#i'm just going to pretend she has a mouth to make things easier

[httpsdana]

Hey there... before saying anything I want to say that you are such an amazing and talented writer like your fics are amazing.. I think dint have the right words just to express how good they are. Would you consider writing a request about kenan yildiz x reader where they started dating and it is serious and everything and she has a hashimoto which is an autoimmune disease and she is tired etc. And he kinda gets frustrated then worried about her like not being that involved in things. And he finding out about it. Angst to fluff long fic. Like she is afraid to tell him because she thinks he will leave her or something.

Say Something~Kenan Yildiz

・❥・prompt list

・❥・masterlist -> part 2

・❥・who I write for

・❥・a/n: this is like a very old request I'm sorry it took a lot of time. enjoy <33

She had never intended to keep it from Kenan, not exactly. But every time she opened her mouth to say something, fear crawled up her throat and choked the words before they could leave.

Hashimoto’s. An autoimmune disease. Something she'd been battling in silence for months before she even met him. Fatigue. Mood swings. Foggy thoughts. Random days when her body just shut down.

She thought it would get easier to tell him once they were officially together. It didn’t.

Because Kenan was sunshine. Bright eyes. Energy and purpose. Golden boy. And her?

She was tired. All the time. Exhausted from pretending to be okay.

It started with small things.

Cancelling plans. Skipping dates. Taking longer to text back. Nodding along when he talked, even though her head felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.

Kenan noticed. He always noticed.

But she always smiled just enough, kissed him just enough, to make him believe it was fine.

Until that night.

“Okay, I chopped the garlic. What’s next, Chef?” Kenan said playfully, bumping her hip with his.

She smiled, barely. “Just throw it in the pan.”

Kenan narrowed his eyes. “That’s it? No kiss for your handsome assistant?”

She leaned in, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then turned back to the stove, ignoring the way her knees trembled slightly beneath her.

He stared at her for a beat, before his curiosity got the best out of him.

“So you're gonna tell me what happened?”

“What?” she asked, not turning around.

“The boat date I planned. You bailed last minute. Said you were sick again.” He walked closer. “Babe… what’s really going on?”

“I told you,” she muttered. “Just a headache.”

“You’ve had, like, five ‘just headaches’ in two weeks.”

She turned to face him now, arms crossed. “So what? I can’t be tired?”

Kenan frowned, confused and hurt. “That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Then what are you saying, Kenan?”

“I don’t know!” he snapped, frustrated. “I just… I feel like you’re not here anymore. Like I’m dating a ghost. And I don’t get why.”

Her chest tightened at his words. “Maybe this is all I have to give.”

Silence. He didn't say anything, just stared at her stunned.

She turned back to the pan, blinking fast to stop the tears from falling. “Just go. I’ll finish cooking.”

Kenan took a step forward. “Baby… don’t do that please. Don’t shut me out.”

But her hand was already on the counter to steady herself. The room was spinning.

“Kenan, I-I just-”

And then everything went black.

Her body gave up, and Kenan caught her before she could hit the floor.

“Baby? Babe, wake up! What the hell-no, no, no-hey, stay with me, please-please-”

He didn’t remember much after that. Just the ambulance lights. The panic in his chest. The way her fingers felt so limp in his grip.

The waiting room was freezing. His knee bounced restlessly. Then he heard two doctors talking outside the ER doors.

“She collapsed from exhaustion again?”

“Yes, her Hashimoto’s disease can make it difficult when not carefully managed. Seems like she hasn't been taking her medication lately ”

Kenan froze.

What the hell was that?

He pulled out his phone.

“Hashimoto’s disease…”

Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis… immune system attacks the thyroid… leads to fatigue, weakness, brain fog, depression…

His heart dropped with every symptom.

It was all her.

Everything clicked, why she was always tired, always brushing him off, why she looked like she was breaking and didn’t want him to see.

She knew. And she never told him.

He walked into her room slowly. She was still unconscious, hooked up to monitors, a soft beeping tracking her heart.

He sat down beside her and reached for her hand.

“Angel…” he whispered, voice cracking.

She didn’t move.

He brought her hand to his lips, pressing soft kisses along her knuckles, the back of ber palm, each fingertip.

“I didn’t know,” he whispered. “God, baby, i swear I didn’t know. I thought you just didn’t want me anymore.”

His eyes filled with tears. “You were probably scared to tell me right?”

Another kiss to her hand. “ That wouldn't have changed anything. Never.”

He ran his thumb along her wrist. “I love you. Even if you’re tired. Even if you cancel dates. Even if you don’t feel like smiling. I still love every version of you.”

She stirred slightly, eyelashes fluttering.

Kenan leaned forward instantly. “Hey…hey, sweetheart. I’m here. I’ve got you.”

She blinked slowly, confusion in her eyes.

“K-Kenan…?”

“Yeah, baby. It’s me.” He smiled through the tears. “You fainted, but you’re okay now.”

Her eyes widened immediately. “The kitchen-oh my God-I didn’t mean to-”

“Shh, shh.” He cupped her face gently. “Don’t talk yet. Just breathe, yeah?”

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, tears spilling before she could stop them. “I didn’t want to hide it. I just-I didn’t know how to tell you. I thought you’d think I was broken or too much or-”

“Stop,” he said firmly, brushing her tears with his thumb. “You’re not broken. And I’m never going to think you’re too much.”

She let out a sob. “I didn’t want to lose you.”

He leaned in, kissing her forehead, her cheeks, the corner of her mouth.

“You could never lose me, angel,” he murmured. “You’re it for me.”

She closed her eyes, leaning into his touch. “I was so scared.” she whispered

“I know,” he whispered, voice thick. “But from now on… you’re not going through this alone. We’re gonna figure this out together, okay?”

She nodded, her breath hitching. “Okay.”

“Good girl,” he murmured, kissing the tip of her nose. “Now rest. I’ll be right here.”

And he was.

my taglist: @barcapix @paucubarsisimp @spidybaby @mxryxmfooty @n0vazsq @joaosnovia @ilovebarcaaaa @f1lover55 @jajajhaahaha @universefcb @mariejuli (lmk if you want to be added!!)

[webslingingslasher]

and peter never shuts up about trouble to may

she teases him for it all the time and when they finally make it official may tells trouble.

“i just knew you were the one for him, he always talks about you. that boy is head over heels”

trouble and frat peter are total endgame

AAAAAA WAIT WAIT PETER DROPPING THE BOMB W YOU IN HAND AND MAY FREAKS CAUSE SHE'S BEEN WAITING FOR IT SINCE HE STARTED TALKING ABOUT YOU.

---

may, never one to complain about another friendly face, was smiling hard at you.

'oh, hello! peter didn't say you were joining this weekend.'

she was extremely happy, it was the first weekend she's seen you after your split. she assumes her nephew made right like he said he would, it had been a quiet few weeks on peter's side.

'he wanted it to be a surprise, did it work?' may answers with giving you a tight hug, 'very. i missed you,' she lowers her voice, it doesn't do much. 'and he did too.'

'may.' peter doesn't like his secrets being told.

'oh, i know he did. he cried.' your hip was pinched, 'hey. no more.' he really doesn't like those secrets being told.

may gives another gentle squeeze before stepping back, she's about to give peter his own hug until you elbow him.

'sorry, i thought embarrassing you was in my job description now.'

'i'd prefer if it wasn't.' you loop your arm around him and lean a cheek on his shoulder. 'deal. can i still do it in private though?' immediate agreeance, 'absolutely.'

may sees nothing but pure love, she really hopes peter does it right this time around. peter places a kiss on your hairline before gently loosening his arm. 'i'm gonna set our stuff down, two seconds.'

it's more affection he's ever been open to sharing with may, she's caught kisses and soft touches before, but she can't place a time he's willingly done it in her eyesight. peter knows she'd tease him too much.

'i see things are going good?'

you feel shy, peter said he wanted it to be a surprise.

'very. i'm really, really happy. he um, he told me about everything.' may knows exactly what you're hinting at, not that her nephew filled her in on his plans. 'and everyone?'

you laugh lightly, 'yeah. i'm still trying to wrap my head around that, i have this weird new sense of worry now. i don't know how you do it.'

it's comforting she has someone to relate the anxiety to, it's a new feeling and it's something she never thought she'd be able to share.

'it gets easier, but it never goes away.'

'hey, hey, hey,' peter's voice becomes gradually louder when he picks up on the conversation. one look at you and you know what he's about to say, you can't even try to stop the smile.

'i just got her, let's not scare off my girlfriend, may.'

a sharp gasp, hands cover her mouth. 'shut up! you're lying!'

peter plays cool, 'i told you i was going to fix it.' you nod approvingly, 'he really did. he even... peter, you wanna show her or should i?'

'oh, i got it.' your boyfriend clears his throat, 'i love you.' loud and proud. it doesn't matter if he's said it a hundred times in the past month, it'll never get old. 'i love you, too.'

peter looks at may, 'you were right. there's nothing compared to that feeling.' your bottom lip pokes out, 'aw, petey!'

'i knew it! i knew you were the one and i knew he'd figure out a way to get you back and ah! i just knew it!' you were held tighter than before, a squeak has peter crossing the linoleum to your side.

may releases you to tug her nephew in for his own hug, she holds him tighter than you think you ever have. it's warm to know she wanted this just as much as you did.

'i'm proud of you,' it was quiet, not really meant for your ears. you'll pretend you didn't hear it. 'thanks, i am too.' since everyone's caught up and you have no reason to feel like a slight stranger, you hum around their bodies on a mission to the kitchen for the cookies you've been smelling since the second you walked in.

mumbling around a snickerdoodle, 'is this an okay time to tell you that i'd much prefer a batch of peanut butter cookies?' may turns to you with an amused look, you may have led on that peter's favorites were your own.

'what? i didn't want to feel like i was changing the routine. it's peter's fault, he knew and kept letting me lie.' peter clicks his tongue, 'oh, no, no, no. don't blame me, i told you i'd ask and you said i couldn't be trusted.'

'yeah, but,' you look at may for support. 'have you ever been at a friends house and ask for something and instead of your friend covering for you they're just like 'mom, may wants a popsicle!' and you feel like punching yourself in the head cause like, why would you do that to me?'

peter gasps, 'i would never! i would conceal a murder for you in ten seconds, you think i'd sell you out on some cookies?' may holds a hand to her chest, 'i would love to make you a batch of peanut butter cookies, or we could make them together and talk about peter.'

he shuts it down in a second. 'no, no talking of me. thank you.'

'well, since you're my boyfriend now i think i should finally be able to hear your embarrassing stories.'

'no, not allowed, trouble.'

'but i already love you!'

'and i'd prefer if we keep it that way.'

'i've loved you longer.'

you always have to one up him.

'fine. you get three, and nothing from middle school. we're not there yet.'

your teeth sink into a snickerdoodle, happiness you've never felt before hasn't faded in a month, if anything it's gotten brighter. you could really get used to this.

may can't remember the last time her apartment was filled with this much love.

[steventhusiast]

STWG daily prompt 14/9/23

prompt: "You know what? It's not me, it's you."

pairing/character(s): steddie

-

Steve tries to ignore his father's irritated gaze as he eats his food. Bringing Eddie to a rare dinner with his parents was definitely a bold move, but he knows that if Eddie wasn't here he wouldn't survive it. Steve could barely force himself to come back to Hawkins for it, but his mother had guilted him into it.

It's so hard to pretend not to be hurt when his parents ask him things that prove they know nothing about him. (Especially now that he's nearing thirty and has started thinking about having kids himself.) But it's easier with Eddie's hand on his knee, his thumb rubbing back and forth for comfort.

"Steven, I thought I told you this was a family dinner." Robert says, pointedly looking over at Eddie.

To his credit, Eddie looks very comfortable despite the uncomfortable situation. He's meeting Robert's eyes for the subtle glares, and hasn't toned himself down at all. Steve's so glad he's here.

"Yep. You did." Steve answers his father, voice clipped.

Robert rolls his eyes, and that's when Linda finally speaks up. She's nicer about things than Robert is, but it couldn't be more fake. She offers Eddie and Steve a very tense fake smile.

"I think what Robert's trying to say is that we didn't expect you to bring a friend, sweetheart."

This time Steve rolls his eyes. How many times does he have to come out to them for them to stop ignoring it.

"Eddie's not a friend, mom. You know this."

"Steven." Robert warns.

"No, dad. I'm fucking tired of it." Steve says with an incredulous laugh, and Eddie gives his knee a gentle squeeze to catch his gaze.

"It's okay, Stevie."

The sweet tone of Eddie's voice calms Steve a little, and he's about to take a deep breath when Robert slices through the sweet moment.

"Now you're letting him call you a girl's name? I can't believe what this miscreant is doing to you, Steven."

Eddie rolls his eyes at the comment, and from the set of his jaw Steve knows he's gritting his teeth to hold himself back.

"You used to be such a lovely boy, Steven. But if you're still... Adamant about this lifestyle, then I don't know if we can support it. It's very unreasonable and irresponsible of you." Linda adds on.

Steve laughs again at the insinuation that they've ever supported him at all, and lifts a hand to run through his hair as he thinks through his next words.

"No, mom. You know what? It's not me that's being an unreasonable piece of shit here. It's you two. You practically dragged me back to this shithole because you're 'grieving' grandma. I didn't want to come. I don't want to be here right now. But I am. And you're just..." He trails off and makes a vague gesture to the two of them.

Linda's mouth has dropped open from her own son swearing at her, and Robert's face is twisted into an expression of anger. Steve doesn't know why he thought this was anywhere close to a good idea.

"I mean what is this? Why am I here? I am twenty nine years old, and I will not sit here and listen to you talk to the man I love like this."

He makes direct eye contact with Robert as he speaks, not softening his glare at all. If his parents are going to drop the facade of respect, so is he. In fact, after glaring at his parents for a few seconds, he just gets up, grabs Eddie's hand, and pulls him toward the door.

"Fuck this." He mutters as they leave.

"That sucked." Eddie comments once they're in their car, and Steve huffs out a strained laugh as he nods. Now that they're out of that situation, and his adrenaline is starting to crash, inexplicable tears are starting to well in his eyes, "But you have also never been hotter. Standing up to the man like that? Most elaborate foreplay ever, Stevie-bee."

And then the ridiculousness of that comment shocks a laugh out of him, and the tears are gone. He grins over at Eddie and shakes his head at how Eddie's clearly holding back his own laughter.

God, he loves him.

[khywren]

find the word tag

rules: i'll give you five words. find the word (or closest approximation you can) in your works and post an excerpt. tag others to play and give them new words too!

thanks so much for the tags, @xxnashiraxx, @vividiana, @deadly-diminuendo, @bloodinwine! i am, of course, doing every single one of all your words, so this one's gonna be a bit long, but why not? it was fun going back through some of the fics i haven't looked at in a long time~

dream

In her struggle to wake, she had anchored herself to his presence in her own mind, heart thundering loudly in her chest as she had finally torn herself from the dream as if surfacing for air.

( adrift, chapter 1 )

fire

When he pulls back to look at you, his eyes are the fire that finally sets you alight, blazing red embers that simmer with need. You feel warm, almost deliriously so, as the heat that had been pooling low in your stomach begins to ebb throughout the rest of your body.

( denouement )

pull

The anger that's been simmering inside him erupts, and his eyes flash in warning. But she meets his ire with determination, either too drunk or too stupid to realize what she's done. The memories she's pulled to the surface, long since locked away.

( mist and shadow )

sweet

( vis medicatrix )

His eyes pin you in place, wine-dark and hungry. You're left with no option but to look at him as he watches you carefully, considering. “Or are we going to pretend that you're not aching for my cock already?” His voice is honey-sweet, rich and thick and sinfully decadent.

tears

Tears well in her eyes, blurring her vision. Ysera brushes them away with the back of her hand. She seethes with anger, both for herself and for the lives that were lost because of her inaction. Astarion practically wilts beneath the venom in her gaze. Her voice is strained and stretched thin when she finally finds it. “You really are awful, you know?”

( adrift, unpublished chapter )

sunshine

The roaring of the rapids is what finally catches her interest, and she stops on the river’s edge, gaze trained on the churning, frothing water as it rushes past. The whispers in her mind are an ever-present companion, especially after sunset, like an itch she can't quite scratch. It's easier to drown out their mournful serenade here where there is so much else to draw her attention.

( adrift, chapter 3 )

melt

The snow is falling thickly now, settling in an icy blanket along the rooftops nearby. Astarion makes a small noise and sighs quietly through his nose, resisting the voice in his head that tells him how ridiculous he must look when he sticks out his tongue to catch a snowflake drifting towards him. No sooner has it melted on his tongue than does he hear Ysera's muffled laughter beside him, hand clapped over her mouth when he turns to frown at her.

( frost & flame )

stay

( adrift, chapter 5 )

It's almost concerning how much she likes it. How, for the first time in her life, she feels like she can be of use to someone, instead of just a burden. She likes that, too. Astarion makes a show of gathering the remaining blood on the corners of his mouth with a flick of his thumb and licks the digit clean. He never stays for long once he's finished with her, but tonight it seems he has other plans in mind, and it's more than just the weather that's keeping him.

smile

Astarion’s mouth was made for sly smirks and flirtatious grins, but the tender smile that spreads across his lips now looks better than any of them, the hard edges of his face smoothed by Gale’s profession of love. It suits him, Gale thinks – he will dedicate his efforts to ensuring that Astarion will never again need to hide behind the echoes of his past.

( between the lines of fear and blame )

greed

“Greedy little thing aren't you?” he says, his eyes darkening. He steadies himself with a hand on your hip and hovers over you, lowering his mouth until he's just above your lips. “How lucky for you that I'm feeling exceptionally generous tonight.”

( ravenous )

blood

His rage is a volatile thing, barely leashed behind the fangs he presses into her throat. A soft whimper escapes Ysera's lips, and she clutches at his shirt. Somewhere on the periphery of his mind, he realizes he's hurting her, but the rush of blood that pours into his mouth as he punctures her neck without warning washes the thought away on a current of red. Her pulse pounds in his ears, and with every swallow he can feel his own strength returning. He had been purposely avoiding her before, vexed by his concern for her wellbeing, but it all seems so pointless now.

( mist and shadow )

lips

( khywren's kinktober 2024, prompt 8 )

“You’ve got me dead to rights,” he says eventually, hands held up in surrender. The irony occurs to him, then, and he giggles mischievously, “Well, even more dead than I already am, of course.” When she doesn't laugh at his joke, his expression sours, lips pursed as he pouts miserably at her and sighs. “My humor is wasted on you.”

sun

“She sat with me until sundown and made sure that we – that I – had somewhere safe to go,” Astarion continues. His smile turns sardonic as he adds, “In that moment, all I could think of was how weak and ashamed I felt, and she never made me apologize for any of it. She never has. I've never understood why.”

( khywren's kinktober 2024, prompt 11 )

tempt

“I’ve been thinking about it ceaselessly, that delicious little moment we shared.” His voice is low, all gravel and practiced temptation, so quiet that it forces Ysera to focus only on him. And it's not exactly a lie, far easier to weave into the fabric of the fantasy he hopes to paint in her mind.

( adrift, chapter 5 )

adore

There's a sort of aloof detachment in her voice that Astarion finds rather amusing. It's the same sort of subterfuge he often uses, one of his favorite habits that she's picked up from traveling with him these past few weeks. Oh, she isn't nearly half as subtle about it, wiggling her hips in his lap as she is now, but gods if her efforts aren't adorable nevertheless. Astarion spares a cursory glance at the book in her hand, a roguish grin spreading across his face as he finally understands why Ysera chose this night in particular to pay him a late night visit.

( khywren's kinktober 2024, prompt 4 )

soft

With a soft sigh, Astarion grasps Gale’s hand and brings it between them, lacing their fingers together. He smooths the pad of his thumb across the back of Gale’s hand with absent, subconscious strokes. It is a profoundly romantic gesture, one of many that Astarion has gained a proclivity for since their settling in Gale’s tower in Waterdeep. Through mirroring the comfort that Gale’s touch has brought him during their time together, Astarion has begun to learn how to use his hands not to hurt, but to heal.

