#if i see you.. ill nod to some passing face of god who never really answered me at prayer….

[muirneach]

can anyone hear me.

[thisgirlnamedblusy]

Hi, Blusy! I hope you're well!

I have a request about reader who works for Donna whether a maid or gardener (maybe both! Why not? Capable indeed *nods*). Reader is very loyal to Donna because ofc Donna treats her well as her employer (or maybe also bc reader secretly has a crush on Donna :]c)

And this reader is also a fierce one >:] Well, the villagers always speak ill of the Lords but especially Donna. So whenever reader is in the village to do some chores, she will defend Donna verbally when someone said bad things about her. Donna knew this and fell in love secretly with reader because hey! Someone's caring for her:(

One day, someone said really really bad thing about Donna and reader got so angry she jumped and got into fist fight with that person. She got injured a little but yeah! Victory! (Maybe Heisenberg passed and stopped the fight so reader wont offed the person and he drag reader back to the manor)

Donna got so worried seeing reader injured and took care of reader injury. She asked reader not to defend her anymore bc she doesnt want reader got hurt anymore. Since then, most villagers are wary to reader even some tried to bully/hurt her now. But now it's Donna's turn to save her girl! Donna apparently followed reader bc she is worried, then when reader got abused she appeared and scares/threatened the awful villagers to protect reader!

When they get home, reader confessed her feelings to Donna because she can't hold back her feelings anymore (Donna got so happy and reciprocated ofc :3) fluff please!

Anyway, thank you for always feeding us with your writings!

Yesss!!!! Thank you for your request!!! I hope you like it and sorry about the language mistakes!!!! :))))))

Loyalty

Pairing: Donna Beneviento x Fem, Maid! Reader

Warnings: Fluff, maybe mentions of violence...

Word count: 7,711

Summary: Maybe your loyalty is not just that...

N/A: Sorry about the language mistakes!!! Requests are open!!! I'm waiting yours!!! I love you all!!! :))

It had been a while since going down to the basement stopped giving you the shivers.

The first few times you did it, you felt the stares of the paintings following you, a feeling of heaviness in your chest. Not even a girl like you could ignore the danger that was breathed among those old and cracked walls.

But that was only at the beginning.

Little by little you began to stop shrinking to walk faster as you headed towards your destination, to stop fearing the paintings, the shadows of that place. Maybe it was the habit, the daily routine of walking through that dark place and always surviving it. You would only fool yourself by thinking that way.

A recurring habit was not powerful enough to face the darkness of that mansion, not even if it was an act repeated several times throughout the day.

No, your face wore a smile as you walked with a tray in your hand, maybe not because of the path, but because of the destination.

Luck or misfortune: you could have thought of either the day you decided to start being independent, something really complicated in that place. A girl like you, skilled, yes, but with few options, had no choice but to bow to the power of the village, to the pressure that forced you to bow your head and serve.

Castle maid, farmer, gardener… The options that age began to mark for you were all equally tedious, equally bitter. There was no future for anyone in that place, and you were no exception. The only difference between the other young women of your age and you was simple: you accepted your future.

There were people much more loyal than you to Mother Miranda and the Lords but… At least you didn’t see them as a danger or as the shadows that kept that small village in complete darkness.

Envoys of the Black Gods, nobles… No matter how you thought about them. Somehow, those speeches, Mother Miranda's words penetrated your mind to make you understand that this was your world, and that it would never change.

With that in mind, you decided to try your luck and demonstrate your skills by doing something that few dared to do voluntarily: serve the Lords.

In the absence of another option, you went to the castle to find a place among so many maids. Everything went well. Lady Dimitrescu seemed satisfied with your skills, and, above all, with your helpful attitude.

Just when you thought that you had somehow achieved what you wanted, life surprised you with an unexpected turn. Apparently, your skills as a gardener wouldn’t be very useful in the castle; an army of maids were already taking care of the vineyards. According to Alcina Dimitrescu herself, it was a talent that couldn’t be wasted.

After a phone call, the pages of your future began to be written in a different book, in a book elegantly decorated with a sun and a moon.

Nobody knew much about the youngest of the Lords, that mysterious woman covered with a black veil, Donna Beneviento.

You knew she was dangerous, that she wasn’t right in the head, that she always carried a talking doll with her… Few information, and, in a place like that, having few information was synonymous with fear.

The lady in black needed someone to take care of the garden, and a maid wouldn’t hurt either. According to the lady of the castle, Donna needed some company. You were reluctant at first. The rumor mill of the village was a dangerous weapon that attacked whenever there was no information, and without remedy, your legs began to tremble as you walked through those grounds from which “no one had ever returned.”

You weren’t the only one who showed distrust. As you got to know the lady in black closely, you realized that you weren’t welcome, that your presence was nothing but a nuisance.

You wondered how many maids were sent to serve that woman, how many returned, none of them, possibly.

Determined to show that you were capable of serving Lady Beneviento as well as her sister, you took that first rejection as a personal challenge, showing your abilities and skills to get a chance, at least the chance to get out of that place alive.

You didn't need to insist much, since that woman didn't seem fond of conversations. Her desire for silence, or perhaps the fact that she saw in you a possibility of meeting her needs, was what finally made her hire you as her maid.

Leaving the village wasn't difficult, adapting to your new life was.

Donna was a strange, disturbed and sick woman, just as the rumors said. But there was always another dark side to every person, or, in this case, a bright side.

As time went by, you began to settle into a comfortable routine, to see that old mansion as something resembling a home. Days gave way to night and vice versa, you always opened your eyes, always woke up. You weren’t going to die.

Gardener, maid… You did a bit of everything. Cooking, cleaning, tending to the flowers, serving your mistress… Yes, it may not have been exactly what you had planned, but you couldn’t say you weren’t satisfied.

Getting to know Donna better was the hardest task. She didn’t speak. She barely looked at you at first. That forced trust of living with her was releasing little whispers of gratitude, looks that were much more intense, even through that horrible black veil.

After a year of servitude, that cloth finally disappeared, along with the desire of the lady in black to remain silent. She was… Well, maybe you weren’t exaggerating if you said she was the most beautiful woman you had ever seen, even more so than that portrait on the stairs.

Her voice stopped avoiding you, her beauty began to be present in your life and finally “my lady” became a simple (she wanted it that way) “Donna.”

Was she a sick and disturbed woman? Yes, she was.

Was she dangerous? You weren’t able to see to what extent.

But… Was she kind? Yes, that too.

Little by little you discovered the side of the lady in black that was never talked about, a warm smile that always accompanied your presence. You felt good in that house, she treated you well, she thanked you for everything you did, even sometimes, just sometimes, you had something resembling a conversation.

The rumors were wrong. Donna was a wonderful woman trapped in a terrifying mask, in a facade that would hold firm with everyone.

The bright side that surrounded her dark figure began to become an addiction, a constant desire to know more, to talk more, to get closer. Loyalty was something that Lady Beneviento always had from you, but… She will never know that it was linked to something else.

It didn't matter how you looked at it, the multiple interpretations of your tremors when you approached her, the frantic beating of your heart when you saw her tender smile, you were lost; you had fallen completely in love with her.

“S-Sorry to bother you,” you said in a whisper as you slowly opened the doors of the workshop where Donna worked almost tirelessly. “I brought your tea.”

“Leave it there.” Her hoarse voice reached your ears and your legs moved on their own, walking slowly to the indicated place. “Thank you.”

“Mm,” you said, nodding elegantly, unable to suppress a small bow. “I-I hope it's to your liking.”

“I'm sure it is,” the lady murmured without looking at you, focused on painting a porcelain head. “It always is, (Y/N)”

“You're very kind,” you whispered, noticing the familiar warmth of the blush on your cheeks as it coincided with her bright eye and a gentle lift of her corners.

A brief smile crossed her face, a quick, fleeting one, as if something prevented her from staring at you for longer. That was fuel for your fantasies. You wondered what she was thinking, how she felt about you, if, if… If maybe she had feelings for…

Oh, no fantasies during work hours.

“Mm,” she murmured, focused again on her dolls, thus predicting another awkward moment in which you received no orders and your body forced you to stay there, next to her.

“Well, If you don't need anything else...” you whispered with a distressed voice, turning on your heels to return to boring tasks, away from her.

“Un attimo.” Her voice again interrupted and froze your steps. “Come.”

“Oh, of course,” you said walking back to the work table.

The lady sighed, tilting her head to look better at her newly created work and then at you, as if she herself was looking for an excuse for you to stay a little longer.

You should stop twisting the truth with your fantasies...

“I need to ask you a favor, (Y/N),” she said with a low voice, looking away again.

“S-sure, I'll do whatever you ask me to,” you answered kindly, placing yourself as close to her as possible.

“Mm, you always do what I ask you, huh?” she joked subtly, cleaning the imperfections of the porcelain with a discreet smile.

“Of course, Donna,” you said confidently. “I'm your maid.”

The lady smiled more intensely, shaking her head.

“So, if I asked you to jump off the cliff... Would you do it?” she asked in a darker tone, cooling her expression.

“Um, um, I...” you stammered surprised by that question that seemed totally out of context.

Donna laughed softly, looking at you out of the corner of her eye.

“It's a joke, (Y/N),” she said among shy laughs, surely seeing your disoriented expression. “Forgive me, I'm not very good at joking.”

“Wow, I was just going to tell you that maybe the water is too cold and I don't like heights very much but... Well, it's always too soon to lose my fear, right?” you said awkwardly, scratching the back of your neck.

“Mm?” the lady muttered confused, frowning.

“Um, it was a joke… I'm not very good at that either,” you said apologetically.

“I see,” she said softly, leaning back in her chair and sighing awkwardly. “Actually, what I'd like to ask you for is a bit of your time.”

“My time? Oh, sure, my time is yours,” you said with an excited smile at such an unusual request. “Do you want to talk about something?”

“Do you want to talk about something?” Donna asked back, leaving you completely confused again.

The lady in black was an expert in solitude and quite clumsy when it came to human relationships. Still, she always proved to be one step ahead of you, always showing that brilliant intelligence the rumors denied.

“No, well, yes, I don't know, it depends on what you want,” you whispered nervously.

“The Duke called this morning, he says he won't be able to come,” your lady explained, painting that porcelain face again, looking away in a disinterested manner. “What a surprise, isn't it?”

“Well, you already know him,” you commented amused. “Any excuse is good enough not to move his fat ass over here,” you joked, instantly regretting those disrespectfully informal expressions. “Oh, I mean that...”

The brunette's laughter interrupted, a soft but genuine laugh, surely encouraged by your face dead with shame and the increasingly visible trembling of your hands.

“Sei divertente…” Donna commented, shaking her head and finally leaving the head of that new doll on the table.

“I try,” you said with a voice covered with a certain pride for understanding her words in that melodic and fascinating language.

She looked at you with a frown for a moment before relaxing her expression.

“You take your work very seriously,” she murmured, looking away in a slow and slightly strange way. “I appreciate it.”

“It's the least I can do, Donna,” you said satisfied by the compliment. “Thank you for appreciating my effort.”

“Thank you for… Well, for being here with me and…” she stammered, blinking erratically and shaking her head. “I mean… I-I need you to go to the village and claim from our fat friend what he owes me.”

Your smile cooled after that order. It was always the same. When it seemed like a conversation was slowly deepening, Lady Beneviento's stoic and authoritative attitude prevented it from do it.

“Of course,” you said, bowing your head elegantly. “I'll go right now,” you said with a formal smile, turning around to end that strange encounter.

“W-Wait,” Donna interrupted, turning around abruptly to get your attention.

“Yes?” you asked as if you were waiting for something that really wasn't going to happen.

“Um... Wrap yourself up, it's a very cold day and my flowers can't live without your care,” the lady said, turning around again.

You smiled, nodding even though she couldn't see you.

“I will, Donna.”

Without wasting any more time, you set out to walk towards the village. The lady was right, that day the cold was terribly cutting.

You didn't usually leave the grounds. Nor did you have the need to remember your old life.

Although you were always reluctant to walk through the village again, especially because all your old neighbors looked at you strangely, the truth is that leaving that spiral of love and fantasy in which you lived was relaxing.

The villagers lived their lives quietly, they worked, walked, the children played... Sometimes that place seemed anything but sinister.

“Now it's my turn,” a little boy said, playing with his friends, a scene for which you slowed down your steps, looking curiously at those children. “One, two, three, four, four Lords...”

“Mm,” you murmured curiously when you heard him sing, crossing your arms and listening attentively.

“Four Lords, four fools…” he continued singing as he ran around his friends, making you frown. “One is fat, the other is ugly…”

“What?” you muttered.

Normally no one dared to insult the Lords like that, much less a child.

“The fish is disgusting and if the crazy monster catches you… Run away!” he finally shrieked, chasing his companions.

You, looking around in case someone else was listening, approached that rude child with your best intentions.

“Hey, you!” you shouted, getting his attention. “Hey!”

“Hello, miss,” the child said, standing up politely.

“Hey, what were you singing?” you asked with a slightly soft voice.

“I made that up,” he said, proudly, pointing at himself.

“Oh, really?” you asked ironically, crossing your arms. “You shouldn't say such things about the Lords, it's dangerous,” you warned in a calm voice.

“My sister says they're fools,” the boy said. “That we don't have to fear them.”

“Does your sister say that?” you asked curiously, shaking your head. “Well, I think she's wrong.”

“No, my sister is always right,” the boy said, with a childish protest, making you raise an eyebrow. “She says they're just four bad monsters, that they're not good.”

“Oh, of course…” you sighed, shaking your head.

“Are you afraid of them, miss?” he asked with the innocence of his age.

You couldn't get angry with such a young child. it wasn't fair, although it's true that you were upset by those comments. Your loyalty to… Well, to Donna, and therefore, to her siblings, was beyond any kind of doubt.

“No, and I'll tell you why,” you said, bending down a little. “Do you know that I work for one of them?”

“Really?” he asked, with his eyes wide open.

“Mm, I work for Lady Beneviento.”

“Oh, the crazy monster!” the boy shrieked, covering his mouth with his hands.

“Hey! Don't say that!” you said perhaps too abruptly, terribly offended by the way that child had of speaking of your Donna. “Don't talk about her like that, understand? Show some respect.”

“My sister says she's a monster and that she's as crazy as her family,” the boy protested just as you grabbed his arm.

“Shut up, brat, that's not true,” you growled. “I'm telling you that I work for her.”

“Is she a very ugly monster?” he asked.

“No, she's not. Lady Beneviento is a kind and beautiful woman, she's not a monster. Do you hear me? So tell your sister to shut that big mouth of hers and stop telling lies, understood?”

The boy, surely scared by your fierce attitude when defending Donna, nodded.

“Yes, miss,” he said abruptly, opening his eyes in surprise.

“Get out,” you said, letting his arm go and letting him run away in terror. “A monster… Damn it…”

You couldn't tolerate it, you just couldn't.

Your loyalty and love for Donna had long since crossed the limits of rationality. As long as you were around, no one would dare mess with her, not even a brat like that.

Thinking about the anger those comments caused you clouded your brief visit to the village. You couldn't stop thinking about what you were like before working at the mansion. You never dared to judge any of the Lords, but it's true that the only thing you knew about the lady in black were rumors very similar to the mocking chants of that child.

If only they knew her, if they knew what she was really like. Another absurd fantasy, no one in the village would ever have the privilege of knowing Donna, of knowing her intelligence, her elegance and kindness.

Sick, yes, but a wonderful woman, nothing else mattered but how she made you feel by her side. Maybe admiration and love were starting to take a toll on your judgment. Maybe you were so in love with her that you were unable to see the danger that was in front of you. No, you never felt in danger with her, even the day you arrived and she rejected you as a maid.

The rumors were just that, rumors, but ones that you couldn't change.

“You're back,” the lady said when you got home.

Your smile was always faithful to Donna, but your face emanated a certain annoyance that the woman in black noticed immediately. “Is anything wrong, (Y/N)?”

“Um, no, Donna. It's all there,” you said, downplaying your angry complaints and extending the bags to her so she could check inside.

“Mm, what about this?” she asked, taking a pot with a strange flower that you found curious out of a box.

“Oh, I bought that myself, I'd like to plant it in the garden,” you said, forgetting for a moment about the incident with the child.

“Did you ask my permission?” she asked, looking at you out of the corner of her eye as she examined the plant.

“Um, no, but...” you said, afraid of your boldness.

Her smile made your legs stop shaking.

“I’m joking, (Y/N), I see I’m unable to do it properly,” Donna murmured, setting the pot down on a table with an elegant step, turning briefly to look at you.

“Oh, yes, well…” you said nervously, setting the bags down on the floor. “I thought it was nice, that’s all.”

“Mm, you have good taste,” she commented, turning around with a smile. “Wait, let me help you.”

“No need,” you said, stopping the lady from taking the bags. “I wouldn’t let you do something like that.”

“Why not? Just because I have a maid doesn’t mean I can’t do anything, right?” she asked, roughly snatching the bags from you, a dangerous glint in her eye.

“Well, I think Alcina…” you commented briefly, remembering your friends’ experiences at the castle.

“I'm not Alcina,” Donna said, her voice close to a cry of protest, her face dark and dangerous.

If the crazy monster catches you, run away...

That child's stupid song was playing in your head irremediably.

“No, of course, that's... Obvious,” you murmured, trying to control the thoughts in your head.

“What do you mean? Speak clearly, (Y/N),” she said, walking next to you towards the living room with a suspicious look.

“Nothing, I... I'm sorry,” you said defeated, unable to think rationally.

The lady in black left the bags on a table and turned towards you, frowning and reaching out her hand until it rested on your chin, slowly raising it. The touch of her soft skin against yours was hot, but you couldn't enjoy it properly, because that closeness wasn't a good thing, normally.

“Mm, you're such a liar,” she commented, letting you go coldly, making you blink in confusion.

“What? Oh, Donna, no, I don't know why you say that,” you said, scared by that accusation.

“I asked you if something was wrong and you lied to me, it's obvious that something is bothering you,” Donna said in a somewhat smug tone, but she was completely right.

“It's nothing,” you said, smiling falsely.

“Are you going to keep lying?” she asked, arching her eyebrow and crossing her arms. “I thought you were a sincere girl.”

“Okay, okay, I…” you began. Your loyalty was much greater than your shame, or your fears. You couldn't hide anything from her. “There-There was a brat in the village, a little boy who was singing… A song…”

Donna nodded for you to continue.

“The song was about you, about the Lords and… They weren't exactly nice words,” you said, lowering your head. The doll maker's expression didn't change at all. “So I told him to stop disrespecting you and… He said… Horrible things about… About you…”

“Mm,” she murmured, tilting her head in curiosity.

“I just feel helpless seeing that some people think you're a… A…” you said, in a small voice.

“A monster,” she finished, with a cold but apparently calm tone.

“Yes…” you whispered embarrassed.

“Do you think I care what they say about me in the village?” she asked in a dark tone as if deep down her own words were a lie.

“No, but…”

“You do care, why?” she asked again, coming a little closer, with an expression that moved away from darkness to curiosity. “You don't need to defend me, it's not your job.”

“I know but... It's just that I...” you stammered, wanting to bury yourself underground and not come out for years. “I really care what they say about you.”

“Why?” she insisted mercilessly.

“Because I know they're wrong,” you whispered, briefly looking into her bright eye.

Silence was the lady's response. Donna moved away slowly from that intense gaze, as if she didn't want to do it.

“Um, I should, I should short this,” you said after a moment of silence, of furtive and strange glances, one in which the lady didn't move, as if she were a portrait, a statue, a ghost...

“Angie, help her,” the lady whispered, pointing to the doll, which was swinging its legs on a sofa.

“What!? Hey, silly Donna! She's the maid!” the puppet protested, approaching you and the bags.

The lady in black didn't answer. She simply walked towards the elevator hallway, stopping briefly before disappearing.

“(Y/N),” she said, distracting you from your attempt to keep the doll from messing everything up.

You looked up with pleading eyes, eager for some word, for something that seemed to want to come out of her lips.

