#i scanned over it a bit so hopefully i caught anything

[anonymous-tals]

Oh my god, I cannot begin to explain how happy this response made me. Genuinely, like- I’m smilin’ so much, man.

I won’t reply specifically to all of it cause, ya know, a lot of the sections, I’m just gonna be, like, YES, so if I don’t say anything about a specific sections, just assume there’s a YES, OH MY GOOOOOODDDDD, LITERALLY, hehe.

Oh, god, coming back up here right now to just give a fair warning. I really…I’m incapable of writing anything short. It was, like, a win whenever writing letters back and forth with a friend of mine and I only filled in the front and back of one page. A miracle. Don’t feel pressure to respond with any huge thing, or feel free to just leave it at this, take as much time as you need to even get to reading this in the first place. I literally have nothing going on in my life right now so I have all the free time in the world so don’t feel like you have to match my response time, heh, oy.

Genuinely, feel free to just leave it at this because I am capable of infinitely rambling about this show so- Just saying this so you don’t feel pressure, ha:

Anyway, uhhh, here we go:

This honestly makes me think of Adhir, and you bring this up later too, the solution he had was simple and yet, no one else thought of it because no one else cared to. I will say, that I think the Bluth family does have a little "variation" of that solution they use on Gob. Adhir's strategy of giving Gob treats when he pays attention or answers a question right kind of mirrors, I feel, the Bluth family system of sticking Gob with the unsavory jobs with the promise of a "treat" if he pulls it off-this treat being their attention, pride, or even respect, however false it may be.

Oh my god, yeah, I didn’t even think about the connection between these things. Yah, like, they tell him to do this job for a treat but there really isn’t even a treat there at all. It’s all just to get him out of their hair. But then Adhir comes in and he ACTUALLY gives him the treat. He actually rewards him when he does well. I was checking back at a fic I’d written cause I was like, “Oh, man, I better have included hesitation when he first accepts it,” and I did and I’m very glad cause I feel like Gob would’ve been sort of untrustworthy at first.

Here’s the part:

“‘Exactly,’ Adhir said with a smile, handing Gob a candy. Gob looked up at him and then back down at the candy in front of him before taking it and placing it in his mouth. He smiled.”

Every day I cry. Every single day I cry.

YESSSS! gob believing he is only going to ruin steve who he believes to be a good kid. gob knowing that he is virtually homeless, and does not have the functionality to care for a kid. you say that, in his head, "the kindest gesture he as his dad could so is run away, the only way to ensure he never hurts him" and im just like, yeah! exactly! he really does believe that, and honestly, i do have to wonder what steve feels when it comes to gob- there is a want to connect with him, repeatedly, but he also seems to understand that gob is flaky "he's not coming back" and such. And yet he still responds, he still leaves his door open.

I think of that moment, where steve says "I'll never forget this" and when he leaves, gob says, " will." and I think that moment might also have something to do with steve understanding a little bit of gob- and i know its meant to be comedic, gob literally calls him a mistake, but hes also trying to comfort him, and i dont know, i think about that moment a lot from steve's perspective, and how it affects his relationship with gob.

Oh my god, not to be redundant but I cry every day. I never thought about that. Yah, like, Steve really seem to show an understanding of Gob. The “he still leaves leaves his door open”, UGH. Literally. You’re so right, he has, like, an understanding of Gob. He gets his dad. He understands he’s clearly got stuff going on and even though it hurts, he let’s him go and he LEAVES HIS DOOR OPEN FOR WHEN GOB’S READY, AHHHH. Crying. Sobbing. Steve is another character who is just…He’s too sweet. He’s too pure. I love him.

Yes!! i LOVE this, and honestly, I have to say I'm so glad that we started this discussion, because I am so curious about your thoughts on Gob's sexuality. I thought for the longest time he was bisexual, probably because of the various relations hes had with women that he doesnt brag about to his father (like that one girl who he shoved off the yacht when george michael came to visit. i know he was virtually homeless, so I thought maybe he was with her for a place to stay, right up until i remembered he was living on the yacht, so he didn't need to actually be with her) leaving me to assume its not all a persona and he genuinely enjoys sex, but at the same time, he doesnt seem invested in any of relationships up until tony, who he is positively giddy for.

So I at times think that those relationships are a product of him once again putting on a performance in which he tries to convince himself as well. and i thought that he was definitely attracted to woman, at least a little bit, because he was so absolutely repulsed by kitty, making me think oh, so he could like woman, but not her. and then i flip flop back to 'but have we ever seen him in a happy relationship with a woman? we can argue his happiest was with lucille 2 but-" and this goes on and on. is he bi? is he gay? i would like to hear your thoughts on this, gob not knowing he could bi until the wall illusion and buster yells that bit about alive and bisexual is so funny to me, but i dont know if it would be backed by canon.

Oh my god this section was supposed to be Marta but instead I ended up going on about my thoughts on "gob bluth: bi or gay" instead, my bad.

Not your bad at all! I’m happy to delve into this! When I first got into the fandom and watched the show, I also assumed he was bi but I read this post by @gobbluthbutagirl which I HIGHLY recommend checking out(if you haven’t already, if you have, you can skip this section honestly, there’s the part I wrote about the Buster thing which I made a bullet point so you can just read that part if you’ve already read the post)(or, actually, you could probably just go read that post and then come back here and then skip to my little bullet point instead of having to read both) when you have the time and, like, I really, truly believe he’s gay. I’ll parrot some of the points they mention but I don’t wanna steal their thunder so again, credit to them.

There are many times in the show that we see him with women but as you said, he never seems happy in those relationships. And an even more stark comparison, he never is like how he is with Tony. It’s night and day, frankly. Literally, months have gone by and Gob, out of the blue, still fresh on his mind like it happened yesterday, giddily talks about how Tony Wonder’s beard tickled him. He’s not like this with any other of his relationships, all of which are with women. He spends the whole of season five trying to get back with Tony. He never does this with any other women. And that’s not because they didn’t treat him well. Marta is super nice and incredibly supportive and it’s not just some breaking point that got Gob to open up with Tony in season four. We see that he responds to kindness and support in the earlier seasons and is kind back. Like, for example, during the Tiny Town episode, he is incredibly nice and toned down and genuine the whole time he’s doing that and even after he learns it was Buster helping him, not his dad, he actually has growth and says that maybe he and Buster should spend more time together! So it’s not like he’s just this completely cynical, rotten person. Marta, and others too, were incredibly nice but it still didn’t work. To quote directly from the essay: “Why? Because he is gay. He is fundamentally incompatible with them on every level.” Any kindness he received from these women was tainted by the fact that he is a gay man in a relationship with a woman and unhappy and bitter at the woman and the relationship because of that.

The women Gob was with in the earlier seasons were all a part of that facade. All a part of him trying to convince himself that he is straight, what ended up as only a reminder that things don’t work(which culminate in season four). I think Ann and Lucille(and Joni, but that’s more, like, blatantly obvious) were very much so last ditch, desperate efforts to find a woman he was attracted to. I think you could say he got along with Lucille 2 but I do not believe he was attracted to her in a romantic or sexual way. Again, no relationship with a woman that we see Gob in reflects the relationship he had with Tony. And with Ann, it was a desperate, last ditch attempt at finding someone, anyone who worked, and he sleeps with her that night(he was originally gonna break up with her) and he ends up sobbing and collapsing onto the ground, incapable of getting a comprehensible word out. And someone pointed out, I can’t remember if it was this essay or not, but we don’t even truly know how many times Gob has slept with women because of how many times he’s lied about it. We even see in season five, he says something along the lines of, “Yeah, Kitty was pretty sweet on me,” but in reality, he panicked and did everything in his power to try to avoid her and in the end, did nothing with her. And yah, I agree, I think Kitty seems to be an extra level of repulsive to him but we also see on two separate occasions, with Nellie, he’s crying instead of sleeping with her and with Ann, he’s crying after, and there are countless more times where he’s lied about sleeping with women, he lied about sleeping with his wife to a fault. Etc, etc, etc! He’s in, like, near-total denial in the early seasons and he’s been able to keep it up until season four, when he’s started to realize he’s never gonna find a woman he’s attracted to.

We also know Gob’s been with men before Tony and, again, to quote the essay, “Tony is the first man Gob has ever “allowed”(his own words!) himself to develop feelings for. And he’s spent his whole life trying and failing to develop feelings for every woman under the sun. And he’s fucked with his memory so much that there’s really no telling how much of it he remembers and how much of it he doesn’t, but the fact of the matter is this: he remembers his night with Tony, and for the entire remainder of the show afterwards he does not sleep with a women ever again. And not for a lack of trying.” (I would continue quoting after that but again, I don’t want to literally just type a whole paragraph. Again, if you haven’t already, please go read this essay when you have the time) Gob’s thought process is him constantly trying to prove not only to others but to himself that he likes women(which, obviously, fails to work, but the fact that he slept with them and did stuff with them means he can’t be gay, right? right??? A gay guy couldn’t make himself sleep with a woman, right?????(wrong)). He has so many opportunities after Tony to sleep with women but he doesn’t and he struggles to even LIE about sleeping with or being attracted to a women in season five. He can hardly even get the words out! And again, while Tony and him are same and are soulmates, there’s nothing specifically about how Tony treats him in the sense of understanding him and supporting him that other women he’s dated, like Marta, did not check the box for, but the reason they don’t work is because he is gay.

I always interpreted Buster saying that as him just coming to the conclusion that Gob is bi based on what Gob told him. I like to believe that Buster knew to some extent, I mean, he saw him around Tony during the Sword of Destiny stuff. He saw how he talked to him and about him. Buster’s the only one who ever truly payed attention to him, like, actually listened, so I’m sure he noticed other things too(and Michael literally shouted, “I knew it!” so I feel like it’s realistic to believe it wasn’t exactly a well kept secret) but it’s not like Gob was divulging his love life to him OTHER than the times Gob bragged about sleeping with women. And in season five, Gob is talking to Buster, saying how he’s gonna turn himself back to being straight because he’s not to gay and, ya know, it’s obvious to Buster that Gob is definitely not straight but in his mind, perhaps what’s confusing his older brother, who seems to be identifying with both straight and gay, is that he likes both men and women. I mean, from Buster’s perspective, that would make sense(also, I love how supportive Buster is, haha). When in reality, with the information he does not have that we do have points to Gob being very much so not interested in women and very much so interested in men.

Again, it’s night and day when you compare how his relationships with women to his relationship with Tony, how happy he is, how more accepting of himself he is, how much he’s grown, how willing he is to run off with him, to leave his family for this man, the first man he allowed himself to develop feelings for, no one ever before in this show has had that affect him and talking about relationships, there’s one common theme and that’s that they’ve all been women, and that’s only corroborated by how uncomfortable and how much he avoids doing anything or even at times LYING, literally, JUST SAYING WORDS that affirm an attraction or that he did stuff with women later on in the show.

Anyway, not to say it again but to say it again, I don’t wanna just rewrite this persons essays but less well organized, haha, so I’ll stop here. And again again, not to say it again, but I recommend this essay that they wrote. It’s so good, so well written.

I've never seen him as straight, and then the last two seasons happened and i was like awesome, they confirmed it! its canon! tony and gob are truly the gay love story of all time.

Also, I gotta say something about this, I was(am, to be frank) the most OBLIVIOUS person ever. Literally, not only was I like, “haha, look at Gob, accidentally flirting with Gary and that other guy at Sitwell and he slept with a guy in a threesome, haha! What a silly, oblivious, very straight guy!”, I got up to the episode in season four where Gob and Tony have their whole thing going on and I was kinda feeling shaky on season four so far so I was close to quitting watching and I saw the scene where Tony and Gob were doing all their romantic stuff and Gob confesses he has feelings for Tony and Tony says the same and the narrator says the feeling was friendship-

AND I BELIEVED IT! I took it word for word. And I stopped watching there! I STOPPED. WATCHING. THERE. For YEARS I thought their relationship, which I only saw through fanart, was just a fan hc thing and I was like, “Aw, that’s a cute hced pairing :)” and then literally last year I got hyperfixated on Gob one day and was scrolling through Tumblr and I saw a meme with that guy in the corner of a party, the party being those who didn’t watch season four or five, and the guy in the corner said, “They don’t know Gob isn’t straight” and I was like, “WHAT?!” and I finished the rest of the show in one night. The fact that they are real is just- I- It makes me so happy. Like, I don’t even have to make stuff up, they are REAL.

Like, okay, if the joke was obvious, if people understood that the feeling was in fact not friendship(more than friendship, rather, obviously, that’s an element), I don’t think I’d have a gripe with that line. But because of oblivious people like me, that line drives me batty. Literally, I got this comment on my video essay where, because it was relevant to my point, Gob being gay was mentioned throughout it:

Really, it just feels like willful ignorance at this point with some of these people because- I don’t even know what to say to this. I mean, I have a lot to say to this, let’s be real, but- It’s just…I’m astounded. Like, Mitch Hurwitz has literally said stuff on multiple occasions about Gob being in love with Tony in a gay way, I don’t- I don’t get it.

Okay, moving on before I start to rant about this again.

I totally agree with everything you said about marta! her becoming a part of gob's support system is so awesome, and youre genius for thinking it. you know who else i wonder about? nellie. do gob and franklin still work as her "voice on the phone?" you know, that hot cop gob and baby/young steve holt idea i have is suddenly growing be hot cop gob and escort nellie ending up befriending each other after showing up at the same job/party, or when gob starts following people to their cars.

also unrelated, but i love the closet guys and adhir and their patience with gob, and honestly, i am so happy for him, he needs more people in his corner, i am so glad for tony who is so obviousiv in love with him

Okay, I know I said I’d just skip over and have an assumed YES with things where that’s all I really have to say for but I just have to specifically go to this and say YESSSS. I didn’t even think about Nellie, I love that!!! God, that’s so true. That’s so real. Also, I love how in the scene with Nellie, Gob has Franklin with him. It’s so funny. Gob cares so much about that puppet, the narrator literally described Franklin as the one friend who didn’t mind having him around, I sob. I sob every single day of my life. He really does need more people in his corner, heheh. And yes, literally, Tony- I- Okay, I remember you asked about my thoughts on something specific about him at the end so I’ll elaborate more on him at the end but also, just…God, they are SO SAME but also NOT SAME in the best ways! They bring the best out of each otherrrrr.

Also, I’m a big fan of the idea of Tracey and Gob friends(I talk about this next so I’ll stop here).

and idk, just something about, when gob becomes a waiter, he goes to the flirting/saying he'll sleep with them route for the tips-and when he finds out he's not getting tipped at the event later, "things get ugly" so yes, it is very much gob viewing "tricks as a different but effective area in his repertoire. its an asset thats his and one that he succeeds at, whereas with his illusions, what he really loves and is passionate about, he is seen as a goof.

Oh man, I am only now realizing how deep the trick and illusion stuff goes. Like, ya know, haha, silly gag, BUT ALSO. I’ve always utilized someone calling his magic ‘illusions’ as a way to show them as an ally, a friend to Gob. A way to show that they respect him. Like, I hc that Tracey would’ve been close with all the siblings, including Gob, and Gob and her would’ve been particularly good friends, him getting, like, immediately attached to someone who shows any interest in his magic career(and in this case, it’s a girl he doesn’t “have to” date so there’s not even pressure there. in my mind, like, if Gob ever got along with a woman, he’d be like, “Oh no, wanting to be with a women? What if that’s because I’m gay? But I’m not gay so-” and to prove that to himself, immediately try to make a move because that makes sense to internalized homophobia logic: he must be gay if he doesn’t wanna sleep with every single woman…and I mean, he is gay and does not want to sleep with women but ya know, that’s obviously not how straight people work, haha). And it adds a further level to Gob sticking to his passion for magic when he corrects people. He’s sort of sticking up for himself and it’s in a bit of a silly way but still, it’s just a further example of his family never taking him seriously. Expecting things of him but also, at the same time, expecting him to never live up to them.

Also, how you described his whole time with the entourage, being transactional, that’s EXACTLY it. I remember, in the first instance of them interacting, one guy is like, “Hey, you’re a magician, huh? Go show my boy, Mark Cherry, a trick,”(paraphrased, ha) and Gob’s like, “Well, it’s an illusion-” and they rudely interrupt him and go, “Show him a trick,” and Gob sort of pauses awkwardly and is like, “Yeah, here’s a trick!”

Gob’s naivety and trustfulness is really put on display throughout the whole entourage thing and it just makes me so sad. My poor, desperately lonely, inadept-at-picking-up-social-cues son, Gob Bluth.

kinda unrelated but bipolar gob. just. bipolar gob + some flavor of neurodivergent for sure. and maeby as well!

Oh, yes, I love this interpretation of Gob. I’ve been doing research for my writing and I still don’t feel like I have a good enough grasp on it to write it properly, I don’t want to not do it justice(as someone who has mental illnesses that are constantly being misconstrued, it drives me batty and I don’t want to contribute to that with other ones). I really hope I’ll be able to aptly portray it in my stories one day cause I just love that interpretation of his character. I think it aligns very well with how he’s portrayed, from what I’ve read.

For Gob, I hc him as having adhd, being autistic and being dyslexic and I hc Maeby as having adhd and being dyslexic. I don’t think there’s actually any real, sufficient evidence for either of them being dyslexic but I’ve decided they do and that’s my reasoning, haha. With the adhd, Maeby just gives off the vibes combined with her struggle in school, and it’s similar to Gob except I have more direct stuff for him in terms of “evidence”(I know that’s not what they were going for but, ya know, evidence in terms of, like, you can interpret him this way because *insert instance here*). I was talking with someone, though, and something about Will Arnett’s performance just…It gave Gob a very neurodivergent vibe. Like, idk. Cause really, you could absolutely have someone else play Gob, still be basically the same character, but not have the autistic and/or adhd vibes but something about how he played him…(which we also identified in the character, Terry Seattle, who Will Arnett plays on Murderville). Idk, idk.

I feel gob is looked up to by buster bc hes his oldest brother yes, for sure, but also because its an act of rebellion in a way, as well as it being safe to look up to gob be hes not a "threat" in terms of lucille's love.

anti gob bias installed from youth is such a nice way of putting it. they love him, no doubt, but they also do not understand him. which is why buster is so interesting to me, as he does not have the same attitude.

Yes! Like, I do, of course, think Buster’s love for Gob is genuine but I think these play into it. Especially because as we see with Annyong, if someone is competition, Buster usually gets much more territorial. But yah, I do think Buster genuinely looks up to Gob and admires him. I wrote a whole thing about it but they’re so similar in a lot of ways(I also hc Buster to be autistic, which I’d be kinda surprised if that wasn’t an intentional choice because a lot of his idiosyncrasies particularly reflect it so, like, if not, wow, that’s some accurate unintentional autistic coding) and they’d get along so well if Gob wasn’t so defiant towards the idea. But I think the adventures and development we see them have does reflect to them having a sort of friendship that was probably more active during childhood. Now, it would still have been very much so, like, Gob being like, “You suck and are a nerd,” and Buster making a noise of disappointment but I think they had bonding moments within that.

I feel like Buster is very good at listening. I mean, he has to listen to Lucille all day long and he’s chill with that and I think it’s also just a part of who he is. While Michael absolutely is Gob’s main sibling who he goes to for comfort/is willing to open up to, Michael still is not the best at comforting(not meant as Michael slander, he’s trying his best, heh). Buster, on the other hand(specifically referencing back to the “I totally freaked out scene”) is very gentle and he listens. He doesn’t try and solve the problem. He doesn’t bash Gob for freaking out. He doesn’t act like he’s better than him cause, god knows, he’d probably freak out too if he was being questioned by prosecutors. He just nods along and kindly validates Gob, not deeming his freaking out a good or a bad thing. It just happened and, yah, that’s no fun, huh? He, I think, is the one sibling who understands Gob. He is the one sibling who cries alongside him(the Tiny Town episode, in fact, Buster is the one to start crying first). He is the one sibling who is truly supportive of his magician career. I think Buster sees a lot of himself in Gob and while he’d never admit to it, I think Gob sees a lot of himself in Buster too.

also, wondering what would happen should gob cry in front of tony)

I feel like Gob would try(key word: try) to hide a lot of his emotional, “too much” side because he wouldn’t wanna scare Tony away but the first time something like that happens, he’d see that Tony isn’t weirded out or scared away. He understands him and if he doesn’t, he works to get an understanding and then he understands him. I feel like recognizing that someone would be willing to stick by him even with all of, well…him coming along with that would take getting used to but even with that, it would make him incredibly happy, heheh.

i am so interested in this be "i do think tony saved his life indirectly" resonates with me so much, i would love to hear you expand your thoughts if you want, its just, yeah, yeah he did. gob is so vulnerable, and far past beyond the point of caring. he is so dependent on forget me nows, he is just, so alone, and then theres tony and suddenly he has purpose

its just- the fact that gob was willing to run away with tony essentially. on the parade float, he was so ready, and its just- its everything michael has threatened but been unable to follow through with, and here gob was, actually able to be willing to do it, for and with tony.

Finally! Huzzah! We’ve made it to the end, hehe. Let’s see how long this is, oy vey…

We see how Gob is with Tony having been and in the end, continuing to be in his life in season five. He’s acting marginally and comparatively better and is infinitely more patient and doesn’t lash out at Tony, which is astounding cause if these kinds of events happened in the earlier seasons, Gob would’ve lashed out. And he helps Tony get out of his contract with the Gay Mafia, a totally unselfish action that no one asked him to do and he didn’t expect or demand anything out of Tony in return. He just did it cause he loved Tony. People, outside the family, are much more tolerant of Gob and that speaks to better behavior, on top of the better behavior that we see. There’s even a moment in the finale where Gob calls out to Michael in a very genuine tone and I think he was trying to get his attention so he could talk about the fact that Michael knows and maybe even apologize for giving him the forget-me-now. To quote Mitch Hurwitz on the subject, “Gob has gone over to the light side.”

But where would Gob be without him? Well, he’d be right back where he’d been for years, continuing to strive for support and love from abusive people who will never love him who keep him on a string of hope for their own personal use, treating him like he’s disposable, which he, in his actions, has come to agree with. He’d be trying to force himself to live a life he does not want to live and being eternally unhappy at himself and the world because of it. He’d continue to drive the last few people who were willing to stick by his side away. The tags are from a post talking about how it’s a miracle Gob has survived this long, kept “pep” in his step, kept moving forward, bouncing back, but if we’re not going on show logic but real life logic, how long could one realistically keep that up for? Gob has learned to be resilient but season four is such a dark pit for him where things are only going down, down, down further into a dark pit of isolation and someone like Gob who needs people, who’s always had someone to rely on, even if the support wasn’t top notch, is not exactly equipped to handle isolation. He’s someone who wavers so drastically in ability to function and be a person and needs those people to rely on when he again emerges from the pits of despair or comes back down from a blur of nights upon nights he hardly even remembers but now he has no one; at the very least, he’s close to it. STEVE of all people calls him out. Steve, his ever-understanding son who’s been willing to put up with his bullshit because he understands that deep down, his dad does care and that he is dealing with his own stuff, calls him out, and rightfully so.

I think the quote they play during Gob’s flashback to his time in the storage locker, which unironically is a contender for one of my favorite scenes in the show just because it’s so meaningful, sums it up well.

“You know, if tomorrow you won’t open up and let someone else in, then the treasures you have inside may never come out.”

That night, Gob’s arc with Tony starts. Gob was 100% already crushing on or even in love with Tony before this point in time but that night really solidified things for him. I mean, undeniably, from the start of his plan, he was hoping for Tony to notice him. He did not need to look gay, especially not single and gay to go in that club. At that point, his denial is already getting harder and harder to upkeep and he’s started to realize that he really will never find a woman who he’s attracted to. But it’s the flashback, the subconscious voice he heard, he has that really cements that in his mind. If he is not true to himself, true to the world, if he does let someone in, he will never be happy. The genuine kindness and love he holds inside of him, which we see glimmers of throughout the show, will stay locked inside of him forever.

And to focus on my specific verbiage, it’s indirect because, well, obviously, Tony didn’t literally save Gob from a near death experience. But even so, Tony didn’t make Gob change. Tony did show him kindness, he showed him understanding, unconditional love, love that didn’t stop when you were being “too much” or weird or unconventional. But Gob still had all the opportunity in the world to further fester in his arrested development(hey that’s the name of the show!). As I said, it’s not like Tony is the first person who’s been nice to Gob. The combination of forced reflection from not being able to take the forget-me-now, Tony’s love AND Gob actually loving him back made Gob ripe for change and he DID but that was a choice that he made. Gob chose to be better. He chose to take initiative, he chose to be patient, be kind, he chose to let Tony make the call on whether he wanted things to continue, on what he was comfortable with, because he was willing to compromise and wait for Tony to be ready, possibly even lose him, because he loved him and cared about him and that’s what you do when you love someone. He just wanted Tony to be happy. And wildest of all, Gob was willing to leave his family, the people he’d been working to get the approval of for his entire life. He was willing to give up the chance at getting his father’s approval in particular, we could even lump Michael in there too. He was willing to try to start to deal with the hard reality that he was gay and that he loved Tony when all he’d ever done in his life is avoid it and practically everything else about himself. It’s astounding, really.

It really is wild to me how this isn’t talked about more when season five is discussed. Like, obviously, in the AD spaces I most frequent, people recognize this but…Like…My friend told me she watched a video talking about the entirety of Arrested Development and they didn’t delve into anything about this when it’s the kind of thing they would usually talk about and like- Guys, this show is called Arrested Development and not only did one of them actually show growth but out of all of them, it was Gob??? And also it happened in a plot line where Gob is gay and in love with Tony Wonder??? Like, how is this not, like…It’s so amazing!