( between the lines of fear and blame )

lust

( what am i supposed to do (but sink my teeth in you?) )

He revels in bringing her this uncontested pleasure, safe in the knowledge that no one has ever made her feel so whole, so complete. His eyes rise to meet her own, so dark with lust that the rich gold of her irises has become like molten honey. She watches him with rapt attention, committing the moment to memory as best she can.

promise

( mist and shadow )

One after another over the course of the evening, he has watched from afar as the tieflings that had survived the journey to Last Light have circled her like vultures, taking what they needed from her – reassurance, hope, a promise to ensure their safety. Alfira is but the latest scavenger, coming to collect the final scraps. And Astarion is furious. At the tieflings, for being too weak to carry their own weight. At Ysera, for letting them use her without a second thought. And at himself, for being no better than any of them.

faith

“The terms seem rather generous, don't you think? You have so little faith in me.” She clearly doesn't believe that he can avoid waking her, even with the tea to lull her into a deeper sleep. “I'll remind you that I am a rogue – and a rather skilled one at that.” Ysera remains unconvinced. “You're also a man,” she says confidently. “Most of you lose all rational thought the second the clothes start coming off.”

( khywren's kinktober 2024, prompt 6 )

death

Astarion had begun his new life – his undeath – on his knees. How strange it had felt, to be on the other side of the equation, as Ysera had knelt so willingly at his feet and offered herself to him with no strings attached.

What else might she be willing to do for him with the right amount of persuasion?

( adrift, chapter 5 )

i know most of you have been tagged or done this already, but if any of you feel like doing it again, here's your chance i guess. 😅 that's what i get for always being super late to the party.

no-pressure tagging: everyone who tagged me, plus @verbenaa, @nyx-knox, @roguishcat, @pinkberrytea, @obsessedwhyyes, @elinorbard, @ladyduellist, @nerdallwritey, @hellethil

my words: caress, fang, embrace, brush, smirk

[the-fiction-witch]

May I?

Media - The Maze Runner Series Characters - Newt Couples - Newt X Reader Rating - 18 + ABUSE/ abusive parents/ fingering/ nudity/ bj/ eating out/ breast play/ nipple play/ pinv/ full sex/ raw sex/ Word Count - 4944

Newt lay snuggly in the warm, soft sheets of the base. His arm draped half off his top bunk, enjoying the real bed after so very long. But a noise stirred him slightly, a clattering of metal and a scrape of plastic wheels. He didn't think much of it, maybe someone was just shifting in bed or a nurse moving people around outside the door.

But the sound got louder and louder until even if his eyes were closed he saw light flood the room. He just pretended to be asleep keeping his eyes closed and listening.

There were heavy footsteps, and mutterings he couldn't make out at first so he listened closer,

"They're out. All of them."

"Good. Makes this easier."

"Shall we get moving?"

"Go on, just make sure not to bruise him up. Don't want the other's noticing too much."

He felt hands reach out and grab for him in the darkness, making him flip out and yell protesting against these men.

"Get him out. Now." Janson ordered,

A hand clamped over Newt's mouth silencing him and keeping him still as a blue needle was shot into his neck. The moment the liquid was gone he began to feel dizzy and drowsy his eyes fluttering closed. The men tossed his body down onto the stretcher and buckled him into restraints.

Newt tried desperately to fight against them but he had no energy to do so and the last thing he remembered before slipping beyond consciousness.

Was a large white room with blue screens, and a man all in white looming over him.

"I'd say you won't remember a thing, but that's not strictly true. You'll remember everything."

Newt woke in a brightly lit room. When his eyes cleared, he saw he wasn't alone. Across the table from him was Janson. But Newt felt strange to see him. He was still frightened, still hesitant, still suspicious, but now he felt he had a hundred more reasons why. The more he looked him over, the more memories returned to him, and one made itself known so strongly in his mind that he had to speak it.

"D-Dad?"

"Hello, Newt." Janson smiled,

"Wha- what's going on?"

"Your memories will return, it takes time. A few days to remember everything."

"Wh- why am I here?"

"We need to have a little chat,"

"About what?"

"I sent you into the maze with a purpose. Do you remember?"

"…No," He shook his head,

"I sent you there, to keep them there. Use your skills to build the glade, keep them alive, and keep them all safe and sound in the glade."

"I was?"

"You were. and you failed." Janson said, "I'm not angry. Just… disappointed in all the work we put in."

"I- I'm sorry I didn't know I-"

"Perhaps keeping your mind with theirs was part of the issue. You couldn't retain your purpose after the wipe. But no matter, you won't be making that mistake again."

"I won't?"

"No. We've restored your memories, and we're giving you this." Janson said sliding across a small communicator and tracker, small enough to fit inside his ear, "And giving you a new job."

"Which is?"

"Keep them here," Janson ordered,

"What?"

"Keep them in the facility, and if they do happen to escape and try and run off god knows where. Remind them what Wicked has given them. Remind them to come home."

"Why would I do that? There my friends. And they don't have any reason to trust you."

"No, but they trust you." Janson said, "And you trust me… don't you?"

"I-..Yes."

"Good, do your job and I promise you and your friends will be safe."

Newt wandered back to the dormitory still fiddling with the communicator and how strange it felt in his ear.

"Where the hell have you been!" Minho snapped as he got back,

"Ohh I had to go see a doctor." Newt lies,

"Are you alright Newt?" Y/n asked as she came closer,

"Nothing to worry about, I just had a bit of a tummy ache that's all." He shrugged to everyone,

"So long as you're okay." she smiled,

"Good your back," Thomas nodded, "Cause we're getting out of here."

Immediately he heard his communicator hiss on, meaning his father and others were listening, "Wh-What?"

Thomas revealed the pass he had stolen, "We need to find out what's on the other side of that door. If no one leaves we need to know. and we need to get out of here." Thomas explained, "There hiding something! These people are not who they say they are."

"Keep them out of that room." Janson's voice echoed through his ear making him flinch slightly,

"No!" Newt spoke up,

"What?" Y/n asked,

"No, you don't know that." Newt tried to reason with him, "All we do know. They helped rescue us from wicked. They gave us food, new clothes, a proper bed."

Thomas began, "I know but-"

"Some of us haven't had that in a long time." Newt told him, "Some of us… a lot longer than others."

"Good. Good work." Janson told him before the hiss fizzled out,

But Aris burst through their vent and ushered thomas away anyway,

"Maybe you guys are right, maybe I'm just being paranoid. But I need to know." Thomas nodded before he scampered away.

Newt sat waiting for thomas to return already feeling a little strange for guilt-tripping his friends. Y/n soon came and sat down beside him, He didn't pay her much attention, he barely ever did. She'd been in the glade as long as he had and didn't really think much about her as she kept to herself mostly.

"Newt? Are you feeling okay?"

"Humm ohh yeah I'm fine."

"How's your stomach?"

"Wh- Oh! Yeah, yeah feels better now they gave me some medicine."

"Good, I'm happy you're feeling better then." she smiled,

Before he could say another word Thomas and Aris returned bursting through the vent in a mass of shouting and panic,

"We have to go! We have to go now!"

Immediately he heard the hiss and flinched again,

"Newt? You alright?" Y/n asked having noticed him do it this time,

"Yeah… yeah just uhh just my ear being weird again." Newt brushed her off, "What's going on? What did you see?"

"We have to go. We have to go!" Thomas yelled again trying to tie a blanket around the door,

"Thomas will you just stop and talk to us!"

"It's wicked!" He yelled and everyone silenced, "It's wicked. It's still wicked. It's always been wicked. We have to get out of here! Now!"

Newt tried to think of something, anything he could say to make them stay as everyone made their way into the vent to escape.

"Let them go. Stay with them. we'll track you just stay close and we'll turn them around once they calm down." Janson ordered,

"Okay…" Newt agreed,

"Newt come on, Aren't you coming?" Y/n asked,

"Yeah! Yes, I'm coming." Newt nodded following her into the vent.

Finally, after the madness of the escape, they had a moment of respite inside an abandoned mall. And finally, thomas explained what he saw. The tales of bodies, blue liquid, faces behind glass. It all resonated with all of them. Even Newt as more and more of his memories were returning to him many of which he didn't want to see again.

"Okay…" Newt nodded, "So what's your plan?"

"I… well…" Thomas began,

"You do have a plan right?" Newt asked,

Thomas had no answer,

"Well we followed you out here thomas and now you're saying you have no idea where we're going or what we're doing?!"

"Good… Very good," Janson whispered in his ear,

"Well… Janson… he said something about people in the mountains some kinda resistance or …amry." Aris explained,

"If that's true… they can help us," Thomas added,

"The right arm is a myth. Ghosts and nothing more." Janson whispered,

"…People? In the mountains? Mountain people? That's your plan!" Newt asked,

"What other choice do we have? We gather supplies and head out first light." Thomas explained,

They walked the dry, dusty sand for days wrapped up and bundled with supplies any chance Newt got he tried to reason with thomas and let him see his madness, but he never listened. Any chance he got to lead them in circles he did making it easier to be found or get them lost.

They stopped for the night by some half-buried cars and built a fire for the night. Still grieving the loss of Winston.

"I thought we were supposed to be immune," Minho said,

"Not all of us." Teresa sighed as she reclined to Newt's side,

Newt had begun to notice how close to him Teresa had seemed to stick, she had been pushing thomas to go back just far less subtle than Newt was. He wondered if he had convinced her… or if she too had an unknown agenda.

"If Winston got infected… we should assume so can the rest of us," Newt told them,

discussions continued about what they could do to keep themselves safe and Y/n came and sat down beside Newt to make her bed for the night.

"You mind?"

"No, go on Y/n." he smiled at her,

"Thanks," she smiled, "…Newt?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I tell you something?"

"Course,"

"…I kinda miss the glade."

"You do?"

"Umm… it wasn't always nice but… it was home you know."

"Yeah, we did really make it out home didn't we." he smiled, "I miss it too… Just the little things like where the sun used to hit the Glade at that perfect moment right before it slipped beneath the walls. The taste of Frypan's stew. I never thought I'd miss that stuff so much"

Y/n laughed, "It seems a far cry now… I'd sell all jackets for a taste of bacon now."

He laughed too, "Yeah, I would too… would… would you want to go back?"

"…No." She answered, "I miss it. But we can't go back. Only ever forward. I know we'll find something as nice… someday." she smiled leaning her head briefly on Newt's shoulder,

He gasped a little and felt butterflies in his stomach, he looked down at her and… he realized he'd never really looked at her. Well of course he had! But… never LOOKED at her. He just saw her, as the girl of the group their grubby little girl who never much involved herself with them. He'd never really thought about her as… a girl. Just another glader. But now as she sat in the said her head rested on his shoulder, looking down at her big Y/e/C eyes and Y/H/C plaited hair dusted with sand.

"You're really cute-" He said before he even had time to stop the words coming out his mouth,

Y/n laughed, "Thanks Newt." she smiled, "You're cute too."

Newt blushed unlike anything he ever had before, he felt happy and giddy, like he wanted to hear her call him that forever. "get some rest Nat. I'll look after you,"

"Thanks, newt." She nodded,

The further they got from Wicked the more nervous Newt became, constantly getting ordered and barked into his ear to convince his friends to turn back. Or reveal their cover in some stupid way. When thomas went off on his own he tried to take charge but Minho took the lead and kept them going and Newt for whatever reason just couldn't get through to Minho. And neither could Teresa. They made sure to get where thomas would go and luckily found him again. Teresa worked more intensely making sure Thomas began to fear and hesitate after all both had already built.

But for now, he was resting.

Newt wandered the house unable to rest himself, he hadn't seen Y/n for a few hours and he was getting worried about her.

But he soon found her, down in the party dancing.

"Y/n? What are you doing down-" He began trying to usher her away but she gave him a drink,

"Dancing." she giggled,

The drink made his head fuzzy and his mind a little cloudy,

"Dance with me Newt." She cooed,

"Ih uhh… Okay…" he nodded taking her hands,

The music seemed to vibrate the floor and their bodies, their dancing growing closer and closer, the hissing in his ear didn't seem to bother him, not when he was looking at Y/n. As the drink clouded his mind more and more, his memories became clearer.

The life he once had before all this happened, the kind of father Janson was. He was cruel, abusive, belittling Newt for every little thing.

He then began to think of his time in the glade, all his friends, Y/n… he just came up one day and they all accepted him, without trial or hurt they all became his family.

He wondered… after this was done, and he brought his friends back to his father… what sort of life they would have. God knows what Janson would do to thomas, to Minho, to Fry and … what he would do to Y/n. Would he suffer the same fate as his friends? His father seemed to have no quells with tossing him in the maze with them, who's to say he wouldn't suffer with them too? And even if he didn't… could he live with himself if he watched his friends suffer? Would he even be safe with Janson if he did keep his word?

He thought of a life with Janson, locked away in some bunker. Watching his friends suffer. To live his life under his father's backhand.

But… then… He imagined a green place, where flowers and food grow, a little wood house by a river, and Y/n… In a cotton dress with a swollen belly. He imagined children running around and laughing.

Newt… so badly wanted this life.

This life with her.

But he knew, with his father's control… it would never be true.

"Newt?" Y/n asked waking him out of his dreams,

"Yeah?"

"I missed you,"

"I missed you too," He cooed pulling her a little closer as they danced, "Y/n…"

"Yeah?"

"I- I really like you."

"I like you too." she giggled her eyes fluttering to his lips,

He smiled and glanced down at her's too,

And without really thinking he closed the gap and kissed her.

Newt sat by the sea at Right Arms camp, doing his best to block out the stupid communicator's hiss. Y/n sat beside him her head on his shoulder.

But she yawned,

"Ooohh big yawn. You sleepy?"

"Mhm." she nodded,

"Go on, get some rest." he cooed kissing her head,

"I will, You should too." She told him,

"I'll be alright a while longer,"

"Where are you even sleeping anyway?"

"The boys found a little hammock for me in their tent."

"Ohh… seems crowded."

"No more crowded than the homestead ever was." he laughed,

"I guess…" she nodded, "Well I always have some space in my tent… if you wanted?"

"Yeah?"

"Mhm."

"No, it's okay. I don't wanna be a bother."

"Alright. If you're sure." She nodded, "Goodnight Newt."

"Goodnight Nat." he cooed back,

The two shared a kiss before she headed off to her tent.

Newt sat there for a while longer, pondering to himself. He felt so dirty for all he had done. And he couldn't help this stupid dream of a life he and Y/n could have without Wicked. Without Janson. And in that moment he knew what he wanted. The life he wanted. He pulled the comunicator from his ear hearing it beep and whir at the removal. He stood and walked to the water and without a single hesitation, he tossed it as hard as he could out and into the water. The waves quickly swallowed it up and Newt stood for the first time since the maze… in complete silence. He sighed feeling so free and happy with it gone. Without his father whispering in his ear… he asked himself… what he even wanted to do now. And he knew what he wanted to do next.

He marched with purpose through the camp to Y/n's tent where he found her already laid in her makeshift bed.

"Hey,"

"Hey…" She yawned,

"You mind?" he smiled coming closer to her bed,

She giggled and smiled, "No, come on."

Newt happily tossed his jacket, kicked off his cargo trousers and climbed into the bed with her wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer. "Y/n?"

"Yes, Newt?"

"… I love you," he whispered against her lips,

"Awww I love you too." She cooed,

Their kisses grew deeper and deeper the longer they went on, turning from innocent sweet kisses to longer and more passionate makeouts, their bodies pressed together tightly.

Slowly her hands began to wander stroking his chest and arms, his own slid up her back and hips a few times before in a bolder move as they swirled their tongues together his hands moved down from her hips to cup her backside. His hands and fingers dug into the flesh below her shorts and forced a groan from his lips, in return, Y/n began to tug at his shirt. So Newt pulled back from, her lips to toss it over his head quickly returning to the kiss letting her hands roam his chest whilst he gave her backside a good squeeze. He could feel his cock getting harder in his boxers and in a surge of confidence again he pushed his hips against her's making sure she felt it.

Y/n Gasped and slightly giggled, pulling Newt on top of her as she lay on her back.

He of course did so kneeling above her his hands trailing up her sides to cup her breasts squeezing them through her shirt and groaning as they bounce without her bra. He pulled back to kiss down her neck leaving a trail of hickeys as he went.

"Please…. please can I-" He asked tugging at her shirt,

"You can." Y/n nodded helping him,

Once she was revealed newt moaned and kissed all over her breasts squeezing and rubbing as he did. He rubbed her nipples as they got hard before he licked and suckled at one of them.

Y/n playfully squealed and giggled pushing him back, "May I?"

"Yes…" he gasped,

so she pulled off his boxers revealing his hard cock,

he hissed at his reveal to the cold air and kicked off his boxers for her,

Y/n without hesitation sat up on her knees and peppered his shaft with kisses and licks.

"Ughhh Y/n!" He moaned throwing his head back and trying hard not to buck his hips into her mouth,

She wrapped her lips around him and began to suck which pulled so many moans and groans from him.

Newt's mind was lost to the sensation of her mouth mentally screaming at himself for not telling her he liked her earlier! Imagining so many lonely glade nights he could have gotten this feeling. But he pushed her back against the bed and smirked,

"May I?"

"You may." she nodded,

So he tugged off her little shorts revealing her wet folds to him, "fuck…" he gasped before he dove down grabbing her thighs to part them and burrowing himself against her, kissing, licking and sucking her flavours.

Y/n moaned loudly and arched her back her hand coming and wrapping in his hair,

But Newt was so lost in pleasuring her he didn't care, adoring her taste and moans far more than he ever thought he would. He moved his hand up to slip two fingers inside her which made her scream for his every moment. So he made sure to keep going, sucking, licking and thrusting his fingers desperate to make her feel as good as she made him feel.

Y/n soon stopped him pushing him back pulling him into a hot kiss, and rubbing her hips on his. "Shall we?"

"Hell yeah." he agreed, He stroked himself a couple of times making sure he was rock hard and ready before he gently and slowly lined himself up and slipped in,

Y/n gasped and squirmed a little as he got deeper and deeper inside her before letting out a long breath as he was fully inside. "OOoh Newt…" she blushed,

"Uhgh Y/n… god you feel so good." he groaned back barely able to stop his hips from moving just from the feel of her,

"So do you." She cooed, guiding his hips to help him get started,

He began slow and tender following her guidance but he soon didn't need it finding his pace and her limits very quickly.

Grunting, groaning and moaning as they each felt wave after wave of pleasure together. Each gets lost in the sensation and the other.

Newt moved his hand on her clit rubbing it softly in time with his now fast thrusts which made Y/n scream and moan below him.

He knew she was close and so did she pulling him into heavy kisses full of lust as she began begging him to keep going,

"Please… don't stop- don't slow keep goin-" She begged before her orgasm hit her sending her toppling over the edge of pleasure clenching around Newt's shaft and squealing his name,

The feeling itself was enough for him too, moaning her name against her neck and then a string of grunts and moans as he felt the pleasure wash from his head to his toes making his fingers grip her body tight as he sent his semen deep inside of her,

"Holy… god… damn… fuck." he groaned collapsing down beside her,

"Hell yeah," She agreed, "Love you." she cooed nuzzling up to his chest as they gasped and calmed down from their sweaty highs."

"Love you too." He gasped wrapping his arms around her and kissing her head,

Newt yawned feeling VERY tired from last night, but also with a joyful glow that couldn't be compared to anything else. He'd spent the whole time at the Right arm camp just snuggled with his beloved girlfriend. Much to the annoyance of the tents nearby. But he didn't care! He was free! He was in love! The whole world seemed bright and wonderful again.

He ventured out of the tent, after a good half hour of kissing and convincing, to go and grab some food for them.

But as he did, he spotted Teresa up on the rocks. He got a little worried so decided to head up there.

"Teresa? You Okay?" He asked,

"Newt… He got so worried." She gasped,

"Who?"

"Janson," she whispered,

"Wha- you- you know-"

She pushed back her hair and revealed her own communicator,

"All this time… you were-"

She nodded, "What happened? Why did you take it out? He got so worried you'd done something awful."

"No. No. I don't want any part of this. And you can tell him that too. I don't want this. I don't want anything to do with this." he told her, "Just leave me alone-"

As he went to leave she grabbed his arm, "It's too late for that. You and I. We're going home."

"What did you do?"

The sounds echoed through camp the bergs approaching,

"They promised we'd be safe. You and Me." She cooed trying to lean in and kiss him but he pushed her away and bolted down into camp, finding Y/n.

"We need to leave."

"What's going on!"

"We need to go! Now!" He told her to pack up as much as they could carry and they ran out hand in hand but it was too late.

The berg landed and men flooded camp stunning everyone in sight, They tried to run and get away but they were soon captured and tossed on the ground with the rest of the gladers.

And soon enough another Berg landed, and out walked Janson.

"Good evening. A pleasure to see you all again. Lost a few here and there but No harm done really."