“Donna?” you asked with a sigh, feeling a pang in your heart as you stared into her eye, knowing that she was looking at you.

“I…” she murmured distractedly, without looking away. “Be careful with Angie, she likes glass jars too much,” she said with a different tone, disappearing quickly through the door and leaving you sighing again, your shoulders slumping in disappointment.

“Y-Yeah, sure,” you muttered, looking away from the hallway. “Hey!” you shrieked, snatching a jar of tea leaves from the doll.

“You think I'm going to help you, you silly, silly? Let's see if you can catch me!” the doll shrieked, laughing sinisterly and running away with the jar.

At least you were able to distract yourself from that awkward encounter.

It might seem like something had changed in the mansion after that kind of veiled and indirect confession, but it wasn't. There was some tension between you, more than usual. Donna didn't usually talk, but when she did, her voice was stoic, regal and elegant.

Stuttering from the lady, and phrases and questions with less sense than usual served to make your loving heart believe that this act of loyalty had had some effect. Surely you were totally wrong.

The days passed without remedy, becoming more and more a torture, a feeling of helplessness in loving Donna, knowing that this feeling would never be reciprocated even though sometimes you liked to think the opposite.

You should start thinking about forgetting your fantasies, and focus on reality. Being with her was much better than confessing and being rejected, or something worse.

The desire to forget that impossible love accompanied you during another of your trips to the village. It was something horrible to feel, but seeing her smile, hearing her melodic voice, became your joy for living.

“Well…” you sighed as you walked through the quiet streets, seeing that, just like yours, the village's routine was still a tedious succession of days and nights of work.

“Hey, you!” An unpleasant shout interrupted your thoughts.

A young girl, more or less your age, approached you quickly, with an annoyed expression.

“My name is not you,” you said mockingly, crossing your arms.

“I don't care about your name, stupid,” the girl growled, with her hands on her hips.

You were never good at putting up with rudeness or discourtesy, and besides, you weren't in the mood to do so, not that day.

“Leave me alone, will you?” you said, pushing that unpleasant girl away. “Unlike you, apparently, I have things to do.”

“Don't you know who I am?” the young lady asked, grabbing your arm to stop you from continuing.

“Mm, no, I don't have the pleasure,” you said ironically, starting to lose patience.

You had too many things on your mind to put up with the stupid insults of a random villager.

“I’m Marcus's sister, the boy you yelled at the other day,” she explained, catching your attention. “How dare you yell at my little brother?”

“Your little brother was insulting the Lords, I did him a favor,” you said arrogantly, looking at your nails with contempt. “You should know that it is dangerous to put those ideas in the head of such a young child.”

“Are you going to tell me how I have to act with my brother?” the girl growled, clenching her fists. “Of course, how could I not expect that from a servant of those monsters...”

You rolled your eyes, trying to make a graceful escape again, something you failed to do.

“Are you jealous?” you challenged with a sly smile.

“Jealous? Please, if I had to work for any of them I would probably rather die,” she played along.

“Very well,” you said, nodding passively and pushing her away with your shoulder.

Her grip returned to your wrist, further exhausting your patience.

“You are Beneviento's little whore, aren't you?” she asked, making you turn around sharply. “Now I understand those stupid ideas you put in my brother's head.”

“Mm, maid sounds much better, don't you think?” you said, crossing your arms.

Talking about Donna was the worst thing that stupid girl could do… The bad thing for her is that she didn't know.

“Maid, whore, it's the same,” she said, with a mocking smile, coming a little closer. “Don't your knees hurt?”

“Doesn't your brain hurt from not using it?” you asked back, blinking cockily. “Leave me alone.”

“Not so fast…” she hissed again, standing in front of you to stop you from walking. “I think you owe me an apology. My brother came home saying that crazy Beneviento woman was a good person.”

“Yes, that's right,” you said, clenching one of your fists when you heard the word crazy next to her last name. “I didn't tell him any lies.”

“You know it well, huh?” the girl mocked, walking around you like a vulture. “Doesn't it disgust you to serve someone like her?”

“Doesn't it disgust you to look at yourself in the mirror?” you answered, your breathing becoming more agitated.

Anyone could mess with you all they wanted, but with Donna… Not with her, ever.

“You should ask your crazy darling that…” she hissed, laughing sinisterly. “Oh, yes, I’m sure she’s even uglier than the rumors say… Surely that’s why she wants you, isn’t it? Oh, maid, tell me how beautiful I am, tell me, tell me.”

“Shut up,” you hissed, gritting your teeth.

“Are you threatening me? How bold…” the young lady mocked, with a nasty expression. “You’re nothing but a monster’s whore…”

“I said…” you whispered, taking a breath. “Shut the fuck up!” you shrieked, grabbing the collar of her dress. “Apologize!”

“Hey, let me go, you fucking moron! You're just like her!” the girl protested as your grip tightened, catching the attention of several villagers, who were murmuring around you.

“Apologize!” you repeated furiously. “Donna is not a monster!”

“Oh, you defend her…. Of course, now I understand,” she said laughing amused, without making any effort to get away from your grip. “I'm not going to apologize, she's a monster! An ugly and crazy monster!”

“Arrgh!” you growled angrily, headbutting the girl hard, making her fall to the ground with a cry of pain.

“Damn it…” she protested, holding her battered nose. “You'll pay for this!”

The young woman lunged at you, knocking you down with a strong punch to the eye that you weren't expecting, unleashing a furious fight in the snow that the villagers watched in astonishment.

“She's not a monster!” you screamed, struggling with the girl, hissing in pain from that unexpected blow, pulling her hair while she kicked you with her knee. “Shit!”

The girl knocked you down again, bringing her hands to your neck, but you managed to turn the tables with another painful headbutt, climbing on top of her body and hitting her furiously.

“Apologize! Come on! Apologize!” you screamed, noticing how your opponent's strength diminished with each blow. “APOLOGIZE!”

“Shhh, hey, hey, hey...” A soft voice followed by a tug on your dress pulled you away from the almost unconscious girl. “Enough, you little brawler…”

Behind you, holding you tightly, was one of Donna's brothers, Karl Heisenberg, who prevented you from crawling back towards the girl.

“You bitch!” you shrieked, resisting against the Lord’s grip.

“Hey, hey, come on, sweetheart… You've already won,” the metal man said, squeezing you tighter. “Wait a minute, oh, oh, oh, wait… You're Donna's doll, aren't you?”

“Maid!” you shrieked still furious but giving up on your attempts to return to finish what you started. “Let me go!”

“Yes, yes… That's it,” Heisenberg mocked, comically picking you up in his arms and leaning you on his shoulder, holding your legs while you hit his back.

“What are you doing? Put me down!” you protested as he walked holding you. The pain from the blow reached your head, making you dizzy, causing a few red drops to fall into the snow as the man carried you back to the mansion.

“What a mood, now I understand why Donna doesn't stop talking about you,” he murmured as you entered the forest. “You like getting into trouble, huh?”

“That bitch asked for it,” you hissed, giving up and grabbing your nose while rubbing your injured eye. “She hates you all.”

“Well, well… We can't please everyone, right?” he commented, laughing amused.

“She messed with Donna,” you said in a low voice, unleashing a sinister laugh from the Lord as you went up the elevator.

“You’re not just pretty, you're loyal… I like you,” he joked, with the waterfall already in front of you. “But I think poor Donna would be upset if her doll… broke, don't you think?”

“She doesn't care about me as much as I do about her,” you said with an involuntary sob, making the man stop, lowering you to the ground in front of the mansion.

“You think so? Let's check it out,” he said amused, looking at you over his glasses as he climbed the stairs of the mansion with you. “Hi! Donna!”

After a few moments, the lady opened the door, covered in her black veil, with her Angie doll in her arms, a sight you hadn't seen for a while.

“Ciao, bella, I think this is yours,” he said, playfully pushing you towards the mansion.

“Gods, (Y/N)…” the lady gasped, surely seeing your wounds. “(Y/N)… What happened?”

“Your little doll had gotten into a fight, or so it seems,” Karl commented, looking suspiciously at the doll, who was silently mocking him. “Fortunately, I arrived in time.”

“(Y/N), who did this to you? Speak!” the woman in black demanded, forgetting her reluctance to speak with her own voice in front of others.

You, embarrassed and hurt, didn't answer. You simply shook your head.

“Oh, no, no, no,” Karl interrupted, while the brunette's hand gently passed over your wounded face, a sensation that unfortunately, you couldn’t enjoy. “I mean that I arrived in time to prevent (Y/N) from leaving us with one less villager…”

“What?” the lady asked. “(Y/N)?”

“Take good care of her, Donna… You don't see maids as faithful as her nowadays,” Karl said, gesturing with his hand and walking away from the mansion.

“Gods, your face… C-come, let's heal you,” the lady said, taking off her veil and dragging you to the basement.

Silence became your only companion. Donna healed you thoroughly and painfully while you were unable to keep her gaze. It was a heavy, uncomfortable and tense silence, much more than usual.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” the lady asked softly, as she passed a cotton ball over one of your wounds, making you hiss in pain.

“It's not important,” you murmured, holding back a tear.

The lady lowered her hand, staring at you, lifting your chin, something that slowly became a habit.

“You know I hate when you lie to me,” she whispered, squeezing your chin but letting it go instantly. “Oh, Gods... Your eye...”

“Ah,” you protested when a cream made contact with the bruise that had already sprouted. “I, just... I wanted... I wanted...”

“Mm?”

“That stupid girl said... She said horrible things and... I wanted her to shut up, I just wanted her to stop talking and...” you stammered, with your voice broken by sobs.

“Horrible things about what, (Y/N)?” Donna asked, with a soft voice, much sweeter than usual.

“About you,” you said looking away, preventing her from continuing to heal you.

“About me… So Karl wasn't lying, you're loyal, aren't you?” Donna said with a smile, guiding your head to look at her again. “(Y/N), I told you that no matter what they say about me, it's not your duty to defend me.”

“Yes, it is,” you protested, clenching your sore fist. “Those stupid people don't know you.”

“I don't want them to,” she commented, with a serious expression, cleaning another of your wounds. “I don't want you to keep doing stupid things like this, is that clear? It's not your duty as a maid.”

“It's my duty as a person,” you corrected with a brusque tone. “I… I can't stand people seeing you as a monster… You're not a monster…”

“So, what am I?” she said, blinking in confusion.

“You're… You're…” you whispered, swallowing the correct continuation of that sentence: you're the love of my life. “You're important to me.”

“Mm,” she murmured, with apparent disinterest. “You are important to me too.”

At those words, you looked up and opened your eyes when you felt a soft caress on your cheek, an erratic caress of her hand on your skin, aimless, meaningless, but comforting. Automatically your bodies approached each other slowly, guided by an invisible force that disappeared when the lady shook her head and cleared her throat.

“T-That's precisely why I want you to forget about this matter and not to do something stupid like that again…” she murmured, putting away the first aid kit and quickly moving her hand away, cooling your skin.

“I…”

“Promise me,” the doll maker said abruptly, getting up from the chair without looking at you.

“I… Okay, okay… I promise,” you finally said, playing with your hands, running your fingers over your injured knuckles.

That, that would be the only thing you couldn't promise her, that you would stop being faithful to her, whatever the consequences.

Donna sighed, running a hand through her hair and closing the medicine cabinet, looking at you over her shoulder.

“(Y/N), I don't want to lose you…”

Closer and closer, and further and further away… The time that passed after that fight could be summed up like this. Donna's trust in you didn't diminish, the smiles increased, subtle caresses appeared in your life to confuse you, but it never went any further.

 Your brave but cowardly nature didn't allow you to tell the truth, for her to understand the reason for the irrationality of your actions. Maybe she would never do it, maybe you were doomed to live that love in dreams, in fantasies... You should get used to the idea.

“(Y/N),” Donna interrupted you when you were going out the door to go to the village.

“Tell me,” you said with a kind smile, with the trace of that fight almost invisible on your face.

“Remember your promise,” the lady whispered, putting a hand on your shoulder and giving you a smile.

“Of course,” you said nodding, slowly separating yourself from her. “Relax, I won't get into trouble.”

“Fine, ciao, (Y/N),” she said, with a distrustful expression, accompanying you out of the gate of the mansion, not losing sight of you.

Something had changed in the tedious routine of the villagers. Her eyes deviated from their tasks to discreetly rest on yours. The murmurs had eclipsed the usual bustle, mysteriously coinciding with your slow and calm step.

“It's her... The crazy woman who serves Beneviento...”

“She must be worse than her. She almost killed that girl just because she insulted her...”

You heard loose phrases without importance, and the promise you made to Donna was fixed in your mind. You tried to distract yourself from those unpleasant rumors, but it was impossible, especially when you were already returning to the mansion and heard footsteps behind you.

“Well, well, well...” a mocking voice reached your ears, forcing you to stop.

That stupid girl was there, with a sinister smile, her face still marked by your blows. But she wasn’t alone. She was surrounded by a couple of boys visibly stronger than her.

Showing off your anger control, you ignored them, continuing on your way.

“Hey, hey, hey… Where are you going?” one of the boys said, walking in front of you. “Are you going back to your crazy darling?”

“Leave me alone,” you said unpleasantly, walking away from them again.

“Not so fast, stupid,” the girl muttered, gesturing to the boy in front of you to grab you tightly by the arms.

“Hey, let me go!” you shrieked, struggling against him and dropping the basket where you were carrying your purchases. “Hey!”

“You're not so brave now, are you?” the girl muttered, slowly approaching you. “I'm afraid there won't be anyone to protect you today, stupid…”

“Mmm,” you growled, trying unsuccessfully to release yourself from the grip.

“I think I owe you one…” the girl continued, brandishing her fist and throwing it against your stomach, making you writhe in pain. “That's for the humiliation… And this…” she commented while you hissed. “This is for me!”

The second punch was going straight to your face, but in a reflex action, you managed to duck, causing the girl's fist to hit her friend comically, giving you a few moments to escape.

You ran, with those three people chasing you among laughs. The blow to your stomach affected your resistance and your vision of the road, making you corner yourself against a dead end.

“Come, you filthy rat… We have something to tell you…” the girl mocked, guarded by her two friends, who rubbed their fists. “You're nothing but the whore of a… Of a…” she said, inches away from your body, which was held again by one of the boys.

The girl stammered, unable to say a word.

“Hey, Olga, are you okay?” one of the boys asked, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder. She shook her head.

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, pushing him away and coming closer again. “What was I saying? Ah, yeah… A mons… Ah!” she suddenly shrieked, falling to the ground and curling up on herself. “Help!”

“What’s going on?” the boy holding you asked.

“Can’t you see it, you idiot? Spiders, there are spiders everywhere!” the girl shrieked, making you blink in astonishment.

“I don’t see anything,” the other boy said, scratching his head in confusion. “Oh, shit, Uncle Fred!” he shrieked, pointing at an ordinary tree. “Don’t kill me!”

“Oh, no… I hate snakes…” the boy holding you said, letting you go of and hitting himself to get rid of an invisible enemy.

You watched the scene stunned, confused until you saw a black shadow approaching slowly: Donna.

“Donna…” you sighed as you saw the veiled figure getting closer and closer, with an elegant walk, holding Angie in her arms.

“Shit…” the girl protested, also looking at the lady. “Lady Be-Beneviento…”

“Oh, you are respectful now, aren't you?” Angie mocked while the lady bent down towards the frightened girl, roughly grabbing her by the collar of her clothes.

“Oh, shit, shit, I'm sorry… Don’t, don't kill me,” she sobbed desperately while enduring the cold gaze of the lady. “Please, don't…”

“Touch her again and you'll wish I did,” Donna hissed, in her own voice, with a darkness that even gave you chills.

“Of course my lady, yes, my lady,” the unpleasant girl said desperate and terrified.

You were really enjoying that.

“Vai… Get lost!” the lady in black shrieked, releasing the girl, who, along with her friends, ran away in terror.

When their screams of terror were silenced, the lady approached you, offering you her hand to help you up.

“Tutto bene?” she asked, helping you shake the snow off your clothes.

“Yes, I think so…” you sighed in relief, with a grateful smile. “But, but, what are you doing here?”

“I followed you,” she said, turning and indicating for you to walk with her back to the mansion.

“Oh, um…” you murmured.

“Don't be mistaken. It's not that I distrusted you but… I thought you might be in danger,” Donna explained, walking slowly beside you.

“You're welcome, huh?” the doll protested, moving mockingly in her owner's arms.

“Thank you,” you whispered with a strange blush on your cheeks. “Thank you very much, Donna.”

“Mm,” she murmured, nodding coldly.

The walk was silent, but not at all ordinary.

The two of you walked together, too close, making your hands brush with each of your steps until, in an unpredictable way, they came together, intertwining, playing with your fingers until they were joined. Neither of you said a word, you simply let yourselves be carried away by that involuntary act that perhaps wasn't so involuntary.

Enjoying the touch of her hand in yours was finally a pleasure that wasn’t repressed. A smile adorned your face, but you didn't know if hers too. You had been imagining a walk hand in hand with her for so long, imagining how it would end the smile in her face when she felt your hand in yours.

You couldn't stand it anymore.

“Donna, I...” you said, stopping your walk, with the waterfall already sounding in the background. “I want, I want to tell you something.”

The lady also stopped, separating her hand from yours and facing you slowly, nodding in an elegant way.

“I’m listening,” she whispered through her veil.

“Um, could you, could you take it off?” you asked shyly, pointing to the black fabric that covered her beauty. “I wish I could look at you.”

“Va bene,” she whispered, obeying your request, revealing a seemingly indifferent face.

“I don't know how to tell you but... I, I didn't defend you just because I was your maid or because I was loyal... Well, I’m loyal, I will always be loyal to you, that's indisputable, but...”

“You're babbling again,” she said, with a tender smile, gently lifting your chin as she took a step towards you.

“Yes, I... What I mean is that... I go mad when people mess with you, when they say you're... Horrible things because... Because... I'm madly in love with you, Donna,” you confessed, closing your eyes to avoid her impatient gaze.

“What?” she asked, frowning, an unexpected reaction to your confession. “No, that's impossible.”

“Is it impossible for me to love you? Well, then... I must be able to do impossible things,” you said confused and nervous, looking everywhere and nowhere at the same time. “You can, you can do whatever you want with me but... I really love you, I love you and...”

You couldn't continue talking. The lady in black grabbed your neck, gently pulling you until her lips crashed against yours in a wet, slow, almost clumsy kiss. Maybe clumsy, but it said much more than any babbling.

The sound of Angie's giggle next to your lips’ as they parted caused a smile in both of you, caused your cowardly hands to dare to cup her face between them, her eye to stare at yours.

“Do you really love me?” Donna asked, with a soft whisper, caressing your face, lowering her hands to your waist to bring you closer to her body.

“I really do,” you said dryly, running your hands over her dress, over her shoulders, enjoying those caresses that you imagined so many times.

“Me too, and, and I thought that you would never... Oh, (Y/N)... Ti amo...” she said with another whisper, placing her lips on yours again. “Listen, I don't want you to be my maid anymore, (Y/N), I want you to be… My lady… Would you like that?”

“That's… That's the only thing I want, Donna…”

[princessconsuela120]

Chapter Five: Time —❃

series masterlist

Chapter warnings: light cursing, mentions of pregnancy, death, everything that comes with euphoria

Author's note: Is was the first chapter for this book I ever wrote!! As always, italics are flashbacks to moments they had during teotfw that I just didn’t write. Enjoy!!

—❃

“Do you like kids?” Alyssa asked, glancing over at fezco as the two sat together on the beach. They had been sitting on the beach watching the stars at her dads house, one of the more peaceful moments they had together before they got caught. Besides, Alyssa believed the stars always looked more beautiful reflected on the water.

“Hmm?” He hummed, look looking away from the sky as he drew careful patterns with his eyes.

“Kids, ya like em?” She said, sighing as she thought back to her family. Truth is she missed them, as much as she hated to admit it. After finding out she had a hidden brother, Alyssa had been feeling a lot of different emotions. She had thought about kids, and if she would ever want them.