ANYWAY, I’m cutting myself off here. Again, it was an absolute treat reading your response. You have such incredible insights to the show and I was literally, like, yessing all throughout it, hehe. You mentioned messaging me about the fic and stuff and please feel free to! Little known fact about me, might not have noticed this(/s), but I LOVE talking about Arrested Development so if you(or anyone else who sees this, heh) ever wanna talk about literally anything related to Arrested Development, I will be nothing but over the moon about it, heheh.

I hope you have a wonderful day.

Honestly one of my favorite parts of arrested development—and something I wished we had more of—is the relationship between Maeby and Gob.

See the thing is, they’re so similar! They have their schemes, theyre liars, arguably the most chaotic members of the Bluth family, and they’re also often the forgotten/overlooked child. (Also some flavor of gay- bi maeby truther)

But it’s more than that! My favorite part of the last two seasons is obviously the Blunder but what I also loved is how the narrative was now widened and following the different members of the family.

We got to see what Gob gets up to when he’s away from his family, when in the previous seasons it wasn’t always clear/the family didn’t know and didn’t want to know

And sometimes I really wish we had some of that in the earlier seasons if only so I could see all the Maeby and Gob interactions that go on unnoticed. I mean. Gob knows about Maeby’s job making movies. ("uncle gob?" *gob pauses in trying to throw a sick cat overboard/hiding from said cat* "maeby?") And, he voiced (or rather Will Arnett did) the voice over for a Gangie movie.

During the inner beauty contest/pageant Gob is the one who recognizes Maeby and asks her who her favorite family member is (a friend of mine theorized that question was asked without him knowing it was Maeby and he’s just a dumbass like that, which I agree he would be a dumbass like that but I have to believe he recognized her)

And idk, I just really love the dynamic they got going. They’re so similar and chaotic and I would have loved to see some uncle-niece shenanigans.

(That being said I also loved uncle-nephew shenanigans and I miss the George Michael and Gob interactions too. George Michael being awed by Gob’s magic was so sincere and beloved by me)

[distantdarlings]

OUT OF IT // t. nott

RATING: R / 4.4K WORDS

Theodore Nott x Fem Reader Insert

+ SUMMARY - *Requested - based on this* Theodore Nott has been your best friend for years, but the closeness that you’ve gained throughout your friendship proves to be a little too intimate for the two of you to handle.

+ WARNINGS - SMUT! PIV - no protection, fingering, light nipple play (f!receiving), dirty talk, tension, top!Theo, bottom!Reader, fem reader, language, super NOT proofread (lmk if I missed anything!)

+ MUSIC (listened to while writing) -

Again (Sped Up) - Noah Cyrus

(Okay! So prep for this was super rushed bc I am about to go on vacation and just got done with a ton of work. I’m very sorry this is so quick and frazzled—hopefully you all can look past it. Thanks for your patience.)

- - -

The dimly-lit corridors always felt so cozy around this time of the evening. The skies outside were pitch black and the only form of light was the flickering, honeyed candles mounted to the stone walls every few paces or so. A rather clever spell had been cast on them to keep them from dripping wax all over the floors.

You combed your fingers through your hair, letting the strands slide across your skin. Keeping your hair pinned up always gave you just a bit of a headache, but being able to take it down after classes was a relief like no other. Your fingernails scratched lightly over your scalp in an attempt to reestablish some blood flow throughout.

After a particularly difficult day, you wanted nothing more than to eat a quick dinner and then crash into your bed. You felt as if you’d been going non-stop since waking up this morning with nothing but a bagel and some tea in your stomach for the whole day. You were sure if you spoke to a muggle physician, they’d have some choice words for you. You could practically feel the dark circle sprouting beneath your eyes.

You turned one final candle-adorned hallway before arriving in front of the Great Hall. You arrived on the later side of the allotted dinner times, but you knew the food would stay on the table until the last student who intended to eat arrived. That was part of Hogwart’s lovely charm.

A wave of warmth from the fireplace in the corner washed over you like a blanket. The sudden temperature change brought on a case of chills across your body. A small shudder flowed through you.

Your eyes scanned the table on the far end of the room—its dark wooden surface topped with deep green runners and dishes of food. Sitting alongside the farthest end of the table were the most familiar faces in the entire school. A gentle smile appeared across your lips at the sight of your friends chatting and laughing together.

You approached the table with the same smile painted on. As you drew closer and caught a few eyes, you raised your hand for a polite wave. All of a sudden, you were a bit more awake than you had been.

A set of bright eyes turned and locked with yours, prompting a jolt of energy through your chest. You settled in next to the owner of those special eyes, allowing him to wrap his arm around you and pull you in close.

“How are you, tesoro?” Theo asked, pressing a small kiss to the side of your head.

“It was good. What about you?” you asked. He shrugged and flashed you a smile. He’d never been one to talk much about his day.

You gathered some food onto your plate, Theo never taking his arm from around you even when he went back to eating.

“So, how was everyone’s day?” Enzo asked cheekily, eyeing the two of you. The young man in front of you had always had a deep insistence that you and Theodore Nott would be the perfect couple.

“You’re perfect for each other,” he would say. “You compliment each other so well, plus you’re already so comfortable around each other!” To which, you’d always laugh and shake your head, only mostly ignoring the fantasies that would twirl through your mind after the fact.

You were not going to date Theodore Nott. He was your best friend—had been for years.

“Fine, thanks,” you replied snarkily, popping some kind of berry into your mouth. It crunched between your teeth pleasantly, bleeding dark, sweet juice. It was unlike any other fruits you’d ever tasted, but you never knew what you were going to taste at Hogwarts.

“Mm, you’ve got a bit of—” Theo started. Still chewing on a bit of food, he ran the thumb of his free hand over the corner of your lip and promptly placed it against his tongue. He sucked the flavor off of his skin, then turned back to his dinner.

It didn’t much bother you, just ignited a bit of heat against the wall of your gut. Mattheo and Enzo, however, acted like they’d just seen someone hurl into the dinner bowls.

“Hello, friends!”

The group turned to face Pansy Parkinson. A dainty, but lean girl with striking black hair cut across her cheeks in sharp, even lines. She was truly one of your only female friends, considering how often you hung around a male party.

“Hey, Pans!” The group chorused, offering lazy waves and full-mouthed smiles. She smiled a bit and took a seat next to Enzo. She selected an apple from the bowl just before her and took a large chunk out of it, her pale eyes flicking around the table.

“Why are you all so quiet?” she mumbled around chunks of apple.

Enzo snuck his arm down beneath the table and discreetly bumped Pansy’s ribs with his elbow twice. They were sure you hadn’t seen their little gesture that translated to ‘I’ll fill you in later,’ but you most definitely had.

You struggled not to roll your eyes as you knew they’d gossip for hours about how you and Theo would be the perfect couple. Honestly, it used to bother you a bit, knowing your friends were talking about you behind your back. But with a quick and direct questioning of Enzo, you realized that they weren’t so much gossiping about you as they were rooting for you. Their support didn’t matter, though. You would not be dating Theodore Nott.

***

That night, as you had begun to settle in for bed, you found yourself thinking of Theo. You always thought of him around bed time. There was never really a time when your best friend wasn’t floating around your head, but at night, when you were recapping your day, you thought of him.

Theo had a nasty habit of popping into your head at the worst of times. During tests, holidays with your families, your dreams, and even when you…when you would get into bed and slide the velvet drapes hung around the frame shut, and let your hands slide beneath the covers.

You swallowed thickly at the thought. You would not be dating Theodore Nott. No matter if he did cross your mind when you touched yourself. You inhaled shakily and slid beneath the covers, ignoring the ache in your chest and the pulsing between your legs.

***

The next morning, you found yourself wandering down to the Great Hall just as you had done the night before for dinner.

And just like last night, Pansy, Enzo, Mattheo, and Theo were waiting for you just like they always were.

You slid into the space beside Theo and laid a sleepy head against his shoulder, letting a slightly dramatic huff out.

“Oh dear, looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” Theo teased, placing a kiss to the top of your head. The audience members before you each made a different face at the show of affection. It never bothered you and it had seemingly never bothers Theo, but your friends had a habit of turning it into something it didn’t need to be.

“Yes, I did,” you sighed. “I barely slept a wink last night—I was tossing and turning all night.” Which was not a lie, but a bit of an understatement. Your sleep had been plagued with visions of Theo.

Theo looking at you, Theo kissing you, Theo touching you, Theo Theo Theo. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Theo looked down at you. You met his eyes.

“Is everything alright?” he asked.

“Yes, why?”

“You’re clenching my arm really hard,” he chuckled, glancing down at your clutched fist around his arm. Oh. You quickly let go of him and apologized, embarrassed that he was having such a physical effect on you. You’d never been so distracted before. Sure, you’d had these thoughts of Theo before but it had never affected you in your everyday life, and certainly not in front of him.

“You’re sure you’re okay?” Enzo interrupted. You turned and the three sitting across from you all seemed to be staring with concern.

“You seem out of it…,” Mattheo said, looking you up and down. Pansy voiced a small agreement.

“I’m fine,” you chuckled nervously. Theo placed a hand on your back and began to rub comforting circles around the center of your spine.

His touch against you was almost too much to bear.

You shied away from him and, forcing a smile, you got to your feet and quickly excused yourself. You knew if you looked back, all of them would still be staring at you but you needed to get away. Theo’s hand on your back was nearly enough to make you come undone.

These altered feelings of him had your mind running haywire.

You scurried off down the halls, twisting and turning, and avoiding any and everyone. The Slytherin dungeons weren’t that far from the Great Hall, but every step you took made the hallway feel as if it was elongating. It felt as though you would never reach it and as if you’d be walking for the rest of eternity, when you came upon the secret entrance.

You mumbled the password then slipped through the doorway.

Other than a few scattered students, there was practically no one in the common room. Hopefully you’d be able to get a bit of privacy upstairs in your bedroom.

Thoughts of Theo swirled around your head, threatening to fall in on you and drown you in your own desire. You had no idea why he was having such an effect on you.

Once you came upon the door to your dorm, you pushed through the door, slammed it quickly behind you, and collapsed onto your bed. A quick survey of the room told you that it was empty, except for your panting body.

You set yourself against your pillows, drawing your knees to your chest and wrapping your arms around them. If you kept having such an issue, you were just going to have to avoid your friends for the next few days.

You refused to let any silly thoughts get in the way of your friendship with Theo. You’d had plenty of intrusive thoughts pertaining to him in the past. That didn’t mean you were in love with him or had any feelings for him other than platonic. People had weird thoughts about their friends all of the time—it didn’t make them true.

A knock on the door drove its way through your train of thought. A small jolt ran through your body at the sudden sound.

Assuming it was just one of your roommates, you invited them in. But one of your roommates did not walk through the door. Theo did.

Upon seeing him, you shot up to a sitting position almost immediately.

“Theo—I didn’t know it was you, I’d really like to be alone right now if—”

“That’s fine. I’ll leave as soon as you tell me what’s wrong.”

His eyes were stern with his jaw clenched tightly, the muscle running across the bone rippling with every grind of his teeth. If you didn’t know this boy like the back of your hand, you might’ve mistook his concern for fury.

“Nothing’s wrong. Like I said, I’m just tired.”

“There’s something else,” he spoke. “I can tell. I’ve known you for nearly as long as I’ve been alive. Do you seriously think I can’t tell when something’s bothering you? You brushed away my hand, you—you barely looked at me earlier. You’ve never, ever turned me away like that—and if you decide you’re done with me, w-with us—that’s fine, but I deserve an explanation.” He stepped forward and left nothing but a few inches between the two of you. “I demand one.”

His ramble ended with deep, heaving breaths, his eyes staring down at you with longing and panic, and your saliva nearly getting caught in your throat. If you hadn’t closed your mouth that had been gaping open, you might’ve choked.

He stood so closely, you could feel his breaths on your chest. You attempted to avoid his eyes but it was as if he’d locked you to him. You couldn’t pull away.

“Theo, I’m not…done with you,” you exhaled shakily, “I always want you.”

His eyes softened a bit.

“Er, to be here with me as my friend!” you gasped out quickly, trying to ease the landing of the borderline confession you’d just spouted out.

His mouth dropped a bit as he seemed almost disappointed. Surely he didn’t feel the same way.

“What if I want to be here with you…but as more than just a friend,” he whispered. His deep voice rumbled beneath the pressure of his chapped lips. You couldn’t help but glance down at them briefly.

Once you had, his breath hitched in his throat just a bit, and you knew he’d seen you. You knew he’d seen your eyes dart from his deep, crystalline eyes to his barely parted lips. His tongue swiped over his bottom lip, just enough to grant them some hydration from how deeply the two of you had been breathing. A shudder passed through you at the sight.

“What’s…more than a friend?” you breathed, your voice wavering as you found it increasingly harder to pull your eyes away from his lips.

What a stupid thing to ask.

“I want to show you what it is,” he said. “I want you to feel what more than a friend is.”

You almost jumped out of your skin when the tips of his fingers brushed against your forearm. He seemed to be testing the waters and, though your reaction wasn’t exactly calm, must have decided that it was okay to move forward again. The fingers from the opposite hand brushed alongside your other arm.

“Let me show you what it feels like,” he whispered.

“I don’t want to lose anything we have because of one stupid mistake—because we couldn’t control ourselves,” you said, biting your lip nervously. You knew it was a cruel thing to say but it was the truth. Theo was the best thing that had ever happened to you, even before you couldn’t escape the feeling of his eyes on you.

“I won’t let anything change us,” he said. “Let me give you all of me before you decide you need some of me.”

Shakily, you pressed your lips together and nodded slowly. You were all his.

He smiled just a bit, a shaking breath pushing through his lips as if he’d been holding it for a while.

His hands were slow and patient, carefully mapping out every place he intended to touch and ensuring that it was completely okay with you before doing so.

Fingers traced over your hips and across your ribs through your uniform shirt. Even through the material, you felt his simulated touch eliciting chills across your stomach and arms. He smirked a bit at the way the small hairs there stood up.

“Can I touch your skin?” he asked, his eyes finding yours. You nodded in response.

At your immediate consent, he took no time in easing the hem of your shirt out from beneath your skirt. The tucked-in material had created indentations along your flesh from pressing into it all day. His fingers traced along the swirls of marks across your hips.

His hot skin on yours was nearly too much to handle—you swore you felt your knees buckle.

After the initial shyness of skin-on-skin, you could feel Theo’s hands splay wide on either side of your hips and move across your abdomen and all the way to the back. His fingers brushed across the strap of your bra just as a raging heat split your stomach in two.

“Can I?” he asked. Of course, you nodded.

With a second set of permissions, he felt even bolder. He sucked in a strong breath and, with quick and intense movements, brought his hands out from beneath your shirt and began to unfasten the buttons.

With each button he pulled open, he placed a hot kiss to the skin revealed. Your breaths came in deep heaves, your chest lurching towards him pathetically.

His tongue brushed over the cleavage split evenly by the pressure of your bra. With your chest nearly completely revealed to him, Theo’s eyes darkened severely.

His eyes found yours again. The two of you regained consciousness for only a moment to realize where you were and what you were doing, before you clasped your hands around his head and pulled his mouth to yours.

With a fiery desire, he slipped his hands beneath your thighs and, with subtle clumsiness, lifted you off the floor just enough to push you up against the stone wall in the corner.

A shy moan slipped from between your lips at the feeling of your body trapped in between him and the wall.

His lips devoured yours like a man starved. He drank up every drop of saliva granted by each slide of your tongue along his, never wasting a single bit. His hands gripped at you mercilessly—at your hips, your chest, your ass. It wasn’t long before your shirt was completely unbuttoned and slid messily down your shoulders and your shoes slipped off and kicked somewhere into the corner.

As the two of you took a moment to breath, noses pressed to each other and breaths intermingling, Theo contemplated his next moves.

“I want to take care of you,” he heaved, a bead of sweat sliding down his sharply detailed throat.

“Please… have me as you will,” you whined, hardly able to stand being away from him in these few seconds.

The sounds of your begging did nothing but urge him forward, cutting through every strap of restraint he may have still had. He fucking loved it.

“Let me make you feel good,” he whispered.

He slid his finger down across your neck, tightening his grip just barely around your throat, then sliding them down across your breasts. He kneaded the sore tissue there, reveling in the way your lips parted at the feeling.

His fingers slid over the metal clasp that sat squarely between your breasts, shining in the firelight, waiting for him to separate it.

Before touching your chest any further, he wrapped his hands around your thighs once more and wrapped them around his waist, balancing you against the wall behind you.

His fingers then returned to their post at your bra and effortlessly split the clasp. The pressure of your breasts popped the fabric apart, quickly revealing your chest to the boy before you.

He moaned at the sight of your gorgeous chest and could not resist from placing his lips around each nipple, swirling his tongue around them perfectly. Your head fell back against the wall, your hands clutching at this hair, your legs wrapped around his body.

“You’re so perfect—gonna make you feel so good,” he mumbled.

His hands and lips reluctantly separated from your chest and pulled you away from the wall for just a moment. He walked you over to the recession in the wall where the windowsill waited for your body weight.

The drapes were pulled together but you imagined that you wouldn’t be so angry if they weren’t.

Theo set you down against the cool stone and slid your hips against him.

With no regard for what you were going to do for your next day of classes, he roughly split your tights to reveal the bottoms beneath.

He let out a moan at the sight of you—you were better than he’d ever imagined.

Flipping your skirt up, he traced a single, trained finger over the slit of fabric covering the most sensitive part of your body. You let out a wavering moan at the sensation, gripping onto his shoulders tightly.

“Please, Theo, no more teasing,” you groaned, sliding your hips closer to his. The motion pressed your core against his, creating a type of friction that was more than delicious. The both of you paused and shuddered against each other’s mouth.

If Theo had any restraint left in his body, it was this that destroyed it.

He slid a finger beneath the material of your bottoms and slid them to the side, revealing you to the cool air. You shuddered a bit at the feeling, not prepared for the sudden change in temperature.

He traced his fingers along your folds again, collecting slicks of moisture along them. You could barely keep up with his pace, not sure whether to moan or cry or beg for more.

Once soaked enough, he slid a finger into you, allowing you to stretch around it. You cried out to the night air, clutching at his shirt like you might slip away from this world if he kept easing you open just as he was.

There were blinks of time where he’d slip another finger in just beside the other, stretching you farther than you’d ever been before, but you could hardly grasp where you were in time and space. All you could feel, think, smell, hear, taste was Theodore Nott.

When years had passed and he’d built you up to your climax twice already, he decided that he was ready to give you all of him.

The layer of sweat across your body and cloud of exhaustion that plagued your mind seemed to be no obstacle for a still very wired Theo. He was ready to fuck himself into you until you were begging for mercy. He’d been waiting for this for years.

“Turn over for me, sweetheart,” he said lovingly, a stark contrast to the brutality with which he’d worked you apart.

Slow-moving from exhaustion but still eager for more of his touch, you forced yourself onto your stomach. Your hands gripped onto the drapes for some sense of purchase—hopefully they wouldn’t collapse down around the two of you, revealing both of your bodies to the world.

When the rustling of his clothing and the clinking of his belt hit your ears, the entire lower half of your body twinged in anticipation. You gasped lowly as his hands slipped beneath your skirt, slowly smoothing his fingers over the fabric of your bottoms before gripping them and sliding them down your legs.

He allowed you to step out of them before he pushed you back up against the stone and slid himself across your entrance. You sucked in a breath sharply at the sensation, your fingers digging into the canvas drapes so tightly they burned white around the knuckles.

One hand gripped your bare hips while the other slowly guided himself into you all the way to the hilt. The slow stretch he had provided you before was nothing compared to the fire burning below now. Your eyes clenched shut, bursts of tears slipping down your cheeks.

“Breathe, bella,” he groaned softly as he allowed you to adjust while refraining from going as fast and as hard as he could.

It took only a moment before you asked him to move, and begged him to claim you fully. And then he was controlling every inch of what you received, ruthlessly, yet lovingly.

The silence of the room was filled with his breathless groans, your stuttering words, and the force of his hips hitting yours. You’d hardly be able to stand if it weren’t for his strong hands holding your hips up, keeping you just where he wanted you for each force of his hips.

With each passing second, you found your grip on the fabric above you becoming weaker and your ability to hold yourself up diminishing. With the pace he’d set, you’d be finishing any minute and he knew it.

And by the way his speed stuttered every so often and his hands gripped onto the fabric of your skirt, you figured he couldn’t be far behind you.

Your naked breasts lightly scraped against the stone with every push from behind, rubbing the sensitive skin just enough to push you over your edge and crash within yourself. You cried out from the force of the pleasure that hit you.

As soon as you had managed to finish against him, the tightening of your muscles tipped him over the cliff side he stood atop, forcing him to the waves below.

He worked himself through his climax before slowing to a stop and collapsing against you. The sweat on your skin mingled together, creating a hot seal between your bodies. You could hardly catch your breath between the windowsill pressed against you and the strong man behind you.

“Theo,” you whined. “Get off…”

He responded with a huff and a moment’s silence, before pushing off of you. Your skin separated with a sticky pull.

He gently pulled you away from the window, slid your messed skirt down and helped you slide into your bed. He slid in next to you for just a moment.

“I think I’m about to pass out and sleep for the next 48 hours,” you chuckled lazily.

“Would you say I gave enough of myself?” he smirked, brushing a strand away from your forehead.

“I’d say it was more than enough,” you said, rolling your eyes at his confidence.

“Well, I’m yours anytime you want me.” He pressed a sweet kiss to your forehead, before getting to his feet and beginning to redress.

“No,” you fussed. “Why are you leaving?”

“Because it’s the middle of the day and I’m missing my classes,” he laughed, tightening his belt back to its proper place.

“I am too—just skip with me today,” you begged.

“No, darling, I’ve got to get back to class. I’ve got too many assignments due today. I’ll let them know you won’t be making it in today, though.”

“What are you going to tell them if they ask?” you asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Mm, I’ll let them know that you had a rough morning and you’re gonna sleep it off.”

He smirked meanly before slipping through the dorm door and leaving you in silence, bundled up in your bed and nearly too tired to even try and get ready for classes.

One day off wouldn’t be too big of a deal.

- - -

Tag List: @lilymurphy03 , @mypolicemanharryyy , @clairesjointshurt , @bunbunbl0gs , @acornacreacure, @niktwazny303 , @thestarlithideout , @sarahskakskskskajakwwnwjw , @yhiiil, @ravenclawprincess33 , @xxrougefangxx , @thatblackthorn, @robinyx , @starsval , @jolly4holly , @blvebanisters , @chgrch, @abaker74, @ilovehotmenandwoman, @kissesbyarabella, @synicaljah (If you would like to be added to the tag list, please shoot me a DM! Thanks!)

[webslingingslasher]

Unknown Sender

happy valentine's day!

MONDAY: 13:52 

‘hi.’ Peter squints at the message, then the unsaved number. He's not sure how, but it’s a scam. 

‘i’d like to have your attention, please.’ Peter rolls his eyes, swiping left to not only delete but report the number as junk. No doubt it was a bot or someone with a flair for sextortion. 

A new number. ‘that was actually so rude of you, parker.’ 

‘unblock me right now.’ 

Peter shifts in his seat, he does a slow look around the room and finds nothing off putting or alarming. 

‘Who is this?’ 

Green bubbles pop up. ‘unblock me and i’ll tell you.’ Peter was right to guess about extortion. Another swipe, blocked and reported. Peter wasn’t participating in any games. 

A new number. ‘oh, now you’re just being cute.’ 

Peter feels his heart pick up a bit, it’s a tad threatening and now he’s overthinking it a little. What if someone has it out for him? Is there a mark on his back? ‘Please leave me alone.’ 

‘no.’ 

‘can we play 21 questions?’ 

Peter’s face scrunches up, he spins his head around one more time, someone is fucking with him. He has no clue who has time for something like that in university, but he’s not a willing participant anymore, not since high school. 

‘Leave me alone. Go torment a freshman.’ 

‘i don’t like freshmen. i like you.’ Peter chews at his bottom lip, there was a second of hesitancy but he knows the truth deep down. ‘I’m blocking you.’ 

‘sure. i’ll keep texting you, too.’ 

‘I’ll change my number.’ 

‘noooo please don’t do that. i had to work hard enough to get it the first time.’ Peter doesn’t respond. He blocks the number and moves on, and they don’t try to text him again.

Until the next day and Peter knows two things for certain. There is a note in his backpack, and it wasn’t there before his econ lecture. He remembers pulling that pocket open before he started notes, then when he went to zip it up, a note. 

This upsets him. What good was any sense when someone could get that unnoticeably close to him without him knowing? Second, it’s a little frustrating not to know who this person is and how it most likely is connected to the texts he had a few days ago, and that it’s an extremely long played joke that’s mostly boring. 

‘Peter Parker- 

You’ve been secretly admired. It might not be very secret, because I think you’ve caught me staring at you a thousand times. I like you a lot. 

Hopefully liked back, 

-X’ 

But a part of him believes it’s true. He’s trying to think of who’s in his lecture, if he’s caught them staring then they’re either to the side or behind him. There are too many faces, too many times he’s been looked at, he’s almost centered, it’s his fault for choosing a focal point. 

Instead of throwing it away, he refolds the pink handwriting and puts it back into place before hitching a strap over his shoulder and sliding behind chairs. One, two steps up he glances at your face, you have a weak smile, he returns the same kind, it’s more like a polite nod. Peter’s always thought you were pretty and he thinks you're nice. 

But really, he’s wondering who left the note. 

10:30

‘did you get my note?’ Peter does his normal scan across campus, again, his fault for being out in the open. This person could be anywhere, he’s on a picnic bench with a group of friends. If he’s smart, he’d start limiting himself to contained spaces and make you show yourself. 

‘Yeah. Who is this?’ Peter’s thumbs dance around the screen waiting for a reply, it comes quick. ‘i told you. x.’ He stops himself from rolling his eyes, he doesn’t know anyone with an ‘X’ anywhere in their name. 

‘Is that an initial?’ 

