulled you into an embrace. Your own arms wrapped around his neck as you buried your face into his shoulder, your body naturally melting into his. It was crazy to think that a year ago you were still quietly pining over him, and now here you were about to move in with him.

“I love you,” you whispered into his dress shirt.

Matt’s lips placed a soft kiss to the top of your head. “I love you, too,” he murmured into your hair. 

“Only one more week,” you whispered.

His arms squeezed you a bit tighter in response. 

“Only one more week,” he agreed.

[v3nusxsky]

Could we get fluffy accidental love confession with Emily Prentiss from Prompt List #4?

Book girlfriend

*Authors note~ I love me some Booktok and smutty sapphic romance novels so it’s only natural that it would translate into my fics. Also just getting back in the swing of writing so length and I guess confidence will increase*

Trigger warnings~ mildly suggestive???sin to win weekend mentioned (past), Emily references smut and refers to herself as daddy (red tank top Emily is just so daddy)

Prompt~ see ask^^ and this ask

Banner will come

For years now you’d been know as the shy agent of the behavioural analysis unit. If it wasn’t case files, you always had your nose between pages of a book. It was a given that on the jet ride home where most the team were catching up on lost sleep, you were losing yourself into the love story of others. If only you knew that one certain brunette agent was just as madly in love with you as you were her.

Emily couldn’t help but find you attractive, your shy and quiet nature, kind heart and stunning looks were just some of the reasons she ended up falling for you. It happened so slowly at first, so slowly that not even Emily noticed at first. In fact Penelope and JJ noticed first. The way you shyly watched Emily walk around the bullpen, eyes peering over the top of your chosen reading material. The way Emily’s eyes would linger on your frame whenever you exited a room. Dereks playful teasing over your obvious, to everyone but yourself, heart eyes whenever Emily’s name was mentioned.

When the realisation hit Emily, it was single handedly worse than anything Doyle put her through. A stupid mistake on the field resulting in the unsub left in around of shots fly in your direction. Spencer yelling for a medic and apprehending the unsub. The pure heartbreaking moment where your eyes fluttered closed, pulse weakening as blood spilled onto the concrete floor.

Time seemed to still as your body was moved into in an ambulance, the only reminder being the stain left behind. It was here that Emily understood the paranoia of lady Mcbeth. It was impossible to get the stain out of her mind now. Thinking the worst, unable to will her body to move. Numb. She may have lost you, not ever telling you how she truly feels. Admiring you from afar, waiting for the right way to tell you and building up her confidence to face possible rejection. All for what? To have you so easily taken from her was just soul destroying.

Thankfully, you had the best doctors working on you, helping you heal from what occurred and allowing you to be back at work once more. From then on, Emily prentiss became increasingly observant with anything to do with you. Paying extra attention to when you were in the field, often using her own body to act like a human shield. She spent more time in your company which didn’t go unnoticed by anyone. Even you.

Since being injured the way you were, you began to come out of your shell a little more. Bonds beginning to strengthen as you attended more girls nights and even starting to banter with some of the team more frequently. Your close brush with death highlighting how much you could’ve lost. How much you have now. That isn’t to say you stopped loving the books and reading in your quiet moments, hoping for a love like that while being more open to the obvious flirting brewing between you and Emily.

Months passed, flirting back and forth as you continued to come out of your shell when it finally happened. You were halfway through your first book in a new series bright falls. Delilah doesn’t date having a beautiful brunette masculine presenting woman on the cover.

“New book sweetheart?” Emily murmured as she joined you on the jets love seat. The way you nodded and blushed a beautiful shade of pink caused her heart to race. Peeking over the top of your lilac bookcover you noticed Emily’s plump lips adoring her signature smirk before she chucked, “darling you’re just so easy to fluster. It’s adorable really. Without missing a blink you retorted “Ah so your like my book girlfriend now huh?” before your brain caught up with your mouth.

The raven haired agent immediately turned her upper body to face you, “mmm something like that.” You couldn’t help yourself, this flirty banter had been going on for months and after a rough caae you just wanted to lean into the warmth she makes you feel, even if it went no where, you had to try. “Oh Em you have no idea what you’re signing up for, I could read murder mystery books for all you know…”

It was then that Emily lent into your personal space, so close that your noses hardly touched and you could feel her breath on your face, “darling we both know that book right there contains some of the filthiest acts you’ve only ever imagined… sweetheart I’ve done them all.” Well damn. Immediately images and scenarios flooded your brain, oh to have the Emily Elizabeth Prentiss dominate your mind body and soul, pushing you deeper than you’d ever been before into the pools of pleasure and bliss. Drops of sweat glistening all over her body as she made sure you’d feel how much she loved you with every orgasm. Her words dripping in the perfect mix of praise and degradation. Oh those hands. That nose. God what you wouldn’t give to explore all the things you’d read with her.