“Depends on the kid. My brother’s pretty chill.” Fezco replied, making Alyssa nod. She knew he missed ashtray, she also knew that seeing a boy around his age probably made him miss him more.

“That's right. I don't think I want kids.”

He looked over at her with furrowed eyebrows when she blurted out the last part.

“Why not ma?” He asked softly, making Alyssa sigh.

“Just more a chance ill fuck them up.” She mumbled, hugging her knees to her chest as fezco shrugged.

“I don't see it that way. You know? It's like, a chance to start new.” He explained, making Alyssa nod. She never thought of it taht way. Truthfully, she didn’t want kids.

“I guess. But kids are a lot of work. My siblings are just whiny babies.” She explained, making Fezco chuckle. “Their heads do smell nice though.”

“Yeah, I guess that's a plus.”

They let a silence pass by, followed by the quiet sounds of waves from the beach. Alyssa looked over at him, watching the starlight shine against his blue eyes. She had rethought a lot of things after meeting fez, she wondered what else might change because of him.

“Would you ever want kids Fez?” She asked gently, making him shrug.

“You know, i haven't really thought of that. I guess i wont know until, until i meet the right moma for my kid.” Ge explained, and she nodded in agreement, hugging her knees closer as she rest her chin against her knee.

“Yeah.” She sighed, letting the air reset her brain as she thought silently. “Fez?”

“Yeah ma?”

“Would you ever want kids with me?” She asked, and Fezco’s face turned a bright red shade. She didn’t know why she asked, she wasn’t sure, but she knew it had something to do with the comfort and safety she felt when she was around him. The warmth he brought.

“Shit ma, maybe we should focus on escaping the police first.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right.”

She took that as a no, that he wouldn't want kids witty her. How could he? She knew any kid she had would just turn out like her. As much as she could try, try to be better than her parents, she'd think it'd be almost like a curse that loomed over their heads. Who would want her as a mom?

—❃

“Fez, we gotta talk.” Alyssa said, urgently running into Fezco’s apartment. He did a double take as she ran in, having been anticipating mouse’s a rival after the police raided his house.

“Lyss, whatchu doin here. I told you to stay home.” He said, having prewarned her not to turn up.

“I know but um, it’s really important.”

Both their head whipped to the door when a loud pounding was heard.

“Open up boy!” Mouse’s voice called from the other end, making Alyssa’s heart drop.

“I swear to god Alyssa you better be tellin me you’re dyin or some shit or I swear to..”

“Im pregnant.” She said, interrupting him. And there he stood x his jaw slightly agape trying to process the words she had just said.

“Huh?”

“Fez! They’re comin in!” Ashtray said, pulling Fezco out of his day dream as he jaw remained open.

“What do we have here? Am I interrupting?” Mouse asked, raising his eyebrows teasingly making Alyssa shudder.

“No, no not at all, scary man.” She said, whispering the last bit to fezco.

“Stay behind me ma.” He said protectively, carefully pushing her behind him.

“No need to hide doll. Come on out.” Mouse tutted, smiling disgustingly at me as I stepped out slightly.

“Hey, she ain’t botherin nobody.” Fezco said protectively, clenching his fists.

“I just want her to step out the shadows, yeah? No need for daddy’s protection is there.” Mouse flicked his fingers for me to come to him as fezco shuddered at his comment.

That one was a little too soon.

“Go to my room ma, just wait for me to…”

“No one’s going nowhere. Now sit.” He patted the spot beside him. “Come on doll, I don’t bite.”

She looked to fezco worriedly, and he nodded at her to let her know he was nearby, with protection.

At Least he used protection this time. What too soon?

“I heard you got raided.” Mouse said, placing a hand on Alyssa’s thigh, making Fez’s fists clenched.

“Yeah. They didn’t find nothin though.” Fezco replied, hoping to get mouse to leave without any problems.

“I’d hope not.”

“We good?”

“I don’t know, are we good doll?” He began running his fingers down my face, making her whole body shiver before she heard Ashtray yell loudly.

“Take one move closer and I swear to god I’ll smash your fucking head off!” Ashtray shouted,before finally deciding to smash him over the head, and also smash off Custers nose making Custer scream in pain. And suddenly I was there again. I’m the house, and by the look in his eyes, so was Fez. We both looked at each other knowingly before back at Ashtray pleadingly.

“Yo, bro, what the fuck!” He said, tan his hands down his head before looking at Alyssa who had the same look on her face. “What the fuck is goin on in this house!?” He shook his head, looking at the scene before him. Me in shock, pregnant with his baby, ashtray in shock, having just committed murder, Custer screaming in pain from his nose being smashed off, and mouse dead.

“Yo, what the fuck.”

[pebblewritesj]

Pretty Hippie

George met a girl once.

The last they saw each other, they had a one night stand and spent the whole week together, until one day she had to leave. Years later, she finally gets to him again. Though things have changed, their hearts are still in the same place.

An excerpt from my upcoming story, 'Norwegian Wood', where a roadie, Courtney Lindsay, meets The Beatles while working for The Rolling Stones on tour. She and George Harrison hit it off, quickly finding themselves closer than most.

——

"You're back.”

George stared in awe at the woman who stood before him at the front door, watching with wide eyes was she smiled and nodded, "I am." she confirmed.

She wore a pretty long sundress, one he hadn't seen before, the shoes she was wearing made her taller but he couldn't see them due to the length of the dress. She looked the same as when they last saw each other, there was only little things different about her. New freckles on her face that hadn't been there before, maybe she'd been spending some time out in the sun. God knew what she was doing these days.

He stared for a moment longer before finally lunging towards her, pulling her into a tight embrace, "You're really back, I thought I'd never see you again." he said, his voice horse.

Courtney laughed, returning the gesture as he swayed their bodies left and right, finally pulling back and inviting her in, moving to the side, "Come in." he nodded.

She smiled and walked inside, he closed the door and followed her to the living room, "What have you been doing?" he asked, sitting down on the couch next to her as she looked around the new environment. He stared at her from behind, looking over the open back of her dress, she'd cut her hair.

"Aren't you gonna ask how I found you?" She asked, he laughed and nodded, "I guess that would be the better question."

She laughed, "The papers tell a lot these days." she said, George nodding, "I know, it's scary."

A second of silence passed before George continued, "Do you want anything? I could get you a cuppa, I--"

She interrupted him, shaking her head, "No, I'm fine."

He chuckled, laying back in his seat and taking a moment to process things. It was really her. It must've been three years, maybe longer, but he still remembered everything like it was yesterday.

"It's good you came today, I leave on tour in a few days." He said, his voice cracking several times as he spoke. Courtney's eyebrows furrowed, "Are you ill?" she asked, George thinking before nodding in response.

"Laryngitis." He said, she nodded, "I've had that before, hurts like hell."

He nodded in agreement, "Hurts even worse when you have to make a whole album with it, and then the critics talk about how you sounded like some sort of smoking priest."

Courtney laughed, "I thought you did very well. I didn't think it was too preachy, did they?"

He shook his head, "It's all they talked about, they hate that sort of talk." he waved off with a shrug, "I don't care, really."

Courtney nodded, "They're all talk, they wouldn't be able to do any of the things you have." she said, George pursing his lips and looking away as he listened to her words, her voice was so nice to hear after so long.

"I feel like it's been so long since I last saw you." Courtney said, breaking the silence. George pursed his lips, "It has, far too long. Longer than you said it'd be." He said, the last few words having a certain bitterness to them.

"Things came up." She said, avoiding eye contact with him out of pure shame. He continued to watch her, trying to read her mind, figure out what was bothering her other than the obvious guilt tapping at her brain. He wondered how many events in each others life they must've missed, if he knew how differently he was living compared to the last time they saw each other.

"Things came up? Do you know how many times I tried to call? How many times I tried to find you?" He said, shaking his head with a face of disbelief, "It's hard to be angry, too. It's like now that you're here, everything's just like it was years go."

She chuckled dryly, "Well it's not, and yes, things came up." she paused, leaning closer to him, "It'll never be the same. You'd never even begin to guess the things I've been through since then.”

George looked over her expression, his eyes looking over every part of her. She felt vulnerable under his gaze, though she looked at him just the same as she sat back in her spot, "You're brave, coming here. You know Pattie doesn't like you." he told her, she shrugged, "I don't care."

"You know I hate when you two talk, as well." he said, leaning his head forward as she nodded, "I don't care if she calls me ugly, Geo, I care that it's her man that I'm after. That's not something I'm proud of. It is ugly."

She was taken aback when he began to chuckle, shaking his head, "She's been going off with some other man. She can't say anything about it anymore."

He watched as Courtney's eyes widened, "Who?" she asked, he shrugged, "I've been having suspicions of Clapton for about a year now."

He couldn't help but chuckle as her eyes got even wider, "Holy shit, you're joking." she said, watching as he shook his head, "Don't go spreading that around." he told her. She shook her head, facial expression still the same as she put her hand over her heart, "I would never, I know better, but you're being serious? You're not playing me?"

George shook his head again, "I don't play around like this, Court, you know that."

Courtney sat still before adjusting her position, "Christ, meanwhile you're going out with some old nobody. How's it feel?"

He laughed, shaking his head, "That's not how I feel, it feels more Dylan and Sedgwick to me." he said, watching as she laughed and shook her head, "I'm no Edie, I wish I looked like her."

He rolled his eyes at her words, "You're beautiful, always have been, since the first time I saw you I thought you were one of the most beautiful girls I'd ever seen." he praised. She pursed her lips, looking away as her face turned a deep shade of red.

"I never did like cliches, you know." She said, he nodded, holding eye contact as she finally looked back at him.

He nodded, "I know. That's what I love about you, you're so simple, but so complicated. I still haven't got you figured out." he said, inching closer to her as he adjusted his position next to her, "A simple way to put it; I can never figure out what the hell is wrong with you." he chuckled, she laughed along with him.

"You look so good." She said, looking over his faced after a bit of silence had passed, "The mustache really suits you. The hair, too." she observed, the man trying to overcome his common nerves as she looked over his features.

"You too, though you haven't changed at all. Only your hair got shorter." He observed, bravely moving his left hand behind her band to feel at the ends of her hair. She blushed, nodding, she could feel the cold of his wedding ring brush against her back, "I had to cut it. People don't like hippies anymore, they just call you dirty.”

He chuckled, "You were such a pretty hippie." he said, moving his hand back to his side as she snickered along with him.

"You are a pretty hippie." She laughed, putting emphasis on 'are'.

The two laughed together on the sofa, going silent for a bit, "Do you still like me?" Courtney asked, "Like, as a person."

He sat in silence, his lips parting as he looked down at the glistening wedding ring on his fingers. She followed his gaze, taking his hand to observe the band, "It's pretty, you know. I've never really looked at it before."

"I could take a guess as to why. Are you trying to make yourself feel better? It doesn't make me feel better." He said, she shook her head, "No, I'll never feel good about it. I just want to know if you still like me, Geo."

He shook his head, "Of course I still like you. I love you, remember?" he said, his words quiet but clear. The two sat back on the couch, slowly realizing amidst the silence just how close they were to one another.

That's when she kissed him.

George immediately kissed back, running his hands through her hair and pulling her closer. She did the same, he let out an involuntary groan as she tugged at his hair, she chuckled through the kiss. He took his right hand out of her hair, moving it to her back, before finally pulling away for air.

"Go lock the front door."

***

[elronds-pointy-ears]

At your Mercy Chapter 5

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 6

Pairing: Gil-Galad x human! fem! Reader

Warnings: angst, violence

Word Count:  2298

Summary: Reader needs some fresh air and walks a few minutes only to experience something not so nice. We meet a blonde ellon who safes the day.

Thank you for reading 💜

The Valar help me. Can he not take a hint? Of course it had to be the one person you wanted not to speak to Hamlin. Thinking about it you figured it only made sense that he wanted to speak to you. Now you only needed to find out how this wa gonna go and what he was up to. There were really only two possible ways. Either he wanted to apologise for his rude behavior or he wanted to plague you once more and try to persuade you into his arms.

You hoped he would make the right choice here or else your fun evening out would be absolutely screwed. “Y/N” he called your name once more. You turned around gazing up at him, waiting for him to continue. “I.. I was going to apologise. I did not mean to be so awfully ill-mannered.”With that he waited for you to answer him. A few seconds passed and you let out a sigh into the fresh air. “It is fine I guess.” You kind of hated yourself for forgiving him that fast. You always had been so overly friendly and forgiving it was just a part of you. Seeing the good in everyone was something that you carried on for all your life. Your father always said it was a gift but your mother insisted that the world was not that fair and beautiful and you should learn to adept sooner rather than later. But nonetheless you kept to that and tried to make the world a better place by treating everyone equally.

You truly wanted to make clear that he was overstepping massively last time and you would have had every right to do so. “Just please never treat me or anyone else that way ever again.” At that he nodded. “So uh.. would you let me buy you a drink or no?” He scratched the back of his head. “Give me a few more minutes and I’ll come back inside. I just need a bit more fresh air.” “Alright.” He turned around and went back inside.

Thank god. You thought maybe he had learned his lesson. You decided to take a little walk for a few more minutes. The crisp night air seemed to sober you up a little and was doing wonders to your heated skin. Mithlond at night was a sight to see as well. The stars above were clear and bright. Something you adored greatly. Your feet carried you through town on a route you had not wandered before and you neared the woods. The alehouse was not far from here and you thought you could walk just to the edge of the forest and then turn around and join your friends again.

Just as you decided to turn around and head back you heard a voice calling out to you. “Aye look at that fellas we got something here.” A slimy voice rang through your ears. Followed by laughter. There must have been at least two or three there. You turned your head around to see where they were coming from.

The voices were coming from a dark alley to your right. And approaching footsteps signaled they were on their way to you. Shit You hurried to walk back to the alehouse that would be a few minutes away. They called after you “Hey no need to run away. We don’t mean any harm.” Their voices only made you pick up the pace and soon you were sprinting through the streets.

The next thing you knew was someone yanking you right back and you fell to the ground with a loud thud. Groaning you saw the silhouette of two cloaked men coming closer to your frail body lying on the ground. “I told you no need to run away from us, pretty one. Now you got what was coming to you.” The one closest to you snarled. “Stay away from me.” You warned, which made him chuckle. A disgusting sound that scared you even more. “Little bird here has no idea what she has gotten herself into.” The second one with a deep oily voice said. “Truly. Now what do we do with you.” The first one pondered. “Such a pretty face should not be wasted.” And he grabbed your elbow and pulled you up into his arms. You wriggled and tried your hardest to fight him. Many thoughts crossed your mind at once and you wished you had never left the alehouse to wander around at night alone. The streets of Mithlond you imagined were safe. Apparently you were wrong. Regret filled you and panic took over you. “Eh stop it little one. Stop fighting, you are far too weak for us.” His warm and wet breath made you feel all sorts of disgust and hatred. Kicking your feet wildly you tried everything. You were not ready to surrender. The other man was coming closer to you, fixing you with a lustful glint in his eyes.

He looked at your body up and down smiling to himself. You wanted to throw up then and there. With every step he took you tried to fight the one holding you more. When the man stood right in front of you he took your chin and made you look up into his ugly face. “You’re going to be a lot of fun.” He smirked. With that you pulled up your leg and kneed him in his crotch. The man groaned and fell to his knees doubled over in pain. The man holding you strengthened his hold on you “Oh that was a mistake. You’re a feisty one eh.” “Let me go.” You demanded but they would not listen. His friend on the ground seemed to get up again and he was angry now. He rushed towards you, slapping you across the face. “You whore. You’ll get what you deserve.” His hands started roaming over your body and you tried screaming for help. You just barely made a sound when the one holding you covered your mouth with his dirty hand.

You closed your eyes trying to just zone out of this situation when suddenly the guy groping you stopped and you could no longer feel his dirty hands on you. The arms wrapped around and the body behind you also let go of you and you opened your eyes jumping to the side. That’s when you saw an ellon with golden hair fighting off the men. He had already knocked out the one you previously kneed in the balls and was now going after the one who held you all the time. He was fleeing but seeing the young elf going after him he would not get far. They made it about 50 m when the blonde elf grabbed him and hauled him back, punching him in the face and successfully knocking him out on the spot.

You stood there in silence, not moving, just staring and watching as the handsome ellon made his way back to you. As he neared you you backed away slightly, not ready to trust him and his intentions. He stopped immediately taking in your shocked and scared figure. “Are you okay? Please, I do not wish to harm you.” He said. “That is what they told me.” You gestured to the two men on the ground fixing the ellon with mistrusting eyes.

“I am Glorfindel. Captain of the High Kings Watch. I hope these men did not harm you more than what I have seen.” He asked, concern lacing his words. “Is it ok if I come a little closer?” You hesitated but your instinct told you he was truly harmless. You nodded and he made his way over to you, keeping a distance to not startle you further. “Now would you tell me if you are okay?” He insisted. “I am fine, just a little shaken is all.” You waved him off “I’ve never experienced something like this.” You said wrapping your arms around yourself. Glorfindel took off his cloak and handed it to you. You silently took it and wrapped it around your shoulders, thankful for the kind gesture. “You should have never been exposed to that. These men were beasts. I want to apologise for my late arrival. If not me one of the guards should have been close. Seeing rogue men like that inside the city is alarming. I need to inform the King immediately.” You walked along the streets when Glorfindel asked you where you lived so he could escort you home before he had to fulfill his duty and inform the High King. You told him to bring you to the alehouse instead because your friends must be worried by now.

He was about to protest your plea when Mallahir called your name from the other side of the street a few feet away from you. He jogged over to you, holding your face to gaze into your eyes. “Bless the Valar you’re here. You had me worried sick Y/N. What happened, you look like someone punched you in the face.” He wrapped his arms around you. Only after he released you, he acknowledged Glorfindel's presence. “Glorfindel have you done this to Y/N” Mallahir wanted to know, fixing Glorfindel with a furious glare. “Of course not Mal. I was patrolling the outer streets of the city when I heard muffled voices and someone struggling. She was ambushed by two cloaked men. I was going to escort her home and inform the High King.” The Captain explained. “You were what?” Mal stared at you. “Y/N are you ok?” Your friend looked at you making sure you were not physically hurt in any way. “No I am alright Mal.” You insisted. “I am mentally shaken but I will be ok.” Mallahir watched Glorfindel. “We need to tell the High King. Fast. Who knows what else is lurking in the dark in the streets of Mithlond.” The Captain agreed. “Indeed. It is of utmost importance to tell him.” “What are you waiting for then?” You questioned. “You should get home first. Mallahir, can you escort her back home. The High King most definitely will call for a meeting so you should join us after she is safely home.” “I am alright. Besides, if the High King calls for a meeting I have to be there as well.” Glorfindel raised his eyebrows at that. He did not know you were required at court. But then again he had been away for a few months now. “Alright let’s go then.” With that you paced through the streets toward the royal part of town.

As Glorfindel said the High King commenced an emergency Meeting with his most trusted advisers. Honestly speaking you were surprised you were one allowed to be here since you were relatively new and a human at that. At first you thought it was just because you had been the victim and your side of the story was of interest to them. But even after you explained everything you were allowed to stay. The High King seemed to trust you enough and that made you feel a little proud and special. The High King sent a few guards to capture the knocked out men from the streets only to find them gone. It worried you a little that these men were still freely roaming the area somewhere and you made sure to watch out more from now on.