‘actually, i’m pretty sure it’s british for kiss.’ 

‘That’s a wild take. Are you saying the UK is responsible for XOXO’s?’ 

‘i’d like to make you responsible for my xoxo’s.’ Peter chews his bottom lip, he won’t play into anything in writing. He doesn’t believe this for a second, everything about this feels off. Someone’s fucking with him and they’re also in his class, or they have someone in on it in his class. 

But this is too advanced.

‘sorry. i don’t mean to like harass you or anything. you’re really hot but you scare me, i don’t think you would like me so idk, maybe if you talk to me you’d like me for me or something.’ 

‘i just think i’m punching wayyyy above my weight class here and i may be making this worse because there is no doubt you think im weird.’ 

‘i am weird. i should leave you alone now. i’m sorry.’ 

Peter reads his screen four times, it’s still not clicking. He’s nothing special and he doesn’t mean that in a way to dog on himself, he’s just nerdy and quiet. It seems a little too authentic to be fake, but he’s got to make sure. 

‘How’d you get my number?’ 

‘your friend. they have been sworn to secrecy but they know what i’m doing and they are in full support. take that as you will.’ 

‘Depends on the friend.’ 

‘i’ll tell you when you find out who i am.’ 

‘I’m going to find out? You’re not going to tell me?’ 

‘i don’t think i’ve been hiding it. you just haven’t been paying attention and now i want you to.’ 

‘Oh, but you’re shy?’ 

‘i’m about to pass out on the lawn behind this fucking screen, don’t play with me parker.’ A slip, you’re around him and you just admitted it. ‘Tell me, admirer, what are you wearing?’ The more detail the better, but he could work off of just a color. 

‘nice try. but you’re looking mighty handsome in the blue.’ A glance down, he suddenly feels watched. ‘Are you stalking me?’ 

‘oh no! no no no. i PROMISE you i’m not that fucking psychotic.’

‘i’m just a “sneak a note into your backpack” level of crazy. i’m here with my roommate and her boyfriend. i saw you and just wanted to know if you got it, i promise.’ 

‘You do understand that this situation makes you seem psychotic, right?’ 

‘yes. but i am not.’ 

‘That sounds like something a crazy person who got my number from a third party would say. Especially after I blocked you six times.’ 

‘it was three and you didn’t understand my intentions but okay. you have a fair point and i extend the olive branch of brett. he gave me your number and he knows me pretty well.’ 

Brett? Easy enough, he nods his head towards him and slides his phone across the table. “Explain.” His friend scrolls through the thread, a trustworthy smile spreads. “Yeah, I gave her your number.” Her. Okay, it’s something. “Who is she?” Brett shrugs, “you know her. She’s kind of a firecracker, you just make her nervous.” 

“That gives me nothing, Brett.” His friend blinks, “she’s not crazy. She likes you a lot for whatever fucking reason and has no idea how to approach you.” Peter’s letting his words soak in, “don’t believe me? Ask her about the grilled cheese, and make sure you tell her that I told you about how she went on for five fucking minutes about the grilled cheese.” 

“What grilled cheese?” Brett slides Peter’s phone back, he’s telling him to ask you. Something tells Peter it’s enough to embarrass, or it might be Brett being the ultimate wingman.

‘I’ve been told to ask you about the grilled cheese.’ 

‘oh god. there is no need to ask about the grilled cheese, did brett tell you about the grilled cheese?’ 

‘He told me to ask you. And to specify that you went on for five minutes about it.’ 

‘five is excessive, it was more like three. second, there is nothing to speak about.’ 

‘I would like to hear about it.’ 

‘i’d prefer if you didn’t.’ 

‘But you’ll do it for me?’ 

‘i’m weak for you and you know it. it’s sicking, parker.’ 

‘i heard you talking about making one in class and you said something about the crust and i really fucking love grilled cheese’s so i had a trip to fantasy land where you made me one and how it’s probably the best thing i’ll never get to taste.’ 

‘Wow. Five whole minutes on that?’ Peter won’t admit it made him feel a little warm on the inside, the most mundane of things to have someone so squirrely makes him feel unworthy. 

‘three.’ 

‘Tell me who you are and I’ll make you a grilled cheese.’ 

‘you have no idea how much that almost worked.’ 

‘What’s the plan then, master manipulator?’ 

‘i don’t know yet. i’m hoping you show me how smart you are and figure me out, then you can do all the hard questions.’ 

‘Hard questions?’ 

‘you know, do you wanna go on a date, do you wanna be my girlfriend, do you want to take my hand in marriage and have a summer home in the french alps? that kind of stuff.’ 

‘Totally not psychotic.’ Peter tucks his bottom lip between his teeth to hide the smile that wants to spread. 

‘mostly not.’ 

WEDNESDAY: 13:57

Peter doesn’t know who X is, but they’re clever and have zero effect on his sixth sense. He doesn’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. Either way, he’s reading a note scribbled in blue pen and as he studies the words he knows it was rushed. It’s proof that he wasn’t being followed everywhere, instead you saw an empty table and an opportunity. 

‘Peter- 

You use mostly gender neutral pronouns. I think that’s very cool. Is it weird that I notice those things about you? Also- what is it that you’re always drinking from Nuthouse? Asking for a friend… 

Have a good day! 

-Your not so secret admirer, X. 

‘Not so secret,’ Peter isn’t sure about that. You’ve done a good enough job at not trying to be obviously known, he might have looked up your number last night to find dust. One was from an app, but the one you’ve been using is a burner phone. 

What he’s really not understanding is how you’re able to get so close to him without him noticing. You had to have been millimeters away when you rested the letter on his backpack, he was gone for less than two minutes and he had zero awareness. 

Peter folds up the note and sticks it in the same pocket as the other one, his back slung around one shoulder as he moves up the stairs for the library. At the same time, you come down the opposite side, Peter gives a friendly acknowledgement. 

You choke down the lump in your throat. “Hi, Peter.” He’s already past you, it’s echoed behind his shoulder. “Hey.” It’s something. You’re trying, you’re trying to be bold for him. But he’s not going to notice, he’s never going to notice you and if you tell him who you are you’ll never live past his disappointment. 

Your phone vibrates, the other phone. Your heart picks up, Peter texted first. 

 14:02 

‘Dirty chai.’ 

‘best of both worlds. how fitting. you’re such a nonconforming king.’ 

‘I don’t even know what that means.’ 

‘But thank you?’ 

‘you’re welcome!’ 

‘anything fun on the roster today?’ 

‘Roster? Who are you?’ 

‘idk you make me nervous. blame yourself.’ 

‘Well, coach. Nothing fun on the roster, just some math. Wanna swap places with me?’ 

‘gross. i hate math so if you like it that’s good with me. one of us has to be smart and it’s not me.’

‘Smart enough to use a burner phone.’ 

‘oooooh, someone tried to find meeee.’ 

‘Can’t blame a guy for being curious, can you?’ 

‘were you disappointed when you found nothing?’ 

‘A little bit. But, you know, it keeps the imagination alive. A little unfair advantage on your side though, you already know what I look like.’ 

‘if it helps, you already know what i look like too.’ 

‘I do?’ 

‘yeah. we’ve talked before.’ 

‘Wait, so I know who you are?’ Brett said he did but Peter thought he meant you’d be familiar, not that he actually knew you. This just opened the floodgates to a million more possibilities. 

‘not really but yeah i guess. you know i exist but we’re not friends or anything.’ 

‘I’d like to think we’re friends, but okay.’ 

‘not outside the texting.’ 

‘That’s your decision.’ 

‘HATER.’ 

‘Anymore hints?’ 

‘.... no.’ 

‘HATER.’ 

FRIDAY: 12:15

You’re about to spill hot tea everywhere but it’ll be worth it to see his face. You ignore your pounding heart and stand in front of him. He’s got no clue you showed up, zoned out looking at the clock on the wall across from him. 

“Hi, Peter.” 

Full frontal attention, he’s looking at you. He’s perceiving you, he’s smiling at you. “Hi,” your eyes expand, he knows your name and it sounds so nice coming from his mouth. Sure, you’ve chatted with each other- even shared a few highlighters, but nothing serious. You’ve always been too scared to try anything else but maybe your fear has been mistaken for indifference. 

“I um, I lucked out today at Nuthouse so if you like dirty chai’s I got an extra one.” Your knees feel weak at his bright eyes, “my favorite. I’d love one, thank you.” You pass over the paper cup, your fingers brush and you think you’re about to collapse. 

“Yeah,” a weak laugh. “I had a feeling.” Peter tilts his head at you funny, you wonder if you pushed a little too far. “Okay, um, I’m gonna… have a good… lecture.” Peter nods and watches you go two rows up, he’s finally got a gut feeling. And it tells him to keep an eye out for you. 

TUESDAY: 12:10

Not that Peter was reliant on your attention, he was used to it. So when the texts stopped for three days and he was unable to find any letters he assumed you had lost interest and moved on. That felt fair to him, no harm no foul, at least he never really got to know you. 

Nevermind, there’s a folded notebook page on his miniature desk and his heart speeds up. His next task, put eyes on you. Bottom level, book and pencil in hand. He makes sure to note it’s a pencil and not the green ink that’s spread across the page. 

Peter thinks it’s a mind game, you were smart enough to know he’d look. Unless he was totally wrong on his guess. 

‘Peter- 

I ran out of minutes on my phone and I’m having a broke college kid moment. However, a friend took pity and donated a twenty to the campaign. I hope you’ve been good- I’ve missed talking to you. 

- Your not so secret admirer, X’ 

ps. stop keeping your backpack so close to you.’

It wasn’t anything personal, you just ran out of minutes. Peter smiles so wide he has to drop it, he almost clutches the paper to his chest in a thank you. Eyeing his backpack, he nudges it a little further behind him, following instruction. He’s kept it close in hopes to catch you, but instead he’s pushing you away. 

Peter’s committing the writing to memory as if he’s going to find you by the handwriting alone. A quick glance at footsteps, you’re three steps away when you smile. “Hi, Peter.” He nods, “hey.” You pause for a moment, mind racing for words. 

“Did you, um- did you do anything fun this weekend?” You’re about to crawl into a hole and die, it takes a moment to click that you were speaking to him. He went as far to look behind himself, then he spewed the answer to try and make up for the lost time. 

“Oh, uh not really. My aunt got a new bed so I had to lug the old one down seven flights of stairs.” Your eyes widen, you feel your mouth go dry and your tongue go thick. “By yourself?” Peter crosses his arms over his chest, a boyish grin swept over and you feel heart eyes form. 

“I’m a good nephew.” You want to pat his head and tell him you’re sure he is, then maybe hold him at gunpoint and tell you more stories about how he’s a perfect humanitarian. But you act like a normal human and smile back, “you sound like it.” 

Peter thanks you and you return to your seat with wobbly knees and a weak stomach, it’s silent torture to tease yourself like this with him. But you can’t help it and it’s only in effort to go after what you want. Even if it blows up when he figures out who you are. 

12:13

‘you’re looking mighty handsome today, mr. parker.’ 

‘I’m wearing a hoodie, but thank you.’ 

‘i said what i said.’ 

Boldly, ‘i see someone had another dirty chai. can’t stay away from them, can you?’ 

Another tick in Peter's stomach, he almost looks behind his shoulder at you, but he doesn’t. ‘It was a generous donation from a classmate.’ 

‘oh? pray tell, peter. pray tell.’ 

‘What? You don’t have a clue about who gave it to me?’ 

You swallow thickly, before you could get something out he sent another message. ‘No chance you didn’t see it go down?’ 

‘how could i? I was still on my way.’ 

‘... or was i?’ 

‘Tell you what, X. It one of the best teas I’ve had in a while.’ 

And you’d be damned if that didn’t make your entire chest flutter. 

FRIDAY: 15:29

“Here,” Peter’s hand clasped over the paper slapped into his chest. A hint of a syllable, Brett cuts himself off. “She asked me to give this to you.” Peter quickly read it and stared down before confiding in his friend for a second. 

‘Peter- 

Roses are red, violets are blue, all that I think about is you. 

It’s sweet in a cringy way, right? Boo on you for skipping class today, if you want, I could get you some notes. 

I hope I’ll see you Tuesday. 

-Your (really) not so secret admirer, X

ps. A pen exploded in my pocket. 10/10 chance my thigh will be stained.’

“I think I might know who it is.” 

“Uh, huh.” 

“But, she’s way out of my league.” 

“Correct.” 

Peter raised his eyebrows, “so it’s her?” He clarified with your name, Brett shrugged back. 

“I won’t be confirming or denying.” Peter knows what that means, “the lack of a no usually means yes.” 

“Bro,” Peter starts sputtering, “oh, c’mon! You know what I meant, I just meant that, I just- c’mon, Brett. Is it her?” 

“I have no idea who that is.” Peter wants to call bullshit, he has a gut feeling and he swears it’s you. You’re right, it’s not so secret. In fact, you’re painfully obvious. 

FRIDAY: 23:14 

‘you are soooooooo cute’ 

‘like your hair is so cute’ 

‘i looooove curly hair on guys and you have that!!!!!!!!!’ 

‘and you’re really funny cause like it’s so quick and witty like you have such good one liners’ 

‘also you’re really fucking hot and i KNOW you’re hiding something under those fucking sweaters and the second i see skin i WILL go feral.’ 

‘Something tells me you’re at the Kappa party.’ Peter’s pretending he doesn’t have a searing blush. If he’s got an inkling this could be you… then he might have proof for the non-believers that god exists. 

‘yes!!! are you here?? i should come see you.’ 

‘I hate to disappoint you, but I’m currently at a friend's house playing a Mario Kart drinking game.’ 

“But it’s nice to know that you’d give me your identity that quick.’ 

‘oh i can tell you who i am.’ Peter frowns at the text, he’s been doing nothing but crave the answer to who’s behind the love letters but it feels wrong. It’s not satisfactory enough for him, it’s also not what you want, you’re just drunk- and Peter’s going out on a limb here- horny. 

‘Save it for later.’ 

‘And maybe drink some water.’ 

‘i’d do anything for you cause you have the world's prettiest brown eyes’

‘Thank you for the compliments.’ 

‘you’re super welcome i try to hold them back because i’m a good girl but you’re just so cute i had to let you know’ 

‘I think you’re going to super regret this in the morning.’ 

‘false. maybe fact idk’

‘i should trust you tho because you’re super smart and you’re a nerd.’ 

‘I fear this is taking a turn for the worse.’ 

‘and that is so fucking HOT’

‘Oh. Back to compliments. Thank you.’ 

‘if you were here i’d give you a kiss’

‘IGNORE THAT!!!!’

‘I DIDN’T MEAN TO SEND THAT!!!! IGNORE IT’ 

‘Not ignored. How cute.’ 

‘screaming crying throwing up’ 

‘i really didn’t mean to send that it was a joke ha ha funny.’ 

‘Idk, sounded authentic to me.’ 

‘peter?’ 

‘Yeah?’ 

‘i’m a little drunk rn. and you should know how cute you are.’ 

‘Oh, I’m talking about record breaking levels of regret. This is amazing.’ 

‘i have to pee but i do not reget this!!!!!!’ 

SATURDAY: 09:54

‘i stand by my claim and do not regret a thing.’ 

‘correction. i regret this hangover and the way my previous texts are not very cool girl of me.’ 

‘but i would like to know if you won mario last night.’

‘also, who’s ur fav character?’ 

11:12

1. Proud of you for owning it, that’s very cool girl of you. 

2. I did not win. 

3. Petey Piranha. 

‘who tf is petey piranha.’

‘Mario Kart Sunshine. Came out in 2002. (Originally on GameCube but recently released on switch.) (Hell yeah.)’ 

Your heart thumps, he’s such a nerd and you wanna kiss the air out of his lungs. ‘out of all the characters and u choose him. why petey piranha’ 

‘One guess.’ 

‘PETEY PIRANHA.’ 

‘OH MY GOD.’ 

‘you’re petey piranha <333’ 

Peter fights a grin, ‘I am.’ 

‘you’re so cute. i love that.’ 

‘Personally, in the past 24 hours I don’t think I’ve heard enough about how cute I am.’

‘you’re insufferable and it’s sexy.’ 

‘Oo, new one to the mix. You’re making me blush.’ You really are. He’s never been considered sexy before and it feels really nice. 

‘and i bet you look super cute.’ 

‘Super true.’ 

TUESDAY: 12:34

‘white t shirt white t shirt white t shirt WHITE T SHIRT.’ 

‘You like?’ 

‘i’m about to cry i’m biting my fist so fucking hard.’ 

‘:)’ 

‘you’re so ubuibabeyia.’ 

‘Bless you.’ 

‘?’ 

‘Sorry, I assumed you sneezed.’ Peter never whipped his head around so fast at an audible laugh behind him. It was short, it had escaped without being thought about. He’s looking for you, but it doesn’t seem like it was you who laughed. You’re engrossed in chatting to your neighbor. 

On the other hand, you almost blew it by clasping your hands over your mouth. Instead you looked next to you and said, directly and with a burning gaze, “I need you to pretend we’ve been talking this whole time.” 

‘Someone’s losing their edge, you’re just begging to be caught.’ 

‘oh, i’m begging all right.’ 

‘can you hear me whimpering too?’ 

‘Easy, killer. Let’s not start sexting at noon on a Tuesday.’ 

‘are you saying there is a time for it?’ 

‘Give me a little wave and we’ll see.’ 

‘too late, i’m passed out on the floor. the only thing that can resuscitate me are those thick arms wrapped around me.’ 

‘Let these strong arms sweep you off your feet, all you gotta do is come talk to me after lecture…’ 

Peter says that, but he doesn’t mean it. He’ll definitely eat his words when he sees it’s you, then he’d be coming up with a thousand ways to back out of it. He’s so much more than you deserve, you feel so safe behind a keyboard but in person you can barely say a sentence. 

It’s stupid and a little humbling because you’ve never felt this way about a guy before. 

‘trust me, i’m better in your imagination.’ 

WEDNESDAY: 14:22

‘Peter- 

You know a little about a lot and I think that is one of my favorite things about you. Or maybe it’s your voice. I could listen to you talk forever. 

-Your not so secret admirer, X’ 

A note under his textbook, if he follows his hunch then he’d be looking for… you. Conveniently three tables away and to the right of his own, you’re not looking for his reaction, you’ve got your focus on your own textbook but he swears you’re retaining none of it. It’s a distraction, or maybe it’s a diversion. 

Peter doesn’t mind. He’s going to wait. He has all the time in the world today and he’s going to sit here with his eyes on you until you look up at him because he knows you’re going to and once you do, he’s going to have his answer. 

If he’s right, and he swears he is, he’s going to absolutely lose is shit because what do you mean you like him and are intimidated? You boldly lied when you said you were punching above your weight class. Does it make him a jerk to say he wasn’t even thinking of you as a suitor and maybe a girl with a much more average look?

 Peter counted to sixty twice, you glance up, eyes shooting to the note you left on the table. The next stop, Peter’s face. And oh, you were not prepared to have him looking right back. Panic, you shoot a wave, a desperate attempt to pretend you’re seeing a familiar face. 

Peter waves back but he looks much more satisfied than you did, you wonder if the jig is up. Did he crack the code? Was he just trying to find a friendly way to let you down? Deny til death, he has no proof it’s you. You pack your things up, a hurried scramble before you could lose your cool. 

On the way out you almost stop breathing, your forearm caught in Peter’s hand. You’re staring down at it, he’s not removing it. It burns in the best way. “Hey,” you wait, you can’t stop looking at his hand, the muscle, the subtle flex, his fingertips paler to show his grip. “Hi, Peter.” 

It’s breathless, you think you’re about to die. If he asks, you don’t know how you’ll lie your way out. 

Guess who’s got a stained pocket? The corner edge darkened with black ink that would never be washed out. Peter has his answer. You’re her. You’re X. “Thanks again for the tea.” 

 Maybe you wanted more, you feel a bit deflated when it’s all you receive.

“You’re welcome.” Your arm feels cold when he drops his touch, you linger for a second too long, you’re not sure when you’ll be this brave again. It was too much of a close call. “I hope the rest of your day is good.” 

Peter’s got a charismatic grin, he feels settled now that he knows you’re the anonymous lover in his life. Even more so when you find yourself shy and reserved in person, it almost makes him giggle to think of the stark changes in confidence.

“You too.” Your body engulfs into flames when your arm is caught again, you’re struggling to keep calm at his boyish smile. “Quick question,” you nod slightly, trying to show zero paranoia for the following words. 

“Do you have a boyfriend?” 

Short circuiting. You see black spots, you think you’re about to pass out. There is only one thing that means, no guy asks that if they weren’t interested in changing that, right? 

“No.” It’s anything but graceful. It sounds like you’ve never had a boyfriend before. It makes you sound like you’re scared he asked it. 

But, Peter doesn’t take it like that. He smiles wider, like he already knew the answer before he asked it.

THURSDAY: 16:37

A new letter, stuffed under the top handle of his backpack. Peter listened and stopped setting it next to him, in return he was rewarded. He can’t stop the small smile, you make it involuntary at this point. Peter’s never felt so special in his life, a little part of him wants this to never end. But he’d much rather look you in the eyes. 

‘Peter- 

I had a dream with you in it last night. Don’t worry, you had your clothes on. I’m not sure what we were doing but you were across from me at a diner and we were sitting in those super thick booths and our friends were there. 

I don’t know who these friends were, and I don’t think you do either. But I knew them as our friends. 

It felt really nice. I’m happy to know you, even if I just get this little piece. 

-Your not so secret admirer, X’

Peter’s been wrong a lot in his life but this time he really thinks he has it figured out. He’s much more bold now, this letter tells him it’s not infatuation, it’s love. 

You love him and he thinks he could love you too. 

FRIDAY: 20:08

‘Hey.’ Peter could be making the worst decision of his life here, he could be reading everything wrong and ruining this for himself. 

‘hi peter!’ But he really thinks he’s got it right.  

‘I really, really liked talking to you for the past few weeks but I think I should tell you that I like someone else.’ 

Gut wrenching despair. You knew it was too good to last, you knew he’d find someone more in his league. Someone who’d be willing to show him their face. There was no reason to respond because what would you say to that? 

‘thank you for letting me know that opening up to you was all for nothing!’ 

‘thanks for making me doubt love!’ 

‘hope you and her are so fucking happy together!!!!!’ 

Fuck it all and fuck Peter. He just liked the attention until it came from somewhere else. You don’t think you like him all that much anymore. You think you’re lying, too. Before you can give into the desire of hurting him just as bad, you calmly turn the phone off and stuff it in the back of a desk drawer to never be uncovered again. 

You slowly sit in bed and tug the blankets over your head. And only then, do you allow yourself to sob. 

Peter chewed on his bottom lip and waited an hour with constant phone checks before he realized a response was never coming. It really set in during the weekend but even further when he got no note or letter on monday. Not even when he left his backpack unattended for five minutes. 

TUESDAY -he was able to see you and how you avoided his eyes. How you pretended you didn’t see him send a small wave. How you had pulled back from him. 

And if he hadn’t hurt your feelings, or X’s feelings, why would you do that? 

You look up at a two fingered knock at the corner of your desk. “Hi.” You blink and ignore the white noise buzzing in your ears at the sight of Peter standing in front of you. “Hi, Peter.” 

“How was your weekend?” Bitter. Terrible. Lonely.

“Fine. Nothing exciting.” Besides you breaking my heart. 

Watching his fingertips dance on the edge of the plastic, you feel everything in you brighten. “You look sad.” There’s a burn in your stomach, he’s the reason for both the sting and the sadness. 

“Do you need something? Or are you just doing a friendly check in?” Peter bites back the grin when you snap at him, he’s so, so, so right and it feels so, so, so good. “Neither. I’m just confirming my suspicions.” 

“Suspicions?” 

“Yeah. You passed.” Your eyebrows furrow, before you could try to question further Peter was giving half a wave, saying bye, and skipping a step to his aisle. 

FRIDAY: 12:08

You stop breathing for a solid second before feeling your brain spark back to life. It could be anything, it could be from anyone, but you know there’s only one person who would’ve left a note on your desk. 

Your fingers slightly shake when you unfold the graph paper, little squares bled through with black sharpie. 

‘X-

Am I right?

Hopefully, 

-  Peter’ 

You can’t breathe, you can’t talk, you can’t move and you definitely can fucking not look at him. No, no, no. You can feel his eyes on you, you know he’s watching for your reaction. Peter figured you out and had his own fun along the way. 

You were the girl he liked. Oh, wow. Is this how special you’ve made him feel? Something just for your eyes, from him. A secret you both shared between lines. 

You spin and swear you can feel his gaze running over your back, he’s aching for the answer. You almost scream at a tap on your shoulder, a peek lets you know it’s the person you’re hiding from. 

Another note, folded up just like the other one. It’s pushed into your hand, Peter doesn’t say a word, he just offers and leaves. He’s not watching this time, he’s sitting and focused on the front, you feel air leak back into your lungs. 

Full on panic shaking, you’re so happy he’s not watching. 

Your name is addressed on the front, just like you do for him. 

‘I like you. 

I think you not so secretly like me too. 

We could talk more about it at dinner tonight. Will you let me take you out?

Circle yes or no. 

- Peter.

PS. XOXOXO now you’re responsible for mine, too.’ 

[muffinpink02]

Cravings

Okay, this is my first little family/baby story. Its my first attempt at fluff and cute stuff, I hope it makes sense. Let me know what you think. I've already started another one so hopefully you like this.

Summary - You’re pregnant, married to Alexia. Your cravings get you a little emotional. Just little bits and pieces of your pregnancy and Alexia helping you every step.

Warnings - swearing

You stood on your tiptoes as you rummaged in your snack box, trying to look for your latest obsession.

“Babe! Where are those salted caramel chocolates we got? The gold packet ones?” You shouted for your wife as you scanned the cupboards. 