“I-uh-mm” you practically choked out as your mind continued to dream up what Emily was so clearly stating. “Oh darling, you didn’t think daddy went to her sin to win weekends to observe now did you?” She practically purred at you, eyes raking over your body with the profiler in her noticing the way your thighs uncontrollably squeezed together, your eyes dilating and body silently begging to be touched by her. “I’ll show you sometime princess, I promise but for now enjoy your book darling I’ll see you at 7 tonight” she muttered with a wink before leaving you dazed unable to remember what page you’d been on, your mind clouded with her. Only her.

Word count~ 975

[padfootastic]

hi! i've no idea how i came to your page but i realised i'd read two of your one-shots in ao3 before and had adored them (you'll probably get comments from me in future, btw) and i just wanted to say thank you for your writing and thank you for your prongsfoot<3

i've been very critical of this sort of new, cool and aloof and martyred version of remus lupin for quite a while now (honestly, where did all those traits come from?!) and gosh, you're so eloquent when talking about him!!!

i was wondering what your thoughts were on regulus black? because i think he's getting the same sort of royalty treatment as remus does by making him sort of-- er, perfect? i mean. i've seen so much recently of him basically saving the world single-handedly and i-- ugh. and james is always just there, like a useless idiot? it makes me irrationally angry, and this is coming from someone who enjoys jegulus quite a bit. my problem is that i don't know if this rejection i feel against those two comes from a place of genuine dislike of them or from a place of wishing sirius and james were not done so dirty.

anyway, again, thank you for your writing. it's truly beautiful. hope you have a great day!

omg hello 🥺 i’ve periodically opened tumblr, giggling like a loon, and logging off multiple times just to see this ask,,,,thank u sm , ur way too kind <3 and ur comment on ao3!!! i was just,,,,yeah,,,no words. thank u.

ooooooh i remember being asked something similar a while ago and i took the safe route and basically went ‘remus lupin-ification of regulus’ iirc. that still stands. but but. i’ve also got another answer here! all hail tumblr’s search system today!

i still basically stand by all of it, but adding onto the jegulus + sirius bits of it:

annoys tf outta me when regulus is turned into a victim and like sirius damned him to hell when he left . i have thoughts about the way both of them were treated (which,,,another time,,,this post is already getting too long lol) but i imagine the day sirius left to be a Good One for reg bc he thinks he’ll have his parents undivided attention now. i also think regulus is severely defanged in a lot of characterisations, as if he wasn’t a baby DE, as if he wasn’t a slytherin from the house of black, as if he wasn’t walmart sirius black. like man i’m almost offended on his behalf. i’m sure his shaking his lil fist up at us from wherever he is.

with jegulus…okay, i’ve only read a couple oneshots but that doesn’t mean i haven’t tried. i genuinely went thru so many fics trying to get something, anything to stick and i think the problem is me. fully. completely. without doubt. i just can’t deal with a situation where j&s aren’t each others no.1, or at the very least, equivalent to that. that’s where my issues w wolfstar started, same w this. jegulus also has the added horror of ‘james and reg sneaking behind sirius’ back’ which is just,,,,gosh,,,,i have So Many Thoughts ab that. all personal opinions, but still. they’re strong. it fucks me up just thinking about it. i also think the ship tries wayyyy too hard to fit the ‘best friend’s brother’ trope and ends up sacrificing characterisation for it. which,,,again,,,that’s fine but it’s all the ‘oh this is how it was!’ that gets to me. and then james :/// he gives off such weird energy lol. jegulus gives me drarry vibes, and james is treated almost exactly as harry is in a lot of those. reg also gets the saviour treatment, like draco, and both of their fuckery is toned down until they’re almost normal, like they never did any reprehensible shit. j&r, and d&h are placed on the same moral equivalence and it’s just a bit. hmm. okay. (my issue with this is how it leaks into the writing and suddenly i’m made to sympathise with draco bc harry slashed him w sectumsempra, but we conveniently forget he was gonna use an unforgivable, ykno?) so overall it just feels…pushing reg up and pulling james down to get them on equal footing. very similar to wolfstar lbr.

anyway. that’s a ramble and a half lmao.

also!! ‘a place of genuine dislike of them or from a place of wishing sirius and james were not done so dirty’ in my mind, both of these occupy a similar plane of existence. so very valid. for me, personally, hating remrem started as the latter and i eventually realised it’s also the former lol i was just mad a how sirius is bastardised to justify his ~deification and it eventually moved on to ‘wow i just. do not like him’. damn.

[skye-huntress]

The Witch from Mercury Season 2 Reaction

Episode 13: “Envoys from the Earth”

Looks like we’re starting off with back-to-back duels. We did hear from Shaddiq back in episode 10 that the challenges against Suletta were piling up

No. 5 is very animated compared to No. 4. I wonder how many people have wondered if there was something wrong with him

Felsi, Renee and Sabina are now all reps in the duelling committee? I can understand Lauda having other responsibilities from the shot of him in one of the trailers, but why is Shaddiq absent?

“I’d say he is a different person.” She has no idea how accurate that statement is

So Nika is still around but she seems distracted

So Suletta is obligated to accept a duelling challenge once every two weeks but since Shaddiq made extensions on those challenges while Aerial was being rebuilt they were all pushed back. By the sounds of it, the Committee made the exception so they could force Suletta into back-to-back duels hoping to wear her down. It sounds like their MO, they’ve been trying every dirty trick in the book to trip up Suletta since she bested Guel the first time.