"Let us go!" Thomas demanded,

"Ohh no, you're far too valuable for that. We even had insurance on you all. But you've had your run out. Let's get on back now."

"Insurance? What are you talking about!" Minho yelled,

Newt's blood ran cold, he squeezed Y/n's arm tightly knowing what was about to happen.

Janson stepped closer and smirked down at him, "Hello kiddo."

"Fuck you." Newt snapped back only for Janson to slap him across the face,

"Newt!" Y/n gasped trying to comfort him,

"You had a rat. trying to convince you to turn back." Teresa smiled as she stood with Janson,

"Newt…" Y/n pleaded,

"He was trying to make you come back, and letting us track him the whole time," Janson explained,

The boys gasped and began to argue even if Newt couldn't speak, at first they didn't believe it but it all made too much sense.

"He called them here. to take you all home." Teresa lied,

Y/n looked at him so utterly heartbroken, "Newt… please… it's not true?"

He couldn't answer her tears in his eyes, "I… I was." he admitted, "But! I promise I stopped! I didn't bring them here! I promise you I didn't, I gave up becuase I knew it was wrong, Please believe me Nat Please! You know I love you I'd never lie to you."

"You bastard!" Minho went to attack him managing one punch,

Before a full riot kicked off as the right arm attacked the wicked men,

Newt thought on the side of his friends even if they didn't want him there, doing everything he could to prove to them he was on their side.

But it wasn't enough when the men got hold of him. They wouldn't fight to get him back.

"Noo! Nooo please!" Newt begged them, pleading with them but they didn't. He was dragged away back to the Berg with Janson and Teresa.

Minho being the last to fall and be carted inside, "Y/n Please!" Newt begged her as he watched her tear-stained heartbroken face as the berg closed behind them.

Newt sat in a cold and harsh cell. Every day the men would come and drag him off for tests and experiments. Like he was nothing more than a rat in a cage. But… some days Janson would come. And those were the days he hated the most. Janson would belittle him, beat him, and do everything he did when Newt was a child. Without mercy or remoce. He called it punishment, for disobeying his orders. Janson told him he would hunt Y/n down and the only time he'd ever see her again was when her body was tossed in with him to die together. Such a promise always made him cry. He didn't want anything to happen to Y/n… he's hurt her enough.

Newt was convinced this was his end, that this was the room he'd die in.

He'd begun to grow numb from the torture but whenever he did it just became worse.

He hoped his friends would save him.

But he prayed for death.

One night he heard the cell unlock, and he begged it wasn't his father.

But when he looked up, he saw Thomas. Fry. Minho. All stood before him.

"No… no… I'm imagining you." he cried,

"You're not. Even if maybe you should be." Minho snapped,

"We know what you did Newt." Thomas began, "…But we know why you did it."

"And no matter what you did. You're still our friend." Fry told him,

"You- You forgive me?"

"Not by a long shot." Minho sighed, "But… we can't leave you here."

Thomas came to work at removing Newt's restraints. "Y/n found the files. Explained everything that happened. It was a shit situation and … we know you didn't have a choice. You're still our friend and we understand… why you did what you did."

"Thank you." Newt cried, "But you should leave me. Let me suffer for what I did."

"Can't do that man." Fry told him as they got him loose, "We can't leave you behind. Not minho. Not you. Not anyone." He explained, "Besides… you got work to do."

"I- I do-"

"Y/n… is gonna need a word with you when you get back." Thomas chuckled,

Newt woke feeling groggy and tired. The medics had done the best they could to fix Newt up even if there were many scars on his body and his mind that would take a good time to heal if they ever would. He'd barely been conscious since their return but he always heard Y/n's voice. As she watched over him.

He peeled open his eyes and glanced around the ship's infirmary as he had for the last few days, his body aware of the waves and movement even if it wasn't visible.

"Hey." Y/n smiled holding his hand,

"Hey… Y/n- I - I'm so sorry-"

"Shhhh." She cooed, "It's okay, I uhh hacked wicked's files while out where gone. Found out the whole story. I understand what happened now and I know why you did it. I forgive you."

"Don't." he told her, "Do not forgive me for this."

"I will. Even if you don't want me to. I forgive you. and I will be here every day until you forgive yourself. You had no choice, you were scared, and you fought your own father for your friends. You're a good man newt." She told him, "No matter what the intentions first were."

"….Thank you," he broke down into tears pulling her into his arms,

"It's okay, I just want you to feel better."

"I feel better now I have you." He smiled, "I love you Y/n… so so much!"

"I love you too." She smiled, "…Did the boys tell you?"

"They… said you had news for me? What is it?"

Y/n smiled and kissed his chuckles before she moved his hand to the rounded bump below her shirt.

"Y-what?!"

"You're gonna be a daddy." She cooed,

He began to cry tears of utter joy even more so than before, getting choked up and wailing with joy as he stroked her bump.

"A baby… our baby… We're… we get a baby. I'm a daddy!" he cried, "I love you so so so much!" He yelled kissing her and her bump a hundred times, "I promise you little one, I am going to keep you safe. I will never hurt you, never make you scared. I will be the best dad in the world. I promise." He told her bump,

"I know you will newt." Y/n smiled as they shared a tender kiss.

[myveryownfanfiction]

18+ MINORS AND THOSE WITHOUT AGE IN BIO DNI

tags: @illiana-mystery, @iobsessoverfictionalmen, @lulusplaycorner, @psychokinetic-ectoplasm, @theselfshippingwitch

Chapter 1

warnings: swearing, ghosts

Janine had called and left a message that Ray was looking for me. After he and Egon had done their scans and confirmed that whatever it was had in fact moved on, I had barely heard from him. Then again, business was picking up. The only time I had even seen him that wasn't on the tv was when my boss had called them out for a ghost that was following me around for a week. The ghost had seemed harmless and I'd actually had a conversation with it. Egon had practically dragged Ray away when he had found out. I trudged down the street to the firehouse, hoping to catch Ray there.

"He's on a call." Janine said when I came in the door. My face fell and I nodded. "Should be back later tonight. They're just holding the traps in the Ecto between jobs now."

"Sounds a little dangerous." I commented, stopping in front of her desk. She opened her mouth to say something but the phone rang first.

"It is." I turned to look at the man coming up from the basement. I furrowed my eyebrows at him. "Winston Zeddemore. I just got hired a few days ago. Even though its done nothing to alleviate any of the work."

"(Y/N) (Y/L/N)." I shook his hand. "I'm one of..."

"The first customers yeah. Ray won't shut up about you." Winston chuckled. I smiled bashfully as he motioned upstairs. "He left some information for you. He'll be pissed he missed you but I'm sure he wants you to have this information more." I followed him upstairs to the lab. He kept walking and I had to hide my laugh at the new purchases. A Pac-Man machine sat in the corner and there was a can of Coke sitting on it. Walking over, I picked up the empty can and tossed it. Winston looked over his shoulder at me as I shelved the box of Cheez-its that were sitting on Egon's workspace. He smiled before motioning me further down the hall. "I don't know why but Ray has been deciding to forgo sleep in order to pour over these. I guess he wanted to make sure he had all the information before he contacted you."

"He hasn't been sleeping?" I asked, concern dripping from my voice. Winston nodded. "Has he been ok on calls? I mean I don't pretend to understand it all but I remember Egon saying something about nuclear somethings..." Winston put his hands on my shoulders and I stopped at the soft smile he was giving me. It wasn't the same as Ray's but it did settle my nerves some.

"He's been fine. Honestly he's been working on less and less sleep as we go. Too many calls lately. Something big is coming. We just don't know what." He explained. "At least that's the working theory." He shrugged before turning back to Ray's bed and grabbing the papers on the nightstand. I took the papers and looked them over.

“when ray gets back or off work or whatever…can you tell him I came by? And he’s free to drop in at my apartment?” I said. Winston nodded as I looked around the room again.

“thinking of cleaning it up?” He teased. I felt my cheeks heat up and smiled sheepishly. “I saw you put away the food in the lab.” He shrugged. “I won’t tell the guys but you have to be quick. I make no promises for Janine.” I laughed as I set about cleaning up their space a little. I didn't do anything drastic, but I made it at least a little more livable and made sure that things were somewhat easier to find. Especially for Egon. Winston laughed as I jumped when I heard the Ecto siren.

"That's new." I said. Winston raised an eyebrow at me. "Last time I was here, it was still just a hearse Ray was working on." I explained as I headed down the stairs.

"Well then be prepared for a whole new car." Winston chuckled. I paused on the last few stairs, watching as Egon and Ray nearly fell out of the car. "How'd we do today guys?" I felt Winston brush past me as Egon handed Janine a stack of papers. Ray stretched before turning to open the back door.

"Three free repeaters. Two class fours. And a class five that just did not want to give up." Ray sighed. "Honestly, I think I'll sleep a week after that one."

"You'll need it." Winston teased. "But I don't think you'll get to have that nap yet." Ray furrowed his eyebrows as he watched Winston walk away with the traps. He did a double take when he saw me on the stairs, smile lighting up his face as he started walking over.

"Hey." He said as he stood at the bottom of the stairs. "What are you doing here?" I smiled back at Ray as he climbed the stairs.

"Thought I’d drop in. See how you were doing. Especially considering Peter dropped by Dana’s rehearsal to give her some information about our little ghost problem.” I teased. Ray blushed before rubbing the back of his neck.

“yeah about that…” he started. I almost put my hand on his chest before pausing at the slime there. “Uh give me about ten minutes to go clean up and we can go talk. Somewhere…that isn’t here.” Ray gave me a small smile. I nodded as he started to climb the rest of the stairs. “Wait I don’t have any of it in my hair do I?” He turned back towards me.

“a little.” I said, eyeing his hair. Ray grimaced before nodding.

“right. Ok. Make that twenty minutes.” He waved his finger in front of him as he headed back to the living quarters. Laughing quietly to myself, I headed back down to the ecto. I looked it over as I waited for ray, smiling softly at how it turned out. “She’s a beauty isn’t she?” I turned at the sound of rays voice.

“yeah she is.” I agreed. “I’m glad you finally got her up and running.” Ray nodded with a smile, shrugging in his coat.

“thanks. I am too.” He held out his hand towards the door and I nodded, following him outside and down the street. “So Winston gave you the papers. I don’t expect any of it to make sense to you but basically it’s…”

“a sumarian god.” I said. “I skimmed it. Made some sense.” Ray looked at me in surprise. “What? It did.”

“it…doesn’t…usually…” he continued to gaze at me, a look somewhere between adoration and awe in his eyes. “To most people.” I shrugged and he shook his head. “But yeah. A sumarian god. Named gozer. Now it has more ties to Dana with the idea of a key master and gatekeeper. She heard the name zuul. That’s the gatekeeper. I didn’t focus too much on that since you didn’t hear a name. You said you saw a figure right?” I nodded. Ray led me into Central Park, paying more attention to the papers we were talking about than where he was going.

“a figure surrounded by light. And a building.” I confirmed. Ray nodded. He took the papers from me and flipped through them before handing them back.

“look familiar?” He asked. I stared at the drawing of a figure surrounded by light.

“What the fuck.” I breathed out. Ray chuckled as we kept walking. “So that doesn’t explain why gozer is in my fridge.” I said as I started to skirt around the fountain. “What does it want with me?”

“I’m not sure yet. I’ve been looking into the building thinking maybe there’s something there you know? So far all I could find is that the guy that built it, ivo shandor, was a nut who worshipped gozer.” Ray explained. “Sacrifices the whole nine yards. But that still doesn’t explain why gozer is appearing now. For all we know it could be…” I turned to look at ray in time to see him trip head over heels into the fountain.

“Ray!” I cried as he sat in the fountain, brow furrowed in confusion.

“the fuck?” He muttered as he stood up, taking my offered hand to help him out. I bit my lip to stop from laughing but ray rubbed the back of his head, staring at the fountain like it was the first time he’d ever seen one and a small giggle escaped. He turned to look at me sheepishly. “Uh sorry about that.” Ray frowned as he looked at me.

“it’s ok. You got excited about what you were talking about. It happens.” I explained. Ray nodded before wiping a hand down his face. “Uh if it isn’t…I mean I don’t think…the guys may give you a hard time if they found out you fell in a fountain so uh…do you want to go to my apartment?” I asked. “To dry off! For a change of clothes!” I exclaimed when I realized how it sounded. Ray nodded slowly, cheeks a burning red and he had a hard time looking me in the eye. I gently took his hand and started in the direction of my apartment. "I mean I know its haunted but its closer and at least the guys wont give you shit." I murmured as I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. Ray nodded as he trailed next to me, eyes firmly fixed on the ground in front of him.

"Sorry." Ray muttered as we neared my building. I turned to look at him fully as he finally looked at me. "I got so excited. Normally when I talk about this stuff, people look at me funny. And I know you're just paying attention because this gozer is in your apartment for some reason but..." I squeezed his hand.

"I'm not paying attention just because of that." I assured him. "I'm paying attention because it’s interesting. I find it fascinating and you are much better at explaining it than Venkman is." Ray gave me a small smile as we entered the building. We took the elevator to my apartment and I made Ray go right to the bathroom to take his wet clothes off. "I have some pants an ex boyfriend left but I don't think any of his shirts are going to fit you." I called through the door as I held the pants and a towel out. Ray reached out to grab them before slamming the door in my face. I giggled as I turned away. I went to dry rays clothes, smiling as I pulled his belt out of the loops and emptying his pockets. I made a small pile on the kitchen table for ray to see before tossing his pants in the dryer.

“(Y/N)?” Ray called as he emerged from the bathroom. “Uh you sure you don’t have a shirt for me?” I turned around and bit my lip as I tried not to look him over.

“Sorry. He was one of those gym bro kind of guys. All his shirts were like three sizes too small. Even for me.” I gave him a sympathetic look as he tugged the towel a little closer to his chest.

“oh.” Ray looked around. “Uh since we’re just going to wait for my stuff…I could finish what I was saying earlier.” I nodded as I held my hand out, gesturing to the couch. “The best egon and I can come up with it that there’s something about this building. It’s drawing in energy. Whether that means gozer is going to come back or not I don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense when tied with Dana’s issue.” He said once he sat down. “Honestly, if you want my opinion, I’d leave. We could set you up at the firehouse and come back to check out the apartment again. Hell you could have my bed. Not like I’m using it anyway.” I smiled softly at ray as my eyes drifted briefly to his chest. I bit my lip as my eyes jumped back to his eyes. Ray didn’t even notice.

“and what happens when you guys can’t find or prove anything again?” I asked. Ray nodded.

“right. We’d be sending you right back into whatever this is anyway.” Ray agreed. “I’m sorry we couldn’t be more help (Y/N).” I nodded.

“you guys did your best. And got me answers. If something comes up again, I know who to call.” I joked. The dryer went off and we both paused.

“Uh I know it goes without saying but could you not say anything to the guys about the fountain?” Ray asked as I stood up.

“what fountain?” I asked, face as straight as I could get it. Ray smiled brightly at me.

“thank you.” He whispered as I went to get his clothes. Ray changed and I walked him to my door. “I’ll call you. Make sure you’re ok and let you know if anything else comes up.” I nodded as ray headed down the hall. Closing my door, I let out a puff of air.

“a god. Of course.” I muttered as I headed towards my room to keep reading up on gozer.

[nadinebrooks-sides]

Here is the link to my masterlist.

Loki x Reader: Was it Worth It? Part 2

Warnings: Mention of sexual assault, eating disorders, peer pressuring into drinking, and mean girls. Please let me know if I've forgotten anything!! - It's kinda long, so enjoy and maybe grab a snack

"Hi (y/n)." Millie shrieked in delight as she pulled her old friend into a hug. When Millie pulled away, she held (y/n)'s shoulders in both her hands and intently stared at her. "Wow. You look absolutely stunning. New York has done you well. Maybe I should move here." 

No. Absolutely not.  If Millie moved here, (y/n) would seriously consider quitting working for the Avengers and moving back home.  

"It's nice to see you too." (y/n) forced a smile. She knew that she was going to be forcing smiles all day. She hadn't had to do this in a while, but forcing smiles around Millie wasn't anything new. (y/n) would fall back into her old patterns pretty quickly. "Millie, this is Loki. He is my..." (y/n) turned to introduce Loki. But then she trailed off when she realized she hadn't thought about how she wanted to introduce him.  

"I'm her boyfriend. It's a pleasure to meet you Millie. I've heard nothing but good things about you." He came to (y/n)'s rescue. The words easily flowed from his mouth.

Well lying was his specialty.

He sounded so sure of himself that even (y/n) was trying to remember if she had told him anything about Millie prior to yesterday.  

(y/n) had a sickening realization that having to pretend to be dating Loki might be easier than she was expecting. She already had slight feelings for him and she had done pretty well with keeping them at bay. I mean how unprofessional would it be for her to date her coworker and client.  

(y/n) and Loki both followed Millie towards the elevator. Peeking beneath the pale yellow midi dress she was wearing, (y/n) could see the strap of the swimsuit she was wearing underneath. She was actually looking forward to swimming.

It had been pretty warm these past couple of days and a dip in the pool would feel nice. It would also help her relax a little. She glanced toward the bag that Loki was carrying and hoped that he brought something to swim in as well.  

When they got up to Millie's room, (y/n) felt her jaw drop. This was definitely the nicest hotel she had ever been in. This had to be the presidential suite. Even with (y/n)'s parent's salaries, they never stayed in anything this nice. Probably because most of the money went to her tuition.  

Millie plucked up a champagne flute and tried to pass it over to (y/n). Her eyes widened at the drink and she took a small step back bumping into Loki. He wrapped an arm around her to steady her and he eyed the drink suspiciously.

Loki recognized it as a mimosa. He knew it was something that the Midgardians liked to have in the morning, usually when they were having brunch.  

"Oh thank you, but I'm fine." (y/n) regained her composure and shook her head. "I don’t drink anymore Millie. You know that."  

"Even after all this time?" Millie sipped on the drink. She wasn't going to let it go to waste. "I would've thought you got over it by now."  

"Well it wasn't something that I could just get over Millie." (y/n) awkwardly scratched the back of her neck. Now that Loki was thinking about it, he had never seen (y/n) drink before. When the team did decide to go out to get dinner and drinks, she never had anything. Loki just assumed it was because she had to drive home.

He would have been more than happy to make sure she got home safely if she wanted to enjoy herself just one time.  

Of course nobody on the team questioned it or pressured her to drink. They all just assumed it was because she didn't like the taste of alcohol. But after that brief conversation with Millie, he had a feeling it was something way more than that. He would have to ask her about it later.  

Hopefully she felt comfortable enough to discuss something like that with him. It was usually the other way around. People were discussing their past with her.  

"Are you really going to be able to play nice?" Loki leaned down and whispered in her ear. They followed behind Millie who was showing them all the nooks and crannies of the suite. It wasn't like they really cared or anything. They weren't going to be staying the night here.  

They followed Millie outside to where she had her own personal pool. The two of them eyed Zoey and Summer who were lounging on the other side of the pool. Once they noticed (y/n) and Loki, they started making their way over to the two of them. 

"Sure. It'll be easy." (y/n) shrugged. 

"I'm not so sure about that. I've seen you around people that you don’t like. You're incapable of faking niceness."  

"Prepare to be amazed." She grumbled when she noticed the googly eyes that Summer was making at Loki. Summer has always been like that though. She had her boyfriend that would give her the entire world, yet she always wanted more.  

Once they had gotten close to (y/n) and Loki, (y/n) instantly laced her fingers with Loki's. Even if she wasn't really dating him, he was off limits.  

"This is (y/n)'s boyfriend, Loki." Millie introduced him to the two other girls. (y/n) looked around wondering where Summer's boyfriend and Zoey's fiancé were. They were probably sleeping in. But if Loki was with them, then the girls couldn’t look at him. Which she would much rather prefer. 

"You look really familiar, Loki." Summer mumbled, staring at him intently. 

"I thought I was the only one who thought that." Millie nodded. "I didn't want to be rude, so I didn't say anything."  

"Wait." Zoey tilted her head to the side and (y/n) could see the wheels turning in her head. Of course she knew who Loki was. "You're a part of the Avengers, right? My fiancé is like totally obsessed with you guys. I promise you if he had the chance to leave me for Sam Wilson, he would do it in a heartbeat."  

"Wouldn’t we all?" Loki chuckled. This was the first time he had spoken to the other two girls. They clearly enjoyed the sound of his voice as much as (y/n) did.  

"So if he's an Avenger, how did the two of you meet?" Summer raised a judging eyebrow. It was clear to see that she didn't think (y/n) was good enough for Loki.  