Being pregnant wasn't as bad as you thought it would be. Yeah, your body had completely changed, and your mind had gotten foggy, and your emotions were hard to keep up with and you struggled to do simple things like put your shoes on. But, having Alexia as your wife made the whole experience worth it, the girl was a saint. 

When you were around 6 weeks pregnant you had suffered with some morning sickness, though thankfully it didn't last too long. When you were rushing to the bathroom at 4am, flopping to your knees, trying to get your vomit in the bowl on time, Alexia wouldn't be far behind you. She would always be by your side, rubbing your back as soon as she heard you jump out of the bed. 

“It's okay, amor. Here’s some water, clear your mouth.” 

You rinsed your mouth, washing the taste of acid from your tongue. She helped you back to bed, stroking your cheek until you fell asleep against her chest. She would always feel so bad for you, she hated watching you in any kind of pain.

Then came the cravings. At first it was anything sweet and juicy. You became obsessed with fruit, the berry family in particular. Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries if it had a ‘berry’ at the end of it you had to have it. And your most favourite berry was strawberries. You found yourself going through a pack of the sweet fruits every 2 days. 

Anything with the flavour of strawberry you had to have. Strawberry ice cream, strawberry jam, strawberry drinks, strawberry sweets, you even changed your lips gloss to strawberry. If it had a trace of strawberry then you had it in your mouth. Alexia joked that the baby was going to come out with red skin and green leaf’s for hair.

The fixation then progressed to strawberry milkshakes. You discovered the obsession when you and Alexia were out in town, you had both stopped to look at a display in the shop window. But your attention was caught by a whole other shop. Alexia hadn't even realised you had gone until she noticed she didn't get a response to her question.

“What do you think? ….Bebé?” 

The blonde looked to her side where you had just been standing, she only had to look a few shops down, when she caught you watching the milkshakes being made in the other window. She smiled as she walked over to you, eyeing your ever growing belly as it poked out under your t-shirt. 

“Want a milkshake, amor?” Alexia wrapped her arms around you, her warm body pressing into your own.

“Yeah, a strawberry one.” You smiled as you felt her kiss your cheek.

So, Alexia brought you a milkshake, asking for extra strawberries without you even having to ask.

The milkshake obsession then became something you wanted, no, needed everyday. 

So, in the mornings before training Alexia would make your strawberry milkshake alongside her protein shake. You didn't know how, but the girl would always make the fruity drink so much better than you ever could, no matter how hard you tried, hers always tasted sweeter.

As soon as you found out you were pregnant you stopped playing for Barca and went on maternity leave. And of course Alexia became super protective over you, though it wasn't a shock to you when she did, she was protective with you before you even became pregnant. 

Slowly you had to reduce your personal training as you got further along. Alexia watched you like a hawk when you wanted to do any kind of weight training, making sure you never did anything over 5kg. She would take regular walks with you and even joined your swimming classes, as they were deemed ‘safe’ enough for her. 

She insisted on carrying all the bags when you went grocery shopping, not letting you carry anything that could potentially ‘hurt’ you or the baby. Though you secretly loved the extra attention. Until Alexia wanted to build the baby cot alone, because she was scared you would hurt yourself with the hammer, and you had to put your foot down. 

Alexia was also amazing with her hands, and not just for other things. If you ever complained about a painful back or sore feet she would be on you in seconds, massaging your muscles until you couldn’t even remember the ache you had. She would run you baths, make your favourite dinners and always make sure you and the baby were getting your vitamins. 

She was simply the best, you saw a whole new side to her, you didn't think it was possible but it made you fall in love with her more everyday.

Anything you wanted to buy for the baby the Spaniard would look into the product, and study the reviews for hours, making sure it was good enough for the baby. If there was even one bad review from 3 years ago she would ask you to look for another one. “Just in case, amor.”

She of course brought every book you could read on pregnancy and child care, reading them at night before bed. Telling you all the tips and tricks it had for expecting mothers. You listened while you stared at your wife, her serious tone was on but you could only watch her beautiful features as she spoke, making you wonder what parts the baby would get from her. 

You hoped they got everything from her.

One afternoon you came back from a shopping outing with Ingrid. You both walked through your hallway, but was stopped in your tracks when you saw a new gate between the rooms, it was a baby gate. You looked at Ingrid who was already smiling, she knew what Alexia was like. 

“Ale, baby? What's this?” You called out.

The blonde skipped down the hall, a proud smile on her face. 

“It's for the baby, so it doesn't get into trouble.” She tapped the gate proudly, looking at the object like it was a brand new Bentley. 

“But the baby won't be walking for a long time. I don’t know if we need this yet.” You chuckled as she eyed the bars.

“No, no. It's better to be ready. We can get used to it before the baby comes.”

“She has a point.” Ingrid chimed in.

“Sí. Ingrid gets it.” The blonde nodded at the raven haired girl. 

“If it makes you happy, then I’m happy. Now, open it up so we can get through.” 

Alexia moved to open the gate, but it wouldn't open for her.

“Wait, I think it's this way.” The blonde frowned as she tried to pull the handle. But still, she couldn't open it. “Cosa estúpida.” 

“Let me try.” You dropped your bags and attempted to open the gates yourself, but you couldn't do it either. 

“Why won't it open?” You sighed in annoyance.

“No, pull it. Pull that bit up. Towards you.” Alexia tried to direct you.

“I am doing that!” 

And just before you were about to have a domestic, Ingrid silently leaned forward and with no fuss opened the gate like it was the most simplest thing to do. You both gapped at the Norwegian, wondering what kind of trick she used to open it.

“Do it again.” Alexia stared at the gate, wondering how on earth Ingrid was able to open it.

Luckily by the 50th try you both had learnt to finally open it. 

Alexia hated leaving you in the morning when she went to training. She would wake up 20 minutes early just to have extra cuddles with you, or talk to your belly. Your heart would melt when she spoke to the ever growing bump. She had felt silly when she first started doing it, talking to a belly with a small human inside felt weird, but she slowly got used to it.

It actually became something she looked forward to, you would read or scroll on your phone as the blonde shared the events of her day with the bump, she even did it when you were fast asleep, having her own private conversation with the little human. And of course she spoke it in her mother tongue, there was no chance that baby wasn’t going to learn Catalan. 

One afternoon when you were five months pregnant she was talking to the bump, her face resting gently against the side of your stomach, stroking your skin. She promised the ‘Berry’ (as she liked to call it), that she was going to take them to all the Barcelona games and how she was going to train the baby to be a midfielder or striker, and definitely not a defender. 

You chuckled at her words. Earlier that day you had visited Alexia at training. All the girls excitedly greeted you, everyone wanted to feel your stomach, and you gladly let them, you had missed them all so much. 

“Sí, that's a defender in there, I can tell.” Mapi said confidently, smiling at you. 

“No, it's going to be a goalie.” Cata insisted.

You laughed as you watched Alexia’s face drop, the group then all started arguing about what position the baby would play, Alexia had sulked on the way home, but you only laughed at her pout. You were suddenly pulled from your memories. 

You both felt it. Alexia jumped away from you in an instant.

“Oh, Déu meu. Did you feel that?” She looked at you with wide eyes.

“Yes! It kicked!” You gasped as you touched the spot.

“Like a footballer! Berry has a strong kick!” She touched your belly in awe, staring at the bump. Then came another kick. The blonde gasped as you both felt the little life  wiggling inside you.

“That's definitely a striker in there.” She smiled playfully.

You rolled your eyes at the big child in front of you. 

“I love you, amor.” Her large hands cradled your bump, she looked at you with so much love it almost overwhelmed you. 

“I love you too, baby.” You whispered. 

You watched as she kissed your bump, you stroked her hair out of her face as her smile grew. You felt your own eyes water at the beautiful women in front of you. You couldn't believe that this was your life, you felt so lucky that she was the mother of your child.

By 6 months your cravings changed to everything salty. Peanuts, chips, crisps, pretzels, salty popcorn, you name it you had it. You added salt to nearly every one of your meals. Alexia had to conversacate the condiment out of fear of your obsession. 

Now you are 8 and a half months pregnant. You only had 2 weeks to go before the baby was set to arrive. So, now it was just a waiting game.  A long, uncomfortable waiting game.

“What ones?” Alexia walked into the kitchen. 

You looked through your snack cupboard, trying to find the chocolate you had become obsessed with. Your two cravings of sweet and salty had combined and got you into your new favourite obsession of salted caramel chocolate. 

“The ones we got the other day, I’m sure I bought 3 packets.” 

“You finished them, don't you remember? I even warned you that you didn't have any left after that.” She chuckled as she stroked your neck.

You felt your eyes prickle with heat, your tears making your eyes glassy. Of course you knew this wasn't a normal way to react just because you didn't have the chocolates you craved, but you were hormonal, and tired and everything hurt and your back was killing you and your feet were sore and the TV in the background was too loud.

“Oh.” Your voice cracked.

Alexia's eyes widened in panic. “What's wrong, bebita? Are you okay?”

You sniffed, you tried to hide your face as you felt the tears prick your eyes. God, you felt stupid. Crying over a chocolate bar. You felt Alexia’s hand travel to your back, stroking you with the softest touch. 

“Y-yeah, yeah. Sorry, I just really wanted th-” You couldn't finish your sentence as the hormonal dam broke. 

Alexia really panicked then. “Bebé. Shhh it's okay, don't cry. I can get you more.” She pulled you into her chest. “I’ll go get you a crate of them, please don't cry.”

You sobbed into her chest, you couldn't believe you were crying over this, you knew it was just your hormones, but you couldn't control it.

“I’m sorry Ale, I’m just… it's just everything hurts. I can’t get comfortable in any position. I’m hot then I'm cold. My bodies changed so much. I can’t even see my feet anymore! My boobs are killing me. I hate the smell of my favourite perfume and now I’m crying over fucking chocolate.” 

“Hey, shh it's okay. You don’t have to explain yourself. I’m sorry, bebé. Let me get your chocolate, and whatever else you want, we can get a take out tonight or I can cook your favourite meal. Does that sound good?” The blonde kissed your forehead. 

You nodded in her chest, you felt like a sulky child. At least you knew Alexia would be prepared when your child would have their tantrums, or she would just give in and give them chocolate.

“Good. Come sit down. I’ll run you a bath.” 

The blonde ran you a bath with your favourite bath soaks. The bubbles were nearly flowing out over the sides once she was happy with it. She helped you into the warm tub, stroking your hair back as you settled.

“Okay. I won't be long. Be careful when you get out okay.” 

You rolled your eyes and smiled. “I will Ale, thank you for this.” 

“Got to look after my babies.” She kissed your head and winked at you.

She closed the door and made her way to the shops for your chocolate.

You sunk into the hot bath, breathing in the sweet coconut bath milk that Alexia used. You already felt better, Alexia always knew what to do to make you feel at ease. She was always calm around you even when she wanted to panic. 

You laid for another 20 minutes soaking your muscles. You carefully made your way out of the bath, wrapping your fluffy towel around you. 

You began to get your joggers on when you felt a shooting pain, you grabbed your belly on the sharp twinge. Then another one came, but it was a lot less painful then the first. You took in a deep breath as you put on your t-shirt. 

Your doctor told you that you might potentially get pains closer to the due date. So you tried not to overthink it. You looked at your phone, Alexia should have been home by now. That's when you saw her texts.

Alexia - They don’t have the chocolates in the store, going to another one xx 

Alexia - They don’t have it in that one either, I’ll go to Summers.

Summers was over a half hour's drive, you didn't want Alexia to drive so far for a chocolate bar. You called her phone, she answered by the first ring.

“Hola baby, you okay?”

“Ale, you don't have to drive to Summers, it's too far.”

“I’m 5 minutes away now, it’s fine, amor. I know you want this. I know you would do it for me.”

You smiled. “Yeah, okay, well thank you, you’re the best.”

“I know.” You could hear the smile in her tone.

You rolled your eyes playfully. “Let's hope the baby gets your humble characteristics.”

The blonde laughed down the phone. “I hope Berry is every piece of you.”

You felt your heart melt at her words. The girl really knew how to make you melt.

“I’ll see you in a bit.” 

“Sí, i'll see you soon.” 

You hung up the phone and made your way to the sofa, trying to find something you could watch without ruining anything you and Alexia watched together. But as you clicked through the options you jumped with a flash of pain.

“Fuck!” 

The pain came again, quicker and longer. You panted as you felt the twinge trickle into your back, causing you to drop you to your knees, you gritted your teeth as the throbbing ache swept down to the bottom of your stomach.

“Owwwww! Shit!” You cried out.

You still had 2 weeks till your due date, surely this wasn't labour? It was just the pain the doctor told you about. Braxton hicks, that's what it was. You grabbed your phone, you tried to call Alexia but she didn't answer, because she was out getting your stupid chocolates! 

Then you called Ingrid. Your best friend. Her and Mapi only lived a 2 minute walk from you. Maybe they could drive you to the hospital. The line rang, Ingrid picked up after the third ring.

“Hello, sweet pea.” She sang down the phone.

“Hey, do you think- fuck!” 

Another sharp pain stabbed through your body.

“Are you okay?” Ingrid asked, panic in her voice. 

“Yeah, well, no. I’m in pain, I don’t really know what to do. Alexias half way across town and-”

“I’m coming over.” 

“Thank you, Ingrid. Sorry I don’t want to be a nuisance- oh my g-” You groaned as another sharp pain hit you.

“Mapi, get your shoes on. Stay on the phone, we’re coming now.”

“Okay.” You breathed out.

You put the phone on speaker as you cradled your belly. You could hear Mapi’s confused voice in the background. You pushed the whispers of hair out of your face as you felt your body start to heat up from the pain. Why did this have to happen now? 

The girls must have sprinted to yours as they were at your door just over a minute later. Ingrid let herself in with her spare key. You heard their feet as they rushed through your hallway.

“I’m in here gu- uys! Owww!” You groaned.

You felt Ingrid kneel beside you. Her hand instantly rubbing your back.

“How long have you had the pain?”

“Maybe 10 minutes.” You sighed.

“Do you think you're in labour?”

“No, the doctor said this would happen. I’m not due for another-”

Your sentence was cut short as you felt a stream of water coming from between your legs. You waters broke.

“No, no, no, no, please! Fuck. Not now!” 

“Ay dios mío!” Map shouted from the door. “We need to get her to a hospital!”

“Mapi, calm down.” Ingrid's tone was low.

The raven haired girl turned back to you, her face was calm but firm.

“Can you walk?” 

“Y-yeah, I think so.” 

“Okay, I’ll help you. Come.” 

Your best friend slid her arm under your own, helping you to your feet. 

“Okay good. Breath. Mapi, call Alexia.” 

Mapi stared at you with wide eyes, she looked more scared than you, to be honest she probably was. She hadn't even heard Ingrid’s instructions, her whole body stood still, frozen with fear. 

“Maria! Come on. Call Alexia.” Ingrid repeated.

Her brown eyes finally snapped to Ingrid. “Sorry, yeah. Call Alexia, I can do that.” 

The girl mumbled, panic setting over her shaky voice. You watched as she aimlessly patted her body, looking everywhere as if she had no clue what she was looking for. She finally found the device in her back pocket, she took a deep breath, looking for her best friend's name in her phone..

Ingrid looked at you. “Okay let's go.” 

You nodded your head, but as you took a step to walk the worst of the pain finally came crashing down. Your knees gave in once more as your muscles spasmed from the ache. 

“Fuck, Ingrid I can’t!” You groaned as you knelt to the floor.

Alexia smiled to herself as she slotted the big box of caramelised chocolates in the boot of the car. She was able to sweet talk the shop owner into selling her the large supply with a photo and signature. She felt so proud of herself, she couldn't wait to show you her little accomplishment. She got in the car ready to drive back home to you, that's when she looked at her phone to see Mapi calling. 

She pressed the green button as she lifted it to her ear.

“Hola-” The blonde flinched as the sound of your screams penetrated down the phone.

“Mapi? Wh-whats going on?”

“Ale, y/n’s in labour, you need to get back.”

“What? She’s not due yet.” Alexia felt herself panicking hearing your painful moans in the background.

“Her waters broke. She’s ready. We’re going to take her to the hospi-”

A deafening scream came from the depths of your stomach. There was no way you were about to move, not with the pain you were in. This baby was ready to come out. 

Mapi looked shell shocked as she held the phone to her face, her mouth gaping at you. “I don’t know if we’re going to make it to the hospital.” The defender whispered. 

Ingrid held your head, helping you move to whatever position you needed, she grabbed the big pillows of the sofa and tucked them behind your back, her calming presence was everything you needed right now but the one you wanted most wasn't here.

“Where is she? I nee-  ahhh! Oh my god it hurts so bad! MAPI! Tell Alexia to get home now!” You started to sob.

Alexia started her engine and her phone speaker on loud. “Mapi, tell her I'm on my way, I’m coming, I promise.”

Poor Mapi didn't know what to do, she looked at her girlfriend for help. Ingrid stroked your hair, your sweaty forehead making your hair stick to your skin.

“She's coming, sweet pea, isn't she Mapi?” Ingrid looked at her girlfriend urging her to say the right thing. 

“Y-yeah, Alexias on her way. She's already half way.” The defender stuttered. 

You threw your head back as another contraction rippled through your body. 

“Breath, try to breathe.” Your best friend stroked your back. 

“Mapi, let me talk to her.” Alexia said as she pressed her foot on the gas. 

“Sí, sí.” Mapi put the phone on speaker, allowing you to hear Alexia. 

“Bebé?” Alexia's voice rang over the speaker.

“Ale! Please, I need you. Come home, please!” You begged, hearing your lover's voice.

“It's okay, amor. I’m on my way. I’ll be there as soon as I can, I promise.”

“Okay.” Your lips quivered. 

“Mapi, keep me on the phone.” Alexia called out as she overtook some vehicles in front of her.

“Sí, I will. You're next to her now.” Mapi gingerly placed the phone on the table next to you. 

“I’m here okay, cariño?” 

“Yeah.” You whispered.

Ingrid stood up. “Mapi, comfort her, I’m going to call for an ambulance.”

“W-what? Me? B-but you’re so good at it.” 

Ingrid stroked her girlfriend's face. “You'll be fine baby, you can do it.”

Ingrid gave no room for argument as she started to call the ambulance service, walking out of the room.

Mapi slowly turned around, she had never been so scared before. Walking out to a stadium of 30,000 people was less scary than this. She took a deep breath before walking over to you. She slowly crouched next to your side, trying not to make any sudden movements as if she was in a cage with a wild animal. But in all honesty, you kind of sounded like one.

You felt her hand gently rub your back. “Can I get you anything? Water?” 

“Your hand.” You whimpered. 

Mapi smiled as she gave you her hand, but the smile quickly disappeared as you squeezed it with a force not known to man. 

“Dios mio! What have you been eating!” The girl cried out in pain.

Alexia couldn't help but laugh as she heard Mapi cry out. 

“I can hear you, puta!” Mapi groaned.

“Sorry Mapi, I just need you.” You sobbed as you looked at the defender.

That made Mapi smile even if she was wincing through the pain. But it made Alexia feel so guilty for not being there, even if it was out of her control.

“It's okay, breathe with me.” Mapi breathed out.

You breathed with her, but it didn't subside the pain.

Ingrid walked back in. “They’re on their way, but it won't be for another 30 to 40 minutes.

“What?!” You and Mapi shouted in unison. 

“I can't wait that long!” You cried out.

Alexia was driving as fast as she could without being too dangerous, she definitely went through a few red lights, only because the roads were clear enough, but she was more than willing to get a speeding ticket if it meant she could be with you.

“The operator said to remove your bottoms and get towels ready incase you have the baby.”

“I’m so scared, the baby’s not due for another 2 weeks.” Your voice was shaky.

“I know, sweet pea. Everything’s going to be okay, I promise.” The raven haired girl mustard up a brave smile but you could see through it, you could tell she was worried too.

Then you felt it. An agonising pain pushed right at your core. It was happening, the baby was coming. 

“AHHHHHH! It's coming!” You screamed. 

Alexia felt dread take over her body as she heard your pain.

Ingrid jumped into action, kneeling at your feet. “I'm going to pull your trousers and knickers off okay?”

You nodded. 

Ingrid quickly removed the clothing off of you. “Mapi, go get some towels.” 

Mapi went to move but you had a python grip on her hand. The defender eyed her girlfriend for help, too scared to ask you to let go herself. the Norwegian smiled sympathetically at her. 

“You may have to let Mapi go, honey.” 

You didn't even realise you were still holding on to her, you hesitantly let her hand go. You didn't miss the way Mapi winced as she stroked her own hand from the pain. 

“Okay keep breathing, nice deep breaths.” Ingrid said.

You followed her instructions, you tried to take deep breaths, but was cut short when another crippling contraction swept over your body. The pain was nothing you had ever felt before. 

“Erghh! Oh my god! It burns. It's coming, Ingrid!” 

Ingrid was between your legs, her green eyes popped open as she saw the start of your labour.

“Okay, I’m going to call again. I might need help.” She pulled her phone.

Mapi walked in just in time to see what Ingrid was talking about, you would have laughed if you weren't in so much pain. Her eyes bulged out of her head, like a cartoon character, her face turned to a shade of grey as she also saw the start of the birth. 

“Ay dios mío.” She whispered. 

Alexia heard Ingrid, she was only 10 minutes away, she was determined to get home to you. 

You screamed as you felt a deep pressure at the bottom of your back, it made you feel sick. 

“Where’s Alexia, I need her!” You cried out.

“I’m here, cariño. I’ll be there I swear!” Alexia said over the speaker.

Mapi then came back rushing over to you, the pain in your voice made her want to comfort you.

“Hey, need my hand?” The brunette smiled as she grabbed your hand.

You nodded at your friend, tears rolling down your cheeks. “Thank you.”

You took her hand as you felt Ingrid stroke your leg.

“Hello? My friends in labour. I can see the start of the baby.” Ingrid was on the phone to the operator. “Okay, thank you.”

Another jolt of pain hit you, making you squeeze Mapi’s already crushed hand. You watched her wince in pain, easing off her as much as you could.

“I’m sorry, Mapi.” You sniffled.

“No, no it's okay. I’m okay.” The Spaniard gritted her teeth as she tried to hold back her own tears.

The Norwegian put the operator on speaker. 

“Hello, I’m Julia. I’m going to talk you through the steps, okay? You’re doing great. Keep taking big deep breaths for me. How much of the baby's head can you see?” 

“I can see the baby's hair.” 

“Okay great. Can you tell me roughly a measurement?”

“Like 5cm?” Ingrid squinted.

“Okay. She’s going to be ready to push any minute now.”

Alexia was nearly home, 5 more minutes and she'd be there. Until she saw the police lights in her rear view mirror.

“Fuck!” She mumbled.

Alexia reluctantly pulled her car over to the side of the road. She quickly muted herself on her end of the call, not wanting you to hear the commotion. She tapped her finger anxiously against the steering wheel as she watched the police officer slowly approach her car. She rolled her window down ready to apologise and hopefully be on her way.

“You know you’re going over the speed limit- oh my god, Alexia Putellas! I watched your game just the other day, you played so well. How's y/n getting on? She must be close to having the baby now?” 

Before Alexia could answer you let out a high pitched scream over the speaker phone. The police officer looked at Alexia with a confused look.

“Yeah, that's actually her. That's why I’m rushing, she's in labour.” Alexia hoped that would be enough for the police to let her go.

“Oh! Oh right, why aren't you with her?”

Alexia stared at the police officer, was he really asking this?

“Erm, it's a long story, but it's why I was rushing.”

“Ah, I remember when my own were just born. There’s nothing like it.” The police man stared off into the distance, clearly reminiscing. 

Alexia smiled politely. She really didn't need this interruption.

“Ahhh! Fuck! It hurts!”  You shrieked over the phone speaker.

Alexia looked at the phone, your cries made her so anxious, she just wanted to be with you.

“Oh sorry, I’m holding you up. You get on your way. Try not to rush too quickly. Good luck with being a mama!” The police officer nodded as he went on his way, leaving Alexia to finally get home to you.

You couldn't believe this was happening. 

You were so scared that Alexia was going to miss the birth of your baby. Alexia had been with you every step of the way with the pregnancy. Every appointment, every scan, all the birthing class, she was there, holding your hand throughout it all. Now the mother of your child was out driving around town, trying to make you happy, all because you wanted a stupid fucking chocolate bar.

“Okay, give me a push.” Ingrid said.

You took a deep breath as you tried to push as hard as you could.

“Amazing, you're doing really well.” Ingrid smiled at you. 

“Well done.” Mapi gritted her teeth next to you, trying her absolute best not to sound in pain.

“Mapi, what’s going on?” Alexia shouted over the phone speaker.

Mapi jumped at the voice. She grabbed your phone with her free hand, her other hand was sweating in your own. 

“T-The babies coming.” Mapi stuttered from the pain.

“Merda.” Alexia muttered under her breath, pushing her foot on the pedal. 

“Okay, you’re doing it. I can see the top of the head! There's so much hair!” Ingrid smiled brightly. 

“There is hair Ale! The baby has hair!” Mapi repeated Ingrid’s excitement. 

Two more minutes and Alexia would be home. Just two more minutes. 

“Okay, another big push.” The nurse called out over the phone.

“Ready?” Ingrid stroked your knee, her eyes were on you, giving you a reassuring smile. 

You nodded, taking another deep breath. Your body was tired, everything hurt, and your bottom half was burning. It felt like something was ripping you apart. Like that scene from Alien. You just wanted Alexia to be here to tell you everything was going to be okay.

“Eerghhhh!” You pushed again. The pain was unreal. “No, no, no! I can't do it!”

“You can! You're doing so well! The heads out, I can see a face!” Ingrid shouted enthusiastically.

Alexia wheels screeched as she messily parked up outside, nearly forgetting to pull the handbrake up in her rush. She ran as quickly as she could to your front door, keys in hand. 