Unfortunately for them, the rebuilt Aerial is even more of a powerhouse than she was before, although I still prefer the original look. Plus Suletta has already beaten two of the top duellers and single-handedly wiped out half of the top team in school in what was mostly a 6v1 fight. Really, they’re just helping her to rack up the wins faster

Oh, great, Suletta mentioned the b word. Can we not talk about the b word? I’m anxious enough already

Seems most of the normal people in Earth House aren’t coping too well with what happened and the subsequent gag order. I hesitate to comment on whether the gag order is for the best or not, since there is a lot about the situation we do not know yet, but I can sympathise with Earth House who for the most part live in ignorance. Just for example, how would Chuchu feel if she knew it was Earthians, not Spacians, who nearly murdered her and all her friends?

Suletta seems normal. You wouldn’t know that she’s experienced real combat for the first time, much less killed

Naturally, suspicion is falling on Jeturk Heavy Machinery for colluding with anti-Spacian terrorists. I wonder if the late Vim Jeturk had planned for this or if he really didn’t think this through. Well, he’s dead now so we’ll probably never know.

Zenelli seems to be out for blood, though I’m not sure how much the Group actually care about Delling’s wellbeing and Jeturk’s death. I think this is more about the Group’s egos. Maybe it’s more of a “how dare those Earthian insects attack us” type of deal.

“I would never lie to you, father,” says adoptive son who is constantly going behind his father’s back to pursue his own ambitions.

Shaddiq says he plans to bring his father into his own plan but I have my doubts that will happen. Both of them are pretty stubborn and I suspect they’ll never see eye-to-eye.

So Suletta does have doubts about if she did the right thing, although like I’ve said, in the moment there wasn’t exactly a lot of room for error or hesitation. Still, it’s clear she is asking the wrong person. The amount of trust she places in her mother even on a murky issue like this leaves me uneasy.

I still do not know if Sohpie wants to fight Suletta or f*** her. … It’s probably both.

She can’t even take a normal ID photo. I’m not surprised, I just find it very appropriate

I like how Sophie is so familiar with Suletta right off the bat but put no thought into any kind of cover story for it.

Suletta is just so pure she just goes along with the whole sister thing. I’m now kind of curious to see where this will go. Certainly it’d be a far more interesting love triangle than the one with No. 5

Speaking of, did Suletta actually agree to spend a day with No. 5? I seriously doubt it, considering how confused and conflicted she seemed. It seems like he just sprung it on her hoping that her in her confusion she’d default into just going with him

Whatever the case, I absolutely love that Sophie swooped in and stole his date from him

Girl who squashed a terrorist still gets jumpy around petty school bullies. Yeah, try figuring that one out.

We’re getting a battle royale? If Suletta and Aerial compete, it’s going to be a metaphorical massacre. (If Sophie competes, it will be a literal one)

Nika, did you really think threatening a couple of terrorists was a good idea? Seriously thought she was about to get offed here.

I got to say, I didn’t expect those two to be exposed so soon. You’d think if they’d take such a risk they’d be a little more careful, or at least Norea would

Girl who cowers from petty school bullies faces off against girls she just saw attempt to murder her friend with steely determination

The duelling system is really dumb and these two obviously have every reason not to play along with any dumb rules or laws. Really, they’re just humouring Suletta’s challenge which is deeply troubling.

We really haven’t gotten enough Miorine this episode.

This is the tricky thing about Prospera, just like with her recent talks with Suletta, nothing she said to Miorine is actually wrong. Miorine and her father probably would have died if Suletta had any reservations about harming or killing others. A moment’s hesitation would have made all the difference in that situation, and that would have been something Suletta may have never recovered from

Quiet Zero, Delling’s secret project that Prospera is somehow in on. And she wants to put Miorine in charge, as if she doesn’t have enough on her plate with school, a company, a hospitalised father and a groom possibly conditioned to commit violence. And any project aimed at ending all war is usually the type to result in some apocalyptic tragedy.

[neonpiegon]

This weird thought came to me while I was taking a shower, as most of my weird thoughts tend to do. It’s actually not really that weird, as I have been thinking about for more than three years now; what was weird about it was the approach, or rather, the initiative to take that approach.

In March of 2020, at the very beginning of the C19 pandemic, my then girlfriend at the time broke up with me for some absurd mistakes I committed. May have been absurd, but mistakes nonetheless, and I hurt her with them and my pride. Since then I spend many days lamenting the outcome, because I single handedly ruined something very beautiful I had. It’s one of the few things I cannot forget, forgive, and it directly contradicts my personal philosophy of “if it’s important, do something about it, because regret is useless, if not, then move on”.

Since then I have asked myself “what if we ever came back together?”, hoping that she would be the one to contact me, since she was the one who left her feelings very clear: “I do not love you anymore”.

Since then, I tried to convince myself that we were better on out own, apart from each other, or that at least she was better off without me. That everything happens for a reason and instead of giving it another shot, we should just leave it at that, try to grow with someone else.