(y/n) tried to keep her work life fairly private. She didn't post on social media that she worked with the Avengers so these girls had no idea what she even did.  

"We met at work." Loki promptly responded.  

"Work." Summer's eyebrows shot up even higher if possible.  

"Does that mean you're an Avenger?" Zoey asked. "Like with super powers and everything?"  

"Oh no, it's nothing like that." (y/n) shook her head. "I'm not important like them."  

"Don't say that darling." Loki squeezed her hand. "You're a very important asset to the team."  

"Thanks Loki, but I don’t save the universe or anything on a daily basis."  

"No, but you take care of the people who do save the universe. And I think that is just as important."  

"So what exactly is it that you do (nickname that you hate)." Millie crossed her arms across her chest.

Loki glanced at (y/n), wondering how she felt about the nickname. He didn't like the way it came out of Millie's mouth. It was clearly a nickname that got under (y/n)'s skin and Millie knew it.  

"I'm the team's psychiatrist." (y/n) answered by chewing on her lip. She expected the girls to laugh at her, but they all nodded in approvement. They all turned to each other and began chatting about dinner tonight.  

"And you're a damn good one." Loki grinned down at her. (y/n) stared up at him. She wasn't sure what came over him, but she felt herself leaning up towards Loki.

Loki's eyes slowly closed and he leaned down for a kiss. The kiss was soft and quick, but it felt real. (y/n) sure hoped it looked real. When they pulled apart, (y/n) sheepishly grinned at him.  

"Sorry, it just felt right." 

"It's totally fine (y/n)." Loki whispered back. Everyone decided that it was now time to head to the pool for a little swim. Loki went and found the partners of the girls while they all swam for a little bit. It was nice to soak up some sun and lounge around.  

They talked about their work lives and what was going on in their personal lives. It felt as if they were normal friends. Maybe things were changing for the better.  

The feeling was short lived once (y/n) had come back from the bathroom. She dried off and slipped into some jean shorts. She was drying off her hair when she heard a shrill laugh. It was a fake laugh. One that she had heard many times before. (y/n) grabbed a bottle of water before heading towards that laugh.  

She found Millie, Summer, Zoey, and Loki sitting at a four person table together. The girls were talking, but it was clear that Loki was a little uncomfortable being surrounded by them. She slowly walked toward them unsure of what she was walking into. The feeling of being laughed at by those girls was nothing new. She was back to being 16 again.  

"And you're not going to believe this. One time she-" Millie's voice died down as she (y/n) got closer to them. She had this huge smirk plastered on her face. (y/n) had a feeling that she knew exactly what the three of them were talking about. "Oh hey there (y/n). We were just talking about you."  

"Are you okay?" She looked towards Loki who was holding a blueberry muffin in his hand. (y/n) found herself slowly walking towards him. 

"We just wanted to get to know Loki. You know, make sure he was good enough for our darling (y/n)." Summer reached over and placed a hand on his bicep which he immediately shrugged off and adjusted his position.  

"How exciting." (y/n) coldly replied, her eyes narrowing at Summer and Millie. She knew exactly what the two of them were doing. If they were trying to break up Loki and her, it wasn't going to work since they weren't exactly together. But, he was going to have some embarrassing stories to take back to the team. She didn't think he was one to do that, but it was just her anxious mind going there.  

"I'm fine darling. What about you? Do you want to sit down." He titled his head back to look at her. His eyes were practically pleading for her to sit down with him.  

"It doesn’t look like there's enough seats." Zoey said, looking around the table. She was right. The table was completely occupied by all of them. Unless Loki got up to give (y/n) his seat, there was nowhere for her to go.  

"That's fine." Loki shrugged slightly, adjusting himself so that he could loop his finger through one of the belt loops of her jean shorts. He easily pulled her down so that she was sitting in his lap. He put an arm around her waist to secure her and placed a kiss on the side of her neck. She felt herself melting into his touch. This was too easy.  

"Perfect." Summer's jaw tensed, but she forced a smile. A smile that was just as perfect as Millie's. They saw the same orthodontist when they were kids. "Anyway, I was telling Loki about that time in 10th grade when we went on that double date to the skating rink. Do you remember that (nickname you don't like)?"  

"No. I don't." She lied through clenched teeth. Loki's grip tightened around her for a moment and then he relaxed. The gesture was almost invisible, but (y/n) knew it was because he could tell she was lying.

Here she was lying while sitting on the god of lies' lap. This was a story to tell her children one day.  

Of course she vividly remembers that day. It was a day that was going to haunt her for the rest of her life. There was no reason to bring that story up now. Besides the fact that all they wanted to do was humiliate her in front of Loki. (y/n) was starting to think that was the reason why they even invited her. They must have missed having a good laugh at her expense. 

"I can't believe you've forgotten." Millie sat up straighter in her seat and hungrily licked her lips. She turned to Loki to tell the horrid story. "Well first of all she used to look like a potato. Not the cute ones. She looked like a fat potato."  

"I don’t understand what that has to do with anything." Loki angrily uttered.  

"It's so you can get the visual of the story." Zoey explained. 

"We were all so glad when she started working out since she liked to eat everything. You wouldn’t have dated her back then. She looks amazing now, so I assume she's keeping up with that same routine. None of that was really important, but when we were at the rink, she ate two hot dogs, a hamburger, mozzarella sticks, onion rings, two orders of fries, and a milkshake. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary. She always stuffed herself until she couldn’t anymore, but when we started back skating, she started going on and on about how she didn't feel good. The guy she came on the date with tried his hardest to get her to the bathroom, but she didn't make it. She threw up all over him. What was his name (nickname you don’t like)?"  

"I don’t recall." (y/n) dryly answered. She felt Loki tighten because once again she had lied. 

"Well, it was hilarious." Millie had gripped her stomach from laughing so hard. The other two girls at the table immediately joined in.  

"It seems I've missed the joke." Loki's voice was calm, but (y/n) could hear the edge in it. His grip tightened around her waist and she could tell he was angry. She tried to soothingly rub his hand. There was no reason for him to be angry over her.  

"You're way cuter than him." Summer leaned across the table and stretched out one of Loki's curls and let go so that It returned back to its original position. "I think he might've been a family friend or something. I heard that (y/n)'s mom gave him money for the date because she knew how much she eats. She couldn’t make that poor boy pay for it all. Is that true (y/n)?" 

"I don’t know." (y/n)'s voice was barely above a whisper. She was staring at her hands and her face was now burning with humiliation. It had been so long since she felt like this. She was a grown woman, but now she couldn’t even muster up the courage to speak for herself. In the back of her mind, she could hear her mother telling her to think about her education. Just brush Millie's words off and think about school. 

"So how long have you two been dating?" Zoey inquired.  

"It's been about a little over a year." Loki proudly responded. He had heard the break in (y/n)'s voice. The last thing he wanted was for her to break down in front of these girls. He knew that he wasn't the nicest person in the world, but he would never attack someone like this.  

"So you've seen her when she gains all her hibernation weight." Millie giggled, causing all the girls to join in once again. (y/n) could feel herself trying to shrink and make herself as small as possible. She tried to be as unbothered as possible by what they were saying. (y/n) should have known that this was too good to be true. They were all slipping back into their old ways. It was too easy.  

"Huh?" Loki was not laughing at all.  

"I never figured out how she did it. But when we were younger, she used to gain all this weight during the winter. It was easy to hide it with big sweatshirts and jackets, but when summer rolled around, she lost it so quickly."  

"You know, like a bear? That's why we called it her hibernation weight. I don’t know if she does it anymore though. Honestly Loki, I think you're way too hot to be spending your time with someone like (y/n)."  

"It's a shame that we've never gotten to meet you before today." Millie pouted. "I come to New York all the time and I always invite (y/n) out, but she says she's busy with work. I think she was trying to hide you from us."  

"I'm going to get another mimosa. Does anyone want anything?" Zoey pushed herself up the table and looked around. Of course Summer and Millie said they wanted another one. Loki just sat there trying to wrap his mind around how (y/n) was able to put up with these girls. "Would you like one (y/n)?"  

"No." (y/n) shook her head.  

"Oh c'mon (nickname you don’t like), it's just one drink. It'll help you loosen up a little bit." Millie giggled. 

"I don’t need to loosen up." (y/n) hissed back at the girl. Loki was proud. This was the first time he had heard her speak up.  

"No. You're right. The last time you drank, you got a little too lose." Summer jokes, causing the other girls to shriek with laughter. Loki had heard enough. He couldn’t sit here and listen to them talk to (y/n) like this.  

(y/n) thought she was done with all the stories after that little comment, but then Millie reached across the table to tap the spot in front of Loki to get his attention once again.  

"Okay so there was this one time (y/n)-" She started to say. The other two girls leaned in ready to take another trip down memory lane.  

"Actually ladies, it has been a pleasure spending the morning with you." Loki cut Millie off and bounced his knee a little signaling for (y/n) to get up. "But it seems I have to get to work. I just got a text from Captain Rogers, something must have come up."  

(y/n) stood up trying to hide the confusion on her face. Loki didn't just get a text from Steve. Anything mission related was sent via email. And all of those emails went to (y/n) as well just to keep her up to date with everything.

Besides, Steve and Loki were nowhere close enough to be casually texting each other throughout the day. Loki was completely free today. Tony made it mandatory that nobody in the tower did anything Avengers related this weekend.  

(y/n) had been able to erase a lot of the awful memoires, but being here with them today brought back a lot of bad thoughts. She managed to push them to the back of her mind, but now that Loki knew, it was going to be hard to forget. He was going to be a constant reminder walking around.  

"Sorry girls, but we can't ignore work. This was fun. We should totally do it again."  

"Seriously? You're ditching the day I had planned for us before it even started? I already paid for your tickets and dinner." Millie huffed and Summer nodded along with her. They shared the same scowl. The two of them were clearly offended that they no longer had anyone to pick one (y/n) could tell that they were even more offended that Loki was leaving with her.  

"That is no problem." Loki waved his hand as if it was no big deal. "I can give you the money that you spent on (y/n) and I will even pay for everyone else. Just let me know how much."  

"You don’t have to do that." Millie opened her mouth and closed it like a fish out of water. That was the last thing she was expecting to happen. "I just thought we were having so much fun." 

"I apologize Molly," he sent her a side eye and (y/n) knew what was coming. He had been quiet for far too long. She almost opened her mouth to correct Loki since he had called Millie the wrong name. But after seeing the twinkle in his eye, she knew that he meant to call her the wrong name. (y/n) did her best to keep from giggling. "But if I sit around any longer listening to you three belittle my girlfriend, I'm going to end up melting one of you from the inside out. And I can promise you that none of us want that."  

"It's Millie. And we were just joking." Millie protested. "(y/n) knows that we didn't mean any harm by any of it."  

"Look Maggie, neither (y/n) nor I was laughing at anything that you said." Loki spat, grabbing her arm and gently tugged her through the suite. (y/n) sniffled a little and he quickly began escorting her towards the elevator. He waved his hand a little and their bags magically appeared in his hands. (y/n) would never get used to that. "Don't cry (y/n). Don’t you dare let them see you crying."  

She had to bite down on her lip to keep from having an absolute meltdown. Loki was right. The last thing she wanted was for them to see that they got to her. Loki thought about catching a cab, but he had a feeling that (y/n) just wanted to get back to the tower. So, he waved his hand once again and they were standing in his bedroom.  

"So you didn't like hearing about my high school days?" (y/n) darkly chuckled, wiping away the tears. Loki wanted to comfort her, but he wasn't sure how. He was not used to being on this side of the conversation. People were usually belittling him, but he never had anyone to comfort him. So, he was going to do exactly that for (y/n). 

"Please excuse my language, but what the fuck was that (y/n)? No, I didn't like hearing them talk about you like that." He grumbled and began pacing his room. Loki was not one to cuss normally in his day to day vocabulary. He thought that cussing made people seem less intelligent. But, he wanted to do way more than melt them from the inside out. He wanted each of them to suffer. Tonight he would plague them with nightmares so bad they wouldn’t be able to sleep for weeks. "I can't believe you let them talk about you like that. You sat there and you took it." 

"It's okay Loki. I dealt with it all those years ago, I can deal with it now. It started in 6th grade when she poked my stomach and said it reminded her of a marshmallow. She has years of embarrassing stories about me. You didn't even hear the best ones, Loki."  

"What are your plans for the rest of the evening?" Loki had stopped pacing back and forth across his room. (y/n) looked over at him and was shocked. That's not what he was expecting.  

"I just want to take a shower and forget about this day." (y/n) admitted her shoulders sagging. This day had taken a lot out of her.   

"So your night is free?"  

"I mean, I guess." (y/n) shrugged. She had no idea what Loki had in mind, but she was interested. Maybe they could watch a movie together and eat some ice cream.   

"Good. (y/n) will you please let me take you out to dinner? I saw that dress that you picked and I would hate for it to go to waste."   

"Sure." (y/n) shrugged thinking it would be a nice way to take her mind off things for a little bit. "Would it be like a date?" 

"It would be exactly like a date."  

(y/n) felt herself grinning as she nodded. Hopefully she could at least nap for a little while. Loki told her that he had reservations at one of his favorite restaurants at 6:45 that night. (y/n) flopped in her bed and got under the covers. All she wanted to do was forget about the events of earlier today. She thought that Loki was going to find her younger years absolutely hilarious, but he was visibly angry about everything that he had seen.  

Eventually, she did manage to sleep for a little over two hours. (y/n) yelled at FRIDAY to turn off the alarm as she walked into her bathroom to take a shower. She was happy that she would be able to put this dress to use. She bought it specifically for Millie's dinner and play.  

It was an emerald green mini dress that she had spent far too much money on. Not that money really was an issue for her, but it wasn't a good idea to spend money on something she probably wasn't going to wear again. The salary that Tony Stark provided for her allowed her to live exactly the way that she always wanted to.  

After a long and much needed shower, (y/n) spent about an hour getting ready. It was nice to take her time and not rush to do anything. As she was getting ready, she heard some of the other Avengers arriving back to the tower after their day off. She started feeling a little nervous. What would the other Avengers say when they saw her leaving with Loki? Was she even allowed to go on a date with him? He probably just felt bad and wanted to do something nice for her.  

At about 6:15 or so, (y/n) headed out of her room to look for Loki. He was patiently waiting in the library with a book in hand. Of course he was. He always had a book in hand. When he noticed (y/n), his eyes instantly lit up. He always knew she was beautiful, but seeing her like this made him swoon. It didn't help that she was wearing his color.  

(y/n) wanted to say something to Loki, but her voice got caught in her throat when he stood up. He was wearing this black suit that fit him absolutely perfectly. The two of them just stared at each other in shock. It was as if they were seeing each other for the first time.  

"You look absolutely stunning (y/n)." Loki was the first one to break the silence. (y/n) was pretty happy to see that the other Avengers had retreated to her room. They didn't have to witness her gawking at her client.  

"Thank you Loki." She beamed at him. "You look handsome."  

"Thank you darling. Are you ready to go?"  

(y/n) nodded and followed him out to the front of the tower. They rode in a cab not speaking much to each other. (y/n) was far too nervous to say anything and Loki was just enjoying her presence. Neither of them felt any reason to press for a conversation. They had always been comfortable just sitting in each other's presence.  

When they pulled up the restaurant, (y/n)'s jaw dropped. This was one of the hardest places to get a reservation in New York. She heard this place had some of the best food in New York and she had been dying to try it.  

"Loki." She let out a little gasp as the climbed out of the cab. "How did you manage to even get reservations here? I've been trying to for the past year."  

"In all honesty, I've had this reservation for a couple of months now. I heard you mention this place to Wanda. I know a couple of people so I was able to get on the list."  

"You know a couple of people or you used a little magic?" (y/n) giggled gently nudging him on the shoulder as they walked inside.  

"I did use a little bit of magic, but it was for you." Loki admitted. "You seemed really excited about this place and I just wanted to do something nice for you."  

"What if today ended up going completely different than it had? If we ended up at dinner and a play. What would you have done with the reservations?" (y/n) questioned looking up at him.  

"I would have called to see if I could get them moved. If not, I would have given them to Wanda and Vision."  

"So you've been planning on asking me out for a while?"  

"Longer than I care to admit." Loki honestly responded. He was usually so slick with his answers, but he didn't feel like he needed to be that way with (y/n). He didn't need to protect himself with sarcasm. 

After the two of them had ordered dinner, Loki felt his thoughts coming back to something that happened earlier. He kept himself engaged in his conversation with (y/n) as he tried to think about the best way to bring this up. He decided that the best way would be to be straight up with her. There was no reason to be deceptive. She wouldn’t appreciate that. 

"I have a question darling." Loki peered at (y/n) through his long dark eyelashes. "Of course if you are not comfortable with answering, that is completely fine."  

"I think we're way past being comfortable with each other. Well at least me." (y/n) giggled.  

"I never thought about it until today, but you said that you didn't drink. I always thought that it was the taste of alcohol that you may not have liked, but it seemed like there was more to the story." 

"I don’t mind telling you Loki, but can you promise not to think of me any differently?" 

“Of course (y/n).” He reached across the table and took her hands in his. He was positive that there was nothing she could say that would make him think any differently about her.  

“I used to drink. I used to drink a lot. When I left home to go to university, I went completely off the rails. I almost got kicked out of school. I never missed a party. So uh, one night I went to a party with Millie and Summer.” (y/n) squeezed her eyes shut as the memories of that night came rushing back. She had kept these memories down for so long. “I was really drunk. I don’t even remember most of that night. But long story short, I ended up sexually assaulted. Some girl walked in on it and managed to get me in an Uber and helped me back home. She left her number and the next morning I called her. She told me everything that happened. I asked about Millie and Summer about what happened, but they just shrugged the whole incident off. Apparently they told the girl that I was fine, but she just had a bad feeling about it. I can't believe I even agreed to spend the day with them. I mean what was I thinking? I'm so stupid. I should have realized they just wanted to have a laugh at me.” 

"Darling, please don't ever call yourself stupid again. You are far from it. And why would I treat you any differently after you told me that? Nothing that happened was your fault. Just when I think that Midgardians are advancing, I hear things like this. If I knew who he was, I would kill him."  

"I don’t even remember him Loki." (y/n) told him. "I'm actually kinda thankful about that. I remember bits and pieces. I woke up the next morning and..."  

"You don’t have to talk about it anymore. I'm sorry that I brought it up."  

"No, I wanted to thank you. I haven't been able to talk out loud about what happened to me. The last people I told that story to tried to convince me that it didn’t even happen. I can't believe I put up with them for as long as I did." (y/n) angrily let out a sigh.  

"You deserved so much better (y/n)." He would do anything in his power to help her see how worthy she was. After dinner, Loki suggested stopping by a place to get gelato. (y/n) happily agreed and pulled him along. As they ate, (y/n) looked up at the stars and started pointing out constellations to him, but he wasn't really listening. He was thinking about how someone could treat this very special girl so terrible. She deserved the whole world.  

"Are you even listening to me Loki?" (y/n) pouted bringing him back to his senses.  

"Sorry love, I just got distracted."  

"With?" (y/n) raised an eyebrow.  

"You." He shyly whispered and before he could even stop himself, he leaned forward and pressed his lips onto hers. Loki saw the opportunity and he took it. It surprised (y/n) and she almost slipped off the bench that the two of them were sharing, but Loki wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her steady. He was a little worried that she wasn't going to kiss him back, but she happily returned the kiss. Her hands found their way into Loki's hair and she gently played with it. When the two of them finally pulled away, they were breathless. (y/n) was the first one to speak. 

"You know how you asked me if it was worth it yesterday? You know, being friends with Mille and them?" 

"I do." He slowly nodded. "Why do you ask darling?"  

"I didn’t have an answer for you then, but I do now. If I hadn't put up with them, I don’t think I would have lasted much longer at that school. That school helped me get into Johns Hopkins which lead me to working for your guys. I wouldn’t have met such an amazing group of people. I wouldn’t have gotten to meet you Loki. So to answer your question, yes. It was worth it." 

[shanastoryteller]

🌈 Happy Pride! I would love to see more of Charmed The Once and Future King, Chris.

Part 1 2 3

"You lied," Piper says, the derision in her voice something that he should be used to hearing but he still has to force himself not to flinch.

"I didn't," he says, trying not to come off as defensive because that will give them something to rail against. "I am a whitelighter and I never said I wasn't a witch."

Paige raises an eyebrow but he doesn't give in. He is lying to them, about lots of things, but he's going to cling to his moral high ground where he can.