“Okay, if you can see a face you've done the hardest part. You're done really well. Another big push.” Julia’s happy voice chimed in.

Alexia rushed down the hallway, she easily jumped over the baby gates she had installed, cursing them as she leaped. She turned the corner just in time.

You looked up to see your wife standing at the door. Her face was similar to Mapi’s reaction.

“Ale.” You whispered, not having enough energy.

The blonde rushed over to you, she knelt by your side, pushing your hair off your sweaty cheeks.

“I’m here, baby. I’m right here. You’re doing so well.” She kissed your sweaty head. 

You nearly started to cry, your emotions bubbled to the surface, finally having your wife with you in the scariest and happiest moment of your life. 

She brought your hand up to her lips, kissing you as she looked into your eyes, you could see she was scared but you couldn’t miss the love she had for you.

“You ready? Another push.” Ingrid asked from your bottom half. 

Alexia squeezed your hand, reassuring you. “You've got this, baby. You can do it!”

You took another deep breath, readying your body to do what seemed impossible.

“That's it! Push, push, push, push! It's coming!” Ingrid spurred you on.

Your whole body shook as the little life entered the world.

And she was loud.

“Oh my, god. You did it!” Ingrid laughed in disbelief.

You looked down to see a tiny little baby, crying in Ingrid’s hands. 

You felt Alexia grip your hand, you looked up at the blonde, she was gazing at the baby and you swore you saw her fall in love. She was smiling from ear to ear, her hazel eyes starting to tear up.

“I can hear crying, that's amazing. Wrap the baby up, cover the head, and place the baby on mum's chest.” Julia instructed. 

Ingrid did just that, she gently and neatly wrapped your daughter up placing her on your chest. 

“A little girl.” You whispered, tears rolling down your cheeks. 

You looked up at your wife, she had tears rolling down her cheeks, as she looked at the baby on your chest. 

“She’s so beautiful.” She whispered as she kissed the top of your head. “You did so well. Are you feeling okay?” 

“I’m fine, just tired and sore.” 

She brought her lips to yours, kissing you gently. “I love you, amor. I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”

“Don’t be sorry, it wasn’t your fault. Besides, I had two very good midwives. You smiled as you looked at the couple who were now sitting next to each, smiling at your little family. 

Alexia chuckled. “Thank you so much chicas. How’s your hand Mapi?” 

“It’s seen better days, but I’m glad I could help.” The defender smiled as she pulled Ingrid closer to her.

“Do you have a name?” Ingrid asked. 

You and Alexia looked down at the already settled baby, then back at each other.

‘Rudy.” You both said in sync. 

“Rudy Maria Putellas. I like it.” Mapi smiled before Ingrid started rolling her eyes.

“No, just Rudy Putellas.” Alexia smiled, not taking her eyes off the baby.

“But, we do want to ask you guys something.” You looked at the couple in front of you. Ingrid was already smiling and Mapi looked scared all over again.

“Would you like to be Rudy's Godparents?” Alexia asked.

“100 percent, yes.” Ingrid smiled so hard her cheeks resembled a chipmunk.

You looked over at Mapi, her eyes had glazed over, she looked like she was about to cry.

“Mapi, are you okay? Are you crying?” Alexia asked in a teasing tone, smiling at her friend.

“Huh? What? Allergies. Do you have a cat? I’m allergic.”

“Mapi, we have a cat.” Ingrid smiled sympathetically at her girlfriend, knowing the girl was clearly just emotional to be asked to be a godparent.

“Hello? The door was open. Did someone call an ambulance for a mother and baby?” The ambulance crew arrived. 

“And a broken hand!” Mapi called out, rushing to the front door.

Ingrid rolled her eyes. “She’s a big softy, she would love to be a godparent to Rudy.”

You and Alexia chuckled, but your attention quickly went back to the baby on your chest as she started to squirm.

The paramedics checked you and baby Rudy over, everything was looking great, but they still took you in to get checked by the doctors and a couple hours later you were allowed to leave. 

You and Alexia gave Rudy her first bath together, laughing as she sneezed in the baby tub. Alexia dried her off and took her to her room, she got her nappy on her and creamed her little body.

“Okay, baby grow.” You mumbled as you looked through her draws.

“I actually have one mind.” Alexia looked guilty suddenly, smiling at you playfully.

She reached into another draw and pulled out a Barcelona home kit baby onesie. She turned it around to show your number on the back. Her dopey smile looked at the kit then back at you. You felt yourself go completely giddy. You looked at the woman in front of you, her proud smile made your heart melt. In that moment you felt so complete, you had your little family in front of you, with the woman that you loved with all your heart. 

“Do you like it?” She asked as she moved back to Rudy.

“I love it. I love you, Ale.” You kissed her cheek as she began to dress Rudy.

“I love you. I love both my girls.” She bopped Rudy's nose.

Finally, you got the baby down in her cot, thankfully she was already fast asleep. You smiled as you looked at her face, you could already see Alexia’s features in her. You both stood over the cot, staring at the little bundle in front of you.

Then you remembered something.

“Ale?” 

“Hmm?” 

“Did you ever get the chocolates?” 

[runningfrom2am]

cold nights // part two

summary: all the stars aligned, and it was you.

pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader

wc: 2.1k

masterlists / nav / requests

tags/warnings: tribute!reader and mentor!coriolanus, r is very sweet (too kind for this world. literally.), sunshine x grumpy trope kinda, he falls first, violence typical for the source material, r is very smart (as she should), district twelve!reader.

a/n: ahhh welcome sejanus i love him dearly

series masterlist // playlist

It was only a few hours of making small talk with Capitol strangers before you caught a glimpse of the red uniform your new friend was wearing just this morning. For a moment, you did think it was him, that he was back, but the dark curly hair and eyes of another boy was what greeted you instead. He must be another mentor.

You watch as he walks up to the edge of the cage with a few bags, placing them down and opening one as he scans the group of you trapped in the cage. "Marcus!" He calls out, and your gaze falls on the District Two tribute. "I brought you something to eat, it's me, Sejanus. Do you remember?"

You furrow your brow at his desperate attempts to speak to Marcus. How could they have known each other? As far as you know, they had never met. You approach the boy slowly. He seems to have a good heart, to bring food for someone who you know he is meant to believe is less than.

"I can bring it to him, if you'd like." You offer quietly, holding out a hand from a little ways away. "We're all very tired. I'm sure he's still just recovering from the ride."

"That would be great." The boy, Sejanus, agrees, handing you the sandwich. "Thank you, Y/N."

"My pleasure." You smile, taking it and heading over to where Marcus is sitting on a rock, facing the opposite direction.

"Marcus?" You hum, crouching down in front of him.

"I'm not taking anything from him." He grumbles, hardly meeting your eye.

"Oh." You look back at Sejanus, who's watching you hopefully. "Do you know each other?"

"Not anymore."

"I see." You nod, thinking over how you could get him to eat. "Well, take it from me, then. I'll just take his kind gesture for myself, but I'll share it with you. Now," You rip the already cut sandwich in half. "It's from me. And I know you're hungry, so please. Have some of mine."

He looks down at the sandwich in your hand and sighs, taking it begrudgingly. "Thanks, Y/N."

"Anytime." You smile, gently patting him on the knee as you stand back up, giving Sejanus a grin and a small thumbs up.

He gestures for you to come back over to him, so you do, half the sandwich still in hand. "Thank you for doing that." He says once you're close enough to hear at a normal volume.

"Yes, of course. I'll give him the rest in a bit, I feel like he won't take it while you're still here." You smile sadly at him.

"No, I insist. You have it. I brought plenty of food for all of you."

"Oh, really?" You smile, looking down at the bags at his feet now. "That's so kind of you."

"I couldn't let you starve in here." He replies. "It's barbaric, and sick, and I am so, so sorry."

His emotional response catches you off guard. "Oh... Well, thank you. But know it was not your doing."

"I know it's not... but I wish there was more I could do."

"You're doing all you can, more than anyone expected of you." You reassure him. "Don't feel guilty."

Sejanus just nods, reaching for a bag and holding it open between the bars. "Would you mind..? I don't think they will trust me." He asks and you nod, turning to see who you could call to come eat. If one person comes, more will follow.

"Jessup." You smile hopefully at the boy from your District, waving him over. "Sejanus here has brought food to share, come eat."

"I'm not hungry." He mumbles as he gets closer to you, looking down into the bag anyway as you reach your hand in to grab him a sandwich.

"Please eat." You sigh. "If we eat the others will too. I don't want anyone hungry."

"We'll all be hungry." Jessup replies, taking the sandwich from your hand anyway. "It won't matter next week."

"Okay, well, for now, we're just living in the moment and enjoying this lovely food our new friend brought for us."

"My Ma made it all." He explains, and you tilt your head at him. There was something so distinctly District about how he referred to his mother, but was he not Capitol? After all, he was a mentor. He was wearing a matching red uniform.

"Will you tell her thank you for us?" You ask, taking the first bite out of the sandwich in your hand. "This is really good. We haven't eaten in days."

"She'll be happy to hear that. Yes, of course, I'll pass that on."

By the time any other tributes who wanted to eat had been fed, you were sitting down across the bars from Sejanus, chewing on your second helping shamelessly leaning over criss-crossed legs. "Do you know Coriolanus Snow?" You asked, covering your mouth as you spoke.

"Coryo?" Sejanus smiles. " I do. He's my best friend."

"Is he?" You smile, leaning forward. "He's my mentor. He seems kind."

Sejanus shrugs. "I would say he is, most of the time."

"And you call him Coryo?" You ask, head tilted at him. "Is that what his friends call him?"

"I guess so. Not everyone... Just his friends, yeah." Sejanus explains, neglecting to mention that by this definition, he and Coriolanus's cousin Tigris are his only real friends.

"I see. That's nice." You hum, looking down at the food in your hands. "How long have you been friends?"

"Since I moved here from Two." Oh, that makes sense. He and Marcus did know each other. "He was the only one who was nice to me, still is, honestly, but yeah, about ten years now."

"I have a similar story about him." You joke. "Of course, I've only known him for a few hours. And I guess now I have two friends here, if I can count you."

"Sure." Sejanus smiles, trying to hide the sadness behind it.

"I mean, don't feel like you have to agree. I know your loyalties lie elsewhere." You catch on to his hesitation, following his gaze over to Marcus. "Besides, I don't hold grudges. Even if I did, I won't be holding it for long now, would I?"

"It's not that." Sejanus quickly shakes his head. "I just... I am one of you. District, I mean. That will never change." He sighs, and you watch as he twists his fingers together nervously. "I'm so sorry that this is happening to you. I can't imagine how scared you must be and-"

"That it will never come again. That is what makes life so sweet." You cite, giving him a small smile. "There is nothing that you or I can change now, or then. I am just blessed it was me and not yet my brother. Change will come at the right time. If it's after me, it's after me; I will live forever."

Sejanus opens his mouth to speak, looking slightly dumbfounded before closing his jaw again tightly, giving you a curt nod.

"Don't pity him." You whisper, tucking your knees up to your chest on the cold ground and watching as his eyes fall back onto Marcus. "It will make it only worse."

You rest your chin on the skin of your knees. "I don't- it's not my fault and I know that." He replies.

"I know, Sejanus." You say, smiling in the face of his defensiveness. "Just... Don't let him think that. Which is easier said than done, I know."

"We're supposed to be mentoring you." He says after a moment, back to his normal self, from what you could tell. "Not the other way around."

"You're right. My apologies." You giggle. "Tell me then, how do I win?" You don't truly expect an answer; you don't expect you have any chance of winning. Not without the need enough to kill. It wouldn't be worth it, despite.

"My honest, best advice?" He asks rhetorically, looking around as he leans in to whisper to you. "Figure out a way to escape."

"Sejanus." You don't have the time to process the shock of his suggestion before your conversation is being interrupted by Coriolanus standing behind him, casting a shadow over the two of you. "What are you doing with my tribute?"

"Oh, uh..." Immediately Sejanus becomes shifty at Coriolanus's question. "I brought some food for everyone, and Y/N helped me distribute it. We were just talking."

"Welcome back, Coriolanus. You missed the sandwiches Sejanus brought." You grin, standing up and brushing off the bare backs of your legs.

"That's a shame. Would you come with me?" He asks, motioning for you to follow him along the bars and you nod.

"Thank you, Sejanus." You take a moment to honestly thank him, and he just nods before you follow Coriolanus who has already walked away.

"How was your day? I assume you went to school?" You ask, stopping just in front of him.

"It was... fine, thank you." He clears his throat. "Hard to focus."

"Oh?" You tilt your head as he digs through his bag. "What's bothering you?"

"Well, uh," He pauses, looking up from his bag to meet your eyes. "This mentorship thing is new, and very important, so there's just a lot on my mind."

"There's a prize." You state at the realization, smile fading slightly. You had been so excited that he was so kind to you that you failed to consider the likelihood of an incentive.

"There is." He confirms. "But, whether or not you win doesn't matter. I am here to help you do the best you can, and I do want you to win."

"Oh, I see." You reply hesitantly. Sejanus told you he is kind, so he must be. You have to force yourself to believe he's not just using you. But even if he is, what does it matter? If he's kind to you in your final days, out of honesty or personal gain, will the intentions even matter? You suppose not. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me." He quickly shakes his head. You had thanked the peacekeepers who had walked you to the stage, you had thanked the village of people who stood there while you said your final goodbyes and did nothing but listen in silence. No one responded. Coriolanus wouldn't be added to a list of people you thank for nothing.

"Sorry." You mumble, looking around behind you now.

"No, I-" He sighs, taking a breath as he rubs his forehead, pushing away his curls and making it easier for you to see his eyes. "I didn't mean that. I just mean... I haven't done anything for you. I want to help, but don't thank me until I have."

"You have." You answer honestly. "I didn't expect to meet anyone so kind... It helps a lot to just know I have one person who's not rooting against me."

"I would never." Coriolanus insists quickly, shaking his head. "I talked to the head gamemaker, she likes my ideas. That's why Sejanus and the others are here. People want to get to know you. It will help."

You're unsure of how that could help you in the arena, you had never seen it before; you tried to avoid watching or viewing anything to do with the games. It scared you. Petrified you, even, you weren't sure what you expected; but it wasn't that you would be able to get any help. You smile anyway, giving him a slight nod as you wrap your arms tightly around yourself. It's not too cold, but you feel exposed. Even the warm July air, when brushing over your uncovered skin could give you chills in these circumstances.

"You just have to talk to people who come to see you, be nice, like you're trying to make friends. We want to humanize you. I may be able to get people to send you gifts in the arena, food and water to keep you going if they like you."

"Okay." You answer quietly. "I've been talking to folks who come, not much else to do in here." You shrug, smiling at him hopefully. You don't want to sound like you're complaining, you're sure complaining about circumstances you can't change will get you nowhere. "The people seem lovely."

"Lovely." He scoffs, shaking his head with a grin of disbelief. "You don't have to lie to me, you know."

"I'm not!" You insist with a slight laugh, looking around. "They just... seem a little scared, for some reason. It seems like they came to stare, not to talk."

"Well, people here don't like people who are different. To them, you're all different."

"And to you?" You ask, tilting your head at him.

The look you give him could make his heart melt. Wide-eyed and kind down to your bones. If he had the power to call off the games, right now as he looked down into your soul, he would do it in a heartbeat. I'm not here to be friends with her. I'm here to win, Coriolanus has to remind himself. "You're different." He replies. "But I think that's a very good thing."

taglist: @soulessjourney, @keziahcore, @that-veela-girl, @motorsport, @dreamyysouls, @rockstarbfs, @Lanadelrey3, @rawrmameh, @3zae-zae3, @babyspice6, @pastel0rchid, @maysileeewrites, @articxari, @Urfavpouge, @Multivitaminfy, @baybieruth, @kitscutie, @annaelise, @serrendiipty, @fratboyharrysgf0201, @totallynotkaibiased, @stelleduarte, @klplynn, @secretsicanthideanymore, @bejeweledreverie, @fals3-g0d, @drewsandsebastianswife, @niicole-87, @queenofshinigamis, @innercreationflower, @nallasstuff, @spring-goddess1, @baybieruth, @lovelyxtom, @throughgoeshxmilton, @enwonie, @scorpiolystoned

if your user has a strikethrough i wasn't able to tag you! i'm so sorry!

[stormz369]

☕💖 Can I Get Your Number? ☕💖 Ch 14

Jason Todd x (f)Chubby!Reader

written with a female reader in mind, first person pov, no use of Y/N, will probably get NSFW later, let me know if there's anything else I should tag this with!

warnings/labels: Penguin attack; implication of violence, possibility of SA mentioned briefly

wc: 1.9k

Chapter Selection

In an instant, Jason was between me and the men running in from the broken windows. Chaos erupted; people were running and screaming all around us. I clung to the back of Jay’s suit jacket, shaking. Everything was numb as he guided me toward the door, always staying between me and the danger.

“Everyone against the wall! Money and jewelry in the bags!” A sharp voice cackled.

Fuck! The necklace! The thought struck me like a bolt of lightning, and I scrambled to remove it; sliding it into my bra. I took a moment to beg the universe; let these goons be non-groping goons. Jay pulled me along toward the doors, we were almost out! Just a few more feet…

“That means you, Red!” One of the goons shouted, stepping between us and the doors, his gun pointed straight at us. I froze, gripping Jason's hand tightly. He growled, a primal sound in the back of his throat, staring the man down. The goon shifted on his feet, shouting; “I … I mean it; against the wall!”

I gently tugged Jay’s hand, pulling him toward the nearest wall with me. He continued to watch the goon in front of us, pulling me against his chest. I caught the briefest glimpse of Jason’s eyes; the green flecks seemed more prominent than usual in this light. He kissed my forehead and whispered; “I won't let them hurt you…”

I smiled softly, leaning in; “I know. … Just gotta wait for a few Bats to swoop in, right?”

He sighed and nodded, glaring at the goon that approached us with a big canvas bag. The kid couldn't have been more than 18. He faltered a bit under Jason's intense gaze, mumbling; “... J- jewelry in the bag … Miss.”

I nodded, moving slowly to remove my earrings and hair pins, letting them slip between my fingers and into the bag.

“... What's in the purse?” He nodded to Stella's clutch tucked under my arm.

“Just my phone and makeup. … Do you want it? I don't think any of it is worth much, but …” I held the bag out, opening it so he could see the phone, lipstick, and compact inside. The kid gave me a confused look before shaking his head, moving on.

Jay pulled me close again, sheltering me against the wall while the goons went down the lines. A short man in a suit was cackling in the center of the room, shouting directions to the goons; when I caught a brief glance of him I realized it was the Penguin. At least it wasn't one of the truly deranged ones…

I scanned the room, looking for Babs and Steph, but couldn't find either. Bruce was against a wall, clearly trying to talk the Penguin down. Tim was standing in front of Bernard, glowering at the goons in front of them. I snorted softly, gesturing to them. “Gee, I wonder where he picked up that expression.”

Jason looked over and frowned down at me; “how are you so calm?”

“Oh, I'm sure panic will set in sooner or later.” I chuckled weakly; “hopefully after the Bats get here. … Who do you think it'll be anyway?”

Jason frowned more, stroking my back. “Be?”

“I'm thinking … a Batman/Nightwing team up tonight.” I nodded decisively. 

He chuckled softly, “... Ah. Maybe…”

The goons got through most of the guests before the lights flickered and shut off. The guests shrieked, and I could hear people running for the doors again. It was so dark, I couldn't really see anything. Jason’s large hand grabbed mine, guiding me away from the wall.

He held my hand tightly, but in the darkness and chaos I got shoved out of someone's way and out of Jason's grip. I fell to the floor, and by the time I stumbled to my feet again I wasn't sure where Jason was. I wasn't even entirely sure where I was anymore; with so many people running all around, and no moon to offer any light, I could barely tell which way anything was.

“Jason?!” I called out, frowning. I heard something rustling next to me and reached toward it, hoping he had found me. Instead, a small hand grabbed mine and yanked me along. I was pulled down behind the bar and pushed toward an open floor panel.

On instinct I looked back at the person who'd grabbed me. I wasn't expecting to see a child's silhouette. There had been no children at the gala, Damian had blessedly planned to spend the night at the Kent's. So who …

“Get in already!” It was the fake deep voice of a baby bat doing their Batman impression. It wasn't deep enough to stop my brain from short-circuiting. I knew Robin was young, but knowing something and being confronted with it during a villain attack were very different.

The boy pushed me toward the opening again and I grabbed his hand, trying to pull him along with me. He pulled back, growling; “let go!”

“No, get down here!” I hissed, tugging more. He was so little, he did not need to be doing this. Where were his parents? Did they know he was out here? I growled softly, pulling harder on his hand.

“I have a job to do!”

“You are a child; your only job should be going to school. And if your family isn't going to protect you, I will! Now get down here!”

He tugged back firmly, growling softly. After a moment, I felt strong arms wrapped around my torso. Jay whispered; “darling, you have to let him go.”

I looked over my shoulder at him, tears filling my eyes; “no! … This shouldn't be his responsibility …”

Jason gently peeled my hand off the boy's. The second he was released Robin was gone, and Jay was pulling me into the cellar, shutting the door behind us.

“Jason!”

He cupped my cheeks, holding me close; “I know, baby. It's not fair. But he's trained for this, and we have to trust him.”

I burst into tears, letting Jason hold me tight to his chest. It wasn't fair… Robin was so little, and he was doing this because the police in our stupid city were too inept to do their jobs themselves. I still didn't know where Steph or Babs had gone, or if they were ok. Last I saw of Bruce he was arguing with Penguin. And the last thing I'd said to Tim was to teasingly threaten him! What if … no. No what if's. My heart couldn't handle that right now.

“... You were half right, by the way.”

“... What?” I sniffled softly.

His thumbs gently swept my tears away as he kissed my forehead. “You guessed that it was a Batman and Nightwing night. I saw Nightwing out there. So Robin's not alone, ok?”

I sighed softly, clinging to Jason's back. That didn't make me feel any better. “... He's still just a kid.”

“... I know. He's been doing this for years though. He knows what he's doing.”

“... If I ever find out who Robin is, I will have some choice words for his parents. …”

He chuckled softly, kissing my forehead. “If anyone can convince them to take better care of their kid, it'll be you.”

We stood in silence for a while. The sounds from above eventually stopped, and the door was opened, bathing us in the warm glow of the lights. Bruce called down; “you two ok?”

Jason gestured for me to head up the stairs; “all good, B!”

Bruce offered me a steadying hand as I returned to the ball room. Several of the Penguin's goons were being taken away in handcuffs, and the few remaining guests were giving their statements to the police. There was no sign of Robin, but Nightwing and Orphan were talking to a police officer on the other side of the room.

“... How did you know we were down there?”

“Before he left, Robin mentioned sending someone into the cellar.” Bruce looked us over, his eyes lingering for a moment on me. I frowned a bit, confused by the sad look on his face.

“... I … I'm glad you're both alright.” He blinked a bit, looking away. I looked down at myself, unsure what was making him so upset.

Jason stroked my back gently; “yeah, we're ok. … Think the cops will get her jewelry back to her soon?”

“Oh! Hang on, don't make that face yet!” I grinned, reaching into my dress. Bruce looked at me, confused, and immediately looked away when he saw where my hand was going.

“Ah … what face?”

“The sad face, like a kicked puppy.” I triumphantly slid Martha Wayne's necklace out of my bra, holding it up; “ta-da!”

Bruce glanced back at me, blinking repeatedly. “... How?”

Jason froze, staring at me; “... Honey?”

“Yeah?”

His voice sounded a bit strangled; “... Tell me you were not going to fight Penguin goons over a necklace?”

I laughed hard at that; “of course not! But if they didn't see me slip it off, they might not realize I had it in the first place, so it was worth trying to hide it.”

Tim ran over, frowning; “what's all the shouting over here?”

I showed him the necklace, grinning; “I gambled on Penguin goons not being the grope-y type, and I was right!”

“... So you let them take your new earrings and pins but not the necklace?”

“Well they had to take something off me, right? They had to think they'd won. Besides, if the earrings or hair pins don't get returned it'll be sad but not too sad. But I am not going to be the reason one of Martha Wayne's necklaces goes missing, and I don't trust the cops in this stupid city to actually return everything.”

Bruce shakily reached out and I placed the necklace in his hand. He practically whispered my name; “... Don't do that again. Your life is worth more than a necklace.”

“O- ok… like I said, I wasn't going to fight them if they found it anyway.”

He nodded once, frowning a bit. Jason held me close against his chest, kissing my cheek. “... Am I the only one impressed here? I didn't even see her take it off! I was so focused on the goons, I didn't realize she didn't put it in that one's bag!”

I chuckled, stroking his hair as I leaned against him. “Thank you, baby~”

Tim sighed; “yeah, it was clever, but … you couldn't save one of the hair pins?”

Jay tilted his head toward Tim, regarding him suspiciously. “... You're awfully focused on those hair pins, Timmy…”

Tim froze, looking at me with an expression that screamed ‘help!’.

“... Don't look at me like that, you did this to yourself!” I giggled.

Jason frowned, pulling me closer as he growled softly; “Why are you so focused on my girl's jewelry, Tim?”

“... It didn't mean anything! I swear!” Tim took off running, and Jay started to go after him until I whined softly, clinging to his arms.

“Baby, no, … please? … I just want to stay right here in your arms, don't let go … besides, he was just trying to do something nice for me, after the background check.” I looked up at him poutily.

He sighed softly, holding me close. “... You're so goddamn lucky, Tim!”

Next ->

Divider by: @saradika-graphics

Taglist (open):

@jawdropforkpop @krys0210 @snowy-violet @superthoughts @wordsfromshona @mystic60 @iwannabealocalcryptid @morstuavitamea-a @frosty--giants @arisa191 @prized-jules @phoenix666stuff @dinonuggysandhuggus @anuttellaa

[leilakisakabiri]

request: Hi can you do where the reader is wearing Gavis hoodie and she accidentally stains it and starts freaking out. Thank uuu and i love ur writing

I Got You (Gavi)

Summary: You need Gavi to come help you after you get yourself into a bad situation.