People say things they don’t really mean when they’re upset, just as I did, which was the reason for the separation. And I also know she is very proud, so I doubt she would ever take it back, just as I didn’t. The weird thought I had some moments ago was: “what if I sincerely asked for forgiveness, and another chance?”

I spent all these years dating different people in hopes of finding one being able to replace her, but just never being able to do so. I spent a lot of time being alone, trying to realize I don’t need a partner. And I don’t, to be honest, I just really like being with someone authentic, who loves me as much as I love her, being all lovey dovey and all that. It makes me feel very comfortable, secure, happy. It brings out the best version of myself. Plus, the sensation of having someone to have virtually unlimited and intimate sex without worry. The women I’ve dated, be it emotionally, sexually, aesthetically, physically, in whatever way… they just don’t feel the same. So… maybe I do need somebody else, for the sake of my mental health?

To be honest, I am scared I will never feel the same with anyone else. That no one will ever make feel as happy and comfortable as she did. But that is no one’s fault but my own. Can you blame me for reminiscing on the best months of my life that actively involved another person?

Oh, did I say months? Yeah, one would expect for someone to be so obsessed with their ex that they had a decade long relationship, but no, ours didn’t even make it to the first anniversary mark. But those months were some of the most comfortable, worry-less, joyful months I have ever experienced. Happiness will not come on its own; you have to go after it and catch it… But I don’t know if by searching for my own happiness I will ruin somebody else’s. As I said in a post… I think last year, I saw her being happy with someone else, and it breaks my heart that and I am the constant in other people’s mental anguish. I try every day to grow better, but I simply do not know how to actually become better, what steps to take to become the person she would be happy with. And I don’t know either if by destroying my own self for the acceptance of others will actually bring me the happiness I desire.

I just don’t know what I do wrong and what I can do better.

[godling-jesse]

Jesse could appreciate someone who wanted to keep things to themselves. That's not to say he wasn't curious, or that he wouldn't listen to whatever Ale had to say. "Whatever you say. I'm not here to ask questions, Ale. Just glad you had a good one with us." Or rather with complete bloodsucking (allegedly) strangers. "Here's to hoping your next one will be even wilder," he grinned.

All Jesse could do was chuckle at the question. He should have seen it coming. "Who said you were going to be the one to get my load? Maybe I had my eye on one of the twins," he pointed out, offering an innocent shrug, though his gaze was... suggestive to say the least. He'd have to admit, that was the first time he can remember knowing about a heated after party, but not getting the invite. While he wasn't salty about it, given he wasn't sure how a group of possible vampires would feel about partying with a son of Apollo, he was suddenly realizing not all quests were all business. Ale was a prime example of that. He'd have to remember that for next time.

The warm hand playing along his chest was soothing, he'd admit it, but it was the fingers playing with his hair that earned the involuntary shiver. Nothing put Jesse Diaz in a trans faster than someone playing with his hair. He smiled lazily at the question. "What do you mean? You were there when I basically single handedly down that hydra, weren't you?" he teased, looking up at Ale with an impish smirk. He knew full well multiple demigods went down and took and gave monumental hits just so he could fumble his way to get the last shot. Didn't mean he couldn't pretend. He took in a breath as one of Ale's hands grazed over his chest. Gods that felt good. "I haven't been on many. Right now I'm just trying to deal with the fact that I have to sit back in the distance while you guys take hits for me. It gets... nerve wracking." He admitted, "What about you? You've had more shit to deal with than I have."

"and something i rather now unpack, thank you." he quickly commented. wanting to keep this past to himself, not wanting or feeling like anyone needed to know his trauma and start to doubt if he is even capable of truly being here in the first place. that was just all self doubt creeping in and hammering up another brick wall quickly, even with the smile on his face that has been a new one for him since his almost near death.

hearing the little comment about how he would have join, alejandro couldn't help but smirk. "so you are saying you would have been the sixth person to give me a birthday load, damn - and i am now just hearing about this?" he teased, now taking his seat next to the jesse. what he didn't expect was jesse to make use of the tank and rest upon him. for a moment he lifted his arms up and just watched before placing his hand to rest against jesse's chest. his fingers tracing circles against the warm skin.

"like running - yeah." closing his eyes and letting their bodies just relax against on another. having the fun just kiss his skin as he focus on his own breathing while his other hand began to play with jesse's hair softly. "i doubt this is the time to talk about this as things have calmed down - but i do look forward to working with you out there.. see what that pretty face can do." grinning to himself, he never let his hands stop caressing the demi-god, hand tangled in his hair while his other hand began to move awful close to his nipple. "how have your quest gone do far -- other than making it out alive?"

[welcometojackass2022]

You’re Fucking Disgusting (Brandon DiCamillo x GN!Reader) [Smut] (VLB)

This was meant to be a smut drabble but it became just a little too long to qualify so now it’s a full length fic. This is pulled directly from that episode of Viva La Bam where the boys get odd jobs to pay off the heating bill. Basically you come to the bakery instead of April and flip out when you see what Dico has gotten up to. Then you go off to the bathroom with him to clean him off and end up sucking his dick. Enjoy.