"Do some magic," Phoebe demands.

He stares. "I'm not a magician at a child's birthday party. Besides, most witches only have ambient magic."

"I think I'm getting the hang of your whole lying thing," Paige says. "I'm assuming your mother was a witch and your father was her whitelighter, which means she has a hell of a lot more of ambient magic, and you probably do too. Besides, you're King Arthur. You must have enough magic to pack a decent punch."

Telekinesis isn't an uncommon witch power. But it was Prue's. They're going to make a connection between them.

"I've frozen you before," Piper says. "You can't be a witch."

He shrugs. "Are you sure about that?"

Her eyes narrow and he's expecting it when her hands splay out. He feels her magic brush against his skin but this time he just shrugs it off, which is actually far easier than going against his instincts and letting it work.

He spreads out his arms in demonstration. "That enough proof for you?"

"No," Leo answers, eyes narrowed. "Use your power."

Some powers specific to evil. He's clearly expecting Chris to throw fire, and Chris can't help the irritation in his voice when he says, "If I was evil, I'd be a darklighter, and it would be really obvious."

"Maybe," he replies. "The only half whitelighter, half witches are Paige and Wyatt. Maybe it works differently."

He narrows his eyes and jerks his head up. Leo shouts as he's ryised several feet into the air. The sisters are staring at him, just like he was afraid they would. He pretends he doesn't notice. "Sorry, Leo. Telekinesis is a neutral power. If I start throwing fireballs, that will be a surprise to the both of us."

Piper's frown deepens. "When - is that why you're so worried about Wyatt?"

For a moment, Chris doesn't breathe. Has she finally figured it out?

Phoebe snaps her fingers. "They did describe him as the second coming of Merlin - I didn't think they were being literal."

They've skipped over the most obvious truth and hit on a much deeper one.

"Yeah," he says, mouth twisting. "Wyatt is Merlin the same way I'm Arthur. But something went wrong. There is an evil so great that I can't defeat it on my own and it's the reason that in the future Wyatt isn't by my side. Saving Wyatt puts both our destinies back on track."

He was supposed to be the king. Wyatt was supposed to be his friend and his guide and his knight and, most importantly, his brother.

The Wyatt of his future is right about one thing.

They were always meant to rule together.

[queenmuzz]

Three Lies and a Truth

"So...Rook," Neve sits back, after lighting up her slender pipe, the smell of elfroot wafting and mixing with the scent of coffee and cinnamon. The entire group is lounging in the dining room, all of them winding down after yet another succulent meal. Emmrich's fiddling with one of Manfred's joints, Darvin is pretending not to notice Assam sneaking a bite of the cinnamon cake. Bellara and Harding are chatting about some plant they'd discovered in the latter's little garden. Taash is stretched out on one of the chaise lounges, busy digesting the hearty meal, and beginning to drowse off. And Lucanis? He's watching Rook from across the table as the scrawny man tears off another shred of cake and stuffs it in his mouth. It's amazing how much food the man can eat, and yet stay as wiry as a stray cat.

He turns his head to the right to face her. Lucanis has noticed that it's easier for him if you approach on his left, where his good eye is, as he doesn't have to turn his head as far to look at you.

"I was wondering," she pauses and takes a puff, "What happened to your right eye?" She notices that for an instant, he tenses up. Lucanis notices too, the way he flattens a crumb of cake between his index and thumb, "If it's not prying. Just curious." There's a moment of tenseness, and Lucanis swears he's going to shut her down, before one of his trademark grins pops up.

"Oh, it's not prying. In fact," He rolls the flattened cake into a ball then tosses it in the air towards Assam, who cheerfully leaps up to snap it up. "Let's make it a game. Winner gets the last of the cake, and the loser has to wash the dishes. I'll tell you, and you have to guess if I'm telling the truth."

Neve sits up, obviously intrigued, and Lucanis cannot help share the feeling. Milo has remained rather tight-lipped on what exactly he has done with the Crows. Viago seems to have grudging respect for him, even recommending him to Caterina to have him break him out of Ossuary. And Lucanis has seen how he fights. Like a rogue, he darts in, and blasts people with magic they don't expect, before darting back. You could hardly tell he's got a literal blindspot, the way he practically teleports across the battlefield, dodging blades, arrows, and magic. And yet, he must have made a mistake, once.

"You're on." She responds, and to emphasize it, she puts out the pipe with a quick ice shard.

Rook rolls his shoulders, as if to get ready for a fight and begins to spill his tale.. "So, Lord Divalos is holding a soiree, and one of his guests, a fop from Olais, is the target. He's apparently some sort of poet that all the ladies and men are going ga ga over. I'm not the one tasked with the hit, I'm working with Teia, to distract some of his fans, to make it easier for the actual assassin to get close. Turns out..." he pauses to pick his teeth with his knife, then uses the blade to check his reflection. Ah, I can see why Viago gets exasperated with him. Lucanis muses.  "Lady Divalos is one of his greatest fans. In fact, she's the one who invited him. So I got my work cut out for me to peel her off the guy's shoulders. Thankfully, due to my charm and my dashing good looks," he says with a grin as he takes one last glance at his reflection, before tucking his knife in its sheath, "and a little bit of liquid courage, I managed to convince her I was an up and coming Antivan poet, and even 'recited' some of my own poetry that I made up on the spot. It worked so well, the next thing I knew, she and I were in her private quarters, busy ripping off our clothes." Lucanis notices that Harding and Bellara have stopped their botanical conversation and are now sucking up the tale, with the latter covertly taking notes.

We're both in bed, about to make mad passionate love when BANG!" He slams his fist down, causing everyone to startle, save for Taash, who is beginning to snore. "The door slams open, and a red faced Lord Divalos rages in, screaming at me, with his sword drawn. Now of course, I'm as naked as the day I was born, so I'm running around the room, avoiding his swipes as I manage to get my pants back on. Unfortunately, he got me good in the eye before I could get my weapon, and all I could do was topple off the balcony into a bush, and climb out of the premises." He grins sheepishly. "Thankfully, the whole debacle caused enough commotion that everyone was distracted by the spectacle, and no one noticed the poet had… accidentally strangled himself with his own silk scarf…”

He smiles with pride as Darvin rolls his eyes, and Emmrich sighs sadly and as the dwarf and elf are wide eyed in amazement.  “So, Neve, truth… or lie?”

It takes Neve a remarkably short period of time to give her answer.  “A lie.  Even without your weapon, as a mage, you could have cast a simple spell to disarm him before he reached you.” Milo gives a sad smile.  “Correct.”  This results in a couple of ‘Awwws’ from the girls, and an inquisitive hiss from Manfred, whose now had his spine realigned and now is participating in his own way in the conversation. 

Lucanis could have called him out without using any detective logic.  There is no Lady Divalos.  Everyone knows Lord Divalos has been happily married to Lord Divalos-Cuttenberg for decades.  

Milo cocks his head back at Neve.  “Want to double your luck?  If you answer this correctly, both today's and tomorrow’s dishes are the wager.”

Neve smirks as she crosses her legs, waiting for him to begin.

“So, there was a brash young up and coming Crow.  House Valsti, if I remember.  He went by the name of Tusino, but always wanted to be referred to as ‘The Silencer’ because he was so quick and efficient with his kills.”  Milo rolls his good eye, obviously not impressed at the title. “So we’re in the bar, and he’s getting drunk and starts boasting about how great he is at the three m’s: Maiming, Murder and… Mating.”  Manfried gives a quizzical hiss, and Emmrich mutters to him that he’ll explain later while Harding stifles a giggle. “Everyone at the bar is getting pissed off at him.  So eventually I speak up and go ‘Oh really?  For a guy who calls himself The Silencer, you never seem to shut up.  Oh that caused him to lose it.  He starts taunting me, telling me I’m weak ‘cuz I’m over reliant on my magic.  So, I challenge the shitheel to a fight, no magic, no weapons, just our fists.  Tables are cleared, bets are placed and we’re in the middle with the bartender acting as the referee.  We’re throwing punches, he gets a few good hits on me, I get a few good hits on him, there’s cheering and jeering, and finally I get a great left hook that breaks his nose.  The asshole can’t take the blow to his ego, so before anyone can react, he grabs a bottle by the neck, smashes it on a table and… uh…” He looks around as everyone aside from Neve, Lucanis, and Taash, now drooling and completely dead to the world, winces.  He smiles reassuringly, “Thankfully, breaking that rule turned everyone against him, and even the House Valsti Crows started beating his ass as I got dragged to the healers. They managed to save most of my good looks, but  Viago still reamed me out for that one” He looks at Neve, “so, what’s the verdict?”

She rubs her chin for a few moments before declaring “A lie. Logically, once he took out a weapon, you were free to hit him with the closest weapon at hand, and someone of your magical prowess would never pass up an opportunity to use it.”

“Awww… thank you for the compliment” he smiles again at her, “and you were correct.  Although Tusino did exist, and had he actually been good at his job, we might have come to blows eventually, instead of him getting trampled by the Antaam.  What an idiot” he mutters.

Lucanis also had deduced it was a lie.  The three scars that go across from the center of his forehead, across his eye, and into his right cheek look far too regular in spacing to be the shards of a bottle.

“Last one, winner takes all.  Three nights of dishwashing, are you up for it Neve?”

“Hit me.”  Even Darvin is paying apt attention now that Assam has begun to doze off at his feet. The girls are hanging on to every word Rook says.

“So, before I joined Viago’s outfit, I was still in training, and trying to impress the ladies and the men with my knife work.  He pulls out the blade again, and twirls in between his fingers, almost mindlessly, like he’s doing a coin trick,  the light of the fireplace reflects off the blade, casting sparks of reflection as it twirls faster and faster between his fingers, before being tossed in the other hand. “So, I decided to do a little magic show, without the magic and began to do more and more elaborate  tricks with my knife, like I was a juggler.  Turns out, I miscalculated a single toss….” and at moment, he tosses the blade up with a flourish, but makes no motion to catch it.  Everyone’s hearts stop as the blade falls, panicking as he continues to not  react, only restarting  as the blade lands in front of him with a THUD, and embeds itself in the wooden board.  This time, EVERYONE winces. Even Neve.  Either of the implication of the pain, or the second hand embarrassment of imagining how he must have made a fool of himself.  All of them cringe…. 

Except for Lucanis.  He just frowns.

He yanks the blade out of the table, smooths the wooden splinter and utters a soft apology to the table.  He smiles softly, and resheathes the knife.  “So, last one…. Truth or Lie?” “Hmmm” Neve muses before calmly stating, “Truth. That sort of overconfidence would be like you, when you were younger.  The eagerness to prove yourself to the world, and others, and most importantly, to yourself.”

Her words hang in the air like elfroot smoke, drifting over to Milo, who observes her passively. “Neve… it was… the truth.”  His trademark grin that Lucanis finds so endearing returns, but not fully.  It doesn’t reach his eyes, not even his good one.” “HA!” the detective laughs as she swipes the plate and waves goodbye. “Have fun with the dishes!” he hears her say as she leaves the dining hall.  She’s followed by the others shortly after, with Bellara still taking notes.  The only ones left in the hall are Milo, Lucanis, and… Taash, now snoring loudly.  

Milo sits still, his gaze focused on his knife, a frown on his face that does not suit him at all, Lucanis thinks.  

“You lied”  It's less an accusation, more a statement.

Milo looks up and at him, his face unreadable.

Lucanis continues.  “I may not know much about you, Rook, but I’ve seen how you work.  You don’t go flashy unless you know for certain that you’ll come out on top.  Something like that is out of character for you, even as a braggartly teenager. So,” he leans forward, whispering conspiratorially “What’s the truth?”  

A strange emotion passes over Milo’s face, as he seems to struggle.  Lucanis hasn’t seen him like this before.  He’s always cocky and selfsure, even before the most dangerous enemies.  He opens his mouth, and closes it.  Opens it once more, and utters one word…

“I…”  he pauses and his hand clenches around the hilt of his dagger, his knuckles turning white. He refuses to look at Lucanis, almost as if he’s ashamed.

“I made a mistake.”  The effort it takes to say this seems to exhaust him.  Lucanis waits for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t say anything else.  Eventually he looks up into Lucanis’s eyes and just sounds broken, as he rasps “Don’t ask me… please”  There’s a pleading in his voice, something timid and scared, like a lost child.  This is a side of Milo Lucanis hasn’t seen, he’s pretty sure none of the rest of the crew, hell even Viago has seen.  He nods, and something happens to Milo.  A door slams shut, and his eyes light up as if nothing has happened.  His trademark smile returns with the incredible brilliance that Lucanis has always admired.   If he didn’t know better, the way Rook’s personality just switched, the man must be possessed. “Welp, these dishes won’t wash themselves,” and he begins to stack the plates.  Lucanis pushes back his chair, standing up in order to help, but Milos waves him off. 

“Nah, don’t worry about it, you made all of this for us, you deserve to rest.”

“But surely you could use a helping hand?”

“This burden is mine and mine alone,” he cheerfully explains, and Lucanis isn’t sure if he is talking about the dishes… or something else. .

The young crow begins carrying the dishes to the back room to wash up, whistling the entire time, but pauses at the threshold, turning to face him.

“But… Thank you for the offer.  It’s sometimes very hard to remember that I don't have to handle it all alone.”  And with that, he vanishes, replaced with the sound of whistling and splashing water.

In the corner, there’s a hollow thud, and Taash’s hand slips off their chest and falls to the floor.

[oh-no-its-bird]

reading ur fic one step three steps rn and I don't usually read oc-insert fics but ichigo is SUCH a menace I love her to death... and the idea of this feral, unchecked little kid being put in kakashi's care is so good. he's gonna suffer so much but it'll be good for him I think 👍 anyway I can't help but wonder how things would go down with the whole. obito thing. because I can't help making everything about my favorite insane guy. do you think they'd bond over their love for making kakashi suffer. do you think they'd bond over their shared affinity for chaos. I don't know I just!! think they have so much potential as a duo ANYWAY sorry for rambling have a nice day

DJFBDKDJDJS IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE HER???

I'm also kind of in the boat of not especially liking or reading oc centered fics, I think making Ichigo was a bit easier for me than it would have been otherwise bc I really went into it treating her like a plot divice. Still am tbh. I love Ichigo but the story isn't there for her, it's there bc of her. I needed someone to stir shit up and bring up some very specific topics and issues, so she became that. And I fell a little in love with her character along the way

Inevitable tbh, it's probably impossible to write a character that much without finding or molding them into something you can like writing

Kakashi absoloutley deserves to be harassed by tiny children, and now he can't escape bc Ichigo is in his fucking house!! She's gonna bring back more (even tinier) children to harass him, starting with Naruto. He will never know peace.

ITS FUNNY YOU MENTION OBITO BC I ACTUALLY HAVE ALREADY WRITTEN SOME STUFF FOR HIM IN THE FUTURE WHENEVER HES INTRODUCED!!

I have so many notes and plans laid out for One Step Three Steps u don't even know

Anyways spoilers for the eventually Obito introduction in the fic, take a snippet for his introduction (it's liable to change tho, we won't be seeing Obito for a while in the fic)

"I . . . am Madara Uchiha."

Ichigo opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.

Finally, in her flattest voice, she went, "No you're not."

The imposter paused, then shook his head and gave a sinister chuckle. It was a decent enough imitation but she'd seen Hashirama give a better Madara impression.

While drunk.

"I understand it's hard for you to believe, but the stories of my death were greatly exaggerated."

Ichigo aimed her best impression of Ojisan's unimpressed face at him. Lip curled in distaste and head tilted to stare down at him like he was a bug.

He twitched. It was a pretty good impression. (Better than his Madara one, anyways)

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am."

"No. You're really not."

"Yes, I really am."

They stared at eachother, locked in stalemate, till she smirked.

"Ok sure, you're Madara-sama. What's my name then?"

"Um."

"Come on, Dara-chan," she batted her eyes at him innocently. "I'm sure you can remember."

He seemed to regain control of myself, straightening up and giving another echo of what might have been Madara's laugh. If he was a crazy cave hermit who'd decided to inject a gallon of cringe fail evil villain juice into his laughter, anyways.

"Come now, Ichigo, I know it's hard to believe but it really is me."

"Ha!" She shoved her hand towards him, pointing triumphantly. "My real name is Hatake Miko! I gave them a fake when I got here, and if you were the real Madara-sama you'd know that!"

"O-of course, Miko-chan, I was just testing you. I had to be sure you were the real Miko I remembered, after all."

"No, I lied I really am Ichigo." She deadpanned, giving him a little peace sign.

He staggered under some invisible weight, making a noise like a popped balloon.

"I don't usually kill children, but . . ." He mumbled to himself, and she scoffed.

"You don't even have his hair." She squinted at him, feeling insulted om Madara's behalf. "You're pretending to be Madara with hair like that? Have some standards.

[atinylittlepain]

Only Lovers Left Alive

vamp!joel miller x f!reader

joel miller masterlist

He offers her another option between life and death. How could she refuse?

warnings | 18+ smut, spitting lol, gore, blood, dark themes in general, joel and his lady dunk on a preacher, you've been warned muah hahahaha

a/n | hello and welcome to the second installation of my vamp series. i'm placing this one around 1910, just FYI. that's all, enjoy

...................................

“We must be delivered from our own evil, our own debauchery! I implore my fellow man, brothers and sisters of Christ, to cast out the wickedness in their hearts and rebuild this town in His image! There is something sinister running through the streets of New Orleans and it is our god-given duty to seek it out and destroy it with His righteous light!”

“Fucking mouth on that one, huh, darlin?” 

“At least this one has a little showmanship. The snake is a nice touch, I’ll admit. Remember that one in Utah? He was practically boring people to tears.” 

“Mormans never did have much flare. Easier going down than Catholics though.” She offers him a faint hum, all this talk starting to fray her nerves, a dull ache in her skull that she knows isn’t just from the sunlight seeping through the fabric of her parasol. Judging by the way he’s pinching the bridge of his nose, Joel is starting to feel it too, hooking his arm with hers as they both start to thread through the crowd that has gathered around the barking preacher.

“You, sir! Surely you and your good lady are god-fearing citizens that will join the battle against darkness!” He’s in front of them in a flash, white collar glinting in the midday-sun, making her squint while Joel angles his broadness between her and the gesticulating preacher whose snake is held by its skull in one of his doughy hands. 

“You’ll excuse us, friend. My woman isn’t feeling well.” She doesn’t even have to pretend, that ache turning insistent, dizzy, until she sees the snaring jaws of two snakes instead of one, her hold on Joel’s arm becoming hard and desperate. 

“Well it’s a simple question, friend. Are you or are you not one of His flock?” A rushing in her ears and a quick flicker behind her eyes, tiny pinpricks that bloom into darkness, the faint feeling of Joel holding her up against the solid weight of him.

It’s the heat.

She needs space, give her space.Let the woman through for Christ’s sake. 

Her mind is alert enough to let out a weak laugh into Joel’s suit jacket at that particular admonition. The crowd parts around them with a wave of murmurs and gasps, a small mercy for them to slip away through the throng, away from that man. They pass down an alleyway, enough shade, enough safety for her to regain her legs, untangling from Joel’s arms to press her palms against the wall of whatever building they just slipped between. 

“I’m sorry, darlin. Shouldn’t have stayed out there that long.”

“Did you not feel that too?”

“I did, but not as strong as you seemed to. Reckon I’ve worked up a little more tolerance over the years than you have.” All she can do is nod, still not quite back from whatever that brink was, barely registering his palm running a soothing circuit between her shoulder blades. She knows he’s right, the few decades he has on her shoring him up against things like that while she still finds herself surprised and stunted by all the unsuspecting vulnerabilities. For all the ways they are steeled and strengthened in this world, the scale is made equal by all the ways they must hurt and hide. 

“It’s not just that, Joel. It’s been too long.”

“I know, darlin. Tonight. As much as you want.” 

…

Dusk pulls a heavy pall over the streets of the city, heralded by the hot brass of trumpets, a warbling cry that resounds in almost every quarter these days. Jazz and its dragging, doleful rhythms, the constant push and pull of sound snaking through the clambering streetcar lines. 

“They’re powered by electricity, you know.” She can feel Joel’s grumble where her palm is resting against his chest, the subtle shake of his head letting her know he isn’t impressed.

“Always something new, darlin. I still prefer a horse myself.” 