Warning(s): None

A/N: Thank you so much for the request and for your support! Requests are open. Currently working on The Promises We Keep Pt 2. Also, guys if I haven't done your request yet, don't worry, it probably means it's gonna be a long one.

Word Count: 3.1k+

Masterlist

It was a Saturday night in Barcelona, and you were holed up in your room, feet tucked under you, a knitted blanket over your shoulders as you read over the words in front of you for the hundredth time.

While the city was alight with people getting drinks, dancing, and laughing, you silenced your phone, closed your blinds, and put your headphones on to quiet any outside noises. 

You had decided to stay in this weekend, caught up in writing an essay for your criminal law class that was worth 50% of your grade. Safe to say you did not take it lightly. You had been hunched over your computer for the last nine hours, brain numb and fingers aching as you had tried to come up with a thesis and strong argument for your essay. You had blocked out this weekend to finish the essay, letting everyone know ahead of time not to contact you unless it was an emergency, including Gavi. 

Gavi had been gone for the last couple of days, traveling around Europe for the last leg of La Liga, and he had been adamant about spending as much time with you as he could once he got back - before his summer schedule kicked off. However, that hope was quickly cut short when you informed him you most likely wouldn’t be able to see him at all this weekend due to you being stuck finishing your essay. 

Although he had tried to convince you to change your mind, bribing you with the idea of endless cuddles and then promising to be as silent as possible while you wrote when his first idea didn’t work, you relented, knowing that having him around would be a major distraction, one that you couldn’t afford. 

“I’m sorry Pablo I don’t think I can this weekend. What about Monday?” You asked hopefully. 

He sighed over the phone, his face pulling into a frown, “I can’t. We’re leaving Monday morning for France.”

You bit on your lip, feeling bad, “I’m sorry I just really need to focus this weekend.” 

He nodded, “I get it. It just sucks. I wanted to see you at least once before I’m gone again. But it’s fine – I’ll survive.” He replied dramatically. 

You grinned, “Well I’ll miss you Pablito.” 

“I already miss you.” 

The smile on your face only grew as your heart warmed at his words, “I’ll text you if anything changes. Have a great game, I’ll be watching.” 

He gave you a wink, “Damn gotta show off now that my girls watching.” 

You giggled at him, “Bye Pablo.” 

He mocked your tone playfully, “Bye Y/n.” 

That was last week, and now you were nose deep in your essay, textbooks scattered around you as you looked for possible quotes to strengthen your thesis. You had been so busy scanning the words on the page that you hadn’t noticed your phone buzzing non-stop next to you. 

Once you saw the glow of your phone screen curiosity got the better of you and you flipped it around seeing you had eight missed calls from your best friend. 

Your eyebrows knitted in confusion, it was almost two in the morning, she would for sure be at a club right now, happily dancing the night away with your friends, so why was she consistently calling you? 

The phone buzzed once again and this time you were quick to answer. 

“Hello, Gia, what’s going on?” 

Her voice was slurred on the other end, but you could sense the panic regardless, “Y/n? I don’t know where I am, I was with the others but then I went to the bathroom, and I then couldn’t find anyone anymore. And this guy won’t leave me alone-”

“Gia, where are you? I’ll come get you.” You cut off her rambling, already rushing to put on your shoes, essay long forgotten. 

She hiccupped, “I’m at Macarena. I’m sorry no one else answered.” 

“No, no problem at all. I’m coming right now, Gia. Don’t move. I’m glad you called.” You comforted her. 

The club was only a twenty-minute walk from your house, and seeing as you didn’t have a car or the time to wait for public transport, it was your best option. 

You cursed yourself for not answering sooner as you rushed to get your keys, grabbing a random hoodie on the way out. 

Although summer was beginning to creep into Barcelona, the nights were still chilly with cold winds rushing through the area. 

You sped through the streets, walking with purpose as you finally reached the club. You were severely underdressed for the club wearing a random hoodie and yoga pants. You saw the line for the club was still extremely long, wrapping around the corner and you knew you had no time to waste. 

You took a deep breath, mentally preparing yourself, you were never one to break any rules or ask for any special favors, but now seemed like a good time to start. 

You walked up to the club bouncer, ignoring the nasty look the guy at the front of the queue was sending you, “Excuse me. I need to get in right away, my friend is inside alone, and I need to help her.” 

You heard the guy next to you scoff. 

The bouncer looked at you unimpressed. “Sorry sweetheart. You want to get to her, you have to wait in line.” 

You relented, “Sir please, just look at my outfit,” you said gesturing to yourself, “clearly, I’m not here to party, I just need to get my friend and leave. You can even come with me!” 

He gave you an apprehensive look, taking in your appearance, “I can’t leave my post.” 

You groaned, “Fine, then can someone else escort me? I can literally call her right now. She’s not in the right head space.” 

He squinted his eyes at you, “You look familiar.” 

It finally clicked. This is where you had gone with Gavi and his team, celebrating after they had won a final a few weeks ago. They had treated you like royalty, blocking off a whole section just for you, the club owner even making an appearance to congratulate the team.

You didn’t like to use the fact that you were dating a well-known athlete as a way to get special privileges but if it meant helping your friend then you would do it. 

“Yeah, I was in VIP a few weeks ago. I know the owner, so please let me in.”

“What’s his name?” 

You racked your brain trying to think of that night, “Santiago. It was Santiago!” You replied, finally remembering. 

The bouncer gave you a once over before he finally nodded begrudgingly, “Fine – but be quick.” 

You heard the other people in line begin to argue but you quickly thanked the bouncer, rushing inside, not wanting to wait long enough for him to change his mind. 

God bless Gavi.

The place was packed, bodies pressed together so closely that you had to squeeze in between heavily making out couples and groups of friends to make your way to the middle. The strobe lights were going crazy, changing every few seconds to the beat of the music. There was a DJ booth twenty feet above the crowd playing EDM Spanish music and the crowd was going insane, chanting along. 

You hit your head on your forehead as you realized you forgot to ask her where she was. 

You pulled out your phone, letting out a breath of relief when she answered, “I’m here Gia. Where are you?” 

“I’m at- I said no, stop, I’m at the bar.” She huffed. You felt your anxiety rise, who was she talking to? 

“Ok, I’m coming.” 

You pushed through the throngs of people, finally spotting the bar, seeing her leaning against the counter, hands flying as she argued with someone. 

You walked towards them hearing the tail end of their conversation, a bad feeling in your stomach.

“Gia!” You yelled, coming to stand next to her. 

She gave you a relieved look, falling into you, the effort of standing up being too much. 

You caught her, hugging her back. 

“Oh wow – two for one. I got a buddy that would love you.” 

You steadied Gia looking up to see the guy she was talking with giving you a smirk. 

You held his gaze, annoyed, “No thanks. We’re leaving now.” 

You went to turn but he caught your wrist pulling you back, the drink in his hand sloshing,

“Woah, don’t go yet, the fun’s just getting started. Look my buddies are in VIP we can hook you up.” 

You yanked your hand away, giving him a disgusted look, “First don’t touch me. Second, we’re leaving.” 

“You’re not leaving.” He persisted. 

You raised an eyebrow, “Fucking watch me.” 

He reached for you again, but you were prepared, grabbing his hand, and flinging it off you, as you weaved into the crowd, ignoring his shouts. 

You let out a breath as you stepped outside of the club, grateful for the cold air after sweating through your hoodie in the packed club. 

You adjusted your hold on Gia, holding her waist as you started the trek back to your apartment. 

She stumbled over her steps as you walked, giggling, “Oh my god Y/n your bleeding!” 

You gave her a confused look, dragging her, “What?” 

She giggled again, reaching for your hoodie, “It’s coming from your stomach, look it’s red!” She pointed at your shirt. 

You looked down and you stopped in your tracks, breath hitching as you began to panic, “Oh shit Gia I’m wearing Gavi’s hoodie!” 

She stopped as well, letting go of you as she plopped onto the ground, staring up at you,

“So?” 

“So? He’s going to be so mad at me. That dick spilled his drink on me. This is a white hoodie – who knows if it will come out?” You stressed.

“It’s-" she hiccupped, “fine.” 

You shook your head, “No It’s not it’s his favorite hoodie, I didn’t even realize I was wearing it. Fuck, I have to clean as soon as we get home.” 

You started walking before you realized she wasn’t following you. 

“Gia?” 

You turned around to see her slumped against the sidewalk, eyes closed. 

You rushed to her side, shaking her, “Gia? Gia, are you okay?” 

She hummed, “I don’t feel so good.” 

“Can you walk? We’re almost halfway there.” You asked, helping her sit up so she was leaning against you. 

She groaned, “I’m going to throw up.” 

You looked around anxiously, unsure of what to do. You had left the main strip of clubs and restaurants, and were now on a back road, walking in an area that was dimly lit and that you weren’t too familiar with. 

“I can call an Uber.” 

You reached into your pocket, cursing yourself as you realized you had forgotten your wallet in the rush to get to the club. 

“Shit, I don’t have my wallet. Do you have yours?” 

“Antonio.” She groaned, leaning her head against your shoulder. 

You let out a huff, contemplating what to do. You attempted to get her to stand up once again, desperate to get out of the area, but she couldn’t stand, and you weren’t strong enough to carry her the rest of the way. You chewed on your lip debating a solution, but you didn’t want to do it unless it was the absolute, last, last resort. 

You spent the next five minutes calling all your friends, but no one answered. You groaned, frustrated, knowing you had run out of options. 

You heard your friend beginning to doze off and you shook her, “Gia stay awake.” 

She moaned, “Y/n I really don’t feel good. I don’t know what’s wrong.” 

Your finger hovered over the contact, and you finally pressed it, feeling the guilt build inside. 

It rang seven times before going to voicemail. You called back. 

On the third ring, the line finally connected, 

“Y/n? Why are you calling me so late?” Gavi’s voice was thick with sleep, his words murmured. 

Hearing his voice sent a pang of relief through you, and suddenly you didn’t feel so alone,

“Gavi I’m sorry. I really need your help.” 

He was up in an instant, wide awake, “What’s wrong?” 

“I’m stuck in the middle of the road with Gia. She got drunk and I went to get her but now I’m worried there’s something wrong. She can’t get up and we’re all alone. I don’t have any money. I called our friends, but no one answered, I-I didn’t know what to do.” You rushed out. 

You heard his breath accelerate on the other end of the line, “Ok don’t worry baby I’m coming. Send me your address, everything’s going to be okay. Just stay on the phone with me.” He reassured you. 

You nodded before realizing he couldn’t see you, “Thank you so much Gavi.”

You heard his car door open, “Anytime. If anything happens like this again you call me first, okay?” 

“Okay.” 

You stayed on the phone with him, rubbing Gia’s shoulder to comfort her, readjusting her whenever she began to doze off. 

Finally, you saw a familiar car pull onto the street, and you waved your hands, trying to get him to see you. 

The car made a quick turn and then Gavi was rushing out, a worried look on his face, 

“Oh thank god you’re okay. I was so worried.” 

“I’m so sorry for waking you. Thank you for coming.” 

“Y/n stop apologizing.” He said, helping you carry Gia to the car. 

Upon feeling that she was being lifted, her eyes shot open, “Y/n what’s going on?”

She glanced over to her left seeing Gavi before she turned to look at you, it took two seconds for her eyes to widen and then she was whipping her head back, “Gavi? The hell y-you doing here?” 

You giggled at her abruptness, “I had to call for help.” 

She turned to you, snuggling into your shoulder affectionately, “You’re the best Y/n. She was a rockstar today.” She spoke, as you both pushed her into the car. 

Gavi raised his eyebrow at you as you both got in, “A rockstar eh?” 

You rolled your eyes, “She’s just spewing nonsense.” 

Gia groaned in the back, hands clumsily coming to slap your shoulder, “Ehh don’t lie Y/n. You should have seen the way she talked to those guys – even I was scared.” 

You saw Gavi’s grip on the steering wheel tighten, his posture stiffened as he looked over at you,

“Guys? What guys?” 

You opened your mouth to reply but Gia beat you to it. 

“This one guy, he kept trying to get me to come with him, but then Y/n was like no way we’re leaving, and then he started hitting on her, but then he tried to grab her, and she karate chopped his hand! He was so embarrassed!” 

You felt yourself blushing at her recollection of events, “I did not karate chop his hand!” 

“Yes, you did. It was like in midair when he was talking about his friend that liked you, and then I blinked, and it was gone!”

“Did he try anything?” Gavi’s voice was hard, as he looked at you.

You shook your head, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, “No don’t worry. We were fine.” 

You felt his body relax under your touch, and one of his hands came to grip your own, “You should have called me sooner. I’m sorry you had to deal with that asshole.” 

You felt your heart flutter at his words, “Don’t worry I handled it. But thank you, next time I will.” 

Soon you were pulling up to your apartment and hauling Gia up your steps. 

“I really wish we had an elevator right now.” Gia groaned as she was being half pulled, half carried up the steps. 

You made eye contact with Gavi after hearing her statement, and you had to bite your cheek not to laugh out loud, 

“You and me both G.”

Finally, you reached your apartment, and all let out a sigh of relief as she fell onto your bed, passing out almost immediately. 

You cringed as you saw her head land centimeters away from the sharp edge of one of your textbooks. 

You reached over, clearing the space so she was able to sleep without the risk of a concussion. 

You looked up once the area was cleaned to see Gavi looking at you intently, a weird expression on his face almost like he was stuck in his thoughts. 

“What? Is everything okay?” You asked unsure, looking down at yourself. 

That’s when you realized. 

You were still wearing his hoodie, the one that had a massive red stain on it now thanks to the jackass at the club. 

You had completely forgotten about it. 

You quickly apologized, “Gavi I’m so sorry. Gia called and I was so worried so I grabbed the first thing I could find – and then the guy kept grabbing me and had this drink – anyways,” you let out a huff, “I’m really really sorry, I can buy you a new one.” 

Gavi stared at you in surprise, shocked by your outburst, “Y/n relax. It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry I know how much you love this sweatshirt.” 

Gavi shook his head slightly smiling, you were just so adorable, and he physically couldn’t hold back the words he’d been dying to say any longer, “I love you more though, so it’s fine.” 

“Wha-what?” You stumbled over your words, clearly not expecting such a big revelation.

“I said I love you.” He said it with so much confidence, almost like he was reciting a fact, something that couldn’t be changed, and you melted a little at how sure he sounded. 

You didn’t know what to say, your brain still playing those three words on a loop. He loved you. He had said it first. 

The silence stretched on and now it was his turn to get nervous, “Is that okay?”

Your mouth was still open in shock, but you quickly recovered, 

“Yo-you love me?” Your voice cracked. 

“Well, yeah… why would I not?” He asked, eyes locked on yours.

You shook your head, a smile gracing your features as you took a step closer to him, “I love you too, and I’m sorry-”

He cut you off with a sweet kiss, pulling you closer into him, as he slid his hands under the sweatshirt, fingers gently squeezing the soft flesh of your hips. 

Your lips moved in sync and your hands went to play with his hair, gently tugging. 

You heard him let out a groan and you bit his bottom lip instinctively. 

He pulled away out of breath, a dazed look in his eyes, “Joder, you can ruin all my hoodies if this is how you apologize.” He muttered breathlessly. 

You rolled your eyes, smiling as he brought you back into him for another kiss. 

[amorgansgal]

Not What, Who

Decided to write a little fic based on my post on being an oblivious fuck and how funny it would be for Tav to entirely miss what Halsin was getting at during Moonrise Towers. I've done this with a gender neutral tav and used they/them for pronouns, so hopefully anyone and everyone can enjoy their tav being clueless!

Hope you enjoy!

Halsin x G/N Tav

“Oh!” Tav said, looking utterly delighted and Halsin smiled at them. It felt like they had all risked so much to get to this point, to have Ketheric killed and the shadow curse lifted, he almost daren’t even admit to Tav how much he cared for them, how much he had been won over because they cared for him and everyone else. Halsin had asked a lot of them, he knew that, especially given they had their own worries and concerns. Yet here they were, still talking with everyone who had gathered at Moonrise towers, still making sure everyone was alright, making Jaheira laugh and undoubtedly making half the harpers and flaming fist soldiers want to either marry them or offer Tav a place within their ranks! But it felt like a good time to at least hint to Tav-

“You have a crush!” Tav said, beaming. 

Halsin laughed a little nervously. Perhaps it was just the turn of phrase, he hadn’t expected them to respond like that but then-

“Who is it?” Tav asked enthusiastically. “Go on, tell me! Please! I promise I won’t tell a soul, your secret is safe with me!”

Oh gods, they’d not picked up on the hint at all. Tav thought he liked someone else and before Halsin could even say anything else, Tav was already scanning the room presumably for potential candidates. They leaned their head closer to Halsin. “Is it Gale? I think he’s pretty handsome and he likes magic of course, so you’ve got something in common there. Though I would’ve thought he was a bit too obsessed with books. Not that there’s anything wrong with that or that you don’t like books, but you know, you like being out and about and Gale’s happy with his tower and books everywhere. Hmm, Karlach? I can see you getting on with her and you did say you were good with the larger ladies!”

He couldn’t seem to conjure any words, either to convey to Tav that it had been them he was talking about or to deny it was anyone else. “I… uh…”

But Tav’s attention was suddenly distracted by the return of Dame Aylin and the reuniting of Isobel with Aylin. Tav smiled, “I’m just going to make sure Aylin is alright after that fight, I’ll be back in just a minute.”

As Tav left he caught Astarion’s eye who had apparently been watching and listening in to the entire conversation. The man was outright snickering and strolled over to Halsin. Halsin finally cleared his throat. “I think Tav might not have quite caught what I meant,” Halsin said.

“No, in fact I think it went soaring over their head! You might want to be a little more direct next time!” and with that the vampire spawn went off to talk to Shadowheart, leaving Halsin to gaze at Tav and trying to figure out how he could tell them what exactly he had meant and when it would be best to do so.

[bendydudeinc]

This is my first time asking for something, but could you write about Izuku x Reader trapped in a small space, perhaps like a quirk accident that happened, and Izuku and reader were both trapped in a box or room, it could be anything. Or like after class and have to hide in a cabinet or anything related to that ig. If you want, of course, could I be smut. It's up to you if you want to add kinks, but I really like this idea, and I've had it for a while. I hope ots not weird. Thanks, and good luck! ☆

I gotchu😏 I got a bit ahead of myself with this one, hopefully it isn’t too far off what you wanted!

Boxed in with #1

PAIRING: Izuku x AFAB nonbinary reader

CONTENT: SMUT BARELY ANY PLOT, you and pro hero Izuku get stuck in a quirk accident together

CONTENT WARNINGs: Praise, size kink, slight public play, claiming/cum kink, sex in tight places, slight choking kink, consent is hot as hell, vocal Izuku is a sweetie during sex, reader is called darling, baby

H/n - hero name

=====================

You walked down the streets of Tokyo with your head up confidently, scanning for possible crime or anything abnormal. Fans pointed as their faces lit up, squealing when you turn to wave in their direction. You smiled to yourself, you loved being a hero. It made you feel so happy to see people that looked up to you, that felt moved by your ideologies and heroic efforts. You were so grateful that you made it up the hero chart so quick, but it still felt so surreal to you sometimes. So surreal that you’re really a pro hero. The number ten hero, h/n. It felt even more surreal that you graduated along side and were now working with Japan’s number one hero, Deku. You pressed on the small intercom device used for communication in your ear.

“Everything good over there number one?” The intercom sizzled before you got a response.

“Good here h/n, no new activity to report. You want to grab a bite? It’s about lunch already.”

Your face lights up, “Yeah, I’d like that. Wanna get some Katsudon?”

You giggled when he excitedly agreed, making your way to the restaurant you’d always go to together for his favorite food. You shook your head in attempt dismissal of any romantic thoughts of him. You knew that you two were just friends and worked together, but you couldn’t help the electricity you felt every time you were around him. The urge to melt into your seat whenever he made eye contact. The dorky smile that wouldn’t leave your face no matter how hard you tried as you listened to him fanboy. The warmth you felt in your heart when he showed his concern and care for you. His passionate personality and sincerity drew you like a moth to a flame. You couldn’t even help yourself from staring at his tall, strong, toned figure at times. His muscles were huge, but not obnoxious. His eyes and smile were absolutely gorgeous, you’d stare and giggle like a four year old for hours at them if you could. His jawline could probably cut the tension you had in half too. He looked like a God. You swore he’d caught you a couple times, to which you got flustered like crazy and completely brushed it off. You didn’t know he’d smirk to himself, definitely aware that you check him out. Everything about him just drove you crazy. You may have been a hero team, but the chemistry below the surface was blossoming like bunches of daisies every minute you spent together.

You arrived near the entrance to the restaurant, waving at Deku as he noticed you approaching and smiled. That expression quickly changed to seriousness and worry, and before you could ask, blue electricity formed around him and he was tackling you onto the pavement. You flinched, Deku shielding your fall as much as possible. You groaned and opened your eyes to see…nothing…..pitch black.

“Deku? Is this a villain attack?!” You started to get up to prepare for a fight, but bumped hard into Deku above you who groaned in pain, your hands then feeling around the solid cold walls at your sides that trapped you.

“I think someone’s quirk went out of control! The woman I saw across the street didn’t look like she had malicious intent, but I saw this…cement stuff coming out of both of her hands. She looked panicked.” Deku did his best to stabilize himself above you as you hit your hand against the hard cement on your sides, though to no avail.

“My quirk won’t be any good for this. You can use yours, would work perfect for this right?” You ask in a slight panic.

“Not when I’m s-so close in proximity to someone. There’s not enough space for me to safely use my power without hurting you, possibly seriously injuring you. Let’s wait here until someone can help or t-that lady figures out how to free us.”

You looked up to where his face would be in the dark, his stuttering making you now very aware of how close he is to you. You could feel his breath on your face, his legs and hips on yours. Your face burned red, and you prayed that he couldn’t see you too, or hear your breathing slowly getting heavier. You tried to shift your position but in the dark, not so easy. You nudged Deku off his balance, making him fall directly on top of you. His head fell into in the crook of your neck, waist and chest pressing against yours snuggly. The feel of his lips right next to your skin sent chills down your spine, butterflies pooling in your lower tummy. You bit your lip hard. He made a surprised sound and quickly propped himself on both of his forearms. You heard him start to stammer out an apology, but your body reacted without you being able to control it. You sighed out loud, your hips slightly rocking up to grind against his; too overwhelmed by the excitement of finally feeling him against you to realize what you’re doing.

“H-hey, what are you- crap.” His arms flexed on either sides of your head. You wanted to cry. You were so embarrassed, but you didn’t say anything. You were too scared too..until your eyes widened when you felt something press against your crotch. All fears of judgement and embarrassment slowly disappeared. Did he…like this?

He made a quiet noise of arousal as he began to cautiously grind down onto you, “You…you sneaky thing. Oh gods~”

Your body flutters with pleasure at the sound, hearing him so close to your ear. It was all so good, the sexual tension building for months finally slipping as you let the heat take over. You almost couldn’t believe your best friend and the number one hero really felt this way about you like you did for him. He began kissing your neck, nipping teasingly at your skin, listening for when he hit your sensitive spots. You suck in a breath and whine, tilting your head back when he latched onto one. He groaned, pulling away slowly after leaving a nice purple mark that he’d later aqpologize for. He doesn’t know his own strength

He hummed, happy with the reaction he got from you. He continued kissing your neck, stopping to whisper sweet nothings in your ear in between. “Hey I- I’ve always wanted you. I stare at your lips a lot because I wish more than anything to kiss them. I dream about holding you, about making you feel good. Making you- making you moan my name. I want this with you. I wanna make you feel better than anyone else could ever h-hope to measure up to. Fuck- I need more of you baby, please tell me..do you want me?”

You writhed under him in response, feeling your pussy clench around nothing. He wrapped one of his hands gently around your throat, earning a hard tug on his curls. The harsh grind of his cock against you said he liked it. He tightened his grip, his long fingers sinking into the sides of your neck. You were in shock, falling headfirst deep into the hole of lust, you could barely even think.

“Answer me my darling please talk to me, I want you s-so bad. Tell me. Do you want me? Want me to make you f-feel good?” He panted, struggling to shift, but managing to grab both of your arms, pinning them at your sides as you experimentally wrapped your legs around him. You moaned, the feeling of him keeping you down making you feel so small. His erection only grew, teasing your clit as he sensually moved against you. Your thighs twitched in anticipation around him.

You want to scream with joy as you reply, “Yes! Yes I’ve always wanted you so bad, I feel the same way Deku please, keep touching me?”

He moaned at your confession, gripping your arms tighter and rutting his hips into yours. By then, your eyes had adjusted to the dark, able to make out the side of his face and some of his hair. You figured it was the same for him as he pulled back as much as he could to lock eyes with you. His beautiful green eyes glowed lime with desire when he saw how needy you looked. He grinned wide, his expression shifting to one of confidence and determination. He leaned in to kiss you, and you felt like your entire body exploded with fireworks as your lips met his. You both moaned and whined into the kiss, deepening it as he showed his dominance over you, his tongue overpowering yours. You began struggling against his hold, wanting to challenge him. He pushed down on your arms harder, re-enforcing his power over you. You moan loudly nto the kiss, and he couldn’t help but laugh, backing away to observe you.

“Y-you really like that don’t you? Knowing I can hold you down like this?” His tone was curious, but demanding. You stared into his dilated desperate eyes, nodding your head frantically.

“Mmmm, do I have consent to do whatever I want with you honey?” He cooed into your ear, making you whimper uncontrollably, bucking your hips in need for him.

“Fuck. Yes Izuku please have your way with me, I want you to fuck your cum deep inside of me and make me all yours! I’ve been waiting so long…too long..do whatever you want!”