“Glorfindel make sure to double the Guards inside the city and on the outskirts of town. Whatever is going on needs to be stopped. This city is supposed to be a safe haven for everyone living within its walls.” He fleetingly gazed at you and turned around. “Mallahir make sure your friend is checked in the medical wing. Glorfindel I’d like to speak to you privately. The rest of you may retreat back to your quarters”

The meeting ended and Mal practically had to drag you to the medical part of the royal part. You reluctantly agreed to get checked and turned out you were alright except for some bruises and an added amount of anxiety and mistrust you would carry around for a while. On the way back to your home you and Mallahir did not speak, too lost in your own thoughts. “I am so sorry Y/N. I should have been there and I should have protected you.” Mallahir spoke, successfully distracting you from your own thoughts. “What? Mal no it was not your fault. If any one is responsible it’s me. I should have never strayed that far from the alehouse.” You added. “I guess it’s not your or my fault it’s their fault. They did this to you.” A silence fell over you until Mal decided to speak again. “Honestly I think you should get trained.” He looked at you “Just so you can defend yourself better. I mean you were lucky Glorfindel was there to help you. He is a great elven soldier but apparently not even the streets of Mithlond are safe and a little combat training might help you.” You pondered his statement. Knowing more about defensive fighting would definitely come in handy at some point or another. You were not a big fighter but you sure would like to learn one or two things about self defense. “You are right. Would you teach me?” You knew he was trained in combat. He rarely ever had to fight though. “I am probably not the right one to train you but I could ask Glorfindel if that’s alright with you. He would definitely not mind and he is a great teacher.”

It was decided then. Glorfindel would teach you the basics in combat and defense.

Tagging @lotrnonsense​ / @captainbutterflygirl2​ @thesolarangel​ @lazymeriadoc​ @bananaphanta​ @betty-not-boop​ @fenharel-enaste @eowyn7023​

[the-fandom-is-now-my-life]

☁️Heavenly kindergarten☁️

It seems Brunhilde came to the goddess of life and maternity for something, shall we see what she wants?

Wc: 1.15k

Notes: fem!reader

Unsurprisingly being the goddess of child rearing was a very slow job, only being in your dominion full of plants and animals where the sun shines but isn't scalding hot. you just got to chill and watch the clouds, stars and animals all day. That was until certain Valkyrie came to you

She bowed deeply and was polite, something uncommon for the supposedly rude Valkyrie, it seems that the others gods were exaggerating

" Morning, Valkyrie" you lie your head against a mount of leaves " is there anything I can help you with or are you here to enjoy the weather

" I would never bother you like this just for that" you see a young Valkyrie behind her skirt 

" Ow, is that Goll, the youngest Valkyrie, I think I might remember taking care of you for a while?" She seems taken aback but Brunhilde confirms

" This is indeed Goll, i believe you took care of her for a few weeks, in surprised you even remember her" 

" Well there aren't many newborn gods or demigods so the little pipsqueak would be the last one I had" you close your eyes, getting comfortable " now, i will ask you again. Why are you here" 

" You must be up to date with the fact that Ragnarok is about to start, Right?" You nod silently " i want your fruits of rebirth" a breath gets stuck in your throat

" Why so?" 

Brunhilde's smile turns twisted and malicious " isn't it obvious? We will win no matter what but don't you think it will be so worth it the look on everyone's faces as we win the last round and all the Valkyries walk up to the stage while the supposedly dead humans are still alive, even if only as babies?" 

You only laugh " ya know what? I don't care~ I cared for twelve gods at the same time. I think I can deal with some humans. Grab some pomegranates" you point your finger to a somewhat tall tree full of golden fruit

Hearing them walk away you get more comfortable and try to sleep again

There is only warm air and cool dirt until you a sudden weight fall on your stomach making you bite your lip

" What the hell!" A little boy's voice yells " where are we!?" 

" I remember this place, i feel it" a somewhat familiar girl's quips 

" What in hell was that?!" You quickly stand up only to see two kids around 7 and 5, a girl and a boy respectively

" Ah! Miss yn! So long since we saw each other" The auburn girl throws herself to your leg hugging you " we are at miss yn's dominion! I know i remembered this" 

You pat her head, seemingly they were the first ones to die " so little randgriz, who is your friend" you look down to the boy who could barely reach your knees

" This is Lu Bu! He is the first of mankind's warriors, though it seems like we failed." Seeing as lu bu wasn't planning on saying something she nags him a little " c'mon say something!" 

Lu Bu just growls when randgriz gets too close, you grab her arm and drag her closer to you " it seems your little friend has rabies, Huh?"

" I don't know who you are!" He points towards you two" I don't know where I am! Stay far away or I will beat your ass!" 

Grabbing him roughly from the neck of the ill fitted shirt you dangel him " many words for someone who is one third of my size" pinching his arm you continue " and seem one meal away from passing out." Turning him around watching the dirt in his hair and skin" I might not be an expert on human children but I'm sure you should have more than one bath yearly "

He tries to take a bite out of your hand and you let him, a human kid couldn't really hurt a god, as weak as they can be. 

He seems surprised when you don't react 

" If you are going to behave like a dog I will put on a collar and call you spike, so I recommend you behave like a semi decent human and let go" he looks straight into your eyes, now slower you repeat "Let. Go" he now slacks his jaw " good boy" 

" He might be scared that Red Hare isn't here! It's his best friend!" Randgriz chips in " before we entered the fight he was feeding it some fruit big sister Brunhilde gave us" 

" Stop" you say, semi scared " was it some seedy golden fruit?" The human kid looked at you without knowing what you meant

" Yep! How did you know? Did you give it to Brunhilde?" without waiting for an answer she turns to lu bu, dragging him to a side " follow me, that tree over there has the tastiest and juiciest pears"

" Am I about to have a god damned horse in here?!"  Without much wait the mentioned horse fell into your arms neighing scared " hello there I guess." 

Setting It down you yell "LU BU COME GET YOUR HORSE" but it seems that said horse was running towards the kids " or you can go to him, anything works i guess" 

 

You only hear them yelling and randgriz laughing " well, at least someone is having fun" Stretching backwards you walk towards them " well it seems i have to act as a caretaker again, huh?"

You swallow saliva and yell towards them " hey, hurry up!" Randgriz turns towards you expectantly and Lu Bu keeps facing red Hare and petting it " story time! Hurry!" 

Even if he didn't seem too interested there wasn't much he could do while getting carried by a Valkyrie child, even as children the average demigod could lift as much as their fully grown human counterpart. 

Sitting on a the old blanket you see them approach rapidly while hearing randgriz talk about some stories you told her, for someone who looks so regal older you don't remember her being such an active child

Now next to you, randgriz drops Lu Bu on one of the corners of the blanket while sitting next to him " tell us about that story with brother Hercules! Or the time Loki cut Sif's hair and Thor hunted him down! Or-!"

" But you already heard those stories, why don't we let our newest friend over here choose" he seems taken aback by suddenly being in the spotlight " i know some stories that might be interesting to you, maybe the trojan war or, if you are feeling exceptionally pretentious I could tell you a novelisation of the biography of the Flying General Lu Bu" 

" Oh! He is interested!" randgriz chips in 

" Randgriz just because you can sense his feelings means you can be so straightforward" you pat her head softly "either way your human friend seems to want to hear this one so why don't we start?" 

[daadddysprincessss]

Part 1; Stranger things shiftverse.

Summary: Your Dustin Henderson older sister(your going into senior year) - this part takes place in season 3. Your working at Starcourt mall, upper level floor in the brand new record store - your coworkers are Eddie Munson & Gareth. Every lunch Robin and you share some fries in the food court. (of course within season 3 Robin knows who Dustin is and he is present for when the group goings to see Dawn of the Dead)

(you were present for all seasons) - Things have gotten tense between Steve and you since he basically saved you from the tunnels when you decided to help the kids distract the demodogs (season 2). You were one of the popular girls in school - you also happened to be a secret nerd who loved playing DND with her little brother, your best friend is Robin Buckley - until you dropped band to hangout with your "new friends". Those same friends teased and humiliated Nancy Wheeler, you werent a bully but you sure didnt like Nancy - maybe thats why the both of you never got along, because of the shared likeness of Steve - of course only Robin knew how much you liked him (season 1).

It was a normal day in the record shop - stock, hangout, front face, hangout - and took a lunch somewhere in there. "Hey Eddie - im gonna head for lunch" a smile ripped across your face "you know your like the coolest boss i could ever ask for" -

Eddie exhaled sharply - "if your asking for a FREE extra 15 then you better come back with some Orange Julius for me" he smiled. Before you could squeal your bottom lip was between your teeth -"thank you Eddieee".

You were zipping through the crowd of people on the escalator to reach scoops before it was too busy in the food court - 'thank god' the table Robin and you usually sit at was unoccupied. Quickly you walked over to scoops to grab Robin - to your surprise Steve stood front and center slinging ice cream, "Wheres Robin?' you asked while walking in-

"Ahoy there" Steve softly shouted with his big goofy smile - "shes just grabbing more cones in the back, but judging that your here im assuming its lunch?" Steve spun the ice cream scoop in his hand - quickly to attach it to his side.

You nodded softly - "yeah - let her know ill be at the table" you smiled back - Steve nodded. You heard the door fling open behind you as soon as you turned around.

"ill be right there y/n - just a sec" Robin shouted - she was holding what looked to be at least 6 really long boxes of cones. You wanted out of there - looking at Steve was reminding you of his 'heroic' moment - saving you from that demodog, sharing a soft kiss - just for him to run right back to Nancy's side. You rolled your eyes at the thought and waited for Robin. Robin came jogging out of the back with her backpack on and holding her cassette player - "go go go" Robin laughed -

"ROBI-" Steve shouted behind the both of you. - "what did you do??" you questioned while walking over to your table-

Robin still laughing - "I hid both ice cream scoops" she snickered.

Lunch always felt short, Eddie always gave you a free pass with letting you go for longer lunches but Robin always had to go back at the 30 minute mark. Robin packed up her backpack and took the rest of the fries(you usually shared) - "I'm still good to come to your house this weekend right?" you asked while picking up your mess.

"yeah yeah my dad said it's cool" - Robin smiled - "see you after work"

Robin walked back to scoops and you walked towards Orange Julius to grabbed Eddies drink. You stood in line tapping your foot to the beat of the mall music - well of what you could hear, 'why was it always so busy at this time' you thought to yourself-

"Hey" Steve's voice chimed through your ears - startling you

"what the hell dude" you jumped "that was not cool" your heart was racing

"What are you doing? I thought your lunch was done 5 minutes ago" Steve asked - now standing beside you.

You looked down at your feet - then quickly back up at Steve - "just grabbing a drink for Eddie." you practically vomited out that sentence - "he lets me take an extra 15 if I grab him a drink"

Steve's hand quick met the back of his neck - looking down at the ground now - "so are you and Eddie - like a thing now?"

You started to laugh "sure he's cute - but Eddie is just my friend" still laughing - "well and my dudgeon master"

Steve's face quickly lifted from the ground - "NEXT" the cashier yelled out - quickly Steve and you jolted forward, Steve stood there silently while you ordered Eddies Original Julius smoothie.

"So - y/n, I'm throwing a party this Saturday - would you uh like to come?" Steve looking down at you with those soft brown eyes-

You exhaled sharply and grabbed Eddies drink - "maybe - I'll think about it" you smiled - "Have a good lunch Steve" you smiled.

[faded-euphoria]

Your Captor.

Masky x Reader(afab, but no pronouns are mentioned)

This is loosely based off the Marble Hornets version of the masked figure.

CW: Sexual tension, cursing, hurt/comfort, smut, virginity loss(reader) and a Masky that barley talks

TW: Blood, cuts, cleaning cuts/ wounds, sex, cursing, stockholm syndrome?

Being tied up in a house in the woods was never something you'd imagined you would be doing in your life- yet here you are, zip tied to a bed post. Thankfully your captor- who you had so graciously named 'Masky'- had only zip tied one of your hands to the post, and the bed was just close enough to a bookshelf so you could pass the time by reading a book.

A loud bang resonated through the house, you jumped, the book you were reading almost falling out of your hand. You were slowly getting used to this sound though, it was really the only way the man came into the house, however it usually wasn't that loud.

A feeling of terror bubbled up in your gut when you heard shuffling, it was unsteady, heavy, it wasn't the way he typically walked and it was unsettling to think of someone else- perhaps someone more dangerous- finding you.

But all those thoughts left your mind when a bloody, tired Masky came into the door way. You stood up, not being able to move too much because of your restrictions, yet for some reason still trying. He stumbled closer, gently pushing you back, taking a knife out. Before you could even try to push him away he sliced the zip tie and pointed across the hallway at a bathroom.

Getting the hint, you nodded at him, and took off to the bathroom searching for a med kit. Underneath the sink, you finally find it, grabbing it you rush back to the room. Masky, now laying on his back on the floor clutching his stomach looked up at you. "I-I've never done anything like this before- but uh- yea yea lets- yea-" You stuttered out, scared out of your mind right now.

You helped him slip off his jacket and then gently unbuttoned his shirt, your face reddening madly at the thought of undressing someone else. You looked at his stomach, it wasn't a deep wound, but it was still there. You take a cotton swab and carefully wet it with antiseptic, you look at the eye holes of his mask,"Okay- i'm gonna clean it- ill count down- 3..2..1.." You gently wipe at the wound, you feel his hand grab your upper arm.

"I know I know- I'm sorry- It'll be okay- I've got you-" You finished cleaning it, and take a bandage out, placing it over the wound before securing it. "There- Yea I think thats all I can do.." You gently put your hand over his, "Is there anywhere else?" You were frantic, this was the only person you've been able to see in a good few months. Obviously you've grown attached.

He nodded, pointing down to his leg. A gasp left your lips, and before you could think, you grabbed the knife he had before and cut his pants around the cut. Repeating the steps you had on the other injury, you find yourself at a hard place, you needed to get all around his leg to wrap it properly. You look up at him. "Masky, I- I need to take your pants off- " You gave a small apologetic smile. You unbuttoned his pants and gently pulled them down, being careful not to touch the wound.

You take the bandage, wrapping his leg and securing it, once more looking up to his masked face. "Is that all?" You asked gently, you could hear his heavy breathing from under the mask. Thankfully he shook his head. You breathed a sigh of relief, looking around at his now cut jeans, bloodied shirt and jacket. "Where do you keep your clothes?" His breath hitched and he tried to sit up shaking his head no. A grunt left his lips and he fell back and his hands went over the first wound you tended to.

"Don't move- You'll make it worse- That dresser," you point to the one in the room,"Are there any clothes in there that'll fit you?" He nodded. "Thank God- Now do not move- please-" You stood up, going over to the dresser and searching for a decent enough out fit. Black sweat pants and a grey hoodie that red "University of Alabama", yea that was alright.

You knelt down beside him again. "Do you want me to put these on you now- or help you onto the bed so you can get them on yourself?" Through the eye holes you saw his eyes glance to the bed. You placed the clothes on the bed, and turned back to him where he was already sitting up again. Albeit slower, it was still obvious he was in pain, you gently lifted him a little, helping him not have to bend that much.

He pointed to the out fit, you held up the hoodie and the pants in different hands. He grabbed the pants, unfolded them and put them on, bending as least as possible. He then slipped the hoodie on and stared at the bed. "Do you want to lay down?" He nodded, knowing he'd probably need help.

You helped him lower himself onto the bed and under the sheets, and before you could do anything else you felt a tug at your hand. His eyes boring into you. "You.. want me to stay?" He nodded, still looking at you as you slowly slipped into the bed next to him. And even though you left a decent amount of space inbetween the both of you, you were suddenly on your side, his body pressed to yours. His mask buried into the nape of your neck.

You stilled. After months of never touching him. After months of being almost always alone, always afraid of him, here you were. One of his arms around your waist, the other with his hand on your hip, his body flush against yours. You felt the bottom of his mask press against your neck. No- not the bottom, the lips of the mask.

You squirmed a little, his grip on your waist tighten and a grunt left him, this time sounding gentler, more like a moan? You flushed, not really having heard that sound... ever directed towards something that you'd done before. "Masky.." Your voice came out quieter than you intended, but apparently loud enough for him to hear. He gently nudged your neck with the nose of his mask before slowly sitting up.

You look up at him, his eyes once again boring into you. "If we... go any further... would you take your mask off..?" Your eyebrows furrowed, your hand going over the one on your hip. "Please..?" You could see his face relax a little, his eyes less wide, half lidded even as he looked at you. Taking this as a hint, you moved your hand from his and to the cheek of the mask. Fingertips grazing it at first before cupping the cheek of the mask, your eyes flickered to his eyes again.

Gently lifting the mask as your eyes lowered themselves to look at his lips. Parted slightly, then his nose, peering to the sides of his face you saw his sideburns, then his eyes. The mask was off, and you were finally able to see him fully. He was a sight for sore eyes, and of course if anyone had sore eyes it'd be you. Slowly, you leaned up, your lips pressing against his.

His hand on your hip presses your ass closer to his crotch, slowly grinding into you. A deep sound resonated in his chest, his lips traveling from your lips to your cheek, down to your jaw before going to your neck. Nipping, sucking and kissing at your neck. His breathing almost ragged, his hand moving up from your hip only to go back down, this time under your shorts.

His middle finger slips down inbetween your folds. his finger calloused and rough, trailing up and down before finally finding that sweet bud, making a moan slip out of your mouth. Your hand found his again, gripping at his wrist as your back arched slightly. "Oh- fuck- please" His fingers sped up, circling your clit faster. You turn your head again, your lips roughly pressing against his again.

The tight knot in your stomach that had been forming, was so close to breaking. Your grip on his wrist tightened ever so slightly, as you moaned- almost screaming- into his mouth as an orgasm ripped over you. Your thighs shaking slightly as his fingers slow down, his arm around your waist holds you tightly his lips moving against yours gently. As you come down from your high, he looks down at you. Love and lust mixed in his eyes.

You slowly turned over, his hand moving out of your shorts as you do so. You bury your face in his neck as your hands grip at the hoodie you'd picked out for him almost 20 minutes ago. Your breathing was unsteady as you nuzzled close to him, making sure to not hit his injuries. He pulls at your waist, wanting you even more impossibly close. Then you feel it, on your thigh, almost as hard as a rock.

Hesitantly, you press your thigh against him, his hips almost instantly moving against you. You slowly move your leg up and over his hip, grinding against his hard-on. His hand moves, pulling your shorts down first, letting you kick them off the rest of the way before moving to his sweats, his tip pressing against your slick folds, as he grinds against you more, before pressing himself into you slowly.

A moan mixed with a slight groan of pain leaves you as a groan of pleasure leaves him, his hand moving from between the two of you to the back your your head, slowly pushing in still as he pets your hair. As he bottoms out inside of you, he presses his cheek to the side of your head, holding you tightly.

After a few moments you press your lips to his neck before breathing out a,"Slowly.." as you move your hips slightly. A hum leaves him, as he slowly moves out of you. Keeping a slow pace for a good minute, he gently pushes your head back a little, looking into your eyes. Pumping in and out of you a little faster as he looked into your eyes.

"Mn.. more.. please...?" Your hand moves to press on his chest lightly. He speed ups his pace, his hand that pushed your head back- still tangled in your hair- moved to cup your cheek as he leaned down to kiss you. Pants, groans, grunts, and moans were echoing around the room, as you clung onto eachother. Your arms snaked up and around his neck, pressing your chest against his as you feel another orgasm building up.

"M-masky- Ahh-" You buried your head back into his neck as he held you close again. Keeping the menstruations going, you both reached your peak, your walls tightening around him spurring him into his own, strings of cum coloring your walls as you both slowed down. Breathing heavily, you held onto him tightly as your orgasm washed over you.

You pulled back, pressing a quick kiss to his lips, then another. He slowly pulled out and tucked himself back into his pants before rolling onto his back, pulling you along your head falling into his chest. A yawn leaving your lips, your situation catches up with you. You just fucked your captor after cleaning up his wounds. But as you laid there on your side, in side arms, surrounded by his warmth, you slowly lulled off to sleep.

Sanity could wait for another day.

[plus-size-reader]

Devastated

Ivar the Boneless x Plus size!reader

Word Count: 2794 words

Warnings: Reader cannot have children. It is covered in very little detail but content may be triggering to some. Read with caution darlings. 

Summary: The reader finds out that she will never bear children, and knows that she must tell her husband, eventually. 

—————————————————————————————————

You were devastated.

In your entire life, you were sure that you’d never been given such bad news.