Note: I’m aware that since this was for a TV show there would be cameras everywhere, but I don’t mention any at all cuz that would kill the flow.

Warnings: Cursing, Smut (Blowjob)

@asskickedbygirl tagging you as always

@ckygetsjobs figured you’d wanna see this

“You’re fucking disgusting, Brandon.”

It was a phrase that seemed to come out of your mouth a lot whenever you hung out with your boyfriend, Dico. He’d burp in your face, or loudly fart while sitting on your couch, or tell an absolutely riveting story about his bowel movements, or cover himself in a mysterious liquid and then tackle you to get it all over you. No matter where the two of you were or who was around, you could always be certain that Dico had some kind of gross trick up his sleeve.

This situation was no different.

Bam, Dico, and the rest of the boys had been working various jobs throughout the week for the newest episode of Viva La Bam, and on this particular day, Dico, Ryan and Raab had gotten a job at a bakery. April had sent you down to said bakery to pick her up some pastries and to see how the three boys were doing; you had expected to see something funny, like Dico throwing muffins at Raab or wearing a stupid little apron and frosting cupcakes or something like that, but nothing could have prepared you for what you actually saw. It was a scene straight from hell.

Dico was laying on one of the prep tables in the baking area, legs up in the air and head resting on a tray of gingerbread cookies as Raab pretended to shave frosting off of his chin with a baking tool. The floor was covered in grease, crumbs and odd stains littered the entire room, and Raab and Dico were absolutely filthy; their white baker uniforms were smeared with chocolate sauce and white frosting, and dozens of tiny pieces of gingerbread were stuck to Dico’s face and clothing, making him look like some kind of cookie-creature hybrid (or, one could say, a Cookie Monster). You stared at the two men in silent horror for a moment, not sure how to react, and then the words came out: “….you’re fucking disgusting, Brandon.” Dico grinned, unfazed, and you glanced around the room again, taking in the absolute mess they’d single-handedly created. “You two are so fired.”

Dico immediately took on a slightly mocking tone, making light of the entire situation. “Get jobs, don’t get jobs! Jeez, babe, make up your mind!” You shook your head in disbelief, not even sure what to do. April hadn’t prepared you for this. Ryan had put the pastries you’d asked for in a bag by this point and was trying to hand it to you, but you couldn’t take your eyes off of the two idiots in the backroom. One of whom you were literally dating. “Ryan…why did I ever agree to let that man be my boyfriend?” Ryan shrugged, looking like he would have rather been anywhere else at that moment. “I don’t know. I hope April’s not planning on stopping by, though, cuz if she sees them like this she’s gonna freak out.” You grimaced. “Yeah, I know. She sent me here on her behalf, but if I take too long she might come by.” You turned back to look at Raab and Dico again; Raab was dropping orange jelly into Dico’s open mouth, and Dico was obnoxiously slurping it up.

“You guys seriously need to clean this up before your boss gets back.” Ryan shook his head with a look of disgust. “I didn’t make one ounce of that mess! They can shove it up their ass and clean it up themselves!” You shot him a look, glancing over at your boyfriend again to see that he was taking big gulps of milk straight from the bottle and letting it dribble out of his mouth like a white waterfall. “Jesus Christ, Brandon, are you nuts?” Dico made a series of weird noises, laughing with Raab about how worked up you were, and then he slammed the bottle of milk down onto the table, spilling it all over himself and further adding to the mess as he pointed at you emphatically. “You’re insane.” You threw up your hands, utterly defeated, and walked through the doorway of the baking room to get closer to your boyfriend and Raab. “Well, guess our job here’s just about done, isn’t it?” You ignored Dico’s smartass remark and cupped his face in your hands, pulling him down to look at you with a deadpan stare. “Brandon.”

He grinned, still not taking the situation with a single ounce of seriousness as a glob of jelly fell off of his hat. You picked up a napkin from the table and pulled his face closer to you, trying to wipe off some of the frosting from his face. “You look like a Jackson Pollock painting if it was made out of cookies and frosting.” Dico laughed, his gaze softening just the slightest bit as he let you attempt to (and fail to) clean some of the cookie crumbs off of his face. His face was caked with so much frosting that bits of the napkin came off and stuck to his cheeks, and after a moment or two you threw the napkin aside in frustration and grabbed Dico’s hand, leading him out of the little baking room and towards the bakery’s bathroom. The bathroom had one toilet and one sink, with no stalls or anything like that, so you pulled him inside and locked the door behind you. “Wow, locking the door? Didn’t realize you came here just to try and fuck me, babe, you could have just said that when you got here.” You rolled your eyes.“No way in hell am I fucking you right now, Dico, you’re covered in chocolate stains and jelly.”