“Sorry, baby, but it looks like those days are long gone.” It never fails to amuse her, the act, the game they play. A couple like any other out for a night on the town at one of the city’s many dancehalls, perhaps. Delicate lace creeping up her throat, up her hands, a mercifully looser corset than what she had grown accustomed to in the past wrapped around her ribs. And he in his suit, straining against the starched collar, just a touch out of place, out of time.  Always changing, always shifting in this constantly moving world. Talk like this, look like this, be like this. They do it so well. 

“And you, Miller? Certainly fortune has been kind to you to have a woman on your arm as beautiful as that.” New money, oil tycoons and traders. Vultures, she muses to herself, might be less exacting, staring down their beaks at any new flesh that comes their way in this casino, greedy fingers curled over gold chains. 

“I’d rather not discuss business tonight, gentlemen. It’ll distract a simple man like myself from my cards.” He’s always been good at that, a disarming smile, something earnest in the downward tilt of his lashes, coaxing a laugh out from around the whole table.

“Mrs. Miller, wouldn’t you be more comfortable in the parlor with the other women? I’m sure you’d find their conversation a bit more interesting than all our dry talk.” Joel squeezes her thigh under the table, a silent warning to sheath any sharpness she has at the ready. She’s always been prone to temper when she’s hungry, a short fuse and a snapping snarl. 

“With all due respect, gentlemen, I’d rather like to watch.” Lips curled back in what could be a grin, sweet and stupid enough for them to settle back into shuffling their cards in a thick haze of cigar smoke. Talk flows loosely between plays, though what game it is she isn’t certain, too busy letting her gaze wander across the table. Skin, spilling over shirt collars, ruddy with booze and the close heat and haze of the room, enough to make her gums twinge with the promise Joel made her earlier. But she has to be patient, and so very lovely. All smiles, all deference, hands folded in her lap just so, her nails digging into her palms until it starts to distract her from that throb in her throat. Light hums and nods whenever the conversation lobs her way, not really listening to the words, more watching the way they jump around the men’s necks, tendons and muscle and–

“It’s getting awfully late, my fine companions. I do believe our women have already retired for the night, save for you of course, Mrs. Miller. It is probably wise for us to call this game while we’re still fresh enough to wander home ourselves, eh?” Big, gray mustache and blubbering lips, eyes drooped with drink, a similar look on all the other men’s faces, except for Joel.

“What’s one more round? Won’t you gentlemen give a poor man the chance to make up his losings?” Again, unassuming, eyes rounded with a little pout. It works every time.

“Well alright, Miller. One more round and then we oughta all go home so they can close this place for the night.” Theirs the only table still occupied in the casino, bartender and attendants gone as well it’s so late, most likely waiting in the back for their lingering group to finally leave. Though they won’t be a problem, this she knows. Money moves in this town, an easy bribe made easier by the ask. Work so hard, just take off a little earlier tonight. 

“Miller, I’m sorry to say it, but it looks like your luck isn’t getting any better.” It’d be friendly if the man didn’t look so smug saying it, fanning out a flush of cards on the table that even she knows is a winning set. 

“I’m afraid you’re right. Not sure what I’ll do seeing as I’m all out of chips to bet with.” 

“Why don’t you wager something else?” Said with a grin wrapped around a cigar, always so predictable she finds herself having to swallow a yawn as her eyes cast lazily onto Joel, something like a smile twitching around his mouth. 

“And what might I wager?” Another one of the men leans forward in his seat, and though he speaks to Joel, his eyes stay on her.

“That woman of yours has been so sweet all night sitting and watching. How about a kiss for the winner?” Blink and miss it, the tick in Joel’s jaw, quickly schooled behind a slippery smile. She knows the man would already be dead if this wasn’t a part of their well-worn dance. Something is skittering across the table as they start to play, like schoolboys excited by a shared secret, hands a little quicker, voices a little louder. It makes her teeth hurt with want.

Joel doesn’t win because Joel isn’t supposed to win. Big, gray mustache curled around a sickening smile, looking right at her.

“Fair is fair, gentleman. Why don’t you come over here, sugar, and give me my winnings?” Joel lays one final squeeze to her thigh before she gets up, a reminder that lingers on her skin as she slips around the table to the man who won.  She’ll admit she’s a little caught off guard by just how handsy he is, pulling her over his lap before she can get her bearings.

“You are a beauty, aren’t you? How about a kiss right here, sweetheart?” He points his fleshy finger to his cheek, dimpled with how smug he is. She keeps her lips pulled over her teeth in a smile, leaning in, though her mouth doesn’t find the spot he directed her toward. That quick, quivering beat of life, so easy to seek, so easy to burst in her jaws. His hands curled around her waist go tense for only a moment, before slackening still as she takes and takes and takes. 

The sounds around her barely register in her slow sate, a murmuring scuffle that she knows means Joel is taking care of everything, everyone else. She never realizes just how badly she needs it until she has it between her teeth, mind going heavy and hazy in the swimming satisfaction of a finally full stomach. Every last drop, pinkness dimming to a dull blue beneath her lips before she finally pulls away with a contented sigh. 

“There’s plenty more, darlin. Have your fill.” Always the gentleman, even with it dripping down his chin, though she’s quick enough to thumb it away before it can stain his suit, humming around her finger as he grins at her. 

“Thank you, baby. Always works like a charm.” 

Neither of them have been this full, this satisfied in a few weeks, limbs turning languid and heavy with it as they slink out into the night. She’ll admit it isn’t their tidiest work. Though it isn’t uncommon for a card game to end in bloodshed with all the money fluttering around in this city. But right now, there’s too much thrum in her veins for her to care much about it, tugging Joel along by the hand through the thick night. Neither of them are used to it, the perpetual light of the city, electricity pulsing and prolonging the day, casting everything in a flickering shade of orange. Loose and pliant, bodies swaying to the dragging rhythm of a distant band. She’d coax Joel into a dance if she wasn’t so hellbent on getting home, driven by a different want simpering along her spine. 

“What a beautiful couple.” They’re both surprised by it, stuttering stop in their walk home and whipping around, catching sight of the woman who said it.  She’s older, curled over with age, a street vendor, one of the invisible people that gets passed by day in and day out as she sits vigil over her small tent of wares. 

“I will read your palm if you like, free of charge for such loveliness as you.” She can already hear Joel telling the woman off in her mind, though she cuts in before he can get the first word out, already stepping toward the woman and her booth, palm extended. 

“I see a long life for you.” She can’t quite hold back her snort at that, glancing over her shoulder at Joel who looks equally amused. But the woman isn’t done yet, still holding onto her hand in both her palms. 

“There is something. Something dark. Something has its hooks in you, deep.”  She jerks her hand away before the woman can continue, taking a stumbled step back right into Joel’s chest. The woman’s eyes are wide, a pale, milky blue that she finds herself unable to meet,  steeling her face with what she can of a smile, leaning into Joel’s palm curling over her shoulder. 

“It’s more of a mutual thing actually. But thanks for the warning.” Those pallid eyes follow her the whole way back to their apartments. She can’t look at Joel, her gaze skittering somewhere over his shoulder as she fumbles with the buttons at the back of her dress, something setting a shake in her fingers that she can’t quite name. 

“Darlin, let me help you.” She does, mutely turning around, muscles jumping as his fingers start to trail down the back of her dress.

“You alright?” She hums, airy, not a yes or no, stepping out of her dress to stand before him in the thin fabric of her shift and corset.

“You’re mine, right, Joel? This isn’t– you aren’t–” He’s quick to cut her off, hands coming to frame her face, to focus her gaze on him.

“Hey, hey, none of that. What’s got your mind spinning like this?” She feels foolish for it, and if he wasn’t holding her jaw steady she’d already be tucking her chin down, a bit bashful, a bit embarrassed to admit it.

“That woman–”

“That woman probably says the same damn thing to every person that comes her way. She talked to you for, what, five minutes? If that. Tell me, darlin, how long have we been together now?” The math is simple, but the result is dizzying, a number she feels silly even saying out loud, though Joel fills in the gap where her mind refuses to catch up.

“A long time. And longer yet. Longer than anyone else can imagine.” His words temper into a quiet murmur, forehead to forehead, his nose trailing the line of hers.

“I just– I need to hear you say it, Joel. That you are mine.” His first answer to her is a kiss, give and take in the way he opens her mouth up to him, a slow, hot drag of tongues and sighs. 

“Yours, always. You know that, darlin.” His chin tilts for another kiss, but before he can she presses her palms against his chest, holding him where he is as a smile slips across her face. 

“Take off your clothes for me, now.” A flicker of recognition, understanding in his expression. He knows what she’s really asking for, and he’s more than willing to give it to her, already shucking off his suit jacket. She watches, barely blinking. The steady work of his hands popping open his collar, tugging loose his tie with just a touch of exasperation. She knows how much he hates all of it, the wool trousers, the shined shoes and sock garters. She supposes that he’d walk down mainstreet in bluejeans and flannels if it didn’t mean sticking out sore and strange. Never far from the plains in his mind. But bare beneath it all, he’s still the same, still all hers. Circling, palm slipping from his chest down the soft strength of his side, along the curve of his ass, his shudder making her sigh as she slinks back around to stand in front of him. And though he reaches out for her, she steps back just enough that his fingertips only brush fabric. Not tonight. Not like that. 

“On the bed, baby.” He’s being good tonight, compliant, a rarity that tells her that he knows. How much she needs this, eyes watching him watching her as she slips the lacing of her corset loose, letting it drop to the floor along with her shift. Always a sigh settling into his lap, her thighs splayed over his hips, nails digging into his shoulders with the drag of her cunt against him, already hard, already aching for her. She’s not looking to tease, not tonight, not tangled in this strange feeling that she wants to chase away with the taut stretch of him, a cry stuck in her throat when she sinks all the way down. 

“There you go, darlin. Gonna take what’s yours, huh?” She does, pressing him down into the sheets, her palms splayed over the span of his chest as she lets her hips grind against his, feeling that fill, that perfect press that makes her eyes roll back. He lets her take exactly what she wants from him, his palms splayed over her ass, a staying, a steadying to the rolling bounce she finds, little moans that break like beating wings. Only she gets him like this, his head pressed back into pillows, curls mussed and mangled, brow pulled down in a pleasure only she can provide. Something about the power of it, the possession of it driving her to curl over him, her palm coming to his jaw, just a little mean in the press of her fingers. She doesn’t even have to ask, his lips already parted around a groan, enough for her to let her mouth hover over his, a thin slip of spit falling onto his tongue. His eyes widen only for a beat before drooping hazy and low, his lips pressing together with a rasped hum in his throat. All hers.

“Fucking filthy, ain’t you? Been a bad influence on you, darlin, fuck.” He’s getting greedy, impatient, bending his knees so he can meet her own jolting rhythm, a quick and desperate snap to his hips that makes her preen.

“Maybe, but you like it, don’t you, baby?”

“You know I do. My angel’s made just for me, huh? All mine.” All she can do is nod, a yes slipped between sighs as everything furls up in a perfect twist of pleasure, spine snaring tight before slackening slow, her body melting over his as he follows her over the edge. Chest to chest, a nip to the hinge of his jaw, just a little one, enough to make him huff and tuck his knuckles under her chin to coax her mouth up to his. 

“Feel better, darlin?”

“Shut up.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Shutters closed, curtains drawn, keeping out the creeping Sunday morning sunlight. They’ll sleep through the day, maybe two with how full they are, limbs slumping into a close tangle as the city starts to wake up.

Men in their finest, shirt collars prim and pressed, holding the brim of their bowlers in one hand, offering their other elbow to their wives, dripping in lace and wide wicker hats. Everyone making their way to church. He doesn’t have the snake out this morning, just a cracked Bible tucked against his chest and a flurry of words ready to jump from his throat, pacing at the pulpit.

“Brothers and sisters, I stand before you today, my heart heavy with sorrow because the devil has struck again in our good city!” A wave of murmurs, hands clasped to chests in shock at his blunt exclamation. His voice rises above the throng, building on the encroaching twinge of hysteria.

“Last night, in one of those dens of degeneracy and sin, four honest and hardworking men of our community were murdered, a most perplexing and pernicious crime.” The crowd is stirring itself up into what could become a frenzy now, men rising from their seats, women clutching at their gloves, though the preacher is quick to silence them with his continued cries.

“Please, everyone, let us keep our heads! We must if we are to strike this evil from our hearts and from the streets of New Orleans. I have already organized evening vigils for the rest of this week and I implore you to come out and pray with us. We must come together now to drive the devil out of this city before he has the chance to propel any more of these heinous crimes!” 

…

“Hmm.”

“You awake?”

“Just about.”

“You thirsty?”

“A bit.”

“What are you in the mood for, my darlin?”

“I’ve been thinking about that preacher man, if I’m quite honest.”

“You know he won’t taste good. Always a little bitter, those ones.”

“I know, but I could do without him shouting up and down the streets at all hours of the day about evil.” She can feel Joel’s huff of laughter against the back of her neck, the warmth of him settling over her where she’s slumped into the mattress on her stomach. Stretched out after a long, languid sleep.

“Well why don’t we take care of him and then find something a little more appetizing for dinner.” She cranes her neck to glance over her shoulder, being greeted by the slip of his grin and the silver of his teeth.

“Now you’re talking, baby.”

[restinslices]

Could u write earthrealm guys with a vampire reader? And like sometimes she feeds on them 👀

*asks for vampire requests* *proceeds to procrastinate*

Johnny Cage 

Honestly it'd probably take him awhile to grasp how serious the situation is 

It's not that he wouldn't believe you, but he'd probably think you're joking at first 

Says something like “yeah and I'm a werewolf”

You insist that you're serious and something about the tone of your voice makes him realize you're being truthful 

He saw that crazy shit in Outworld so it's not completely unreasonable 

He's kinda jealous though 

You're gonna be young and hot forever? And you have powers? Sounds like bullshit to him 

He probably asks questions that have to do with your age and how long you've been alive 

I think he would weirdly find you drinking from him kinda hot, especially depending on when and where you drink from him 

Drinking from him shuts him up for awhile since he's all dazed, so it'd be understandable if you drank from him a lot 

I don't even think he'd cover up the marks. He treats him as if they're hickies 

He's probably told the other champions too because his mouth is big 

And knowing Johnny, he's thinking of all the movies you could be in since people love vampires 

Also knowing Johnny, if you can compel people, he'd use that for his benefit 

If all you have to do is say a couple words and his debt is forgiven, then he's definitely using that 

He sees how many pros there are and asks to be turned 

The thing is though, he's only looking at the pros

You have to continuously remind him of the cons but it goes in one ear and out the other 

He will not let it go at all. You don't have to turn him right away, but if you don't give him a specific date for when he'd be turned, he'd become insufferable 

Becomes Bella Swan lowkey-

Kenshi Takahashi

Probably also thinks you're joking 

Once it's clear you're not though, y'all can lowkey be a power couple 

Imagine it for a second 

You both cutting through the Yakuza and restoring his clan 

You being a vampire makes it a lot easier. He's fighting, you're eating. It's going great 

He's not too bothered by the whole vampire thing. There's a few quirks that may throw him off, but overall it's ok 

When it comes to feeding off him, uhhhh… he's a bit shaky about it 

I think that's a valid reaction too

You'd ask and he'd be like “um… do you have to?”

He'd occasionally offer you his wrist 

Otherwise he'd prefer if you didn't unless it's necessary 

Why do I get this vibe? I couldn't tell you 

I don't even think he'd really want to be a vampire 

It's not that he doesn't wanna be one. He just doesn't think about it 

He could be tempted if you said his eyes would heal and he'd have his normal vision back but that could depend on the day 

His sight is already restored but pretending to be blind may get annoying. Who knows

I still don’t understand how his sight works now. I gotta rewatch a play through

Being a vampire has its main perk which is living forever but idk if he’d want that. I can see Kenshi being someone who is both afraid of death but also is comforted by all life having a solid ending

Maybe his thoughts will change

I really don't think he'd be too bothered by you being a vampire though. Just don't make a mess on his carpet 

I think you having the ability to defend yourself would weirdly comfort him 

Not having to watch over you and make sure you're ok all the time is something he'd appreciate 

You're literally eating the opponents. This seems like a great deal 

Kung Lao

I wanna start this off by saying Kung Lao is the type of petty bitch to get mad at you and hold garlic to keep you away 

And he'll be in such shock if you walk over and slap it out his hand

You'll just be staring at each other in silence 

Kung Lao probably tests all sort of vampire myths on you 

“Get out the house then try and come back in” “Why?” “You can't come in if I don't invite you, right?” “This is our house though” “I don't get your point”

Prays over water then throws it at you 

Idek if Kung Lao is religious so idk why he thought that would work 

“Can I stake you through the heart?” “I'm gonna throw you out the window”

Puts a mirror in front of your face to see if you have a reflection. He’s upset either way

If you do, he’s like “wow. Another lie”

If you don’t he’s wondering how you manage to look decent still

It honestly can become obnoxious and I think he'd have the tendency to act as if he knows more about vampires than you 

Because surely all the movies he watched had to be somewhat right 

If you’re like a Twilight vampire and sparkle, he’s never letting you live it down

You can’t control this but he would find it comical. Out of all the vampires you’re similar to Edward Cullen?

When it comes to drinking from him, uhhh I don't really get a certain vibe 

Idk if he'd be down or against it. Maybe it depends on the day 

On the topic of feeding, I don't think he'd like seeing you eat people 

He knows it happens but doesn't wanna see you chomping on someone. It makes his skin crawl 

Overall, is he kinda obnoxious? Yeah. But he could've tried to kill you so a win is a win ig

As a side note, idk if he'd be interested in becoming a vampire 

It’s a thing he gotta weigh. On one hand he’d be in his best shape for the rest of his life. On the other hand he doesn’t wanna deal with all the inconveniences

Raiden

He might be somewhat uncomfortable 

He doesn't think you'll harm him but he probably doesn't want you to eat others in front of him 

What evidence do I have for this? None. 

It's just what makes sense in my brain 

He asks a lot of questions though. A lot of them are cliche based but that's ok 

“So… Garlic?” “It smells funny but that's about it”

I could see him forgetting honestly. He won't be really involved when it comes to feeding. Like he won't help lure people or be around you when you're feeding from someone and since he doesn't see that, it just slips his mind 

Especially if you're one of those vampires that look normal until you're aggravated or feeding 

He's only reminded by almost killing you. He pulls the curtains back on a very sunny day and is like “oh shit” when you scream 

When it comes to feeding from him… no❤

Idk why but I just don't think he'd be down unless you were dying 

He doesn't like how it hurts and how dazed he feels after. Find someone else to do it 

And it’s kinda awkward. He’s just standing there as you’re sipping him like a juice box

Probably isn't really interested in becoming a vampire 

Him and Liu Kang are probably the least interested but for different reasons 

Raiden just doesn't particularly care about the whole living forever thing. Maybe that's because he's young so he's not worried about dying but that's just how he views it 

I think him and Kung Lao are the youngest in the group so they probably have the “I’m young so I’m not worried about anything!” mindset

Can he be killed still? Yeah. But so can vampires. It’s just harder. He’s at an age where he’s not thinking about old age

Plus the negative side effects push him away even further. I don't see him as the type to be totally ok with having to drink blood all the time and look out for hunters 

You can be a vampire and not hurt innocent people but it’s harder I would assume. And if he didn’t drink from humans he’d be hunting down animals and idk if he’d really like biting animals either

There’s blood bags but now he gotta be a thief? It’s a no for right now

Liu Kang

He knew 

I'm not saying Liu Kang watches every single person born intensely but he probably saw it 

Here's how it'd go;

A) He saw you be turned when he was watching humanity 

B) He picked up on the evidence 

C) You were a vampire in the previous timeline and either he didn't change it, or he knew there was a chance it'd happen again 

If the situation was like C, then he wouldn't really be weirded out by certain vampire things, like feeding

He'd be similar to Raiden in the sense that he's not the type to help lure people towards you 

Your food. Your responsibility 

As long as you're not feeding from totally innocent people, then I think he wouldn't have a problem 

If you were drinking from kids or a civilian that's super nice and helpful, then he'd have a problem 

He might suggest animals ngl 

Feeding from him? It's another situation where I don't know if he'd be for or against that 

He probably won't be as dazed as the others since he's a god and whatnot but who is tryna get bit all the time?

In the same breath though, I can see him offering his wrist if you were thirsty and there wasn't good prey around 

So maybe it depends on circumstances 

No if there’s plenty of options around. Yes if it’s a bit dry around

Like Kenshi, he's glad you have the power to defend yourself. Chaos, violence and smoke follows this man so you gotta be a fighter 

He doesn't know how he feels about you eating the competition but whatever 

And don't even bother offering to turn him. He's already a god. What more does he need?