When you went to visit the Seer, the last thing you expected him to tell you about your future was that you would never be able to have children, and yet, that was just what had happened.

You begged the mighty one to reconsider, to tell you something different, but there was nothing to be done.

The reality was that you would never bear children of your own, not in all your life.

You couldn’t believe it.

Child rearing was incredibly important to you, and your people in general. You should have been able to bear strong, strapping sons to carry on their father’s name and daughters who could hold their own against any warrior.

It was your birthright as a woman, and a Princess of Kattegat, but the seer was very clear. There were no young ones in your future, at least, not any that you would carry on your own as your mother had with you.

It wasn’t going to happen.

By all accounts, you were heartbroken.

Since you were a young child, you had dreamed of becoming a mother to brave children who could bring just as much glory to Kattegat as you and all the others before you had. You owed it to the Gods, but evidently, they had a different plan.

You weren’t to be a mother.

You considered this, and everything else the seer had said as you walked down the path toward the great hall, your feet heavy beneath you. Perhaps, if you made enough offerings to Freya, something would change.

Though, you knew it would never work.

The seer had never been wrong, in all the years you’d lived. If he was ever going to be wrong, you doubted it would be over this in any case.

You couldn’t rightly ignore the facts.

Your body wasn’t fit to carry children, and if your womb couldn't support life, there was nothing you could have ever hoped to do to change that. The most you could do was accept what you knew to be true.

Which was much easier in theory than in practice.

Not only did you have to come to terms with this new reality, but you also had to share the unfortunate news with your husband, who would certainly not take it well.

Every man wanted sons, men whom they could be proud to leave their name to when they were finally called to Valhalla. The idea that you were taking that away from Ivar made you rethink everything.

Would he want to be married to you anymore when he found out? Your marriage was relatively new, and you couldn't blame him if this was something that he simply couldn’t overlook and even worse, what if he was angry?

Ivar wasn’t exactly a joy to be around when he was angry, and you fear what he may do if he blamed you for something like this.

Was it your fault?

Gods, maybe it was.

You weren’t aware that you couldn’t have children before this morning so it wasn’t as if you could have been expected to warn him before your marriage, but now that you knew, was it possible you had done something wrong.

It was really starting to feel as though you were being punished for something, but for what, you were unsure.

Surely you’d done something wrong. Why else would the Gods see fit to take your children away from you before you’d even had a chance to consider having them?

It felt like a cruel joke, one that you could never escape.

The more you thought about it, the more distracted you’d become, and before long, you found yourself entering the mouth of the great hall, where Ivar was already waiting for you.

Of course he was.

Your husband was kind to you, most of the time, when his temper didn’t have a handle on his emotions. You had never found yourself worried about speaking to him, or telling him anything before, but today was different.

Today, you found yourself more willing to go into the woods to fight a bear as Bjorn had done, rather than tell Ivar of the news you’d gotten from the seer on your visit this morning.

It was simply too much to put on one person.

“Well hello my wife, how are you?” Ivar hummed, letting his eyes fall on you in the doorway once he’d decided he was bored of watching Ubbe and Hvitserk try to best one another in an arm wrestle.

They had been going at it for the last hour or so, and it had gotten tedious shortly after that.

Hearing about what you had gotten into today seemed to interest him that much more, especially because you had taken it upon yourself to get out of bed and leave before he’d even opened his eyes.

You didn’t speak at first, instead opting to admire the man you loved in a silent contemplation of how he was feeling today.

If he was already in a sour mood, you weren’t going to dare bring something like this up.

Still, compared to how Ivar acted on his worst days, he seemed rather content today. If nothing else, he was bored, which you couldn’t really fault him for. His mother had more or less kept him here his entire life.

He didn’t voyage away from Kattegat and he never was one for frivolous activities to pass the time.

In any case, if there was ever going to be a good opportunity to have such a sensitive conversation with him, it was now. At least, you had a better chance of him staying calm, rather than getting angry.

“I’m just fine, Ivar, how are you?” you hummed, sitting down beside him as gingerly as you could without disturbing him, though you were more in your head than you’d ever been.

You knew that you should pay attention as he told you about what he’d gotten up to today, not missing the subtle comments he made about you leaving him to wake up on his own, but you couldn’t focus on anything more than the sinking in your gut.

Deep down, you knew that he would blame you.

That it was bad enough that you weren’t as fair or petite as his brother’s wives, and that his father had arranged your marriage, but now, you wouldn't even be able to bear his children for him.

You had been rather fortunate to avoid Ivar’s wrath before now, though you’d seen it pretty frequently, and you could feel that luck running out. You knew that this would upset him, that he would be angry.

You just weren’t sure what you could do about that.

It would be foolish to believe that you could keep this from him forever.

Eventually, he was bound to put the pieces together when you couldn’t get pregnant, and even if he didn’t, the seer was sure to mention it to him at some point.

You could only keep this from him for so long, and if he found out you knew this long before he did, he would punish you for sure.

So, as much as it made your stomach turn, you knew that you only really had one choice.

“What did you do today that was so important?” he questioned, all but snapping in your face to get your attention once he’d finished speaking, only to find you as far away as ever.

Clearly, your head was a million miles away, and while that normally would have frustrated Ivar, he found himself strangely concerned for your wellbeing. Usually, when he spoke, you hung on every word.

Today, it was as if he wasn’t even here.

“I went to visit the seer, about the strange way I’ve been feeling” you shrugged, hoping that wouldn’t bring on any other questions from him.

This was your chance.

All you had to do was tell him.

Though, when you raised your eyes to meet his, you found that same knot in your belly twisted up even more. There was no way that you could tell him, he would never understand.

Still, you knew that at some point, he was sure to pull it out of you. He always did, no matter what it was you tried to keep away.

“Well, what did he tell you?” came his second question, the one you’d been anticipating, and trying to avoid, this entire time.

You did your best not to let the heavy sigh building in your chest escape as you tried to figure out how to word what you had to say, your eyes falling on both Hvitserk and Ubbe across the room.

It was bad enough that you were about to tell Ivar the worst news you’d ever gotten, but now, you had to do it with them within earshot? It was perfect. The entire Ragnarsson clan could hate you at once.

Not that them being here was a completely bad thing.

At least with his brothers in the room, there was less of a chance that Ivar could get so angry with you.

Perhaps they would be a good buffer for you.

In any case, you knew that you had reached the end of your very minimal stalling. If you waited any longer, the more you were sure that Ivar’s peaceful mood and ticking patience would fade.

The longer you waited, the harder it would be.

“There is nothing outrightly wrong” you allowed, doing your best to make him feel better about that, at the very least. It wasn’t a lie, just as much as it wasn’t exactly the truth. You weren’t dying, or seriously ill.

You just weren’t as you thought you were this morning.

“Then why were you away for so long? Surely the seer was able to tell you something” he groaned, bothered that you had been away for so many hours without so much as a warning to him.

After all, you had been missing from his side since before he opened his eyes, something he had never really taken kindly to.

You nodded, sorry that your clear absence had upset him so much before you finally let that sigh fall from your lips.

“Yes, he did, but the news is rather difficult to accept,” you warned, forcing some words out when you found the truth unable to leave your tongue. With every second that passed, you could just feel his patience leaving him.

However, even with all the blatant stalling you were doing, Ivar remained as calm as he could.

It was clear to him that no matter what you said, there was something you were keeping from him. The only question Ivar really had was why?

In all the time that you had been married, he was always kind to you. He took care of you as any husband should and though his temper was a bit harsh at times, he was always careful to be fair and gentle when he spoke to you.

All in all, Ivar thought himself to be a good husband but perhaps he was wrong.

He couldn’t imagine anything that could be so bad that you were so timid to tell him.

“Y/N, what did the seer tell you?” he prompted, shocking you a bit with the use of your name. Ivar never used your name, not if he could help it, always instead opting for ‘wife’ or ‘darling’ if he really wanted something.

It was never Y/N with him.

“I cannot have children, Ivar. Not ever” you finally broke, desperately wishing that you hadn’t said anything to begin with.

You should have been able to do this, and you both knew it.

Still, once you’d finally built up the courage to look, the upset that you expected from Ivar wasn’t anywhere to be seen on his face.

Instead, he wore an expression that was almost confused.

That was what you were so afraid to tell him?

You had come in here after a day of absence, as closed off and cagey as he’d ever seen you in all the time that you’d known him and that was what it was about? He just couldn’t believe that was the thing that you hesitated to share.

Of all the things it could have been, he would have thought that among the first that you could talk with him about if need be.

Not that you could read all of that from his silence and pensive expression.

From where you were sitting, you were even further convinced that he was about to tell you that he couldn’t be married to someone that couldn’t give him children, and that you would be on your own once again.

News that you couldn’t have been more unwilling to hear.

While your marriage to Ivar had been his mother’s idea in the beginning, you had begun to really care for him in the time you’d been married. Separating from him was sure to break your heart.

No matter the circumstances.

“And you’re upset by that?” he hummed, after a few seconds of silence between the two of you, a casual question that seemed so out of place in such a serious, tense conversation.

It was so strange.

He truly seemed as if he didn’t understand what the big deal was.

Though, you were talking to a man who had never truly been sure children were in his future to begin with. Not to mention the fact that even if he knew he was physically able, Ivar didn’t know how he felt about fathering offspring.

After all, if they had to live life anything like he did, he wasn’t sure it was worth it.

So, the idea that you couldn’t bear his children didn’t bother Ivar as much as you’d been expecting. Something that would have made you feel better, had you not been heartbroken over it.

You wanted to have children, all your life, so now knowing that you couldn’t, it felt as if something you’d never even had, had been stolen from you.

“Of course I’m upset, Ivar. Are you not?” you sighed, shocked at how this conversation had so drastically changed from what you’d been expecting. All this time, you thought your husband would be the most affected by this.

All the while, he remained almost entirely unphased by the news that you were barren.

It was almost insulting.

“Did you really expect to have children when we married, anyway?” he asked, his question giving you pause for a moment.

You supposed you’d never really thought about it before.

He had a point.

There was never any real guarantee that you were going to be a mother with him in any case, a fact that hadn’t even been important enough to cross your mind when you were getting married.

“I never thought much about it” you allowed, your eyes once again sinking to the floor as you thought about everything that had somehow changed, in the matter of a few hours.

It was hard not to feel as if your body had betrayed your trust, taking away something you had always thought to be promised.

You were upset, and rightfully so.

Ivar may not have ever considered himself a father, in any capacity, but that didn’t mean that your upset was any less real. He’d had his entire life to come to terms with this, whereas you’d only known for a day.

Of course it bothered you, and even if he didn’t really get why you were allowing something like this to get to you so much, he could recognize that you were hurting.

...and what kind of husband would he be if he left his grieving wife to her own devices.

“I understand that you are distressed by the seer’s news, but I promise you, it changes nothing between us” Ivar assured, his fingers brushing over the top of your hand as he held it between you.

It wasn’t the most comforting gesture outside of this moment, a simple hand holding as it were, but coming from Ivar, it made all the difference in the world.

As desperate as you were to change the state of your body, and as much as you wished it wasn’t the way it was, you knew that nothing could be done.

All you could do now was move on as best you could, and perhaps, sometime down the line, the gods may gift you with a child that you could care for. 

Even if such a child wasn’t of Ivar’s and your own.

At least, until then, you had Ivar by your side.

[dreadfutures]

For the DADWC: “They say she sold her soul to a dark god.” for Ixchel and Merrill?

In celebration of the Perseids, this came to me all in a rush this evening! Thank you so much for the prompt, Contre! It's turned into not one but TWO elven fairy tales.

For @dadrunkwriting

Words: 2746

Pairing: Ixchel Lavellan & Merrill & Felassan

Rating: T

-:-:-

"We're finally on the road back to Skyhold. I thought you'd be…happier?"

Gravel scattered as Merrill approached along the lake shore. Ixchel had glanced up when she heard it but quickly returned her gaze to the sky to hide her pinched brow.

"It's your home, isn't it?" Merrill asked. She lowered herself beside Ixchel and slung her arms over her knees, leaning forward to look into Ixchel's upturned face. "Most people are excited to go home after a long journey. Garrett… Carver… Even Fenris."

"I am, Merrill," Ixchel said. "I just don't know how long it'll be home for me, now."

Merrill made a sympathetic noise. "I'm sure they'd let you stay there even if your job as Inquisitor is over! You've done so much, and it'd never be the castle it is now without you, right?"

Ixchel chuckled weakly but did not bother disabusing Merrill of her kind notion. She settled for a truth that was not quite so honest, instead. "Things will be different," she said. "As much I will no longer be Inquisitor… There will also be no more Inquisition. People will return to their homes, and I don't really want to be alone in that place. Of course, there will be places to go, friends to visit, things to see and do with my life—and I am actually looking forward to them. But things will be different, Merrill, and that change will begin the moment I return."

She shrugged one shoulder. "But I didn't come out to the lake to think about that, really. I saw a falling star at dinner and thought I might see some more out here."

"Oh!" Merrill said. "Whereabouts?"

Ixchel pointed with her right hand in the direction of the monument that looked over the Exalted Plains. The silhouette of the great wolf blotted out nearly a quarter of the sky to the northeast. "I've only seen the one, still," she admitted.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry. There should be more soon. Don't you know the story?"

That caught Ixchel's attention. She whipped her head around to look at Merrill, who grinned but looked resolutely up at the sky.

"I'd love to hear it," Ixchel said. "It's about falling stars?"

Merrill nodded. "Well, get comfortable. It's one of the ones the Keepers use to teach you a lesson, so it's a bit long."

"I'm so curious now," Ixchel said eagerly.

"It was long ago, before our people began to count the ages or pay heed to passing time. Though they themselves were immortal and unchanging, the world was not, and they knew to heed its warnings. Few were more important than those writ in the stars."

Merrill gestured at the sky.

"There was once a star for every one of our people who walked the earth, bright and eternal. Of all things in nature, they were most like us, and by studying hard enough, one could discover which exact star was yours. When that star fell from the sky, it meant that the order of the cosmos was about to change for you—an ill omen.

"Of course, some sought to change their fates by controlling the stars. The clans of the Creators and the Forgotten Ones warred with one another, and if one side were to pull a star from the sky, they might steal victory from the others—or at least, avoid their own unfortunate fates.

"Fen'Harel heard how the Creators and the Forgotten Ones searched for a means to control the stars, and he laughed. No trap had ever been enough to hold him, no chains had ever been strong enough to keep him, and no trick had ever outwitted him for long. He vowed to outwit the stars himself."

Merrill paused for a breath, and seemingly right on cue another streak of light cut across the sky. It was gone in an instant, but Ixchel gasped at it nonetheless.

"Did you see one?" Merrill asked, and Ixchel pointed to the now-dark skyline. "Where? Between the wolf's ears?"

"Yeah."

Merrill giggled. "You have no idea how hilarious that is!

"One day, the Dread Wolf saw his own star fall from the sky—and so did the Creators, and so did the Forgotten Ones. He knew he did not have much time, so he journeyed out to find his fate before the others did. The road was dangerous, but Fen'Harel was more dangerous than anything life could throw at him. His enemies were numerous, but Fen'Harel was more cunning than any of them. He survived every trial he met, and at last he found his fallen star.

"The Dread Wolf spoke to the star and tried to convince it to return to the sky. But it wouldn't go, no matter how sweetly he asked, or how sorrowfully he howled, or how viciously he threatened. The star just would not budge. At last, Fen'Harel grew so fed up, he took the star between his mighty teeth and began to run toward the horizon!"

It was Ixchel's turn to laugh, and she shook her head fondly at the thought of how Solas might react to the image.

"Fen'Harel ran and ran and ran, dragging the star along with him. He ran to the tip of the tallest mountain and kept running—right into the sky! But when the star realized that it might actually be returned to its home, it began to fight back. The star flailed, and kicked, and shoved, and punched, and used all sorts of magic to fight, but the Dread Wolf paid no heed. He ran all across the sky in search of a good place to hang the star—and where he left it is an entire other story—but eventually he found it. And the star was so tired from fighting that it hasn't moved in all the Ages since then.

"Victorious, the Dread Wolf turned around to return the way he came. Something didn't seem right as he walked along, however, and as he returned to the world he realized that as he returned his flailing star to the sky, he had knocked loose all of the others! The earth was scattered with fallen stars, and fallen elves.

"The Dread Wolf saw this, and he was sad. If all the elves left, he would have no one to play his tricks on. So he came up with a plan. He gathered up all of the stars he could, and he ran back to the sky. He had no way to know exactly which star went where, and he did not have time to make sure they were hung with care. He scattered them back into the sky as quickly as he could and returned to the land.

"Our people had indeed returned, believing their fates had changed. The Forgotten Ones and the Creators returned to their wars, since they couldn't find Fen'Harel's fallen star. And Fen'Harel returned home, thinking he had saved himself, and the People too.

"But look up, da'len," Merrill said quietly. "There is never just one falling star, is there? The Dread Wolf was so hasty in fixing the night sky that he mixed them all up, and now they don't know whose fate is whose, or when they need to fall. Some nights, one will think it's their time, and then a whole host of them follow. It may be a scary thing, that you will never know when yours will be one of the fallen. It may even seem unfair when your fate is chosen before the right time. But we take comfort knowing that one day, the Dread Wolf's will fall too."

Ixchel stared up at the sky with glassy, unseeing eyes. More stars had indeed begun to shiver and fall, though not many, and she could not make them out through her blurring vision.

"Oh," Ixchel said.

"Oh no," Merrill said. She covered her mouth. "It— I don't think it's meant to be real, right? It's not really about Solas, is it?"

"I don't know," Ixchel said huskily. "Trying to fix things but making them worse for us in the long run? I don't know."

"Come now," said a voice from the darkness. "That is neither a charitable interpretation, or an accurate story."

Ixchel looked over her shoulder at Felassan, her eyes wide and afraid of whatever corrections he might make to Merrill's tale. She was certain they would be worse, somehow.

"Of course it's not accurate," Merrill said with a shaky laugh. "Fate? And the stars? Even in Elvhenan that couldn't be…enforceable, I imagine?"

Felassan folded himself down onto the shore beside Ixchel. His warmth burned against her arm—what remained of it—even though he kept a careful distance between them.

He fixed his eyes in the direction of the wolf monument, where it seemed the stars most frequently fell from. "Something does not need to be true to be enforced by those who believe it," he said with a glib smile.

"There was a great warrior known far and wide as a protector of the People," he began. As he spoke, he shifted gravel between his fingers and shredded the little weeds he found in their mass. "Some said she had been born under a good star to have such great luck in battle. It did seem like luck, for she would often pull victory from an impossible situation. Ambushes, attacks in the night, or even in the face of hopeless odds, this warrior always prevailed."

Felassan chuckled a little. "Some said she had sold her soul to a dark god. But she always kept an eye on the stars, waiting for the day that her luck would run out."

Ixchel could not find it in herself to be amused. "Don't tell me," she said. "She really did sell her soul to a god."

"How'd you ever guess?" Felassan asked. "What else was the warrior to do? She had spent her whole life protecting the People. Mythal counted on her. Elgar'nan counted on her. Dirthamen and Falon'Din counted on her, Sylaise and June, Ghilan'nain—even Andruil had turned to her to secure slim victories against our enemies. She could not fail them now, and she could not abandon them just because a star told some priest that her time was done.

"So yes, when she saw her star tremble in the night sky, of course she went to Fen'Harel. She did not know if the Dread Wolf had the power to change the stars, but she knew that if anyone could find a way, it would be him. She told him she had sworn to protect Elvhenan forevermore, no matter the cost. To her surprise, he told her that vow was enough to win his favor. After all, dedicating her eternity to the safety of the Empire was a great sacrifice already, wasn't it?

"So the Dread Wolf waited for night to fall. When all the world was asleep, he climbed to the tallest spire in Arlathan and leaped from it into the sky. As he flew, he knocked down as many stars as he could. The fate of hundreds were decided this way, and among them was the warrior's.