He shrugged, leaning against the sink as you pulled some paper towels out of the dispenser and wet them under the faucet, grabbing his face once again to wipe the cookie crumbs off his cheeks. “Why not? Everything on my body right now is totally edible, you could always just give me a tongue bath. Like cats do.” He suggestively raised his eyebrows at you, and you tried to force back your smile. He was annoyingly charming when he wanted to be. “Tempting.” You took his hat off, tossing it aside (it was basically ruined from all the sugar on it) and cleaning the frosting out of his hair. Ten paper towels later, you’d finally managed to get most of the stains off of his face and neck and out of his hair, but his clothes were still totally covered and there wasn’t much you could do about that. “Well, at least some of it’s cleaned up. Guess you’ll have to wear those nasty clothes on the car ride home.” Dico shrugged, not the least bit upset about this, which wasn’t at all surprising given how far he was always willing to go for the sake of ridiculous jokes like this.

“I could handle sitting in the car like this much easier if you gave me a blowjob first.” You shot him a look. “You honestly think I should suck your dick after the mess you just made?” He nodded with complete confidence. “I do, actually.” You stood there for a moment, staring at him as you tried to figure out a retort that would help you win this conversation, but you quickly realized that there wasn’t one. Dico had zero shame when it came to these kinds of situations, so whether you agreed to the blowjob or not, he wasn’t gonna be the least bit affected by your annoyance towards his behavior. As long as something was funny to him, he didn’t care how you reacted to it. After a moment, you rolled your eyes, the corners of your lips turning up as you resisted the urge to smile. “I shouldn’t be doing something nice for you right after what you just did, but you know what? I’m going to anyway, because dating you has severely affected my decision-making skills.” Dico grinned, looking slightly surprised that you were actually going for it, and he pointed down at the floor in front of him. “You know what to do, boss.” You chuckled at the nickname, getting down on your knees in front of him and moving to unbutton and unzip his chocolate-stained, cookie-coated jeans.

His boxers were stained with frosting, which was kind of funny, and you laughed as you reached inside them to pull out his half-hard cock, licking a stripe across the head teasingly and pulling away in bewilderment. “Did you fuck a cupcake before I got here? Your dick tastes like sugar.” Dico laughed and pushed your head forward with the slightest hint of impatience. “What, you’re not a big fan of sweets? Just suck it, babe, maybe my cum will taste like frosting.” You playfully rolled your eyes and took the tip back into your mouth, swirling your tongue over the head to lap up the salty (and slightly sweet taste). Dico grabbed at your hair with one of his (thankfully clean) hands, getting a nice grip so he could pull your head down a little further on his shaft as he grabbed at the counter of the sink with his other hand to keep himself steady. He leaned his head back against the wall, occasionally looking down at you with that smug little smirk on his face as you took his cock all the way into your mouth, sucking in your cheeks and obscenely slurping on his shaft.

The head of his cock rubbed against the inside of your cheek, and he let out a low groan, pushing your head down even further so his tip hit the back of your throat, nearly making you gag. You shot him a warning look, pulling your head back off a bit so you wouldn’t choke. He grinned in a way that was half apologetic and half amused. “Sorry.” You playfully rolled your eyes at how little he actually sounded sorry; you were 99% certain he did that kind of thing on purpose just to annoy you. You pulled your mouth even further off of his cock so just the tip was still inside, suckling on it with enough force to make his grip on your hair tighten. You wanted to grab at his shirt or his jeans to steady yourself, but it was still stained and coated with cookie crumbs and chocolate, so you resisted the urge, busying your hands with rubbing and grabbing at his balls as you wrapped your lips around his tip and slurped up his precum from the slit. “Fuck, there you go.” You could tell he was getting close to cumming, so you took his cock all the way back into your mouth and sucked on the shaft with twice as much enthusiasm.

Dico cursed under his breath, slamming his head back against the wall of the bathroom as he came down your throat with a loud groan, thrusting his hips foreword and pushing your head as far down as he could. It made your eyes water a little bit, but you ignored it and let him finish, swallowing his cum and gently pulling your mouth off his dick as he leaned back against the wall to catch his breath. He tucked his softening cock back into his boxers, laughing when a massive piece of cookie came off his jeans and landed on the floor, and then he helped you to your feet with a grin. You brushed off your knees and smoothed out your clothes, moving to do to the same to Dico before you remembered that he was absolutely filthy and you stopped yourself. “As soon as we get home, you’re gonna throw those clothes in a trash-bag and take a long shower.” Dico rolled his eyes as he leaned down to give you a quick kiss. “Yeah yeah yeah, I know. You’re getting in the shower with me though.” You laughed. “I don’t need a shower, Dico.” Dico’s grin widened, and he picked up a jelly glob from his shirt and smashed it into your hair, making your mouth drop open in shock. “Dico, what the fuck!” He just laughed, moving to open the door to the bathroom. “Now you need one. Let’s go.” You shook your head in disbelief, mostly annoyed but also slightly amused by his antics. “You’re fucking disgusting, Brandon.”

[heckinconfusedparade]

Another question: What would happen if the Wachowski family went to Nine’s world/dimesion. How would it go? Like they went there by accident? Can they go like when Prime Sonic goes back to New Yoke for the second time and the Wachowski’s also land where Prime Sonic lands?

The family of 5 somehow managed to get to New Yoke City. The air they breathe in is musky and toxic, causing then to cough.

They try asking around about where they are and gather close to nothing until something flies by dragging a banner saying “NEW YOKE CITY” on it. This is where Nine is from!