It'd be way more negative for him. He has strength, powers and combat skills. Now he has the need for blood, has to avoid sunlight and whatever other bullshit vampires gotta deal with?

Hard pass 

He'll just watch and live through you 

[reigningqueenofwords]

Strong Too Long

Request: Anonymous. Hey! I was wondering if I could have something about where the reader is just fine with staying at the bunker and cooking and cleaning and being there for them emotionally and even though she’s not an active hunter which can make her look weak she has a really strong character but is soft at the same time and the boys love it. One day something happens that makes her break and she starts sobbing and the boys don’t know what to do cuz she’s always so strong. She gets depressed and they help her.

A/N: This was posted as 2 parts on AO3, but I'm making it all one fic on here. It's just easier lol

Although you were probably the farthest thing from a hunter that you could possibly be, you lived with two of the best there was. Sam and Dean Winchester. You balanced them out. They would go on hunts, saving the world, saving innocent people, and dealing with things that would most grown men piss their pants. You kept the bunker feeling like home by cooking for them, cleaning, and making sure that nothing started growing in places that weren’t really used all that much (like that random bathroom that was in such an odd spot).

You considered yourself emotionally strong. You had to be when you lived with them. Many nights they had come home beat up, bloody, and a hell of a lot worse for the wear. That came with what they did.

Burdening with anything you were feeling wasn’t something that you wanted to do. So, you kept busy. You made sure things were perfect on the days that they came home. You would stock up on Oxy Clean (and cross your fingers that their clothes were salvageable…shopping for them was the worst).

Sam had failed to warn you about Dean. He’d been hit with a (temporary) spell. Long story short- he was a dick. He said the worst things. Cas assured you that it would wear off in a day or two. Until then, you were forced to put up with his mouth. A few times you were tempted to knock him out.  

Slowly, it chipped at you. He’d make little comments here and there. Comments about how they kept you around because you were hot, how you were delusional if they thought they would ever really care about you. Sam felt bad, because this was bad.

The second night, you crawled into bed and cried. Which wasn’t you. Dean finally got to you. His words kept playing over and over in your head, and this time, Sam wasn’t there to make him stop.

Dean smirked at you, and you knew something was about to come from his mouth that would eat at you. He stopped you from moving, his eyes locking on yours. “You’re weak, you know that? You hide away in here, pretending to be useful. If we needed you, you’d be less than helpful. Keep telling yourself that you matter, sweetheart.” He walked away, amused with himself.

Sam jerked awake at the sound of sobbing. Normally, in the bunker, he slept like a rock. But sobbing wasn’t something that was a normal sound. He bolted from his bed, meeting Dean in the hallway.

Together, they ran to your room. Quietly, Sam peeked in. There you were, clutching your pillow and sobbing. In all the years they had known you, you had not cried unless you were truly physically hurt. They knew you weren’t.

Dean stepped in. “Sweetheart?”

At your voice, you froze. Looking over to him, you broke out in a fresh bout of sobs, making you hyperventilate. Dean tried to move forward again, and his heart broke when you pulled away from him.

Sam tried, and you clung to him. He gave Dean a sad smile before the eldest Winchester went back to his own room, confused.

The next morning, the boys were confused. Most mornings, they would find you in the kitchen making breakfast, dancing to the radio. The kitchen was dead silent, a pin could be heard dropping to the floor. As opposed to bothering you, the boys made themselves breakfast.

However, when lunch came around, and neither had heard, or seen, you, they caved. They made their way to your room, Sam stepping in first. You were simply lying on your side, staring at the wall. “Y/N?” Sam asked gently.

“Go away, Sam.” Your voice was broken.

“What happened?” He sat next to you, rubbing your back.

You sniffled. “Ask Dean.”

Sam’s head shot up, looking at his brother. Dean shrugged. “I don’t know what I did. One minute we’re ganking that witch, the next I’m waking up to her sobbing.” He explained.

“Just go.” You said with a sigh. “It doesn’t matter.” You shrugged. “I don’t matter.”

He cupped your face and made you look at him, his hazel eyes soft. “You matter. So much. We are here for you, for whatever you need.” He reassured you. “We will not let you go through this alone.”

Dean’s POV It killed me. Every time I walked into a room, you were become a shell of yourself. You looked almost fearful of me. What did I say to you? What had I done in the time between the hunt, and you waking us up sobbing? Every morning I woke up, wanting to pull you close and beg for your forgiveness. And then I’d see you, and my resolve would shatter. I couldn’t get within a few feet of you without you shrinking away from me.

I knew that Sam saw the pain in my eyes. I could tell when I’d look over and see that look on his face. Seeing that made my chest clench, knowing that I was the one who broke you. More and more, I avoided you. Just so I didn’t make things worse, and so I didn’t feel my heart break more and more.

A week after you woke us up, I heard your laughter echo through the bunker. It was like the sound my ears had been hungering for. Getting up off the bed, I followed it. My feet moved quicker, running through the halls. I found you in the library, laughing at something on the laptop. When she looked up at saw me, for a split second, it was like you were smiling at me. Just for a moment…I felt hope.

And then it fell. The sadness returned, and the beautiful sound of your laughter was gone. My brother was picking up the pieces, my brother was by your side, building back up the beautifully strong woman that you truly were.

Licking my lips, I slowly moved forward. “Y/N.” I said softly, seeing you swallow. You were scared. “I-I don’t know what I did. I don’t know what I said, but I will do anything to make it up to you.” I moved around the table, kneeling next to your chair. “Please, I’m begging you…Tell me what I said, what I did. Tell me so I can make it up to you.” I held your hands gently in mine.

Reader’s POV I wasn’t blind. I saw how it hurt him, how my fear killed him. The pain clouded over his eyes like never before. Oh, how I tried. I tried to remember that it wasn’t him. I tried to forget the words, the look in his eyes while he said them.

Sitting in the library, I was watching random clips on Sam’s laptop, laughing, when I noticed Dean. For just a moment, the memory of that time didn’t raise to the surface. And then it all came crashing down. My eyes followed him as he moved around the table, forcing myself to stay put. I forced myself to see the Dean that I used to see.

He was begging in a tone that I’d never heard before. Begging for me to tell him the things he said. Taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth to finally tell him. To finally open up. “Said you only keep me around because I’m hot, that you’d never care about me.” I told him quietly. “But what did me in was…’You’re weak, you know that? You hide away in here, pretending to be useful. If we needed you, you’d be less than helpful. Keep telling yourself that you matter, sweetheart.’ And then  you walked away.” My eyes closed, not wanting to see the guilt wash over his face.

Sam’s POV Dean wasn’t the same after everything. Guilt ate at him, getting worse day by day. Every time I saw him he looked a little less like my brother. I barely saw him out of his room, and when I did, he was more like the living dead than everything.

I left to go get some groceries, figuring the fresh air would do me some good. I kept the windows down, letting the air clear my head.

Before I knew it, I was walking back into the bunker. Hearing Dean’s voice, I set the bags down and followed it. His voice wasn’t something I heard often. I found him in the library. “Uh, Dean?” I asked, slowly walking in.

Dean glanced over to me, looking hopeful. “Yeah?”

“Who are you talking to?” I asked softly.

He stood up, looking at me like I was on drugs. “Y/N. I’m finally getting her to talk to me. She’s telling me what I said.”

Oh, this was gonna suck. “Dean…” I took a deep breath. “Y/N died. Six months ago on a hunt.”

“I’m talking to her righ-” I watched as he turned, seeing an empty chair. Looking around, he looked under the table, and around the room. “This isn’t funny, guys.” He sounded panicked.

“She forgave you, Dean. And then we went on a hunt a couple days later.” I explained. “She didn’t come home.”

Dean looked like he was gonna be sick, leaning on a chair, falling to the ground. “No. No. It’s only been a week…” He breathed. “Nope. She’s fine. She’s around here, safe, and I just gotta talk to her. Right, Sammy?” His voice cracked. “Come on, Sammy. T-tell me that she’s fine.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Dean.”  

[wonderland-smile-stories]

~ Chapter 7. 04 ~

I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammar mistakes and how poorly written this fanfic is. English is not my first language and together with my dyslexia ass things can go wrong I'm sorry.

I was debating just waiting until Ji-su would come and get me in the morning, but honestly, I couldn't sleep anymore.

I just need to see if Hyun-su's asleep or not. If he's asleep I'll just come back. It was easier for me to stand up this time around.

My body has healed more in the few hours that have gone by, but I still felt them. I'm happy that I could convince Ji-su to go sleep with the others.

It would be impossible to sneak out if she was here. Just like she said the door wasn't locked.

I opened the door fully but froze completely when I saw Hyun-su sitting against the wall next to the door.

He looked just as shocked as me. His big puppy eyes looked up at me from the ground.

"Hyun-su," I whisper letting go of the door.

He stood up breaking eye contact with me.

"Why are you sitting here? Shouldn't you be asleep?" I asked with my voice low hoping nobody could hear me.

It's not like people hang out here in the back of the building.

"I...I wanted to make sure you were okay." My eyes scanned his frame, not sure if he meant it or if they told him to guard me.

"I didn't think you would want to be around me?" I admitted wrapping my arms around me.

It was chilly out here and the holes in my dress made it more cold. A confused look came on his face when he looked back up.

"What do you mean?"

Even after everything they are still forcing him to do stuff.

"It's okay Hyun-su you can go. You don't need to guard me. Tell Eun-hyuk he can just lock the door next time."

I turned back around closing the door behind me. I can't believe Ji-su lied. They are afraid of me and Hyun-su is dragged into this.

He hates me and they are making him be around me.

I was about to sit back down when the door opened behind me. When I turned around I saw Hyun-su coming in closing the door behind him.

"Hyun-su go. For the first time you are not locked up here, so go. I don't need a guard. I had hoped that they would stop making you do their dirty work." I explained getting more annoyed.

He shook his head.

"They didn't make me do anything."

A frown came on my face.

"Why are you here then? If I was you I would stay away from this place. From me." I whispered the last part, but he still heard it.

"Why would I stay away from you?" He asked taking a step closer.

"Hyun-su you don't need to pretend you aren't mad with me. Hell if I was you I would hate me and wish I would rot away in here." He still looked confused but still shook his head.

"No, I'm not mad." I let out a sigh of frustration turning away from him.

"Hyun-su, please for once do what you want and don't do things to please others. If you are mad at me just say it! You don't need to keep the peace between us. If you're mad at me just say it and I'll stay away from you."My voice broke at the end.

I didn't want him to be mad at me. I wanted to say I was sorry and hoped he would just say hey to me when he saw me in the building after what I had done, but if he's mad and just wants to ignore me I will accept that.

It was silent for a while.

I could hear him breathing behind me, but he didn't utter a word. I was hoping he would leave soon because it was getting harder to keep the tears in.

I thought he would walk out of the room when I heard him move, but to my surprise, a hand grabbed my shoulder gently.

I turned around and came face to face with him. It was the first time I was this close to him without me taking care of his wounds. His eyes scanned my face taking it in before speaking up.

"I'm not mad at you." I opened my mouth to say something, but he was faster to say something.

"Ji-su told me that Eun-hyuk made you keep it a secret. I also know that you fought him every moment you could when he sent me upstairs. I always saw you argue with him when I would go upstairs."

It was like a daily thing. Eun-hyuk would send him upstairs, I would fight with him to make me go too or to give Hyun-su a break.

"That doesn't excuse the fact that you were locked up here and used like a dog while I was free to walk around. I should have said something at least to you! I hated how you were locked up here!" I was so angry at myself for just doing nothing.

"God I'm so stupid and weak! I could have helped and you would be less injured! Maybe if I just have followed you upstairs I could have helped you without Eun-hyuk knowing!" By now tears were streaming down my face.

All the emotions I have been holding back the past couple of weeks came floating out.

"Mi-na."

I shook my head bringing my hands to my hair.

"I'm always doing things wrong. I should have been more stronger!" I sobbed.

Before I could say something else Hyun-su grabbed me to bring me into his embrace. A part of me wanted to pull away, but I didn't have the strength to fight. The only thing I did was grab the back of Hyun-su's sweater tightly in my hands while more sobs left my mouth.

I think Hyun-su surprised himself when he grabbed me because, for a few seconds, he just stood there stiff not knowing what to do next before one of his hands went to the back of my head stroking my hair, and the other wrapped securely around my waist.

"I'm sorry," I whispered a few times, but the only thing he did was pull me closer.

Previous Chapter ~ Next Chapter

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They are getting closer....... Hyun-su is beginning to let Mi-na touch him longer and even hugging her ^^. But it's Sweet Home so things can go to shit any second.

[zmediaoutlet]

fic: the spare bedroom

the nostalgia bug has got me good, y'all. And man, it's so much easier to write for a new fandom, haha. For the four of you who might see this --

title: the spare bedroom pairing: Cloud/Barret rating: E length: 5000 tags: Game: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024), Gongaga (Compilation of FFVII), Friends With Benefits, Size Kink, Oral Sex

summary: After getting out of the desert and making their way to Gongaga, everyone splits up. Cloud comes to check on Barret.

(read on AO3)

Cissnei's house is nice enough. Small. A few beds, like maybe desperate folks have crashed here before. A kitchen. Maybe Tifa'll cook something, if they're lucky. Pay back their host for her generosity. From the burn marks on the stove they better not rely on Cissnei to provide.

Barret's not hungry, though. He's tired but he doesn't want to sleep. Piece of shit of a day, worse than just about any he's had in four years. He sits on the bed shoved against the wall in the back room and rests his elbows on his knees, trying to figure it. Between the plate getting dropped and losing his team and the reactor back in Corel blowing and his arm being shot to bloody broken bits—yeah, he's got a list. Previously he'd had the ranking pretty well defined. Maybe on some later day he'll feel less like a sorry sack of shit about the whole thing but right now, every time he closes his eyes he sees that holding shack at the prison, and he feels the hot dust under his fingers, and in his ears, his best friend saying—

"What are you doing," Cloud says. Barret jolts, opens his eyes.

"I'm bo-ored," Yuffie says, from her slump in the living room around the corner. "This town was supposed to have materia."

"It isn't just going to appear midair. I thought you were a hunter. Go find it." Barret snorts. Kid doesn't even sound like he's trying to be rude. Perfectly practical, that's our SOLDIER. Yuffie makes some whiny noise—Barret is truly not looking forward to Marlene being fifteen—and Cloud sighs, and like he's making a great concession says, "I think I heard the GYC guys talking about training with magic. Maybe you can convince one of them to hand something over."

"Really?" she squeals, and then, calling like to a distant friend, "Materia, never fear! You shall be mine!"

Running sneakers on the stone, the front door slamming closed. Barret tips his head back against the wall, watches the afternoon light coming in through the strange stone-hewed windows. Town's nice. Peaceful. If it were some other day he bets he could enjoy it.

Cloud appears in the archway. His lips part on seeing Barret and then he shakes his head. "Figures. Last place I look."

"Ain't everything in the last place you'd look?" Barret says. He stretches his boots out on the stones. "'Cause you'd stop looking then, right?"

Those big, pretty eyes narrow. "Right." Cloud studies his face and Barret lets him. Nearly all his awful secrets are out in the light, now. Don't make sense to pretend otherwise. Anyway, the rest of 'em didn't abandon him in the desert or kill him where he stood, so he figures little fearless leader here isn't about to run him through. Though, really…

"You need something?" Barret says. Better to head those kinds of thoughts off at the pass. "We ain't moving out already, are we?"

Slight head-shake. "Mission break. We don't even know if that reactor's the right place to look. Everyone needs some downtime."

Barret's got enough going on that he thinks he can be forgiven how it takes him a few seconds. Cloud's looking at the ground, his arms folded over his skinny chest, and Barret stares at him in silence until he sees how the kid's ears and cheekbones are going that telltale pale pink. He'd laugh if he didn't feel like his guts had been torn out and left all over the desert. "Don't know if I'm gonna be good company for that, man," he says.

Cloud rubs the back of his neck. "You're never good company," he says, after a second, and Barret's surprised enough to snort. Cloud's mouth tilts, barely, and then his jaw firms. "That was—messed up, today. It shouldn't have gone down like that."

"My best friend shouldn't have been mown down in a hail of bullets by Shinra goons? With it being my fault?" Barret shrugs. "Yeah, guess I'd agree with that."

Strangest look on the kid's face. He blinks hard, shakes his head. Barret frowns—he knows he sounds bitter but he didn't mean to make the kid cry, damn—but after a few seconds Cloud says, softer than he normally says just about anything, "I can't imagine." He stands there, quiet, while Barret takes a full breath, deep in his lungs, trying to clear out the thick tense fucked-up misery that's solid there, all of a sudden, his chest full of iron ore and sandstorms. Then Cloud steps forward, hands loose at his sides, cheeks pink, chin lifted. "Let me help take your mind off it."

"Cloud—" Barret starts, but Cloud gestures vaguely to the rest of town, interrupts with: "Yuffie's out chasing materia; Red's mushroom hunting; I think Cait's charging; Tifa and Aerith are… I don't know, they're doing girl stuff." He tips his head to the side, toward the real bedroom. "I'm betting that door locks."

Barret sighs. "You thought of everything, huh?"

"I try," Cloud says. He sucks his lower lip into his mouth and lets it out slow through his teeth, so it shines in the dim light. Nervous and doing a hell of a job of hiding it, and it might even work if Barret hadn't seen his badass act fail about fifty times by now. "I don't know how to make it better. Maybe it doesn't get better. But there could be an hour that didn't suck."

Damn if the kid hasn't had a 180 in personality from the day they met. Barret's heart's still lead, but—hell, the kid's right. He doesn't want to feel like this anymore. "Long as you promise it won't suck," he says. Feels heavy coming out but, damn, he's trying.

Cloud steps forward between his boots. "Or what," he says, dry.

Barret reaches out, flattens his hand over the kid's chest. The tank's thick wool, surprisingly soft. "Ain't got the energy to mess with you, man," Barret says, more honest than he means to be. Cloud's eyes change, quick as that. He gets a little nod. Barret curls a finger under one of the leather straps on Cloud's armor and tugs. Cloud leans down slow, bending at the waist, pausing for some reason when his breath touches Barret's skin—meeting Barret's eyes, checking, like Barret's some virgin that needs to be gentled—and Barret holds there like a stone until Cloud reaches whatever internal decision had to get made and sinks down the final few inches and kisses him, close-mouthed. Sweet.

He is sweet. Clumsy still, even if they've done this already. Barret holds him by the small of the back over the thick leather brace and lets Cloud take the lead, the weight still dragging at him, but distracted at least—the kid's skin smelling like salt and river-water and the jungle green they waded through to get here and also that weird sharp tang that's always around him, the mako seeping up somehow through his pores. His girl-soft mouth and his girl-soft skin, the touch of wet against Barret's lower lip, his hands warm even through the leather gloves when he frames Barret's jaw, when he sucks in a shuddery breath through his nose, when he makes this tiny deep sound in his chest, like he's tasting something he's been wanting for a while.

Barret's gut wakes, slow. Like it's remembering that he's a man and not just a hollow thing for grief to fill. He presses Cloud's mouth wider, licks his top lip, and Cloud shudders, lets Barret kiss him—deeper—his hands sliding from Barret's jaw to clench in his vest. Then he breaks away—mouth red, wet—and blinks at Barret, and then pulls at his vest, hard, that unnatural strength hauling Barret upright before he's ready so he stumbles forward into the kid, who catches him like it's nothing, and pulls again, until they're in the bedroom, the door slamming behind Barret's back as Cloud pushes him up against it. Cloud has to lift up on his toes and Barret has to bend to get their mouths together again but damn if it's not worth it, with the kid better every time, making those little noises like he's surprised, like he's learning something, like he didn't know he could like it. Hot as hell and not the first time Barret's thought it and certainly not the last, with this warmth building up in him. He was dead ten minutes ago and now he wants—damn, he wants a lot, too much, shit he can't do with responsibility about to come knocking any second, in the bedroom of some stranger's house, with a door that—

"No lock," Barret says, fumbling behind himself. Shit, shit—

Cloud stares up at him hazily, breathing heavy. "Fuck it," he says, rough. "You're a doorstop, right?"

"Screw you," Barret says, surprised into laughing, and Cloud smiles at him and then hooks his sword off that magnet on his back, leans it against the wall—careful like he always is, like the thing that cuts dragons in half will get chipped if he doesn't treat it nice—and then pushes right back in and kisses him, wrapping his arm around Barret's neck, pulling him down enough that it's easy, and then his other hand skimming down Barret's belly to his belt to the front of his fatigues, gripping there, small but firm.