"The priests took note, but they could not decide exactly whose fates had changed. They decided to treat them as a group, and to condemn them all.

"Fen'Harel argued with the priests in favor of the warrior. He said that if they could not point to the exact star which was hers, they should not risk losing her protection. What if they were wrong? The priests agreed to spare the warrior alone because of the value of her service, but all the others were simple elves: serfs, floor-scrubbers, weavers, and so on. They were replaceable.

"But the warrior was horrified. She had wanted to protect her people, not trade their lives for her own. She confronted Fen'Harel and accused him of being a liar and a cheat, and she swore vengeance upon him. But he protested. She had sworn to protect Elvhenan no matter the cost, and this was the cost. Her fate had been altered forever, and she would spend it in service to the Empire just as she had wished it."

Felassan turned to face Ixchel, whose face was flushed with unshed tears. She returned his gaze stoically, though her chin felt weak, and she felt ashamed beneath his scrutinizing gaze.

"That is the story that we told, at least," Felassan said after a moment. "We did not want the truth to get out."

"What do you mean?" Merrill asked.

He leaned back on one hand and let his head fall to the side, smiling a little around Ixchel's side at Merrill. "Fen'Harel had not picked those stars at random. In fact, we were very careful in who we chose. You see, none of the Evanuris or their lords wanted to be associated with anyone whose fate had turned foul. Their vallaslin was removed before execution, leaving them without protection and without masters. It was then that Fen'Harel intervened again.

"He argued with the priests that by the terms they had agreed to, they could not condemn any of the others whose stars lay scattered upon the fields. If the warrior's star was indistinguishable from the rest, that by definition meant that her fate was equal to them, too—and that these servants and slaves and serfs were not expendable after all. Instead, they should all become protectors of Elvhenan, and elevated to the highest ranks.

"The priests had no choice but to agree. However, they had already removed the marks of ownership and did not know who to dedicate these new warriors to."

Ixchel raised her hand to cover her eyes in disbelief. "No."

"Yes," Felassan said cheerfully. "While the priests debated and argued and tried to divide the slaves between the Evanuris evenly, all the newly-freed slaves all ran away. Fen'Harel secretly welcomed them all into his ranks. And the proud warrior? She saw that Fen'Harel truly cared for the People, and she vowed to protect Elvhenan in his service forevermore."

Merrill clapped in appreciation. "Oh, that's a much better ending! And there is still a lesson, too. Although I'm not sure what it is." She stopped clapping and frowned. "Is it that you shouldn't sacrifice a few, to protect the many? Or is it that if one person is more capable, they have a duty to preserve themselves for the future?"

Felassan shrugged. "I think the lesson is that you should be very careful about how you craft the legends that surround you," he said. "The warrior gained a reputation for ruthless dedication to the Empire above all, and it placed her in key positions throughout the Empire over time. That was useful to us."

He had never taken his eyes off of Ixchel as he spoke.

She felt her heart seize at the implications in his heavy tone.

-:-:-

They stayed out by the lake deep into the night, watching the stars. Eventually Merrill lay down along the ground, her head in Ixchel's lap. And eventually Merrill fell asleep.

Felassan never moved closer, or farther, from Ixchel. He remained a warm and comforting presence at her side, despite the unease he had sown in her with the ups and downs of his story.

She had been mulling it over and over and over again in her mind as she watched the stars streak across the sky. She knew she would continue thinking about it for days to come. How it unsettled her, both his and Merrill's tales, and how it implied how careless Solas could be with others' lives at the benefit of his own plans. She knew well how true that could be. She knew better than perhaps anyone else in the world how true it could be.

And yet Felassan's addition to the story rang true, too.

She did not know what Felassan wanted her to take away from it all.

But she did not ask. Instead, when she was certain that Merrill was asleep, Ixchel turned to Felassan. He looked down at her easily, as though he had been watching from the corner of his eye, waiting for her to address him.

"What was the warrior's name?" Ixchel asked softly.

Her question seemed to surprise him. The wry smile on his face faded, and the edge to him softened.

His violet eyes glittered in the dim starlight.

"Her name was Valor."

[egcdeath]

second chances

pairing: softdark!steve rogers x reader 

summary: you wake up on the side of the road with no memories, no possessions, and no place to go. luckily, an attractive stranger arrives just in time to help you out. 

word count: 4.6k

warnings: there are some soft moments, but this is ultimately a dark fic!!! alluding to kidnapping, deceit, mention of knife, drugging, abuse (mostly mental/emotional, but implied physical), amnesia, brief alcohol mention, nightmares, mention of bodily harm, bed sharing **if i’m missing any warnings, let me know

author’s note: this is my first dark fic without a dark reader, so please be nice! it took me nearly a whole month to get it where i want it to be (i’m a slow writer, i know) but i’m actually pretty proud of this. 

you can find my masterlist and taglist here

After what seemed like years of waiting, the opportunity finally lent itself, a small pocket knife sat right in your peripheral view. A dangerous mixture of adrenaline and impulse filled you, not even granting you the time to think before you were clumsily extending your arm, and wielding the knife. 

The blade popped out, and you held it with a shaky hand in front of your captor.

“Really?” he scoffed, “you’re gonna kill me.”

There was no attempt on his part to stop you, in fact, he smiled and leaned back slightly.

Your whole body trembled at this point, you could barely form words, let alone move. But this was your chance.

“So do it, Y/N. Kill me,” his voice steadily rose as he approached you, long legs making their way across the room.

Before you knew it, he was standing in front of you, hand approaching your own. He wrapped it around your wrist and gripped down on you like a snake, causing you to emit a tiny yelp.

“What are you waiting for?” he asked, voice steady as your hands trembled around the grip.

“Exactly. You’re still as fucking pathetic as you were the day I met you,” a slap stung your left cheek, a mark that was sure to be there for the days following. 

The knife clattered as it hit the linoleum floor, and you followed its path, crumbling on the floor and breaking into tear-less sobs. 

“Remember this moment, sweetheart. You’ll never get a chance like this again,” he swooped up the knife before walking away from you, leaving a broken woman in his wake.

——

You went from experiencing nothing to everything all at once. Your brain seemed to be attempting to escape your head as it pressed against your eyes, and you struggled to open them, lashes feeling like they were glued together. Rain poured down on your head, and you concluded that it had been pouring on you for a while, as you were completely soaked to the bone. 

As you looked at yourself and your body, a curled up and bruised mess on the side of the road, you couldn’t help but wonder what exactly happened to you, or at all. You weren’t even sure that you had memories apart from the ones that were processing in that exact moment. It was as if you’d exited the womb for a second time, clueless to where you were, who you are, or how you got there. 

You shivered as you pulled yourself to your feet, weak ankles shaking in glittery heels and body trembling in a half-torn dress. Wherever you came from couldn’t have been good.

You slipped off the shoes and held them in your hands as you walked down the side of the deserted road, bare feet sloshing in mud as you did so. You didn’t have an idea where you were, or where the nearest sign of life was. You were tempted to walk on the soaked, petrichor scented road, but you knew that that wasn’t your best idea.

You truly had no good options. Nothing to do. Nowhere to go. No one to save you. You wanted to collapse back onto the ground, give into your screaming body that was becoming more and more tired by the moment. Hot tears began to slip down your face, contrasting the cold of the raindrops falling onto your body. 

All hope was lost, you’d die any time now, and that would just be it. You looked up at the overcast sky and screamed at it, mentally begging for someone, anyone, to help. That you’d forever be grateful to god, or the universe, or whatever it was that was out there that put you in the situation you were in. 

You screamed and sobbed until your throat was raw, and you weren’t sure you’d be able to produce any more sound, sitting down onto the damp ground and wishing for your inevitable death to be a swift and painless one. 

Yet, your pity party was crashed just moments later by a beaming red light and the soft hum of a motor coming down the road. This was your one chance. Who knew when the next time you’d see a sign of human life was?

You jumped to your feet and waved your hands like a madwoman, trying to catch the attention of the male behind the driver's seat. He began to come to a stop, pulling over a bit to see you better.

His face was angelic, a strong jaw and soft eyes that looked like they had seen more than the average person. When he spoke, you felt heaven become drowsy with harmony. Or maybe you were just really tired. Regardless, your pleas to a higher power had proved fruitful, as your knight and shining armor had just pulled up beside you to save the day.

He rolled a window down, and you got closer to the door.

“Need a ride, ma’am?” he called.

You simply nodded and approached the vehicle, opening the door hesitantly. You sat down on the seat, and jumped a bit when you felt heat radiating onto the back of your thighs.

“I’m Steve. You?” 

You chuckled awkwardly, “that’s a great question that I wish I could answer. It’s actually kind of a long story. Well, I assume it’s long since I can’t remember any of it. But maybe I will later. Nice to meet you anyway, Steve.”

He nodded understandingly, completely unfazed by your lack of name. Maybe he had prior experience with hitchhikers, as he was approaching this situation with a nearly suspicious calmness. “Well… where’re you heading?” the man asked, looking over at you.

“I, uh, I have no idea,” you said raspily, throat still sore from your previous screaming.

The blonde’s lip quirked at this, as if he were holding back a much bigger smile, “that’s fine. I’m heading a few towns away, but I was thinking of stopping and getting some breakfast. You interested in that?”

You shrugged, becoming slightly uncomfortable in the quickly dampening seat. Steve glanced over at you after putting the car in drive, and noticed your discomfort from your prior stay in the rain.

“We can stop by a bathroom first. I’ve got some extra clothes with me in the back,” he suggested. You nodded quietly, looking at the vast, and empty road ahead. 

----

You sat in a diner booth dressed in a thick jacket and comfortable sweatpants that oddly enough, seemed to be exactly your size. Steve approached the table with an extra plate of fries, and set it gently in front of you. 

“So you don’t remember anything?” he asked, stealing a fry before sitting down across from you. 

You shook your head, bringing a salty fry to your mouth, “I swear I just woke up there. No memories, no nothing, no place to go. I mean, I was gonna die out there if you didn’t get me.”

Steve scoffed a bit at this, “that’s not true. I’m sure someone would’ve helped eventually.”

“Maybe. But I’m glad that it was you,” you looked up at him, and the fondness he was looking at you with was nearly suffocating. 

Steve paused for a moment, mulling over his next words as if he was looking for the exact right thing to say.

“Would you like to stay with me? I mean, I know we just met each other, but I just have this feeling. Like I was meant to find you. Besides, it doesn’t seem like you have anywhere else to go.”

“I have to go to the bathroom,” you excused after a moment, popping out of the both and heading towards the ladies room.

You handled your business, and stared at yourself in the mirror as you washed your hands. Makeup ran down your face, and it almost appeared that you were melting. Who would pick someone up in such a state? You had to question this Steve guy’s character a little bit. You couldn’t remember the exact phrase, but it couldn’t be smart to get into a car with a stranger. Especially a stranger offering to take you to some secret location with them. After all, he could be a murderer, a kidnapper, or a rapist. You would be none the wiser.

But he fed you, clothed you, and offered you a form of shelter. He couldn’t be too ill intentioned if he was willing to go out of his way to help, right? Maybe he just wanted to keep you off the streets, and that was why he was willing to take you to wherever it was that he was going.

Your stomach turned the longer you watched yourself, the longer you thought. Perhaps your intuition found that something was off. But who even knew if you could trust your intuition, after all, you were basically a day old, and you didn’t seem to have any other option.

——

You ended up going back out into the diner and accepting Steve’s offer. You didn’t really have much of a choice, and he wasn’t exactly a bad one. 

Steve was quiet for the majority of your trip, only speaking when he noticed that you’d moved your sights from the window over to him. He didn’t seem to be a fan of the way you were studying him, but for some reason your eyes kept finding him.

Hours had passed in the day, and night was quickly approaching. You dozed as you watched the starry night from the passenger window. Your eyes were becoming heavier by the moment, hours worth of watching flat landscape, combined with the complexity of your day finally catching up to you.   

——

Cold. You felt cold. The floor was cold. The blood running through your veins was cold. Your brain was cold and freezing, hindering you from properly processing what was going on in front of you. 

A searing pain rolled through your body as you tumbled down the stairs, back into a room that was suffocatingly familiar.

“I should’ve never allowed you to leave. Ungrateful,” a faceless man followed you down the stairs and hovered over your now battered body. “I give you a home and you complain. I take care of you, giving you almost anything you could ever ask for. You complain. Do you know how many people would kill to be in your position? With someone like me taking care of them?” 

“You told me you loved me, you goddamn liar. I let you come upstairs, and you try to fucking kill me. I should kill you,” he seethed, leaning down over you.

But I won’t.

The words were unspoken, but familiar. A threat uttered to you before, usually followed with an ‘I’ll make your life a living hell instead.’

You were unable to speak, as if someone had ripped out your vocal cords. Suddenly the faceless man was reaching down and holding the bloody organs in his hands. Your blood ran cold once again. 

“You can’t even fathom the hell I want to release on you right now,” he continued, chest puffing out with exaggerated, angered breaths. “But I’ll be the bigger man. Because I love you,” he dropped the cords on the ground beside you, and your eyes flicked over to the mutilated part of yourself. “Y/N, I need you to prove to me that you love me.”

You wanted to beg, to plead and tell the man whatever he needed to hear in order to release you, but you were completely powerless. 

The man hoisted you up with ease, and you soundlessly whimpered. He carried you into a small, plain room and set you on the flat, stiff mattress on the floor. 

“Come on, Sweetheart. You know I’m doing this for us.” 

The faceless man kissed your forehead, and the feeling of dread overtook you.

——

You awoke with a gasp, clawing at your own neck to make sure that your vocal cords were still intact.

“You alright?” Steve asked, glancing over at you. “Should I pull over?”

“No, I’ll be fine,”  you whispered.

“Take some deep breaths for me, okay?” he advised, setting a reassuring hand on top of yours. “We’ll be at the hotel any minute now.”

——

Your nerves were absolutely fried by the nightmare. Your hands shook like leaves in the wind while you stood next to Steve as he checked you into your hotel room.

“How’re you doing?” he asked in the elevator, setting his large hand on top of yours once again. The gesture was calming, even if you felt a slight undermining feeling of something unsettling.

“A little better. I probably just need to lay down somewhere comfortable.”

Steve nodded and squeezed your hand, “you’ve had a long day. You have first dibs on the shower. Maybe it’ll help you relax.” 

The smile that Steve was giving you was comforting. You felt glad that he was the person to have picked you up.

The elevator made a little ding noise before the doors opened, and he guided you to your room. 

You made a beeline to the shower, not even taking the time to be impressed with the size of the hotel room, the amenities, or the quality of it. You just wanted to shed your clothes and find at least a moment of peace. 

You exited the bathroom after about a half an hour, and walked out into the suite in just a towel. 

“Can I borrow some more clothes?” you glanced over at Steve, who was openly checking you out from the comfort of the bed.

Wait, the bed.

There were way too many things going on for you to be focused on the fact that there was just one bed. Maybe Steve would offer to sleep on the sofa.

“Yeah, that’s fine. My teammate left some clothes in that smaller blue suitcase. It’ll probably fit,” Steve paused for a few moments as you found the aforementioned suitcase and looked for something comfortable that you could actually sleep in.

“Who did that to you?” he asked, gesturing at your bruised legs.

“I don’t… I don’t know. It’s all so blurry,” you sighed, settling on a fresh pair of sweatpants and a thin t-shirt. “I’ll be right back.”

You changed quickly in the residually steamy bathroom, and sat down at the foot of the bed. 

“Do we need to have a fistfight over who gets to sleep in the bed?” Steve joked and you shook your head.

“I can sleep on the sofa, if you want.”

“No way. You deserve something comfortable,” he got out of bed, and approached the bathroom to take his own shower. “Get nice and cozy, friend. You deserve it.”

He disappeared into the bathroom, and you moved up to the top of the bed, slipping under the covers and sighing aloud from relief. Your body was finally having a chance to relax, and the hotel bed was surprisingly comfortable. 

By the time Steve returned from the shower, you were already half asleep, and very unaware of your surroundings.

As you fell out of consciousness, you had blurry visions of confinement, punishments, and pain. You once again woke up with a gasp, but this time Steve was standing over you. 

“Deep breaths, okay? I saw you thrashing and mumbling something to yourself. I think you were having a bad dream.”

You nodded and panted, trying to catch your breath and slow down your hummingbird heart rate. 

“You’re safe, I promise.”

“Can you stay with me?” you stammered out.

“Yeah, of course,” Steve got into bed beside you, and rubbed your back as you curled into a fetal position, “just try to relax, okay? There isn’t anything to fear when I’m here with you.”

You nodded, clutching onto Steve’s genuine tone. Something about him just made you feel… safe, despite the possible red flags around him. 

After Steve got into bed with you, you were finally able to fall into a dreamless and peaceful sleep. 

——

You woke up to an empty and cold bed. You blinked a few times and looked around the room, eyes stopping on Steve as he watched you from the couch, eyes quickly flipping between yourself and the book in his hands in an effort to cover up his staring. 

The whole ordeal made you feel slightly off, but the realization that you were essentially mooching off a stranger felt worse. 

You hopped out of bed and anxiously paced towards the bathroom. “Shit, Steve,” you muttered. “I shouldn’t be taking advantage of you like this. I should probably leave.”

“Where else do you have to go?” Steve almost defensively questioned, frown deep on his face.

You took a deep sigh and shrugged, “I… don’t know. I’ll figure it out.”

“You don’t have to go,” he began, sounding unsure in his words, “stay. With me,” he stood up and walked over to you, grabbing the back of your arm softly. “You’re not taking advantage of me. If anything, you’re helping me. I get pretty lonely on these kinds of missions, so please, stay with me.”

You turned to look at Steve, the deep creases in his face at the thought of losing you. With just a glance, you knew that you couldn’t leave. 

——

The next few days of your life had proved your theory. It was almost alarming how quickly Steve became your anchor in the midst of a new, overwhelming world. 

The first thing that he did for you was tell you what your name was. As confused as you were to how exactly he figured it out, (he told you that he knew some weird tech guy. You were prepared to go with anything), you were grateful that Steve was able to help you out a piece of your old life back together.

He was oddly patient with you as you learned more and more about your surroundings. You were most impressed by the grocery store, and may or may not have spent hours inside of that food palace, spending much more of Steve’s money than was socially acceptable. 

For the next few months, you stayed at a safe house with Steve, spending the majority of your time looking down at your reflection in the lake in the backyard, wondering if your memories could ever come back.

You’d grown closer with Steve in that time as well, he was really the only person that you’d gotten close with since you’d lost your memories. Now that you were thinking about it, you hadn’t said more than three sentences to anyone else. By that measurement, your next closest friend was a gas station cashier.

In fact, you’d started dating Steve. Granted, you couldn’t completely wrap your mind around it all, despite the hours of rom-coms you’d watched while Steve was gone on missions. You just knew that you cared a lot about Steve. When he was around you, your heart fluttered. He was the only person you truly felt comfortable with. He protected you time after time, and voiced to you just how much he adored you. 

It made you feel wanted, to know that despite all of the confusion, you still had a place in this world, even if the place was just Steve Rogers’ heart. 

——

Steve arrived at the safe house late at night after nearly a week of being off on another mission. The bed creaked as he got into bed with you, and pressed up against your sleeping form. 

“Steve, sometimes I have these really awful dreams. Mostly when you’re not with me,” you began out of the blue as his arms snaked around you. “It’s always this faceless man just… abusing me. And I can’t even do anything about it because I’m too weak. And I can’t say anything because he stole my vocal cords. It sounds so silly, because it’s all just a dream, but it all feels so real. I just... I need you to promise me that you’ll protect me no matter what. Especially against him.”

“Of course,” he whispered against the back of your head, “I promise that I’ll protect you from him. He’ll never even get the chance to let the thought cross his mind.” 

“I love you, Steve,” you mumbled sleepily, “please never leave me again.”

He’d been waiting to hear those words.