They then begin their search for any sign of him.

Then a rush of blue charges up to to Tails “TAILS IS THAT YOU?? KNUX??” It’s Prime Sonic! Prime gives them a hopeful look, only to change to sadness when Tails says “I’m not the right Tails.”

Then he spots Sonic. His eyes go wide and he starts circling him “I’ve never seen another me before! Hi other me! Lookin handsome today!” “Why, thank you. You’re looking rather handsome today too, good sir!” Sonic grins. Besties immediately.

Prime is about to ask about Tom and Maddie before he hears an explosion somewhere “sorry guys.. I gotta blast!” Prime rushes off, but Sonic follows him “what’s going on??” “I think The Resistance is battling those Badniks. I hope they’re not mad at me, I kinda left them high and dry back there, but it wasn’t my fault!” Prime speeds up.

“Yea, Nine mentioned not knowing where you were!” Sonic says, causing Prime to slip up a bit “wait, you know Nine?” “LOOK OUT!” Sonic beats down a robot that was about to attack Prime. Prime gives him a thankful nod before they catch up to the main battle.

“Hey Gang!” Prime ducks under cover with Knucks and Rebel, who are in fact, unhappy with him. Knucks starts laying into him, asking where he’s been, and why he left them for dead. Prime tries to explain that he had no choice in the matter. Then he asks Knucks where Nine was, and Knucks asks him the same question. Then Sonic buts in “he’s travelling the multiverse. He never said why.”

Rebel growls ignoring the fact there is another Sonic “the kid left us for another reality. Fine, we don’t need him.” Rebel had faith in that kid. Knucks headshots a bot with his gun “not like he woulda been useful hacking Rusty Rose back onto our side!”

Suddenly, 4 tiny disks are thrown into the robot horde. The disks create a large blast, sending the robots up in the air and crashing back to the ground, destroying them. Holes are popped into the surviving bots.

The Rebellion try to see through the smoke, and once it’s clear, there stands Tails with his little weapon backpack, Maddie with some of Tails’ weapons, and Tom with a regular pistol he just happened to have on hand, like a true American would.

Sonic cheers “good shot!” Knucks and Rebel stare in disbelief. There’s more of em! Sonic leads them all to the cover.

Maddie immediately notices that Knucks is covered in scars “oh, baby.. what happened to you? You’re covered in scars.” She reached to touch and examine his facial scars, but her hand is swatted away.

Knucks sneers “I don’t know who you are. Do NOT. Touch me.”

“Oh do not worry other me, she is my mother!” Knuckles pats his moms shoulder. Knucks stutters and looks away. Rebel laughs “awe, how adorable~” Knucks mutters “shut up.”

Tom is checking on other Sonic who’s currently chilling out from the adrenaline rush. Prime has been through too much today.

Meanwhile, Tails has returns after slipping away. “EVERYONE COVER YOUR EARS!” He calls out. Everyone listens. There are several explosions heard as the ground shakes. Tails just single handedly destroyed a whole wave of bots. The others are impressed! This kids gonna be useful!

The replacement wave comes with Dr. Deep in tow. The Wachowski bros get into battle positions, chaos energy crackling around their bodies.

The family is able to stick around until that battle is calmed down for a bit.

Prime spots Nine in the air. HE GOT A PLANE! He uses air robots to bounce himself up there. Then they’re gone.

Everything just sorta went in a flash- maybe someday when things are better, they will meet again.

[daddy-deathslinger]

hard core deathslinger simp here, your page has been single handedly feeding me for the last month- so i have a request if your taking them rn-

caleb having a s/o who has severe insomnia and can’t sleep to save their life, maybe like….caleb takes them out to do stuff after they stayed up all night so they can sleep at a good time- or maybe he just hangs out with them late at night something like that

fluffy smutty i’ll take any! i wanna give you freedom so you can enjoy writing it as mush as i’ll enjoy reading it

Hi there! First of all, I'm so sorry this took me so long to write! I hope you will enjoy it, I sure enjoyed writing some fluffy cowboy stuff in the summer evening! :33

“Rest now, my love” - Pre-Entity!Caleb Quinn/The Deathslinger x GN!Reader

Cw; alcohol

The summer night was as hot as the day had been. The sun had set but left behind the scorching heat only a big desert sun can emit. You didn’t mind the heat though, nothing could ruin your mood when you were with Caleb. Walking side by side with the leader of the Hellshire gang, his big, strong hand holding yours, you felt as safe as ever. The two of you had been in town for the evening, visiting the saloon and Caleb’s friends. Now you were walking out of town, back to Caleb’s camp. Caleb was telling a story about how he and O’Sullivan almost got bitten by a bunch of venomous snakes during a mission. The amount of snakes always seemed to double every time he told this story.

“... but then I took out my gun and I shot the bastard dead, and let the snakes have him instead! Me and O’Sullivan were fast out of there, I can tell you that much!”

You laughed at Caleb’s story and squeezed his hand.

“I thought you let him live?” you snickered, remembering the last time he told this story.

Caleb raised his eyebrows at you, then laughed.

“I thought I was telling the story here!”