His eyes darkened, letting out the most slutty, strangled moan you’ve ever heard. He let go of your arms, scrambling to slip off your costume from the waist down. You helped him as he balanced on one hand to unzip his as well. You still couldn’t see completely clear in the dark, but you could tell he was big as he pulled his leaking cock out. It looked really thick. It made your mind race, almost cumming right then as you imagined the stretch. He started rubbing the length up and down your swollen clit, hissing as it got coated in your slick. You were going brain dead, whining like a dog as he teased your poor desperate hole.

“Don’t worry, it’s gonna feel so good I promise darling. Gonna stretch out your wet pussy s-so good ok? I love you. I love you, gonna make you all mine baby.” All you could do was nod, practically crying for him to put it in.

He whispered in your ear, “Hang onto me.” You obliged, wrapping your arms around his large shoulders as he slipped it inside of you. The feeling was inhuman, like a rubber band was going to snap so hard inside of you it might make you see heaven. You scratched down his back hard, each inch making you see a new galaxy of stars as you cried out. He moaned loud, resisting from pounding into you. Both of you lost in this moment, completely forgot that this is happening in…public.

He groans and shivers. “Doing so good baby look at you sucking me in. Almost all the way. D-does that feel good?”

“Yes! You feel so g-good Izuku oh my god. S’big, the stretch is gonna m-make me cum~”

He blushed hard, unaware before that his dick being girthier than average could be such a turn on for somebody.

“Good. I’m so glad. Go on then, feel good b-baby cum on me. Cum on my cock so hard.” He slammed the rest of his length inside of you and began a medium pace, mouth opening in a silent scream as he heard the lewd noises your dripping cunt made. Your bodies felt so right meshing together; you moaned in harmony, your scratching motivating him to go faster. He kissed you deeply to quiet some of your screams as you came almost immediately, the pleasure of him ramming precisely into your g spot too much for you to handle. You gasped as he pulled back to catch his breath.

You needed him. More. You needed him so bad it hurt. “Oh my god- oh my god cum inside of me Izuku! Please! Fill me up, I need it! Gonna cum again with you~!”

His hips stuttered, gripping your waist with the strength to leave a mark as his eyes rolled back, whimpering into your ear as he fucked into you harder than ever. Slap slap slap could probably be heard by anyone within a twenty foot distance. He choked out a loud moan and came inside of you. His last thrust was almost unbearably rough, holding you still on his cock as it sat deep inside of you, cumming against your most sensitive spots. You were too lost in the moment to even realize he had moved slightly to play with your clit, making you squirt as he came, the rubber band snapping hard as you gushed around his cock. He collapsed completely on top of you, both of your cum and juices leaking from around his cock and down your ass and thighs. You both laid together, holding each other close and giggling from the love drunk feeling.

“Did you- did you like that?” He asked as he caught his breath, kissing your neck sweetly.

“You- you’re wondering that while you just made me squirt, Izuku.”

You both laughed and continued praising each other, almost forgetting that help was supposed to come soon. Neither of you complained

“Oh and Izuku? I love you too.”

[kunasthiast]

Goals

It all started with your interest and love for soccer. Didn't know you'll find somebody this interesting here, right?

a/n: this can be a stand-alone fic bUTTT actually this is in the same universe of – Looting and Broken Sinks – check out how Sukuna and reader first met hsdhah i've been so inspired with soccer bc of Blue Lock

hope you enjoy this one ;) i'm also so sorry for no uploads the past week, i've been so busy with university – will get back to regular uploads by next week!

Pairing: Sukuna x Reader (female) Genre: fluff, Boyfriend AU, Soccer Player AU, University AU Word Count: 1,628 All characters are of age. Suggestive.

You were the biggest fan of soccer. You knew everything about it – the legendary strikers, the egotist players, and the incredible goals. Yet, you never played it yourself.

It’s not because you’re not cut out for it. Or, not because your body can’t take it. Please, you’re athletic as fuck. It’s just that you preferred to enjoy this particular sport from a distance, analyzing each players’ skills, techniques, and plays.

So here you were, watching your university’s soccer team during their first match against a rival university. Are their rivals just too weak or something?

It was your first time attending one of their games, and you had high hopes. But, yes, this is boring you. They were not making plays that are interesting to watch at all!

“When will they make this game more watchable,” you complained as you leaned on the rail, your eyes scanning the field for anything remotely exciting.

The only one you can see is a white-haired guy who’s like an amazing midfielder, but what good are his plays if there’s no striker thats clearly cut out to make an out-of-this-world goal, right?

Just as you were about to give up hope, a commotion on the side of the field caught your attention. Your university’s team asked for a player trade from the bench. Alas, the crowd on that side erupted in cheers and gasps towards a tall, muscular player with pink hair and distinctive tattoos. #20 Ryomen.

“Who’s that?” You muttered to yourself as you squint your eyes towards #20.

“That’s Sukuna,” a voice beside you said. “He’s the star forward of the team – they call him the ‘King of the Penalty Area’ for a reason. He’s like a beast on the field, too.”

“Hmm, that’s kind of a cringey title to call himself,” you said as you continued watching the ruckus on the side of the field.

“Well, that’s what he was dubbed by most people here. I’m Nobara, do you go to this university, too?” An orange-haired pretty woman said as she extended her hand towards you for a shake.

You stared dumbfoundedly on her stretched out hand and confusingly tilted your head as you told her your name.

“Not a fan of handshakes?” Nobara snickered as she set her eyes back to the field.

“Yeah haha, just shocked you were actually watching a soccer game,” you said as your eyes went back to the field as the game started again. “Most women my age don’t really watch these sports, they love basketball more.”

“Oh, I’m not a soccer fan, alright? I just lost a bet and had to watch my friend play which I’m certain is not happening anytime soon now that Sukuna’s in this game,” she replied as she shook her head and folded her arms.

You chuckled, finding her candor refreshing. “Well, hopefully this Sukuna guy can liven things up a bit.”

The moment Sukuna stepped onto the field, the atmosphere changed. His presence was commanding, and it was clear he was no ordinary player.

Oh, this is getting exciting!

“Wow, he does have a certain… presence,” you admitting, watching Sukuna weaving through the opposing team with ease, his eyes focused and determined. “Maybe this game won’t be so boring after all.”

“Yeah, he’s something else. But, don’t tell him that, his ego will just go over the roof.”

The white-haired midfielder, #27 Gojo, passed the ball to Sukuna with perfect precision. Sukuna took it in stride, sprinting down the field with his incredible speed.

He left two defenders in the dust, aiming and fired a shot at the goal, the ball sailing past the goalkeeper and into the net with a satisfying thud.

GOAL 1-0

The crowd erupted in cheers, and you found yourself clapping along, genuinely impressed.

Is he a prodigy? You’ve never seen a forward make an aggressive goal like that!

Sukuna turned towards the stands, a smig grin on his face as he soaked in the applause from the crowd.

The game continued, and Sukuna’s performance only got better and better. He scored two more goals, each more impressive than the last one. How did he even manage to make a hattrick?

3-0

By the time final whistle blew, your university’s team had won decisively, thanks in large part to Sukuna’s incredible play. As the players left the field, you couldn’t help but feel a newfound sense of excitement.

Maybe watching this university’s soccer team wouldn’t feel so boring at all.

As you scanned the crowd, searching for Sukuna among the sea of faces, you couldn’t shake the feeling of curiosity that gnawed at you. Amidst the jubilant celebrations and the chatter of the spectators, your eyes locked onto a figure making his way towards the exit.

There he was, Sukuna, weaving through the crowd with an effortless grace that mirrored his performance on the field.

His pink hair stood out among the sea of fans, and his confident stride exuded an aura of charisma that drew you in.

Without a second thought, you found yourself moving through the crowd, determined to catch up to him. You navigated through the throng of people, your heart racing with anticipation.

What would you say to him?

Finally, you reached his side, breathless from the exhilarating pursuit. Sukuna glanced in your direction, his gaze meeting yours with a mixture of surprise and intrigue. 

“Hey there,” you greeted him with a smile.

Sukuna returned your smile, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Well, well, what do we have here?" he replied, his voice smooth and captivating. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting before."

You chuckled, suddenly aware of how out of place you felt among the adoring fans. "No, we haven't," you admitted, feeling slightly tongue-tied in his presence. "I just wanted to say, you played an incredible game out there. Truly inspiring!”

Sukuna's smile widened, a playful glint in his eyes. "Why, thank you," he replied, inclining his head in acknowledgment. "But I must admit, I couldn't have done it without the support of fans like you."

You felt a rush of warmth at his words, and you couldn’t help but smile back at him. “Oh, I’m not a fan, just an admirer of the sport itself,” you said with a playful grin. “But, I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines at every game."

Sukuna's laughter filled the air. Why does his laugh even sound so good?

"I look forward to it," he said, his smile dazzling in the glow of the stadium lights. "Who knows? Maybe you'll inspire me to score even more goals next time.”

Just as you were about to respond, another player approached, his white hair stark against the evening sky and a pair of sunglasses (mind you, it’s night time) perched on his nose. He exuded a different kind of charisma – playful yet commanding.

"Sukuna making friends with fans again?" he teased, shooting a mischievous glance between you and Sukuna.

“Gojo Satoru," Sukuna introduced him with a playful smirk. ”Our team’s ace midfielder. Don’t mind him, he’s just as annoying as he looks.”

Gojo laughed, extending a hand towards you. "Nice to meet you. Don’t listen to Sukuna, I’m actually the charm of this team.”

You shook his hand, chuckling at his lighthearted banter. "Nice to meet you too, Gojo. It was fun watching you.”

Gojo grinned, throwing an arm around Sukuna’s shoulders. "Oh, you can count on it. With me around, the matches are never boring.”

You snorted, feeling a sense of camaraderie with the two players. “Yeah, I’ll see you around in the next games, too. I’ll get going now, bye!”

As you walked away, you couldn't shake the feeling of Sukuna's gaze lingering on you, a spark of intrigue glimmering in his eyes. And you weren’t wrong. He was still gazing at your figure as you left the field.

"Now, she's an interesting girl," Gojo remarked with a grin, nudging Sukuna playfully.

Sukuna shook his head, tearing his gaze away with a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Yeah, she is," he admitted, his thoughts lingering on the mysterious girl who had captivated his attention

Meanwhile, Gojo shrugged off the moment, his easygoing demeanor never faltering. "Anyway, why are you late?" he asked Sukuna, his tone teasing.

Sukuna chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "Got a bit distracted by an online game. Just lost track of time," he confessed with a sheepish grin.

Gojo rolled his eyes but couldn't help but smirk at Sukuna’s antics. "You and your games," he muttered, shaking his head in amusement. "Come on, let's catch up with the others before they start thinking we've abandoned them."

With that, the two teammates made their way through the dispersing crowd, their laughter echoing in the evening air.

But even as they rejoined their team, Sukuna couldn't shake the memory of your encounter, a spark of curiosity igniting within him. 

Perhaps this was just the beginning of something unexpected and exciting. And, it is.

As the days turned into weeks, you found yourself drawn deeper into the world of soccer with Sukuna. Your bond with him growing stronger with each passing game. You watched from the bench, cheering him on and complimenting his plays after every match.

And eventually, you found yourself seated by the side of the field, watching the game unfold with bated breath as your favorite player took to the field.

Sukuna, your boyfriend, moved with grace and precision, his every move a testament to his skill and dedication.

And this time, the only times he’ll be late was because of his pre-game workout. With you.

You were no longer just a big fan of soccer; you were the biggest fan of Sukuna and his incredible goals.

[gay-dorito-dust]

Taglist: @wordsarelife @flareish @novausstuff @mahirublue

Part two to this post cuz it was originally too big.

“Do you have to go on this date?” Lucy whined from her bed as she watched you get yourself ready for the wrong man in her opinion. “As much as you want me to back out of this, I can’t Luce.” You said, understanding where she was getting at but Kipps believed that Lockwood was reaching his boiling point and just wanted to be the one to push him over the edge by taking you out; You originally thought that he was lying for a bit of banter but something deep down in your gut told you that there may yet be some truth to his words. So you forced yourself to seeing this bet through to it’s probable finale. “What do you mean you can’t? He isn’t hurting you is he y/n?” Lucy asked, suddenly getting to her feet and walking up behind you where she rested her hands on your shoulders, turning you to face her.

“You can tell us if he is, right?” She said softly, her eyes scanning your face for any evidence she could use to prove her case but found nothing. Which she was relieved of but it didn’t settle the unease she felt at your prior words, should she find that Kipps had been mistreating you and it wouldn’t only be her Kipps had to deal with if anything were to come to light but it would be George and Lockwood as well. You reared your head from her grasp and took her hands into your own, holding them hostage. “Yes I’m very aware that I can go to you, George and Lockwood for anything, Luce it’s very reassuring but I can safely safe that Kipps isn’t hurting or threatening me in any way shape or form.” You tell Lucy as you turned back to the full body mirror, looking over yourself for one final time.

“He’s…descent if that counts for anything, which knowing you, it doesn’t.” You added, brushing away invisible dust from your clothes before glancing over at Lucy’s reflection in the mirror. “You’re right it doesn’t but this all just doesn’t sit right in my stomach.” She tells you but before you could ask more about that. Lockwood knocked on the door before poking his head through the crack and whatever was on his mind seemingly left when he caught sight of you looking your most stunning self, that was until he came to the unfortunate realisation that none of it was for him but in fact Kipps; an thought such only made the light in his eyes dim and the tick in his jaw come back stronger then ever.

“Am I interrupting?” He asked and Lucy stood there, looking between you and Lockwood as you tried to formulate words but she cut you off with an sure fire idea in mind that’ll get you into calling off the date- and hopefully dating all together- with Kipps. “Oh your not interrupting much Lockwood but would you mind keeping y/n company? I think I hear George calling.” You and Lockwood looked to one another, not hearing a thing that could remotely be mistaken as George calling for Lucy before turning your attentions back to the redhead. “Lucy, I don’t think-“ “oh! I think I can hear him calling my name now! Have fun you two!” Lucy intervened as she brushed past you both, though not before giving Lockwood and shove further into the room, and then closing the door behind her where you heard her footfalls pounds against the stairs in a hurry.

“Did you hear anything?” You asked Lockwood, who shrugged, “not a thing, you?” He then asked and you made a gesture that indicated to him that you didn’t before looking back towards your reflection in the mirror, now feeling a tad insecure with the guy you actually liked being within the same room as you. The silence was nauseating and awkward to say the least with Lockwood taking a seat on in Lucy’s bed which was aligned with the body mirror, which also meant that whenever you went to look at yourself, your eyes would immediately drifted to Lockwood who could be found staring right back at you that only left you feeling a little hot under the collar.

It didn’t help that the way he was staring at you was the way you always wanted him to stare at you. So when given what you fantasied, it left you to suffer with the emotions that were brought to the surface you tried so hard to hide. It was an double sided sword, on one hand you got what you always wanted but on the other, you were left with a conflict of feelings on how to go about being looked at as though you had stardust embedded in you your skin and starlight sprinkled into your eyes; Lockwood made you nervous but in the best way possible and for that you both condemned and loved him for it. So as you were looking over yourself for the fifth time that day as to avoid the obvious unspoken tension flooding the room as though it were an pool.

Lockwood then decided the awkward beating of the preverbal bush you’ve both been doing as of late had gone on long enough and that something had to give. He looked down at his clasped hands, closing his eyes briefly as he allowed the words that had been clogged in his throat the moment he caught sight of you to rip themselves free from his mouth in the form of a sharp and forced tone. “I don’t want you going out with Kipps.” You stopped readjusting your shirt to look at his hunched figure through the mirror. “Why? I’d though you’d be happy that I’m going on a date?” That was a fucking lie. Lockwood opened his eyes, lifting his head to stare at you, his jaw forcibly ticked out of habit and the unreadable expression on his face only made the rampant anxiety within you worsen.

“There are better people out whom you could’ve dated instead of Kipps.” He tells you before adding a ‘he’s no good for you.’ Which only served in making you scoff humourlessly. “Oh if Kipps is such a bad fit for me, who do you suppose I should date then, you?” You jested. “Yes.” Lockwood responded without an ounce of hesitance and unnerving amount of belief in his own words that made your stomach flutter with butterfly wings and your chest blossom with a warm, fuzziness that had you feeling as though you were floating off the ground.

“What?” You spoke softly, finally turning yourself to greet him with your own eyes that were wide with shock. Lockwood stood up from the bed and moved in so close that he was practically invading your personal space, reaching to grasp both of your hands into his calloused pair that tightened their grip in almost sheer desperation for you to hear him out. “I should’ve told you along time ago y/n but I like you, a lot. No scrap that, I love you and it pains me to watch you with someone else who isn’t me holding you close, telling you how exceptional you truly are each and every day, touching you, kissing you, giving you,” with each word Lockwood moved to rest his head against your own, nose bumping nose and lips briefly brushing against one another that had your breath hitching in your throat every so often you felt his soft, plump, lips skim your own. “everything you truly deserve and so much more.”

You couldn’t breath properly from the close proximity of having his body so close, yet not close enough for your liking. Everything within you screamed to pull him in by his stupid neck tie or by his silly little lapels but your fought against those urges to see just how far Lockwood would take this before Kipps even made it to the front door. “You’re only just saying that because you don’t like the fact that Kipps got to me first.” You told him, daring to brave a smirk when you heard him inhale deeply as though attempting to hold himself back from whatever his subconscious wanted to will him into doing. You knew you were playing with fire but who didn’t want someone begging for their opportunity with them? It was quite an empowering sight and one that you could easily get high off of.

“You’re right.” Lockwood tells you, “I’m pissed at not only Kipps but at myself for allowing him the chance to get to you first but that don’t make my feelings for you any less genuine.” His hands then left yours in order to cusp your cheeks, allowing his thumbs to rub at the skin there as though it were porcelain, before one hand trailed to the back of your neck whilst the other trailed to your waist where he’d then pull you in closer so that you were chest to chest with him. “So please, don’t go on that date.” He practically whispers his wish against your lips but before you were given room to speak, George’s voice called up to you both, “Y/N! KIPPS IS HERE FOR YOUR DATE!” You then looked from the door before looking back to Lockwood who was all but staring at you as though urging you to doing the right thing.

So as you began to pull away from him with Lockwood resisting a little by gently tugging you back before letting you go completely as you neared the door before opening it to pop your head through the gap. “TELL HIM THE DATES OFF.” You shouted down at George, who then relaid your message to Kipps who could be heard laughing as he then shouts, “I WON THE BET Y/N, I’LL COME BACK TO CLAIM MY WINNINGS AFTER YOU AND LOCKY HAVE YOUR FUN!” with that Kipps had left and the door was then aptly shut behind him as the muffled conversation of Lucy and George’s shared confusion was soon filled out once you shut the door and turned back to Lockwood. “You and Kipps had a bet?” He asked.

“Yeah,” you shrugged as you crossed the room to step in front on him again, this time clutching your hands at his lapels as you brought him close to you when you continued speaking, “it was more his idea then mine but he wanted to see how much he can get away with by pretending to date me before you broke and admitted your feelings.” Lockwood huffed, “that bastard knew and he decided to turn it into a game? A game that you agreed to participate in?” Seeing that this wasn’t going how you envisioned, you swallowed thickly and decided it best to let him go and take a couple steps away from him as guilt wracked your from. “I didn’t want to participate because I thought you didn’t like me. That might be the case now because of what I did and for that I can never be truly sorry enough to earn your trust back.”

Lockwood, as mad as he wanted to be at you, couldn’t find it within him to blame you and reached for your arm, pulling you back into his arms as his head once against rested against yours.“I can never stay mad at you,” he begins, taking pride in seeing the light brought back to your eyes as you visibly perked up, “but your going to have to make up for leading me to believe that you were dating Kipps of all people.” He tells you. “What do you want?” You asked him and Lockwood’s only response was to lean in further so that your noses were bumped and your lips barely skimming each other. “A kiss would suffice nicely.”

[alexthesillybilly]

Guys im. Not doing good and literally the ONLY THING that is making me feel good rn is springtrap x reader content please help me. I have to write but it might not be as good as I want bc yk. My brains dealin with some stuff right now so. Here's the first part of the fanfic I'm writing, called dead flowers!!! (This one's serious unlike MIILWAC 💀) basic plot, you were hired to do a safety inspection on an old animatronic some guy found. Uhh yeah. This is the meeting story for all my springtrap x reader stuff I write!! :))

You'd talked to the guy who found this old thing you were about to go see, and even he seemed to know nothing about it. He was probably going to be scrapping it for parts, but wanted to make sure it wasn't valuable or whatever. All anybody really knew were the few details you'd heard: it's an old SpringBonnie suit/animatronic from an old diner back in the 80s, it's horrifying, and there's probably a corpse in it.

Well, the last part wasn't true. Maybe. Hopefully. Everyone who'd seen it had said that there was definitely a corpse in there, but the man who found it - you'd forgotten his name, if he'd even told you - denied it completely. So, you were pretty sure you were about to see a decaying human corpse. Maybe you should've been a little hesitant when you were sent into the room with the animatronic alone, with a flashlight as the only light source, but it was too late to back out, now. As much as this was definitely not how you wanted to be spending your friday night, at least you were being paid.

Even if that pay was barely useful for anything.

Okay, maybe you were just extremely curious to see the animatronic.

Checking to make sure you had your phone and flashlight, you shut the door to the room.

Okay. Yeah, there was definitely a corpse in there. You couldn't see it yet, but it sure didn't smell like an alive human to you.

Slowly approaching it, you clicked on your flashlight and crouched down beside the.. thing. It was in a very sad and pathetic position, like a way you'd sit when you were giving up on something. Poor thing looked like it hadn't moved in years.

Shining your flashlight on it to see it better, you finally took in how terrible this thing looked. Matted fur, rips and tears everywhere, wires sticking out, and wasn't the animatronic supposed to be yellow? Because it wasn't. It was more like the color you'd get if you set yellow in a swamp and then killed something on top of the yellow. Speaking of that, were those bloodstains on the fur? And yes, those were definitely actual human organs you could see.

You debated if you should call the police or something, but you figured they might not believe you if you told them there was a corpse in this 40 year old robot.

You'd just deal with this yourself.

Doing another scan of the flashlight over the whole thing, you noticed something. When you moved the flashlight from its face down to the body, there was still a slight glowing that was not there last time you did this. You froze.

There was a light coming from the eyes.

Okay, calm down, maybe they were those glow in the dark type of things that glowed when exposed to light. That had to be it. So you kept doing your job, checking all the parts.

There was a clicking noise.

Maybe you'd just touched something accidentally-

The glow was stronger. Looking up, the eyes of the suit were now opened. And staring at you.

You stood up as fast as you could. It was definitely not supposed to do that. Keeping your eyes on the animatronic, you backed off quick towards the door before it made a noise. It caught you off guard and you stopped.

You were now just staring at each other. You took a cautious step back towards it.

It tilted its head forward a bit, the ears making a mechanical clicking noise as they moved. Maybe you had accidentally set off a movement trigger?

But that noise it had made - it had been too human.

Once you convinced yourself it was safe again, you sat back down in front of it. You took out your notebook to record what was happening-

And it moved again. A very slow, and painful, by the looks of it, movement, but it was movement. Its arm raised slightly, enough to move the hand and point at your notebook. You stared at it, then down at your notes. Taking a breath, you supposed if this.. Somehow were a human, you'd have to talk.

"Uhm- this?" You held up your notebook. Its hand position changed, like it was gesturing for you to do something.

"You- you want it?" You asked, confused. Slowly, it nodded yes.

You checked to make sure there was nothing important in it, and there wasn't, so you hesitantly handed the notebook to the... Whatever this was. It looked at you, as if expecting something else.

"What?"

It pointed again at your pencil. Oh. You handed it that, too. Was it about to write something?

Apparently it was, because it got to writing as soon as it took the pencil. Its jerky hand movements, though not graceful in any way whatsoever, shocked you. You were starting to wonder if this was all some weird dream.

It handed the notebook back to you, and you read what it had written. In very messy, sharp writing, it said;

"dont scrap"

You read it a few times.

How had it known they were planning to scrap it?

"How did- we weren't going to- but, how did you know that?" You stared at it again.

It's ears perked slightly. It looked at the notebook and you handed it back.

"heard"

It had heard you from multiple rooms over talking to the other man.

"Well, we... We won't." You said, and it seemed to relax.

It was silent for a bit. Finally, you broke the silence.

"I have so many questions."

[barfygutcheck]

books & bellyaches

/so this a lot more fluff and bit less kink than my previous post. still trying to find my style so hopefully it doesn't come across as inconsistent/

Jackie had barely moved from the dorm table in hours, hunched over her textbooks, highlighter in hand, eyes scanning the pages. Jackie was the type of college student who had a deep fear of failure, and she was fully committed to becoming a doctor. Her mind was racing with all the upcoming exams, and with each passing minute, she felt the mounting pressure to retain as much information as possible.

Her back was sore from hours of sitting stiffly, and her eyes stung with exhaustion. But those were minor issues compared to the real problem.

Jackie’s stomach churned, uncomfortably tight, as if it were twisting in knots. The week of non-stop fast food — think sketchy takeout and endless energy drinks — seemed to be catching up with her. She was usually better about staying disciplined, making it a point to cook her own food. She liked the feeling of being self-sufficient in the kitchen. However, cramming had left her no time to think about nutrition, and despite knowing better from her medical knowledge, she figured it was just easier to grab something quick.

Now, her body was paying the price.

She shifted on her seat, clutching her stomach as it gave another unpleasant gurgle. Her head felt warm, her skin clammy. This wasn’t just indigestion anymore — she felt feverish, and the discomfort wasn’t subsiding.

Unable to ignore the growing ache in her belly, she pushed herself up from the dorm table and collapsed onto the couch, groaning under her breath. She shut her eyes, hoping the ache would pass on its own.