——

Your fingers wrapped around a warm mug while Steve put the finishing touches on your breakfast. He’d decided to go all out that morning, with an impressive spread of food that would put most buffets to shame. For a moment, you questioned if you’d forgotten about some important holiday, or an anniversary.

Steve set a plate down in front of you, then pressed a soft peck to your forehead, “enjoy, sweetheart.”

You grinned softly down at the food, and at the affection, “what’s got you in such a good mood?”

“Just relieved to be back. I don’t like being away from you for too long,” he settled into the seat across from you, and took a sip of his own coffee.

“Mm, you sure? You’re not always this chipper post mission.”

Steve chuckled and shook his head just the slightest bit, “alright. You got me. I wanted to save it as a surprise, but I hate keeping secrets from you,” Steve paused.

“So… what’s the secret?” you pressed, bringing a forkful of food up to your mouth.

“I’m retiring.”

Your eyes widened as you heard the news, and you nearly choked, “are you really?”

Steve simply nodded, “I’m ready for the next chapter of my life with you.”

Your heart fluttered at the sweetness of his gesture, and the slightest hint of nerves. Why was Steve so willing to give up his entire livelihood for someone he knew for less than a year?

You felt bad for questioning his motives, considering that Steve had been nothing but good to you in the time that you knew him. If it wasn’t for him, you probably wouldn’t even be alive. He had proved himself to be an amazing, loving man, who had bent over backwards to keep you safe and comfortable. He trusted you, and it was time for you to do the same.

“I’ve been plotting this for a while, to be honest. You might think this is a little fast, but I even have a permanent place for us to stay.”

You couldn’t find it in you to be skeptical for much longer, your feelings of adoration for Steve overruling your hesitance to jump into something like that with him. 

You smiled softly as Steve spoke, getting up and pacing over to where he was seated so you could give him a hug, “I.. yes, that’s fast, but it’s also kinda amazing,” you sighed softly, burying your face into the crook of his neck. “When are we leaving?”

“Tonight, if that’s alright with you. I was thinking that we could spend the day packing up and… celebrating,” he winked down at you, and you looked up to shake your head fondly. 

“That sounds like a plan,” you gazed at him with adoration, and leaned up to press a soft peck to his lips that was lovingly reciprocated. 

——

Music pounded against your eardrums as you ground against a handsome stranger, one you couldn’t see, but instinctively knew. The smell of sweat, liquor, and sex filled your nose, the rancid combination oddly comforting in a retrospective moment. 

“We’re leaving!” A voice you hadn’t heard in what felt like years informed you. Your face broke into a wide grin when you heard her voice. “But it doesn’t look like you care!” she jeered. “Good luck!” your friend laughed, disappearing in the sea of people. 

“You’re coming home with me, right?” he asked, a hot breath against your cheek. 

You nodded. The words refused to come out. 

“Good,” he confirmed, pressing a kiss to your neck.

Out of the blue, you weren’t in the club, but in the small basement room from before, staring at nothing in particular while sat at the edge of your vanity’s seat.

“I’ve tried everything with you,” he commented, leaning against the doorway casually. You felt the need to apologize, to tell your captor that you didn’t mean to do what you did, that you loved him. Plead for him not to punish you. “After months of submission, I thought that we were finally getting somewhere. Why’d you have to throw it all away?” 

Glancing up at the vanity, a woman with sunken eyes, a pained expression, and fading bruises looked back at you, just long enough for you to briefly become that messy, drunken woman at the club once again. 

“I’ve tried everything with you. The easy way clearly didn’t work,” he continued, “you leave me with no other options, my love,” the man sighed, sitting down next to you casually. “I want you to know that I’m doing this for us. You know that nothing good ever comes easy, right?”

The syringe went into your arm like a hot knife through butter, and your muscles clenched as fire filled your body. You went to scream, but your throat was still out of commission. As you went down, your vision and thoughts began to blur before you couldn’t decipher one thing or another. The final noise you could make out was the distortedly slow rendition of It’s Been a Long, Long Time on the record player.

In an out-of-body moment, you watched as the man pulled your relaxed body down to the floor, cautiously pulling the clothes off of you and making you cringe internally at the sight of yourself in such a state. He left your body alone for a moment as he looked through the negligible amount of clothing in your closet, grabbing the same dress from the night at the club and pulling it on your limp figure.

It was torn and messy, not unlike the state it was in when you found yourself conscious. The faceless man muttered something unintelligible to himself before hoisting you up bridal style and taking your body out to the car. 

You watched in terror as this all played out, your slack face looking disturbingly at peace compared to how you’d appeared before. In fact, even in your ghastly state, you felt at peace. 

That peace quickly came to an end as you watched yourself get ditched on the side of the road, and as your body slowly began to twitch back to consciousness, your dream began to fade away.

——

You dragged your suitcase up through the garage, grateful to be at your final destination with the man you’d fallen in love with. You hoped that after moving in, the dreams might finally stop. After all, your dream in the car felt somewhat final. You were trying your best to be as positive as you could manage in such a strange situation, and from the outside, you had to admit that the house was gorgeous.

Stepping inside felt like the worst case of deja vu you’d ever experienced, as if your memories were repairing themself with every millisecond you were in the home, gazing at furniture you hadn’t seen in months, and smelling faint scents that you’d forgotten existed. Feature by feature, the puzzle pieces of the faceless man came together.

The longer you observed, the worse the feeling became. Waves of grief, fear, and pain were rolling over you again and again until you were completely drowning on it. The realization hit you with a ton of bricks: this was the house from your dreams.

Steve came up behind you, snapping you out of your panicked trance. He pressed a soft kiss to your cheek and squeezed you close to him.

“Ready for the first day of the rest of your life?”

[bounce-a-coin-off-your-witcher]

🥺 babe 🥺 bAbE

What if Jask gets sick at Kaer Morhen but tries to hide it from Geralt bc he doesn't want him to think he's gross/weak/etc? And Geralt has the Feelings Braincell for once?

oh babe... thank you

tw: sickness, falling unconscious, fever, whump/angst with a happy ending

---

Jaskier knew he had a fever the moment he woke up. He could feel it burning beneath this skin like a forge, flushing his face a more vibrant shade of pink than usual. He glared at his reflection in the small, round mirror above his dressing table and willed himself to feel better. It was his first winter at Kaer Morhen, and he didn’t want Geralt to think he’d made a mistake by inviting Jaskier along to stay. The bard knew that his stoic, self-loathing Witcher would blame himself immediately for any misfortune or illness that befell Jaskier. Geralt might even reconsider inviting him back again someday. So he had to keep his little bug a secret until he was well. Surely it was nothing major. Surely it would pass after a few days, unnoticed and unremarkable.

He should have known better.

Jaskier dabbed a bit more perfume than usual (which was generally none at all) beneath his ears and along his wrists. He hoped the peony-lavender mixture would mask whatever kind of scent his illness might carry and slowly, carefully made his way down the long stone staircase that led from the guest bedroom to the enormous kitchen. His limbs felt achy and tired, even though he’d slept heavily the night previous. His head sat heavy and unbalanced atop his shoulders; the world wavered and spun around him as he desperately tried to keep from pitching sideways into the wall. 

“You alright there, boy?” Vesemir asked, catching his eye from the bottom of the stairs. “You seem a bit… nervous.”

Maybe his anxiety was doing a better job of hiding his secret than the perfume. 

“Just a little wool between my ears this morning,” the bard laughed brightly, ignoring the searing pain that throbbed through his chest with the movement, “I think I might go chop some wood and see if the brisk mountain air helps clear it out faster.”

“Hmm,” the eldest Wolf nodded sagely. There was no doubt which teacher Geralt had admired most as a pup. “Alright. Be safe, take care. I’ll send someone to fetch you when breakfast is ready.”

“Thank you, Vesemir,” Jaskier bowed shallowly and headed for the kitchen’s back door. He took the axe into his hands and tried not to sway on his feet from the added weight. The bard covered his tracks by throwing a smile back over his shoulder and pushing the door open. “See you for breakfast!”

He stepped out of the keep and let the heavy slab of wood slam shut behind him. The early morning sky above Kaer Morhen was cloudless and the sun was bright, blinding him entirely. His situation only worsened when the sudden change in temperature, from the warm kitchen to the freezing mountainside, punched the air from his lungs in one thick cloud. He struggled to regain it as he wove his way through the snow drifts to the woodpile. Slowly, and with great effort, Jaskier lined up a thick log to be split.

The world felt watery and far away. His hand, which he knew to be attached to the end of his arm by some miracle, would not obey his command to pick up the axe again. His lungs felt heavy in his chest cavity and his legs suddenly ached with a fierce intensity. 

With a quiet cry of protest against his own body failing him, Jaskier collapsed into the snow.

---

Jaskier’s heartbeat was so slow and quiet, his limbs unmoving and his lips nearly blue from the cold; Geralt wasn’t sure he’d ever been so scared before in his life. He turned to Vesemir and asked, barely keeping the frantic terror from clawing its way out of his throat: “How long was he out there?” 

“Half an hour at most,” the grey Wolf shrugged. “I don’t really remember, Geralt. I was busy taking care of the breakfast arrangements.”

“Fuck!”

“Calm down,” Eskel ordered. He frowned at Geralt from his place at Jaskier’s opposite side. He’d helped carry the bard from the courtyard to Geralt’s room and was just as worried about the human’s wellbeing. “Panicking won’t help him. Now, what’s the problem?”

“It’s hard to tell over all that stupid perfume,” Lambert snarled. “Stupid fucking bard fucking knew we would be able to smell it on him. He covered his gods-damned tracks.”

“Jaskier,” Geralt murmured, having grown suddenly calm. He let the back of his knuckles drag softly across the bard’s too-hot cheek until he could stick a stray lock of sweaty brown hair back behind his ear. “You idiot.”

The bard shifted against the blanket they’d laid him on, his brow wrinkling. His arms twitched slightly, as if he was trying to move them, and he whined plaintively: “G’ralt.”

“I’m here, Jask,” the Witcher replied quickly, forgetting they weren’t alone in the room. He took one of the bard’s freezing hands into his own and began rubbing the warmth back into his fingers. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you better. You’ll be alright.”

“Who are you trying to reassure?” Lambert huffed a short laugh. “You or the bard?”

“Leave off,” Eskel shot his younger brother a glare. The redhead rolled his eyes and moved to lean against the wall near the door. Eskel continued speaking to Lambert, but his eyes were back on Jaskier, who kept trying to get closer to Geralt even in his sleep. “Why don’t you go grab some clean clothes from his room while we get him warmed up and conscious again.”

“Fine,” Lambert spat. But he took off at a quick trot, regardless.

“Geralt, get his wet clothes off and get him wrapped up. Eskel, you come with me to the kitchen. I’ll need help carrying things and I’m sure the bard would prefer some privacy in this particular matter.”

Eskel nodded his agreement and followed Vesemir from the room, leaving Geralt alone with Jaskier. The White Wolf hurried to undress and swaddle the bard with a warm, heavy wool blanket and several furs, talking all the while in a low, worried voice. “Fuck, Jaskier. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry this happened and that you- Why did you hide it? Why wouldn’t you- Are you afraid of me? Is that why you didn’t come to me for help?”

Jaskier’s lids fluttered open and Geralt watched with nervous anticipation as two of the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen, blue as cornflowers and brighter than the spring sky, tried their best to focus on his face. “Geralt?”

“I’m here, Jaskier. What’s ailing you? Please, tell me how I can help you.”

“Hurts,” the bard managed to groan. “To breathe.”

“Fuck,” Geralt growled. “We need to get you warm. Lambert should be back with your clothes by now.”

Jaskier’s head lolled back against the pillow and he struggled to reach for his Witcher, “Hold me.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll warm up-” he gasped between words, as if every syllable pained him to expel “-faster if… you hold me.”

“Hmm,” Geralt’s brows furrowed in frustration. He knew Jaskier was right, that he’d feel better faster with skin-on-skin contact, but he also wanted to hold Jaskier for other, less emergency-based reasons. That was unacceptable. Losing Jaskier to death or sickness or other human reasons was intolerable but losing him, in all senses of the word, because of Geralt’s impossible feelings? That would be truly horrendous.

The warring factions of his heart were still clamoring over a decision when Eskel and Vesemir re-entered carrying two large trays. One was covered with foodstuffs and the other held an enormous clay teapot and mugs. A small pot of honey, gathered from Vesemir’s very own beehives, was the most obvious sign of affection Geralt had ever seen the older man display for a near-stranger. 

“I’m gonna… get… spoiled,” Jaskier gasped. The eldest Wolf shot Geralt a glare. 

“Why aren’t you in there with him? You know the best way to warm up a hypothermic person is skin contact, Geralt! I certainly taught you better than this.”

“I didn’t-” he stuttered. “I wasn’t-”

“He’s afraid,” Jaskier smiled sadly, cuddling himself deeper into the furs as he turned his gaze towards the fire. All three of the Witchers could smell his sadness, even more potent than the illness ravaging his delicate human body. Geralt winced when his brother and father glared at him in tandem, expressions nearly matching in fury. The bard was still looking away, watching the flames send dancing patterns of light against the stone walls. “Don’t worry… won’t ask… for any more.”

“Jaskier,” Geralt whispered, taking a seat on the edge of the mattress. “May I hold you?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s our cue to leave,” Vesemir smiled beneath his mustache. Jaskier was too tired to blush, and opted to bury his head in Geralt’s shoulder instead. “Come along, Eskel. Let’s see what Lambert has gotten up to.”

“What about Jaskier’s clothes?”

“He can borrow Geralt’s for now. I’m sure our White Wolf won’t mind sharing; he’s the possessive type, after all.”

Geralt rolled his eyes and grumbled out of habit more than disagreement. 

When Vesemir and Eskel had gone for good and the door was closed, Geralt pulled Jaskier out of the furs and removed his own shirt. He settled the bard against his chest and buried his nose in Jaskier’s dark hair, breathing in the scents of sweat and sickness and now, thank the gods, tangy-bright happiness. “Gods, Jaskier. Don’t scare me like that ever again. I can’t lose you.”

“I didn’t… want… to disappoint.”

“You never do and never will,” Geralt intoned. He pulled the furs over them both and splayed his large hands across Jaskier’s back. The bard’s skin was overly hot in some places and freezing in others; Geralt buried his panic in order to care for... for the man he loved. He took a deep breath and rubbed slow circles between the bard’s shoulder blades. “I… I love you, Jaskier.”

“Hmm,” the bard hummed tunelessly. “Love you… too.”

Geralt helped him sit up and drink a mug of tea. He listened, slowly allowing himself to relax, as Jaskier’s breathing eased and his heartbeat balanced. When the tea was gone and the fire was re-built to Geralt’s satisfaction, the Witcher tucked Jaskier’s head beneath his chin and wrapped his arms around the bard’s shoulders. “Oh, my little lark. I’ve been so foolish for too long.”

“Yeah,” Jaskier grinned into the Witcher’s warm pectoral. “Me... too.”

“Well, we’ll have plenty of time when you feel better,” Geralt murmured, lips pressing over and over to the top of the bard’s head. Jaskier couldn’t keep himself from smiling, even as he drifted back to sleep. The Witcher felt something settle in his chest when he whispered: “Rest up, dear heart. There are many more adventures to be had.”

[fckwritersblock]

Protection Forever - William Lennox

Lennox x Reader

Description: Running into an old flame at the worst possible time.

Warning: nah. Bad writing? Kinda. Unedited because I was excited. I’ll not when it’s been fixed. Somethings may not be fully aligned with the movie but I tried 😩

Word count: 2500+

Dedicated to @merakiaes hey fren!

All gifs from @meragifs too!

You were an EMT.

The two of you pulled up to meet with the other Autobots, you exiting the vehicle before he transformed. You were in awe as he and the rest of the cars all changed.

The biggest one, their leader, gave a rundown of everything that was happening once he confirmed Sam’s identity. This was just a recap for you as Ratchet had already explained. The teenage boy just stood there stuttering not really knowing how to process everything and you frowned again. That was when you really took notice of two teens just standing there. Having known what was expected of Sam Witwicky you frowned slightly.

“I don’t know about this Ratchet, he’s just kid.” You commented to the alien you had formed a quick bond with.

“And who might you be?” The one called Optimus inquired.

You gave him your name before the other yellow autobot, who you’d later learned was Bumble Bee, uttered something through his radio. It was hard for you to hear but the other robots seemed to be use to it as Ratchet responded immediately.

“The human. I like her.” Ratchet sounding irritated.

Bumblebee made another comment and right before Ratchet could respond one of the others chimed in.

“Wait why do they get humans?” Jazz asked incredulously. “I want one too!”

“Enough! Humans are not pets.” The one call Optimus Prime stated sternly, clearly tired of their bickering. You held your laugh, highly amused.

They were like siblings. A family.

“Exactly I’m just here to help and be a better tour guide than these kids can be.” You confirmed practically forcing your services on them. “Besides they need adult supervision. From the looks of it, you all do.” You grinned at everyone around you. Optimus gave a nod, agreeing.

“She stays. Let’s move.”

In that short amount of time things moved rather quickly. You watched the Autobots accidentally destroy Sam’s backyard when attempting to retrieve the glasses, you were all arrested, you escaped thanks to the Autobots, only to be arrested again.

Fail.

Finally you ended it some secret base. How get you weren’t alone. The government had apparently been on a roll with kidnapping civilians who “knew too much “.

Things weren’t going great but quickly went left when the Decepticons, the Autobot rivals, came to retrieve Megatron.

A war from another planet had officially made Earth its battleground.

You were nervous, trying to figure out how to calm everything down before things started to escalate. Nobody was going to get anywhere with all the bickering. That’s when you saw him.

It had been what? Two years?

Still, without even knowing it, without even knowing you were present, he was still able to make your heart be slow and fast at the same time. The army had aged him, but for the better making him all the more attractive but you couldn’t focus on that right now. Especially when you heard:

“The cryogenic system is failing! We're losing NBE One!”

All the soldiers begin to pack everything that they could to prepare in a fight the way they always did. It was an mirable the way Linux game orders in his men took them without a second thought. The trust there.

“That’s good. Get all the ammo you got.”

“Everything you can carry. Bring it.”

Tearing your eyes away from your former lover you grab Sam.

“Come on, we need Bee.” You reminded him, nodding in Simmons direction

“You got to take me to my car.” Sam said, then repeated when he was ignored. “You have to take me to my car. He’s gonna know what to do with the Cube.”

“Your car? It's confiscated.”

“Then unconfiscate it.” You stared blankly.

“We do not know what will happen if we let it near this thing! -“

“You don't know.”

“Maybe you know, but I don't know.”

You rolled your eyes at the insufferable mans rambling.

This was really was more about ego who was in control more than anything. The guy running the ship, clearly was on a power trip. Unfortunately for him he was facing off against soldiers . The Captain who’s eyes you could feel staring at the side of your face.

A Captain and his soldiers. Ones that really dont like to lose and take serving their country seriously.

The guy who arrested you earlier continue to argue with Sam about getting him back to bumblebee when Lennox finally pulled out his gun sick of the back-and-forth.

“Take him to his car!”

As soon as he did so all hell broke loose and everyone from both parties pulled out a weapon.

“Drop it!”

It wasn’t until One of the sector seven agents pointed a gun at the back of Will’s head that you disable to another agent and took his gun and pointed it directly and held it directly at the one pointing the gun at your ex.

“I really wouldn’t.” You warned.

You were no soldier, but Will have taught you plenty before you broke up. So did your brother, before he passed away. He actually served alongside Will but died in combat. Biking. That’s part of why you were so hurt when Will re-enlisted. When he got promoted to Captain and chose the army over you. You were terrified of losing him the way you lost your brother. The break up wasn’t that messy but you both said things you didn’t mean. In attempts to mask your own pain and hurt one another.

You know. Hurt people, hurt people.

It’s still came to no surprise that you put a bullet in someone to protect him. Together or not you’d never let anything happen to him.

“I'm ordering you under S-Seven executive jurisdiction-“ Simmons ranted.