You giggled and waved your hand dismissively at him.

“Fine, fine, I won’t interfere again!”

Caleb smirked at you, then stopped in his tracks to give you a quick peck on the cheek. 

“How you feelin’?” he asked, as you continued walking towards camp.

“Good”, you replied. “A bit exhausted, but that’s all.”

At this, you could feel Caleb’s concerned stare burning holes in the side of your head.

“Stop that”, you said, rolling your eyes with a tired smile.

“What?”

“That! You don’t have to be worried about me, darling, I’m good!”

You looked at Caleb, who quickly looked straight forward in an attempt to hide his worrying gaze.

“I know you are, I just… I’m sorry, I know”, he said, squeezing your hand.

You approached Caleb’s camp, and found that none of the other members of the Hellshire gang had returned from town yet, so you had the whole camp to yourselves. 

“I think the boys might be sleeping in the saloon tonight, if I know them right”, Caleb chuckled, and got up to his tent to bend down and search it.

He soon stood up straight again, holding a bottle of fine whiskey in his hand. You grinned at him and sat down at the campfire, or what remained of it from earlier.

“Bringing out the fine stuff tonight, eh?”

“I thought it might help you get some sleep later”, Caleb replied, and sat down next to you.

“How considerate of you”, you snickered, grabbing the bottle from him and taking a big swig from it. 

Caleb chuckled at your enthusiasm, his arm around your waist as he pulled you close. You had trouble sleeping, it was no secret. You don’t remember when this problem had started, but it was as much a part of you now as anything else. When you met Caleb, he quickly caught on about your problem, and he still to this day tried to help you out as much as he could. It was kind of cute.

“You know”, Caleb mulled as he stroked your waist with his hand. “I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who enjoys this type of whiskey as much as I do, until I met you, that is.”

You smiled and took another swig from the bottle, then handed it to Caleb.

“What can I say, I’m full of surprises!”

Caleb chuckled, giving you a warm kiss on the lips.

“That you are, darlin’.”

He put down the whiskey bottle on the ground so he could cup your cheek with his free hand, and you closed your eyes and let yourself be embraced. He was always so gentle when touching you, his big, strong hands soft and careful, totally opposite of the kind of person he was when he was around the boys. You liked his duality, you liked his gentle touches, his caress. 

“My, you smell good…” you heard him mumble, and you smiled with your eyes still closed.

“Sweat and dirt, darlin’”, you whispered, and the next second you felt Caleb’s face close to yours.

You could feel his breath on your cheek, the scent of whiskey and tobacco reaching your nostrils. His scent always made you feel safe. Like coming home to a warm cabin after being out in the freezing cold. You felt Caleb’s thumb carefully grace your lip, and soon your lips met in a warm kiss. You lifted up your arms and tossed them around his neck, holding him closer as your kiss deepened. Caleb was a good kisser, that had surprised you the first time you’d kissed. A man with such a foul mouth being able to enchant you with those same lips was a mystery to you, but a mystery you loved tasting. The two of you remained like that, kissing and embracing in the warm night, the whiskey bottle forgotten a long time ago. Caleb playfully nibbled on your lower lip, and this made you giggle. You could feel him grinning in the kiss, and this made your heart soar. This man was your everything, your whole world. Suddenly, you broke off the kiss and cupped his face in your hands, looking him deep in the eyes.

“I think I’m in love with you, Caleb Quinn”, you whispered.

Caleb blinked a couple of times, then a big smile grew on his lips. He kissed you, and as he retracted he looked at you.

“I love you too, Y/N”, he whispered. “Always have.”

You felt your heart skip a beat at these words, and the night suddenly felt like a big, warm hug. Your whole body became warm, and you knew this was indeed what safety felt like. You smiled, stroking his cheek with your hand. And there you remained, just holding each other in the comfortable silence.

You felt Caleb shift beside you, and suddenly you sat straight up on the log you were sitting on. You must have drifted off.

“Hey there, sleepy head”, Caleb whispered. “Come lay down next to me.”

You looked to your side, and Caleb got up from the log and held out his hand for you to grab. You let out a little yawn and took his hand.

“Let’s sleep under the stars tonight, shall we?” Caleb proposed, and you nodded.

So you pulled out your sleeping bags on the ground next to the logs and the campfire and got settled in. But your sleepiness had already faded away, so the two of you laid on the ground chatting for hours instead. You loved talking with Caleb, he had so many things to tell, so many musings to share. As the sun peeked behind the tree tops, you snuggled up to Caleb and closed your tired eyes. Both of you knew that if you did get to sleep now, it wouldn’t be long before you woke up again, but you still wanted to try and get some rest. Feeling the warmth of Caleb’s chest against your cheek, you inhaled his scent and got comfortable in his arms. Caleb stroked your hair lightly. 

“I’m not gonna tell you to ‘rest’ cus I know it ain’t that easy”, he mumbled, pressing his lips to your forehead.

You smiled tiredly, eyes still closed, and said: “I like it when you tell me to rest, actually. Your voice always calms me down.”

Caleb hugged you close.

“Well then”, he said. “Rest now, my love.”