Except it didn’t.

It just lingered, throbbing deep in her gut, and she cursed herself for letting things get this bad.

She had no excuse. She would’ve never let Sawyer get away with pulling such a reckless stunt, yet here she was, having done exactly that.

On that note, Sawyer, who had been sitting at the kitchen table scrolling through her phone, glanced up just in time to notice the change in Jackie’s posture. At first, she thought it was just stress from studying, but when Jackie groaned again and shifted like she was in pain, Sawyer’s attention was piqued.

“Hey, Jackie?” Sawyer walked over, slipping her phone into her pocket and kneeling at the side of the couch. Her hazel eyes matched her tone: soft, but full of concern. “You good?”

Jackie didn’t open her eyes. “M’fine,” she muttered, pressing a hand to her forehead. A blush crept over her cheeks, ashamed that Sawyer had to see her like this. Jackie was sure that no matter how many anniversaries they had under their belts, she would always feel mortified whenever she was sick.

When Sawyer was doubled over in pain, feverish and knocked down by a stomachache, Jackie didn’t bat an eye. She was more than willing to care for her girlfriend, especially with her future as a doctor in mind. And honestly, she didn’t mind giving Sawyer’s stomach a little extra attention.

If Jackie was feeling unwell, it was a whole different story, particularly when it involved her stomach. She’d get flustered and do her best to hide it, hoping Sawyer wouldn’t make a big deal out of it.

“Is it your belly?” Sawyer frowned, her brow furrowing as she took in Jackie’s pale face. She must have caught the sound of gurgling coming from Jackie’s stomach and, oh man, what an embarrassing thought that was. “Doesn’t sound like you’re fine,” Sawyer added, rubbing her neck. “How long has it been hurting?”

Jackie finally opened her eyes, blinking up at her girlfriend. “A while,” she admitted quietly. “I’ve just been eating crap all week. Too much junk food… you know what I mean.”

Sawyer pulled a face, knowing how Jackie’s usually mindful eating habits always seemed to crumble whenever exam stress piled up. Sawyer had never encountered anything like that, given that she was majoring in something that revolved around her third love—sports, right after Jackie and food, or maybe food and Jackie, depending on how hungry she was. It was nothing like the heavy coursework of medicine.

She hated seeing Jackie like this; clearly in pain but trying to pretend it wasn’t happening, perhaps because they were so similar in that way. Although Sawyer was more laidback compared to Jackie’s cool and firm nature, both were inclined to tough things out. The key difference was that Jackie often succeeded in getting Sawyer to confess when she was feeling ill, which meant she could step in to help.

Sawyer wasn’t so sure she could do the same for her girlfriend, but she could try.

“You should’ve said something sooner,” Sawyer said gently, brushing a stray strand of hair from Jackie’s face.

Because Jackie seldom got sick, Sawyer was pretty inexperienced with this kind of situation, even after two years as a couple. She figured she’d imitate Jackie and pressed her hand to Jackie’s forehead, where she was able to distinguish unusual warmth. “You’re burning up, babe. I think you’ve got a fever.”

Jackie sighed, her fingers pressing into her aching belly as it let out a low, unsettled gurgle. She blushed deeply. “Yeah… I kinda figured.” Her voice was laced with discomfort. “Look, I’ll be fine. I just need to lie down for a bit.”

But Sawyer wasn’t having it. “Sorry, babe, not gonna happen.” A shrug. “I’m taking care of you.”

Jackie managed a weak smile at that, feeling both embarrassed and touched. Sawyer was sweet, but she wasn’t exactly a caretaker by nature. Still, the determination in her eyes was enough to make Jackie’s heart swell.

“Sully, I’m fine, really. It’s just a stomachache. I don’t need—”

“Let me fuss,” Sawyer interrupted, inching closer. “Please?” She licked her lips. “I’ll feel so much better if I can take care of you.”

Jackie blinked at her, a bit taken aback by the sincerity in Sawyer’s voice. She wasn’t used to Sawyer being this earnest about anything. Normally, Sawyer was the loud, carefree type. She brushed off classes and didn’t sweat her performance on the field because she was confident in her skills to tackle girls just as tall. As for her relationships, she wasn’t entirely indifferent — she frequently leaned on Jackie. She was the one clinging, the one letting Jackie clean up the messes.

This was different.

And definitely endearing.

“Okay,” Jackie relented, a smile tugging at her lips. “You can fuss.”

Sawyer’s face brightened instantly, and she wasted no time in jumping into action. Now — what was it Jackie did when Sawyer got sick? Her eyes fell on the couch, coffee table, rug… blanket. She grabbed a blanket from the armchair and draped it over Jackie, tucking it in around her gently. “There. Gotta keep you warm,” she said, clearly pleased with herself.

Jackie scoffed, grimacing as her stomach cramped again. “Thanks, Sully.”

But Sawyer wasn’t done. She thought hard about what Jackie did when she was sick, then decided to go into the kitchen and fetch her girlfriend water and a bottle of ginger ale. She set them down on the coffee table within Jackie’s reach. “Here. You should, uh, drink something. Maybe the ginger ale will help your belly.”

Jackie’s heart filled with affection at the gesture, though she found herself blushing at the way Sawyer casually said “belly.”

Anyway, her efforts were sweet, even if not entirely necessary. “Good job,” Jackie approved, her voice warm despite the pain.

Sawyer beamed at the praise.

Then her hand came to rest on Jackie’s stomach.

Though it was intended as a comforting gesture, the moment Sawyer’s hand brushed against Jackie’s belly, Jackie flushed bright red, convinced she’d just given herself away. She wanted to pull away, but that would raise eyebrows. It wasn’t that she minded Sawyer’s touch; it was just that she felt embarrassed acknowledging her stomach.

“Sounds awful,” Sawyer murmured, her brow furrowing in concern. “Like, seriously. It’s all messed up in there.”

Jackie shifted. “It feels pretty bad, too.”

Sawyer bit her lip, clearly unsure of what to do next. “It sounds all… I dunno, sloshy.” The issue with Sawyer was her tendency to be extremely vocal about how her stomach felt, which made her just as unreserved when it came to discussing Jackie’s gut.

“Are you sure you’re not gonna throw up?” Sawyer asked.

Jackie shook her head, though she didn’t feel entirely confident about that. She just wanted Sawyer to stop fussing over her stomach. “I don’t think so,” she said, trying to ease Sawyer’s worry. “I just need to rest. Promise.”

Sawyer wasn’t convinced, but she didn’t push the issue. Instead, she gently massaged Jackie’s stomach, her hand moving in slow, soothing circles. “I wish I could do more,” she murmured. “I hate seeing you like this.”

For all her abashment, Jackie’s heart melted at the tenderness in Sawyer’s voice. She reached out, lacing her fingers with Sawyer’s. “You’re doing enough,” she assured her, partly because it was true, partly because she wanted Sawyer to just stop touching her already.

Sawyer looked down at their intertwined hands. “I just don’t want you to feel bad,” she said quietly.

Until this, Jackie had no idea she was involved with such a sap. “I know. You’re so sweet.”

For a while, they sat in silence. Eventually, Sawyer withdrew her hand and wrapped her arms around Jackie, drawing her in tighter. Jackie's stomach roiled, the junk food she’d consumed waging war inside her. She could feel a gurgle building, and she silently prayed that Sawyer wouldn’t notice

After a few minutes, Sawyer spoke up again. “You’re gonna be okay, right? Like, it’s not something serious?”

Jackie scoffed and squeezed her hand reassuringly. “I’ll be fine, Sully. Just need to take it easy for a bit. You know I’ll be back to normal soon.”

Sawyer nodded, though the worry didn’t completely leave her face. “Okay. But I’m not going anywhere,” she said firmly. “I’m staying right here.”

Jackie felt a wave of affection wash over her. She buried her head in the crook of Sawyer’s neck, breathing in the scent of her girlfriend’s cologne. “I wouldn’t want you anywhere else.”

[onboardsorasora]

Enchanted AU: Christmas!

We have a posting schedule! that I will hopefully be able to stick to! I will be posting on Mondays and Thursdays. This will also pressure me keep me on a schedule to write lol

Part 1 | Christmas Parts 14 | Part 15

Part 16

Max pressed a palm gently into Daniel’s side and pushed him back onto the sidewalk and out of the way of an upcoming cyclist. They were out in the shopping district and Daniel was doing that thing again, where he was looking above them rather than in front. The city had started putting up their holiday decor, so there were new things to enjoy. Up ahead in the city center they were erecting a fairly large tree. It was impressive, Daniel looked plenty impressed, if a bit unnerved.

Grabbing his shoulder again, Max turned Daniel into the store he had requested they go to. They were buying Christmas decorations today and Daniel had been extremely excited. They’d just come from a shop where they ordered a tree to be delivered and now it was time to find things to decorate it.

“What colours should we get, Maxy?” Daniel asked excitedly, he was looking around with wide eyes, hands clasped in front of him as if to keep himself in check and not touch anything. Max thought that was fair because there were quite a few things in the store that looked breakable if you even looked at them too long. 

“How did you even know about this store?”

“Sophie suggested it.” Daniel was biting his cuticle again, looking at Max as if he was waiting for him to disagree with the shop choice. Max shrugged, if his mother suggested it, then it more than likely had what they were looking for.

“I dunno. Maybe gold, I think?” Max said, answering the original question as his way of confirming that he didn’t mind the shop.

“Yeah, but gold and what? We can’t just have a gold tree, Maxy.” Daniel teased, a grin on his face and a sparkle in his eye. Max smiled back helplessly and shrugged.

“I dunno, red maybe?”

“Gold and red it is!” Daniel sauntered off, looking at everything with a bit of childlike wonder. Every now and again he would zero in on something as if listening, before walking over to far corners of the shop and picking things up. 

Max wandered around as well, picking up little knick knacks style ornaments that caught his eye. Things he thought Daniel would enjoy as well. He made a small offering pile at the cash register. Similar to the piles of dead things the cats used to leave him. Max smiled at that.

Daniel wandered over eventually with a small shopping cart filled with decorations. All in their own packaging, it looked overwhelming. But Max trusted that Daniel knew what they were for. He watched as Daniel took in the small pile of trinkets. His eyes furrowed then widened in happiness. He looked to Max in confirmation that he could touch one.

Daniel took a small cat ornament into his hand, it was gold and shimmered in the lights.

“This is Sassy.” Daniel smiled then picked up the almost identical red ornament. “And Jimmy.” he looked up at Max through his lashes before looking back through the rest of the trinkets selected by Max. There was a paper plane and a bird. Daniel felt a flutter in his chest, he was touched.

He noticed the display that Max had apparently taken the ornaments from and scanned it quickly. His honey orbs locked on one in the shape of a car, it wasn't a race car but it reminded Daniel of that day in the mountains more than anything. And it was blue. 

He placed it in the pile and watched as Max took it in and a smile slid on his face as he placed the memory as well. There was a small blush on Max’s face as he put the car back within the group of red and gold. Daniel felt his heart swoop in his chest. Oh no.

He bit his cuticles as Max paid for everything, trying to not wince at the total price of the haul. Max didn't bat an eyelash so Daniel would try to not make a thing about it.

They managed to fit the bags in the car and Max led Daniel around the shopping center in search of a restaurant to have lunch at. They got a seat on the patio of a bistro and Max pulled out Daniel's chair for him.

“There's a Christmas market being set up, we can go there if you want?” Max asked offhandedly, skimming through the menu. Daniel looked over at him with a smile.

“That would be fun, we could go when everyone comes? The boys would love it.” Daniel rested his head on his upturned palm. Max tried his damnedest to barely look at Daniel more than a glance. He knew he would stare otherwise.

“Yes, that sounds good, I think. We could do it and the tree lighting maybe.”

“Ace!” Daniel grinned then placed his order when the waiter came by. Daniel tried to ignore how domestic it felt, having lunch at a restaurant with Max. It felt like a date almost, but Daniel wasn't going to think too deeply about it.

It would be what Michelle always called a ‘day date' (not really) where you run an errand and maybe get a meal. And you talk and enjoy each other's presence. If this were a date (it wasn't) then this would be a nice one. Daniel would still tell Michelle about it, but he'll make sure she knows that it was all platonic and non-date-like.

They continued to chat about the upcoming holiday season and all the things Daniel wanted to do for the boys. It was a lovely afternoon, the air was getting cooler and Daniel knew soon he wouldn't want to come outside without a hoodie. As it stood, he was ok right now as long as the sun stayed out.

There was a stiff breeze and Daniel shivered, his oversized T-shirt no match for the cooler seabreeze. Max's laugh rang out happily as he noticed. 

“Daniel it's not even that cold yet.” Max teased. Daniel smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

“I'm baby ok!” Daniel complained with a pout. He watched as Max stood from his seat and took off the lightweight cardigan he had been wearing over his tshirt. The same cardigan Daniel had teased him for wearing, citing that he didn't need anything for the current temperature. Daniel had gone to Jimmy and Sassy and ‘whispered’ conspiratorially that he was better at Max in the cold.

Daniel's face reddened as Max dropped the body warmed fabric over his shoulders. It smelled like Max's cologne and deodorant. He looked up at Max's crinkley eyed smile, back lit by the bright blue sky and reminded himself multiple times that this wasn't a date. Max was just a nice, lovely, considerate person.

This wasn't a date, this was just friends getting lunch. Friends who happened to live together– temporarily. 

“Thank you Maxy.” Daniel said shyly. This wasn't a date.

“Oh, of course, it is no problem, Daniel.” Max said, slipping back into his chair. His shoulders seemed to broaden and get bigger now that they weren't being hidden by his sweater. Daniel looked away from Max's chest and biceps that were now indecently front and center. This wasn't a date.

But if it was, it would be simply lovely.

Part 17

[goldenempyrean]

sick!reader x yelena with the prompts: “Relax, its just a cold.” and "You know we own tissues for a reason, right?" where nat and wanda invite them over to a game night. reader sneezes and sniffles the whole time. when the girls realize their friend is feverish, they team up to take care of her (I hope you don’t mind doing yelena)

Game Night

〚 Notes - Wow! We’re back to getting to normal requests now, its been a long time! Hopefully you enjoy ;) Also, what are we thinking about this new post layout? Lemme know, I need outside opinions. Btw this fic is totally unedited as well ;) 〛

〚 Summary - You didn’t feel great. That was true. But you’d never admit that, especially not during game night. But what happens when your girlfriend finds out?〛

〚 Wordcount - 1300 〛

〘 Check Out My Masterlist! 〙

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“Hey guys, come on in!” Wanda smiled as she stood aside to let yourself and Yelena into her apartment.

Atleast once a month, you and your girlfriend Yelena always made time to head over to Natasha and Wanda’s apartment to spend a fun night catching up, watching movies and playing board games. It was a great way to catch up, and it allowed for the four of you to establish a pretty close bond which always came in handy during missions.

Only tonight was a little different, truth be told you didn’t exactly feel great. Your throat was uncomfortably scratchy and there had been that dull ache lingering in your head. If you were being honest, you would’ve preferred to stay home, curl up and try to sleep off whatever bug you’d caught before it hit you in full force but you couldn’t do that to Yelena. While you both loved these get-togethers, it was her who benefited the most. It was a chance for to spend time her sister and there was no way you’d cancel on that.

So you opted to stay silent. Sitting down in the living room, you were greeted by Natasha had who laid out a selection on board games.

“Which one do you wanna play first?” She asked, kissing Wanda’s cheek as she came to sit down beside her.

“I don’t mind.” You said but your voice ended with a rasp, sending you into a small coughing fit, “Sorry! Something just caught on my throat there.” You lied seeing Yelena glance towards you, a worried look behind her eyes.

“Let me get you some water” Nat offered, giving your shoulder a comforting squeeze as she stood up, “You lot should pick a game in the meantime.”

By the time Natasha returned with your water, the group had settled on playing Monopoly. Everything was great for the first half an hour, and everything had been going smoothly. That was until the pressure in your sinuses had gotten painful, giving you a rather unpleasant headache which you’d been your best to ignore but Yelena had caught you massaging your temples one too many times.

She waited until both Natasha and Wanda had left the room to grab snacks before turning to you, cupping your cheek as she looked over you, “Are you alright? You’ve been rather quiet today.”

“Im fine ‘Lena.” You tried to assure her, even adding a forced smile for good measure, “Just a little tired, that’s all, don’t worry.”

“Are you-“ She began but stopped seeing that Nat and Wanda had returned with food.

“Everything okay?” Wanda asked as she set down a bag of Doritos onto the coffee table, noticing the slight change in atmosphere.

“Yep, everything’s fine, me and Y/N were just-“

“Hh’tshoo!”

“Bless you.” The room chirped, but you couldn’t help but feel the anxious eyes of Yelena scanning over you once again.

“Im fine.”

“I didn’t say anything.” She smirked.

Over the next few hours, all you could do was sniffle. Nothing seemed to stop the constant running at the back of your nose, not to mention the headache which had felt like it amplified tenfold. But this time it wasn’t just Yelena who’d picked up on it, both Natasha and Wanda had noticed too. But you were desperate to see the night through, you had too.

Thankfully your sniffles seemed to die down for a little bit, well, that was until you’d felt that knowing tingle at the bridge of your nose and whilst you tried to tight against it, there was nothing you could do to stop it.

“Eiiishiew! Hh’ttshoo! Hh-hih’iiishiew!”

“Oh goodness, bless you!” Yelena cooed, rubbing her hand down your back as Wanda used her powers to levitate a box of tissues towards you.

“You feeling okay Y/N?” Natasha asked, exchanging uneasy glances with everyone, sharing her sister’s concern.

“Im fine, I swear, it’s probably just-“ You paused to yawn, unable to stop yourself from sniffling damply afterwards, “Im okay.”

The anxious faces of the three women met your own and your shoulders dropped seeing their concern, the concern which only grew seeing you break off into a series of deep chesty-sounding coughs moments later.

“You don’t sound very well.” Wanda said, being the first the voice the collective thoughts of the room.

At Wanda’s statement Yelena reached over and pressed her hand over your forehead, sighing deeply feeling your overly-warm skin, “I think you’re feverish sweetie, why didn’t you say anything?”

“Relax ‘Lena.” You sniffled, running your sleeve beneath your nose, grimacing as the rough texture irritated it, “Its just a cold, I’ll be fine.”

Nat and Wanda gave each other a knowing look and excused themselves from the room, letting the two of you talk privately.

“You know theres tissues here for a reason, right?” She sighed, pressing a bundle into your hand, “You been feeling icky all day?”

Taking the tissues, you blew your nose, before nodding. Not resisting when Yelena sighed again as she pulled you into a hug, “What are we going to do with you, ey? You’ll be okay sweetie.”

“I know but I didn’t want to spoil your night. I know you love it when we get together with Nat and Wanda, its really fun and I didn’t want either of us to miss out.” You sniffled before sneezing down into your tissue bundle, earning yourself a sympathetic noise from Yelena.

“You haven’t spoilt anything, I just hate to think you’ve been sat here not feeling well the whole time. I’d even say we could take you home right now but look.” Yelena paused, turning your attention to the window. Harsh rain had begun to pour from the skies outside, “Its pouring down. And theres no way I want us to walk back home in that weather, not with you already being ill.”

“We might have a solution for that.” Natasha smiled as she re-entered the room, followed closely behind by Wanda who was holding two small bottles.

“We thought maybe you’d both like to stay the night? Especially with the weather taking a turn for the worst outside.” Wanda offered before holding out the two bottles of medicine towards you, “This should help a little bit dear.”

“Thanks Wanda.” You gave her a small smile, setting the bottles next to you.

“I think sleeping over is a great idea though.” Yelena agreed, giving the two women a thankful nod, “Should we take your guest room?”

Natasha pursed her lips, “Actually, we’re currently doing up that room, the beds are in pieces at the moment but Wanda and I already agreed that Y/N should take our bed for the night, sleeping on the sofa isn’t going to help them feel any better.”

“I cant take your bed!” You tried to exclaim however the roughness of your throat caused you to break off into a fit of harsh coughing.

Yelena sighed again whilst cupping your cheek, “You definitely have a fever sweetie.” She affirmed, “You feel warmer then earlier.”

“We should get them to bed then.” Nat added, “You’ll feel better, cmon.”

With that said, Yelena helped you stand and you both followed Natasha and Wanda to their bedroom. Following their instructions as they guided you to lie down in their bed and it really wasn’t long before you were asleep. You really did need it afterall.

“They’ll be okay, they’ve probably just caught some kind of bug.” Natasha whispered to her sister as Wanda laid another blanket over you before coming to side beside her girlfriend.

“Thanks for taking care of them. It means a lot.” Yelena smiled, leaning down to press a tender kiss to your forehead before quietly leaving the room, letting you rest peacefully, “Hopefully they feel better in the morning.”

“Im sure they will.”

[akronus-writes]

Walking on a path of shattered glass chapter 4, nightmares from beyond the veil.

2 days later, I stand in front of the large mirror the motel I had rented on the outskirts of town, shifting the hooded black trench coat I had bought until it properly hid both my ears, and tail. with the current coma case I really couldn't afford someone calling me a demon.

"there, that should work," I commented, pulling the hood over my head as I picked up my phone and checked the time.

"11:30 am, I organized to speak to the investigator in about an hour,"

I put my phone back down as I fell onto the bed, content to wait out the next hour by going over my plan for the day, and began to speak aloud.

"at 12:30 I'll speak with the investigator and see if I can get any case record, reports, or possible evidence. After that I'll visit the victims houses and search for anything arcane, making sure not to get caught. And then I'll finish the day with some more reading into whatever the hell this could be. And hopefully not enter a coma when I go to sleep tonight,"

I used my finger to draw meaningless shapes in the air, sketching some strange pattern into the ceiling as I contemplated how much work I would need to put in today.

An hour later I slipped out of my door, locking it behind me as I walked out into the light of the sun, hood up to conceal my ears despite the searing heat of the outside world.

Quickly making my way into town, I find myself blending in surprisingly well with the locals, my strange outfit passing by the gaze of the grieving. The town itself is exotic to me, a quaint town you'd expect to find in a farming simulator, not a cosmic horror story.

Eventually I find myself outside my destination, a small bakery and coffee shop called the caffeinated croissant. I looked through a window with an emblem of a croissant being dipped in coffee, surveying the nearly empty shop for the detective.

I noticed him sitting in the corner booth, wearing a navy blue puffer jacket over a white dress shirt and black jeans, drinking a coffee as he checked his watch.

Before anyone could notice me spying, I quickly entered the shop, pushing the door open, causing a customary chime sound as I wordlessly strode in and sat down opposite the detective.

"I take it you're Akronus?" the detective asked in a strangely plain voice, not taking the time to look up from his drink.

"and you're the detective who offered me information," I answered, scanning him for any form of wire or weapon.

"correct, I can't tell you much, but I can tell you some bits most folks wouldn't know," He replied, taking a sip of his coffee.

"and in return I'll tell you what I know about it," I added, hoping to end the conversation quickly.

"yep, I guess you'll want me to start, so I'll tell you what I know," He took another sip of his coffee before continuing "roughly three weeks back a local man entered a coma at exactly midnight, next night it happened again, and then the next, and then the next, and there was no known cause either," He looked at me with a tired grin, "you know what that does to this kind of town? anyone who didn't end up comatose ran off a week ago, this towns got about a month let in it before it falls apart, so getting your help is one hell of a hail Mary," He finished his story with another drink of coffee, and I began mine.

"the reason this is happening isn't drugs, or a medical phenomena, it's the work of an eldritch being," I noticed the look I am so used to begin to spread across his face, and continued speaking "not Cthulhu, things that don't make sense. A monster that makes you forget your own face, insects under the skin of your furniture, that's what I'm talking about," I looked at his face, smirking under my mask at the mixture of shock and horror on his face, and slid him a slip of paper.

"this has my number on it, I'll call you tomorrow," I informed him, before briskly walking out of the shop, and disappearing back into the outside world.

An hour later I sat down under a tree in the only park in the town, right across the road from the house of the first victim. pulling up the article i had found on the event on my phone once more, I checked if it had mention any family members living at the address, and when it said he lives alone I made my move.

I quickly make my way out of the park, across the road, and around the house and into the backyard. It was already overgrown, the owner had clearly neglected it long before he entered a coma. Weaving my way past the forest of grass and weeds, I grabbed onto the bronze door knob of his backdoor, and quietly released a blast of arcane energy, not enough to hurt someone badly, just enough to break the lock.

In a subdued flash of purple light, the handle and lock fell apart in my hand, and with a light push the door swung open into a small kitchen illuminated by only the beams of sunlight that shone through dusty windows or the now opened door.

Slowly, I stepped into the house, taking care to not touch anything as I searched for the bedroom. Leaving the kitchen and entering the practically untouched living room, I ascended the stairs in the middle of the house, and opened the door at the end of the upstairs hallway.

upon opening the door, I walked into a cluttered mess of a room filled with more trash and garbage then I could even begin to believe. The room itself reminded me of humanities ability to create horror even in the absence of the arcane, every step I took inside of it threatened to topple some form of trash pile, and every sense I had wished to flay its respective sensory organ alive.

Eventually I managed to navigate my way to the foot of the bed, and activated my arcane sense to hopefully see the traces of energy left by the monster.

In an instant my vision was flooded with an ethereal purple energy radiating off of the room, blinding me as I visually searched the room for something that could denote the origins of the beast I faced.

And eventually I found it, an arcane symbol that I couldn't recognize engraved into the headboard of the bed in a much thicker layer of energy.

Quickly I memorized the sigil, left the room, descended the stairs, and left through the back door and made my way back to the motel room.

chapter 3. chapter 5.

@f4y3w00d5 @gobodegoblin @mango-the-neon-vigilante @monsterfucker-research-wizard @the-thing-of-worms @be-gentle-with-littluns-2