Hell of a lot bolder than he was before. Barret grunts, dips and kisses the kid's jaw, lets his hips curl forward. He's not all the way there but Cloud's curious, feeling the length and the thickening girth and it feels—damn, just right, muffled pressure that's not enough to go crazy over but that feels—like a strong hand gripping his and pulling him out of swamp-muck. His nuts don't mind, that's for damn sure. He drags his fingers down the center of Cloud's back, pressing through the leather, kisses there under the kid's ear and grips his ass in a big handful, squeezes, gets a sweet tiny gasp against his jaw that makes him grin, all unexpected.

"Shut up," Cloud said, and then before Barret can protest that he didn't say nothing at all, he immediately says, "Do you want to—like before?"

Fucking the sweat-damp tunnel between Cloud's thighs, the kid squirming and panting and overcome under his bulk, so hot he's half-surprised the room didn't catch fire. Something that'll be good dreams, as long as he manages to keep his sorry ass alive. Still—"Don't think we can screw up Miss Cissnei's bedroom like that," he says. Regretting it sincerely but also somewhat glad to see Cloud pull back and blink, confused. "Made a mess, creaming you up."

His cheeks are about the color of one of those hibiscus outside, speaking of catching fire. "Right," he says. Just barely unsteady. Barret squeezes his ass again, pulls him in closer against his thigh, and Cloud half-stumbles and—yeah, he's hard too, stiff enough through the uniform that Barret could probably just get the kid to ride his leg, desperate and dizzy with it until he made a mess of himself. And that'd be fun as hell, especially if excuses had to get made about ducking back out to the river for a swim, but Barret's more selfish than that, and, anyway—

"Right," Cloud says again, harder, and then licks his lips, and drops without so much as a by-your-leave to his knees—drops, all at once, hitting the floor with a thud—and reaches for Barret's belt, and Barret's too shocked-stupid to stop him.

Belts aren't complicated and neither are trousers and Cloud's got him unzipped in record time, and that's also when Cloud gets to find out that it's been a long journey and there hasn't been much time for worrying about the delicates. He takes a deep breath and curls his hands into the waistband. "Commando, huh?" He flicks his eyes up.

"You complainin'?" Barret says, spreading his boots. Goddamn, that's a sight.

"I figured you'd need a special sling for this thing," Cloud says, cool as a mountaintop like Barret can't see his ear-tips glowing red under the mess of his hair. He pops the bracer on his right wrist and drags the leather glove off with his teeth, and it's ghostly-pale fingertips on the low of Barret's stomach, dragging down the trail from his navel to the bush he's let grow kinda thick and then touching the root, curious, feeling him all fat and ready. Ready—damn, feels like he could hammer nails—but he doesn't have to wait much longer, with Cloud's fingers peeling back the v of the fatigues and pulling down just enough that his dick—ah—pops free, hanging heavy but hard enough that it's standing out from his hips. Cloud curls his left hand around it—the leather strange and battered-soft—hefts him, fingers barely meeting his thumb—and frowns, and lifts up higher on his knees, and then dips and—presses his lips to the side, over the vein, dry, the heat just—

"Yeah," Barret says, thoughtless, and Cloud glances up at him hot-faced and then closes his eyes, licks instead, his lips dragging stutter-soft up the side of Barret's dick. "Cloud. You done this?"

He holds there with his lips just under the head, bangs hiding his face. Barret fits his hand around the back of Cloud's neck, something twisting so hard and vicious in his gut it almost hurts except that his nuts surge like he could shoot right now, no warning. He slides his thumb up over the soft hollow spot at the top of his spine, feeling the soft puffs of Cloud's breath over the head of his cock—quick, warm. "Wet your mouth," he says, quiet. Tiny space between their skin—he hears the slick noises, Cloud sucking his lower lip—and Barret closes his eyes tight but then opens them again, because hell if he's gonna miss this. "Gotta relax your jaw. Don't try to fit the whole thing. You suffocate, there'll be hell to pay."

"You'd bring me back," Cloud says, absent-minded, and Barret uses the grip at the back of his neck to pull him away—Cloud blinking up at him, startled—but he has to curl down and kiss the kid for that one, knocking his mouth open and really licking inside, pushing his jaw wide, feeling him—wet, yeah, slick and warm and good, and then he stands up again and brushes his thumb over Cloud's smooth cheek and watches him sway softly under that tenderness—what in the hell, every minute's like meeting a new merc—before Cloud licks his lower lip, and bolsters Barret's dick high, and bends to fit his mouth around the head.

Wet shock. Slick, hot—god, there are times Barret prefers this to pussy, of whatever gender. He's too big and most never offer, much less try. Cloud's tongue slicks smooth and strong under the head and Barret grips his hair, presses his hips hard back against the door not to fuck in and maybe actually cause an injury. Little grunt and Cloud pushes down another inch, pulls back, coughs. "Good," Barret says, like a dumbass. "That's good, baby."

"Don't call me that," Cloud says, but he must not mind too much because he licks a sloppy kiss there at the tip and tries again, sliding the tight ring of his lips down and down, the inside of his mouth—he sucks and it's the silk inside his cheeks and his tongue sliding and a hint, ow, of teeth, but with how hard he's trying even that's a kind of harsh hot thing that's swirling tensely at the pit of Barret's belly. Cloud switches hands, gripping with the bare right instead and sliding his left down to hold Barret's nuts, and he laps right at the slit, pressing hard, and Barret—damn, he's trying but he's mortal, isn't he?—fucks his hips forward, chasing it. Knocks into Cloud's throat, makes him yank back, coughing—and Barret does feel like a piece of shit, says, "Damn—sorry, sorry—" but Cloud, being a crazy-ass, says, "Shut up," and kneels up gripping Barret's hips and forces his mouth down. The angle's all off and he hasn't done this or at least hasn't done this with a cock as big as Barret's and he only gets maybe halfway down, but that's insane-making enough, Barret's cockhead threatening the pit of his throat and feeling that tight spasm, his hips pushing forward because he can't not under that demand, closed up in all that heaven. He's so turned around he tries for a second to grab with his right hand, forgetting somehow that it's been gone for four years, and ends up leaving his gun-arm laid heavily over Cloud's back, clanking against his iron pauldron. It's a mind-bending handful of seconds buried about as deep as anyone's managed in years before he remembers he's not supposed to kill the kid and he pulls Cloud away by the hair, his dick emerging into the horrible cold air slick and furious, calling him a fucking dumbass for not leaving it right where it belonged.

Cloud coughs once, slurps spit and air. Barret tips his head back and there are—fuck—tears in his eyes, his face red, his eyes furiously blue. Looking up like it's a challenge and like he's got not a thought in his head, all at the same time. Barret keeps his head still and pushes forward, his dick standing straight out from his hips, lets the cockhead kiss Cloud's mouth. Lets him lick at it, soft-pink and wanting. Pushes past, sliding the sticky-wet along Cloud's bizarrely soft skin, watching the fat dark of it smear along the pale cheek and past, dipping under his ear, brushing the soft ends of his hair until Cloud's lips are pressed to Barret's skin, Barret's nuts against his chin. Barret slides his own fingers against the underside of his dick, brushing Cloud's jaw. Cloud tips his head forward, forehead against Barret's belly. Kisses, careful, at his sack. God, if it were possible. If there were a dozen nights where Barret could hold his head just so and coax him and open his throat, feed in—all the way, past the constriction, in—

He can't wait. He spits in his palm and wraps his fist around his dick, and from lack of options—even crazed-headed as he is he's careful, careful, with the gun, nudging Cloud back with the muzzle against his collarbone—Cloud's eyes opening wide, darker, his jaw dropping—so Barret can feed the head in—just the head, jerking himself, Cloud watching and gripping Barret's hips and then his nuts and then just holding there, cupping Barret's sack and slurping and suckling and licking soft and sweet at the cockhead, this hot urgency in him, wanting it bad enough that he'd choke if Barret let him. Fuck, Barret could choke him. He wrings at his dick, that coil turning in and in and in on itself, tighter and hotter and clawing its way out of his nuts, and he should warn Cloud, should pull him back, should say at least—should say—except it's one of those things he knows, down somewhere deep past every other thing, that no, that this is going to be—that he will—

He bites his lip hard so he doesn't yell out. His hips jerk, once. He follows the pumping release, fisting up and up and up, drives—in—just barely, Cloud gripping his hips and then wrapping his hands over Barret's hand, holding it, letting him pump inside. Cloud's mouth opens and he gasps wetly and Barret watches the white shine on his lip and wrings his dick viciously to pull out another gob of it and then chases that right into Cloud's mouth, forces it back inside when he seems like he might lose it over his chin, and Cloud holds the back of his hand and closes his lips over Barret's thumb and sucks it clean, blurry-eyed, good. Fuck, he's good.

Barret stares at that, for a few seconds. Maybe for eternity. This insane fucker, acting like Barret's giving up the lifestream itself. His tongue pushing hard along the ridge of Barret's thumbnail. How he swallows, and gasps weird around Barret's wet thumb, and then swallows again. Then Barret's brain logs back in, or at least halfway, because he rips his hand away and grips Cloud by the bicep and hauls him bodily to his feet—fucks his tongue into Cloud's mouth for a stolen second to taste himself—bitter, god that's bitter, salt and bleach and Cloud's tongue—and then turns them around, slams Cloud back against the door and goes to his own knees, less gracefully but no less happy to do it.

"What," Cloud says, raw-voiced—god, god, because Barret fucked him there—and Barret says, "You gotta help, baby, can't do this one-handed," and Cloud stares down at him before he fumbles at his waist—rucking up the wide back-belt, peeling open his uniform, and there's—sweet, standard issue Shinra grunt white boxer-briefs with his little dick standing up so hard in them, pushing forward the cotton desperate enough that there's a damp spot at the tip, pink skin shining through the wet. Even kneeling Barret's too tall for this, though—he fumblingly helps Cloud push the trousers and briefs down to his mid-thigh and then picks up one leg, hauls Cloud's knee over his left shoulder to lift him higher—one boot thudding against his back, the other scrambling to brace on the stone floor—and it's awkward, yeah, but at that moment the bed feels a mile away and anyway he can just—"Oh!" Cloud says, as brainless as he's ever been. Barret slurps down, down, to the base—easy—while since he's had the pleasure but it ain't the kind of thing you forget. "What—Barret—"

Barret pulls off, kisses the inches of bare white thigh by his cheek. "Gotta stay quiet, you don't want the whole village coming to see," he says, and when he glances up Cloud's covered his mouth with his gloved hand, staring wide-eyed like Barret's something he never expected to see. Barret'd laugh at how fussed he is—wet-eyed and pink-faced and fluffy-haired as a chick—but it's more fun to grip his tight little ass with his good hand and push him forward into Barret's mouth. Stiff pole of it, leaking all over the place, salt and clean skin and again that strange metal flavor, a tang, somehow all off and weird and addictive all at once. Good mouthful, his nuts a sweet smooth package pulled up so tight to the base he seems ready to shoot, with thirty seconds' worth of decent attention. Barret wants to do him better than that, though, to give back even half of all that good—"Suck," he says, tapping two fingers against the metal back of Cloud's glove. A blink, confusedly hazy. "C'mon, now. My mouth's busy."

Slurped right in, after that. He ducks back down and laps at the smooth sack—truly, he'll never be over how the kid seems to be entirely hairless from the nose down—and kisses Cloud's belly and the knobby little turn of his pelvis where he's too skinny and bites real careful just under his navel, makes Cloud's cock jerk like it's on a damn lead up against the underside of his chin. His fingers are getting what he'd bet would be the gold-star VIP treatment at the Honeybee, Cloud sucking as eagerly as he did dick, and goddamn, if Barret were younger they'd have a real issue on their hands. Even so his nuts are interested, wanting another try.

"Good," he mumbles against Cloud's belly. Another jerk—his dick's pearling clear, oozing. Barret pulls his fingers out of Cloud's mouth and gets a stuttery little gasp, and then a choked noise when he applies them to the red dripping head, smears all the wet around. "Cover your mouth," he says, and Cloud doesn't quite obey but slips his own fingers inside, biting, and that works, too—well enough that when Barret slips his hand around and presses against his asshole the only sound is a chest-deep grunt, not something that'll get shouted to the village and the whole jungle, besides.

Cloud ain't a princess and he's so desperate he don't need coaxing; Barret rubs the wet around, feels him tight, flexing, and doesn't ask before he pushes his middle finger in, quick and all-at-once to the knuckle. Cloud jerks and Barret slurps his dick back in, sucks in little pulses to match his finger fucking in, and Cloud's naked hand fumbles to Barret's shoulder, grips his vest so tight Barret hears a stitch pop. Insanely hot inside. Maybe hotter than other people—those mako treatments, again?—and the ring of muscle clamping hard—and easy, damn, so easy, Barret scrubbing his finger along that front wall where all the good stuff happens and Cloud's breath going strange and high and whiny around his fingers, his thigh flexing over Barret's shoulder and his hips not knowing whether to push back or crush forward. Barret makes it easy for him, encourages the thrust, letting him rock between Barret's hand and his mouth. It feels nice, anyway, right, his lips tight, letting Cloud rock against Barret's tongue pushed flat and hard up against the base, his taste leaking all over 'til Barret's sure he'll only taste that salt-and-metal for days after. He can feel Cloud quickening, though, his tiny noises going deeper, his hips getting desperate, and he crushes his finger in hard and pulls Cloud all the way up against his face, his beard grinding against that smooth sweating skin, his nose crushed in against his belly, sucking, demanding, and—yeah, Cloud's breath stops and his whole body seizes and his bootheel bruises Barret's back and he—shoots, right up into the back of Barret's throat, quick jets that Barret swallows down right away before he pulls back, slurps soft at the head, gets those last few drops. Slippery as mercury.

Cloud's head is tipped back against the door. Fingers still in his mouth, his chest heaving. Barret kisses his cockhead, all flushed and wetly red, and his belly, and then, watching carefully, he tugs his finger out of Cloud's body and then presses back in with two. Thick—he knows, his two fingers are thicker than a lot of men's dicks—but Cloud swallows them up without a whine or a flinch, his body clamping tight but just—taking it. He missed his calling, Barret thinks, and then feels bad for thinking it but—not that bad, really.

"You're so good, baby," he says, meaning it about as sincerely as he's meant anything, and Cloud's eyes open up above and his head drops down, his chin against his chest, meeting Barret's eyes. Not protesting at all. Tilting his hips when Barret grinds his two fingers thick into that spot, his pupils huge and his lips open and everything about him seeming to say—go ahead. Go ahead, make me.

If only. Barret kisses Cloud's belly again, right at the root of his softening dick, and pulls out his fingers and then stands up, bracing against the door to do it. His knees crack, gun-shot loud. Cloud blinks at him, looking up of a sudden with Barret so close, and then gets one of those tiny, goofy smiles.

"Don't you say a thing," Barret says.

"Hm," Cloud says. He looks to the side, where one of the high windows is pouring in that syrupy late afternoon light. "Maybe we can get you a potion, later."

"Man, what'd I say," Barret says, and Cloud grins and then turns back and goes on his toes and kisses him, quick. Just this brief unselfconscious peck, not asking for another thing. He drops back to his heels and he's not smiling anymore but his eyes are soft, and Barret chucks him under the chin, gentle. Dumbass, crazy kid.

He zips up. Cloud gets his uniform back together. In less than a minute, other than how Barret's mouth tastes like cock and metal, looking around the bedroom, no one'd suspect a thing.

Cloud pulls his discarded glove back on, clicks his bracer back together. Twists his wrist back and forth to check the fit. Says, looking down, "You good?"

Barret takes a deep breath. He feels—he doesn't know. It's still this shitty day but it's not worse. His bones feel looser in their sockets and his brain feels somewhat clear and he doesn't—regret at least one thing that happened today. "I'm good," he says. Not exactly true but maybe there's not anything truer.

A steady look, sidelong across Cloud's shoulder. "Good," he says. A little soft. The tip of his tongue touches his lower lip and he swipes one gloved thumb across his mouth, like he's trying not to think about it. If he keeps doing that it's gonna be hell on Barret's composure. But then he settles his shoulders, and picks up that big-ass sword and lets it clank heavily into its place. Looks more like the badass merc he's meant to be. "I'm going to check on the others. If nothing's going on maybe we can rest here, tonight, go on to the reactor in the morning."

"Sounds good to me," Barret says. He opens the door—no one waiting in awkward silence in the rest of the house, thank the planet—and follows Cloud to the entry. Watches Cloud reach for the knob and then grabs his arm. "You—" Cloud lets himself be held still, looking over his shoulder. Barret clears his throat. "You meant it, huh. 'Bout having my back."

Cloud looks at him entirely clear-eyed. No weird tenseness or like he's thinking of ten other things or brooding on whatever dark-ass secrets he keeps locked tight. Just this kid—man, Barret amends—standing there with him. For a minute, steady as a mountain. He nods, once.

Barret swallows. "Hope you know it goes both ways."

A slow breath. "I'm counting on it," Cloud says. Means it, too.

Barret nods back, something settling low at the base of his spine. Something steel-forged, solid. He ain't got a lot of best friends left. He'll do what he can, for this one.

[tobiasdrake]

This is it. We've reached Serai's home at last.

Dweller of Dread isn't even bothering to hide.

Of course, that makes sense. Why would it? The sun and moon are gone. It has nothing to fear.

I can't even muster the energy to be giddy about seeing your home. This place is a tragedy.

The people here are not okay. Not just depressed but... haunted.

Which is to be expected; They're being fed on by a Dweller and also their world is super destroyed. It's like if Wraith Island was worse.

This is your home? It looks unlivable. Is everything in your world made of steel?

A workbench and a cot is not proper furnishings, Serai. I would say we need to get you a bed but we already did, on the Vespertine.

Worlds plural? Serai, did you visit other worlds before coming to ours?

Come to think of it, how did you even get to ours? The Sky Giants seemed to imply that the Vespertine is a necessary key for traveling the Sea of Stars and no other vessel can do it.

That will be Erlina. Who I will continue calling Erlina because that is five syllables and an apostrophe, and I refuse to dignify Fleshy by dedicating that many mouth noises to one of his.

Oh no, she's going to die. That's non-negotiable. We aren't here to play hide and seek.

...well, we are but just until we can figure out what to do about the sun and moon. That's step 1.

And that's steps 1 and 2. We get the eclipse back up and functional, then we start redecorating what's left of this world with blood.

Oh hey, Yoyo had a prophecy for Resh'an about that. I suppose that needs to become step 1, and all of the other steps get moved down a peg.

I think I saw what you're talking about. I thought it was some sort of sky elevator but it's probably the speedball network.

So we find this person, then bring the network online. Then we can do speedballs to get as high as we need. It's a good plan.

Is that another name for the Dweller of Dread? Or is it something else? It's an eerie name either way. 8/10 on the Fuck That Noise scale.

Okay but I'm expecting some Story Time to come out of that. The lore goes down so much easier when you tell it to me.

What the fuck is this? Is it a passcode of some kind? Am I supposed to fit something into it or--

Oh, wait. I think it's a marker. Yeah, sure, I'll trust strange markers in the desert of ambiguous intent. Best case scenario, it's an ancient signpost to help us find our person. Worst case scenario, we walk right into the middle of the Queen That Was's base and catch her with her pants down.

Either way, anything important enough to leave signposts to is something worth breaking into.

Well, we've found something, to be sure. Remains to be seen if it's good or punchable.

The air's pink. Is the air supposed to be pink? I'm pretty sure air is never supposed to be pink, so I'm leaning towards punchable.

Yeah, I can tell by the chunks of Dweller flesh overgrowing the facility. Weapons ready, team.

That's grotesque. I would say we should kick the door in and break everything but we don't have the Eclipse.

So. What's our play here? B&E for hostage retrieval? I assume the person we came to find is probably going to be in the building, right?

Never mind, I'll stop pretending I know fuck about all when it comes to Fleshmancer shit.

What in the Muppet Hell is happening here? Is that Oscar the Grouch in the back corner!? I don't know what this is but I know that I hate it.

This isn't, like, a Nier situation where the people of Repine are soulless bodies and the spirits here are their bodiless souls, is it?

Well, at least we know what the pink glowy thing in the desert is. It's not the Dweller; In fact, based on drone footage, I'm now pretty sure the Dweller is in the ocean and guarding the moon. But it's still awful. Pretty sure everything in this world is.