“S-Seven don't exist.” You interjected, earning a quick appreciative glance from Will.

“Right. And we don’t take orders from people that don’t exist.”

“I’m gonna count to 5. Okay-“ Simmons attempted to threat yet again.

“Well, I’m gonna count to three.” Will deadpanned.

You knew that look. God did you know that look and it was so wrong that you were so turned on.

Finally the Secretary of defense interfered telling Simmons to do what was being asked of him. Everyone relaxed slight, weapons lowering.

“Y/n,”

“Captain.”

The Captain and couldn’t help but watch you how do you get up and prepare to go.

“So that’s her huh?” Epps commented as Will watched you run off with Sam.

“Yeah..” Will answered, mind racing.

While he knew he’d eventually see you again, he didn’t think it would be like this. You looked breath taking.

“Damn. Shorty had your back that entire time.”

“Gear up,”

“What I’m just saying I thought she was gonna put a cap in his.” Epps shouted after his Captain receiving no response.

Will knew you had his back, you always would, the same way he would always have yours. He thought of you often, the break up between two inescapable, never feeling like he did the right thing. You were always not too far from the front of his mind. Him wondering how you were doing. If you were happy. If you found somebody else. There was no doubt he regretted what had transpired between the two of you. It was his fault. He knew that. You knew that. He had ample opportunity to fight for you and he didn’t. When he was promoted Captain he felt he had to choose between you and the army. He didn’t choose you the way he should’ve. In reality he could’ve had both. However hr so caught up proven himself to his deadbeat dad that he possibly let the best thing that ever happened to him go.

Not to mention trying to atone for your brothers death. It wasn’t his fault, but he still couldn’t shake it. So without talking to you he reenlisted. Needless to say where that got him.

Now hear the both of you were in the middle of an alien war. Yeah. This is the last place he thought he’d see you.

You were numb. The battle on the highway enough to freak you out. For mommy, just a moment you thought this might be a dream but no. This is all very real. One minute you guys were just entering the city trying to lay low, next thing you know - BOOM! The explosion knocked all of you over, injuring some, killing a few. Bumblebee’s legs were partially blown off.

Getting up off the pavement you waited for the ringing in your ear to subside as you stood up, trying to study yourself when you felt a pair of arms hold you still.

You knew it was Will just by the way he touched you, you blinked hard trying not to go down memory lane.

“Are you okay?” The concern in his voice was enough to make your heart skip a bear.

“Yeah,” you nodded slowly. “Yeah I’m fine.”

Slowly you removed yourself from his grip and went to check on Sam and Mikaela. Ratchet on the other hand -

“Hmm. His pheromone levels are-“ you quickly turned on him and glared.

“Ratchet I’ll turn you into a can opener if you don’t shut the hell up.”

The robot nearly held his hands up in the surrendering position as he followed you. Will had arranged an aircraft to pick up Sam and the cube while everyone else defended themselves against the deceptive cons in a hurry to get the cube far far away before Megatron arrived. Sam was in a panic and so Michaela, you could see Will’s short fuse getting ready to exploded. It was then you decided to be an escort.

“Sam, you can’t do this alone.” Michaela fussed.

“He won’t be alone.” You commented, causing all parties involved to look at you.

“I’m going with you.” You declared.

“No.” Will didn’t even hesitated as he stepped closer to you.

“Captain Lennox-“

“No!” You grabbed him by the front of his beer and pushed him back.

“Do you see what going on out there?!” You continued to hold on to him and you yelled at him over there chose. “We’re at a war. One we are extremely ill prepared for. So get your shit together! Sam is my responsibility. I have to get this kid to safety.”

This time your hands slid up the side of his face forcing him to look at you.

“Y/n..” he breathed out leaning down toward you, and for the first time during all this madness you could visibly see he was afraid.

“I’ll be back, Will.” You assured him, briefly resting your forehead against his.

Gathering himself he pulled away, looking toward Sam then back at you.

“Go. Go!”

And then we were running.. With nothing but an M16 strapped to your back and the pistol in your hand, you ran faster than you ever have before.

The four of you were under attack once more, you and Sam doing what you had to, to avoid getting snatched up as a fight Ironhide and Ratchet defended you. Unfortunately you were too close to one of the cars that went up in flames and you were thrown into another car from the blast.

“Y/n!” You could feel the blood on your forehead as you slowly pushed yourself up. As you tried to stand you immediately stopped feeling the pain in your thigh. Looking down could see the damage that had been done. The blood surrounding the afflicted area.

“Wha- what, what do i do?!” Sam asked frantically once he took notice of your injury.

“You gotta keep going Sam. I’ll be fine.”

He stood fo his feet, unsure of what to do. When Ironhide told him the same thing.

“Go!” You screamed once more.

Sam left and continued to run without you as you, as quickly as possible, as you tore your focus away from him to pull the shard of glass in your leg out. Ripping a piece of your shirt off you tightly tied it around your thigh in order to stop the bleeding. There was no point in going forward now but the return back to everyone else and help them fight.

You just had to avoid getting killed in the process.

You seen a car steering wheel, a Mountain Dew vending machine and and Xbox all turn into one of those freaky ass robots right before your eyes. All of which you helped others fight off. It was so surreal. In fact, if it wasn’t for the constant ringing in your ear from all the explosions you definitely think you were dreaming. You almost made it back to Lennox and his men when another Decepticon stood between between you and your destinations. They were definitely taking a beating. You saw Epps shooting a green laser indicating the robot that doubled as a helicopter wasn’t a friendly and decided to do what you could to keep the Decepticon from getting any closer to them and hurting any more civilians. In an attempt to draw it away from everyone else, you begin to fire your weapon giving it everything you had.

Unfortunately, the side effective taking its attention off the others meant putting the attention on you.

You ran trying to duck and dodge a bullets now directed your way.

But Will. Will’s heart dropped. Seeing you there defending yourself alone. His pause was brief, the air forces plan already in motion, before he started the motorcycle and was speeding in your direction.

“William!” You screamed for him fearfully as he drove straight toward the robot.

The only thing you could hear was your heartbeat pounding in your ears. You almost couldn’t breathe, you don’t remember the last time you ever felt so scared in your life. But it wasn’t your life you feared for was it?

He rushed forward and slid under the robot continuing to firing the launcher. All you could do was watch as he drove toward you. Toward the danger your mind wondering if he did that on a regular basis. Was this the life of a soldier? What he went through day after day when he was deployed?

Standing up he only spared the parts of the dismembered robot a glance before shouting and turning looking for you. In a matter of seconds he was standing directly in front of you and pulling you into his arms.

Relief.

There was nothing like physically being about to touch someone, hold someone to really know they were okay.

“So…” you began, suddenly feeling nervous. “...That was hot-“

Before you were able to get another word in, he captured your lips with his kissing you roughly and bringing you closer, hands on the small of your back. You couldn’t help it kiss him back just as fiercely put in every emotion you had into that kiss.

Every ounce of passion he had in body, put into this kiss, your lips just as soft, kiss just as pure as he remembered. When you kissed, he knew he was a goner and could never let you go again.

It has been two years since the last time you guys have been this close. This intimate. Reconnected. The feeling it gave you, the indescribable feeling, was one neither one of you ever wanted to forgo again. Pulling back slowly, you both had smiles on your faces, Will pulling you closer to plant a kiss on your forehead.

“Excuse me,” Epps interrupted.

The both of you turning your attention on him.

“As cute as this shit is it’s highly inappropriate in the middle of the battle. I’m just saying we are trying to stay alive and shit.”

———————————————

Oh my fu- I don’t even know what this isssss

Couldn’t tell you what my original ideas was or nothing. I believed this was going to short-

I enjoyed writing it though! Shoutout again to @merakiaes for being on this lennox train with me lol

I’m just....I’m just gonna leave this mess here.

Bye

- Mo

—————————-

Tags: @merakiaes @lilythemadqueen

[scarletwidowaf]

Yelena Belova x reader “fake dating” to actual!!!!

Plssssss :) 🥲💛

Moral Of The Story

Yelena Belova x female reader, scarlewidow mentioned.

A/N: might be messy, might be cheesy, but I truly don't care because I live for this chaotic due.

warning: stupidity maybe

words: 2000ish- probably more. 

masterlist

You don't know how but somehow training with Yelena always ended up with you being pinned down on the training mat.

"Fuck" you cursed frustrated as she pinned you down for the 3d time in a row. Yelena laughed before she stood up and held out her hand for you to take.

"I let you win!" You said as she pulled you up.

"Sure you did" she joked.

"Seriously. I let you stomp on my dignity because I have a favor to ask!" you said back, a goofy grin playing on your lips as you passed her one of the water bottles.

"Now, that's gonna be interesting" she said as she sat on the floor, her back facing the wall. She gratefully took the bottle from your hand as she waited for you to talk.

"be my girlfriend" you said. The two of you were always comically stupid, so of course that you said that at the same moment she was taking a gulp from her bottle and of course she choked- and of course you laughed.

"I'm Sorry" the blonde glared at you.

"You're not" she responded in between coughing.

After a few moments, she finally stopped coughing and your laugh dyed out as well.

"You're right. I wasn't." You laughed again and she shoved you playfully.

"So, did you seriously just asked me to be your girlfriend?" She asked. Her lips forming her famous-troubled-maker cheeky grin.

"Well.. my fake girlfriend to be exact" you corrected yourself and she laughed again.

"You know you could've started with that, right?"

"And what's the fun in that?"

You smirked at her, knowing full well she found the random question amusing.

"So Why me, anyway..? - Wait, Let me guess.. kate and carol said no and you're scared of Wanda?"

"Okay first I'm not scared of Wanda, I'm scared of your sister.. there's a difference. And Second; my parents in town.. and I kinda told them I have a girlfriend.."

"Oh, now that's classic" Yelena, obviously, found the situation hilarious and you couldn't blame her since you found this dumb conversation amusing as well.

"Does it mean you'll do it?" You asked.

"Yeah why not" she responded you raised an eyebrow at her waiting for the catch. With Yelena, there's always a catch or at least a stupid comment.

"Yeah. I want to meet the poor souls who had to deal with your stupidity on a daily basis for the last 20 years..."

And here it is. You thought.

"I will punch you" you threaten her.

"Kinky" she smirked.

"Whatever stupid. I'll pick you up tomorrow at 8" you said as you got up from the spot next to her.

"Wear something nice"

_______________________________

The thing about Yelena is that you can never know what to expect. No matter how much time you spent with her, and it was a lot, she somehow still managed to surprise you.

This time was no different. but in her defense, this time the blame is definitely on you. You saw Yelena wear different kinds of outfits, from gear to fancy dresses, yet for some reason, you just didn't expect the other girl to wear a suit, and damn she looked good.

The gray suit fit her perfectly and her long blonde hair was down. She looked painfully beautiful and you couldn't help but stare- and she couldn't help but notice.

She wasn't doing better, on your defense. The blonde checked you out shamelessly before she sent you a smirk "How lucky I am" she joked and you rolled your eyes.

"Very lucky.. and so am i" Yelena smiled at you and held her hand out for you to take.

The ride was short and 15 minutes later you were standing outside the restaurant.

You could feel Yelena's gaze on you as you bit your lip nervously. "It will be alright" she assured you as she interviewed your hands together. "Thank you" you looked at her gratefully "Don't sweat it" she replayed with a soft smile.

That was the thing about Yelena, people always misguided her for someone she wasn't and it always made you mad. God, Of course, she was strong and fierce and brave and absolutely terrifying at times- but She was so much more than that. She was sweet and loyal and caring, and kinda funny (don't tell her) and absolutely beautiful- inside and out. One of your favorite things about her was her shy and sincere smile, which seemed reserved only for you.

"You ready?" She squeezed your hand. you took a small shaky breath before smiling back at her. "As ready as ill ever be"

The restaurant wasn't busy and it didn't take you long to catch your parents in a corner in the far back of the room. Both smiling wide as you walked towards them. Your mother's smile was contagious and you couldn't help but smile back. God, you missed them.

"We've missed you so much" your father said as he hugged you, your mother doing the same.

"I've missed you too" you confessed before tugging Yelena forwards them.

"I'm assuming that's the girlfriend," Your father said and you nodded. God, You were nervous and Yelena could sense it as she reached for your father's hand.

"Yelena." She introduced herself As they shook hands. Her grip firm and her smile dazzling. "I'm Y/D/N and this is my wife Y/M/N" he introduced himself as well.

"Glad to finally meet you. I heard a lot of great things about you" She said with a confident smile.

Both of you could tell the older man was impressed by the blonde and you couldn't help but smile.

"Were happy to finally meet you as well- although we can't say the same since pumpkin over here hasn't said much about you"

Yelena smirked at you as you blushed deeply. You knew she wouldn't let you forget about the nickname. Like, never. "Yeah, it's actually pretty new. It wasn't really planned neither" she explained.

Your mother, God bless her, wasn't the one to shook hands. The moment Yelena was free from your father's grip she found herself in the woman's warm embrace.

"Okay... I think we should start ordering" you said when Yelena was free again. Her cheeks were a bit flushed. The Russian Assassin wasn't used to be hugged and you couldn't help but smile.

The conversation was light, the wine was good and most importantly, your parents loved Yelena. which was understandable considering the fact she was annoyingly charming.

The Yelena that sat next to you with her hand on your lap was the best version the blonde could pull and you felt stupid for being worried in the first place. Yelena led the conversation with politeness, charm, and grace that you never knew she had in her- and your mom seemed impressed. Impressing your dad was even easier- Yelena didn't even have to try, all she had to do was show her intelligence and add some light humor.

After an hour of light and mostly general conversation, amazing food, many embarrassing stories of you on both sides, and 2 glasses of wine, your mom decided to take the conversation into her hands.

"So Yelena. Tell us about yourself."

Oh boy. Now that might be a problem.

"Well... I joined the avengers a few months ago" she explained "Not long after I met your daughter actually," she said simply.

"That's nice, and before that?" The older woman asked.

"I was a freelance.." Yelena gulped. Her hand squeezes yours

"As?" Your mom asked. You knew she didn't try to push Yelena into this corner, she wasn't this kind of person, but she definitely put the blonde on the spot.

"Well... I was involved with the black market and different criminal organizations. Jobs like getting undercover to dig information or well.. getting rid of powerful men in the criminal world.."

Your parent's eyes went wide. Your dad stared at her with wide eyes and your mom cleared her throat.

"I don't do it anymore" she continued. The blonde seemed as nervous as you felt.

"How did you ended up in this line of work? If I may ask?"

"Mom I don't think-" you started and Yelena smiled at you.

"No, It's fine babe.." she said before moving her attention back to your parents "Sometimes life gets you to places where you have to do bad things to survive."

Your dad's expression was unreadable and your mom seemed worried as she glanced at you.

"Yelena and I met when her sister recruited and pulled her out of this life. Yelena is a good person, despite everything she's been through. That's what I love the most about her." You said.

Yelena smiled softly and your parents exchanged looks.

"I'm a different person now" Yelena promised

"We believe you... but I can't help but worry for my daughter, as you can surely understand. What if the people you've been involved with. Try to get to you through Y\N"

Your father asked calmly. Both were taking it better than you expected and you couldn't blame them for being worried.

"Dad. I know it might come as shocking.. but I'm a big girl and I'm well aware of the risk of being involved with Yelena. I need you to trust me when I say that risks, some worse than the mafia, were a part of my life long before we met."

Yelena bit her lip to hold a smile and you interviewed your hands again.

"You're a doctor" your mom argued "I'm a field doctor. Of the avengers." you corrected her. "which means I'm more of capable of taking care of myself."

Your dad nodded softly to your mom before he smiled at you. "You're are.. Don't you?" He laughed. "Mu little pumpkin.." he sIgh and your mother smiled as well

"I just want you to understand that all we want for you is to be safe and happy. And even a blind man can see Yelena gives you that." He sent Yelena a soft smile. Yelena smiled back at him.

"Take care of my daughter.. she's a keeper" your father said firmly.

"She is. And trust me, I will" she promised.

_______________________________

"Well, that went well" you laughed when you got into the passenger seat. Yelena volunteered to drive which was a relief since you were exhausted.

After the two of you got into your seats the blonde sent you a small smile and took something out of her pocket.

"Is that? A bullet..?" You asked confused as you took the copper cylinder from her hand.

Yelena laughed softly.

"It is. It's the same bullet you stopped me from shooting at Natasha"  she confessed.

"I was in such a bad place back then and I blamed Natasha for it. If it weren't for you things would've been very different now" Yelena whispered

"Yeah, both of you were dead since you would've shot her, and Wanda would've probably hunted you down and kill you" you laughed and Yelena's shoulders relaxed.

"Probably" she said. "But with all seriousness... I was aiming a gun at my own sister and instead of pulling your own gun at me, you decided to shield her with your own body and dare me to shoot you as well. Who does that!?."

"You thought I was insane" you laughed.

"I thought you were stupid, putting your life at risk to save someone fucked up like us! someone like me.." She confessed and it downed on you.

No matter what happened or how many good things Yelena had done in her life, she couldn't let go of who she was trained to be. She still blamed herself for all the terrible things she did back at the red room and she constantly tried to get closure by doing the exact opposite- which was probably the reason she killed all these bad men in the first place. But then Natasha came back for her, and Yelena blamed her for leaving her behind to live with the things they did. She felt betrayed and broken, and Natasha's return only made it worse. Like she was just pitting her broken sister.

"All I know is that the Yelena I stood up to and the Natasha I saved that day were not the villains the red room tried to create." You whispered.

"You truly believed that? Even then?" Yelena was crying softly and you cupped her cheek.

"Especially then! I know you don't see it, but I'm here to remind you, you're a good person. Truly. You have a good heart- and I've seen it"

Yelena's cheeks were stained with tears, her eyes red and puffy and her famous crooked smile was plastered on her lips.

"And that's why you love me?"

She was a mess just like back then- when she was aiming a gun at her own sister as who she thought she was and who she truly is were fighting for dominance.

She was tragically beautiful and scared both then and now, yet somehow at the same time, she was more sure and confident than ever before. And I guess that what life is all about. Sometimes, things start to make sense only when everything else doesn't.

"Wasn't it obvious, stupid?" You said and stroked her cheek carefully as she melted into your touch.

Yelena smiled before kissing your hand softly, without breaking eye contact with you.

"You're the stupid one and you know it. Taking an assassin as your dinner date." She joked and you nodded and looked briefly at her lips.

"Well, stupid or not, I still manage to get a kiss at the end of it." Yelena laughed and got closer to you.

"Yeah you did" she whispered and kissed you.

And that was the thing about Yelena. She was good and kind and loyal. And a damn good kisser.

[astaroth1357]

"Hi kinda new. I don't know if this is where requests go, but if you haven't done it yet can I request an MC sneaking into the boys beds?" ~irenethehotdog

The MC Sneaks Into the Brothers' Beds While They're Asleep

@irenethehotdog don’t worry, I found ya anyway. 😁 Sooo there was a kind of tender way I could have played this… but then there was a funny way. I hope you're alright that I went with the funny way. 😅 I got two bed requests that are kind of similar-ish but how I’m interpreting them makes them just different enough to warrant two different asks. Here's the first one!

Check out my Masterlist for more!

Warning: Comical nudity? Is that NSFW-ish?

Intro:

Sometimes everybody needs a little comfort, especially in the middle of the night. Any number of things could have drawn the MC out of their bed: bad dreams, nagging thoughts, just general fear of the darkness of Hell that surrounded them, but they decided to try to soothe their unease with the company of their demonic housemates! Wonder how that turned out for them..?

Lucifer

I mean, if you’re feeling a little alone at night, maybe a little scared, it would only be natural to want to seek solace with the strongest person in the nearest vicinity, right? ...Right?

To say it was maybe ill-advised to just climb into bed with Lucifer would be an understatement… Frankly, if the enchantments he had on his door weren’t specifically meant for Mammon then they might have ended up in a very compromised position. But somehow, they managed to infiltrate the demon’s private sanctuary and get right up to his bed.

Now, Lucifer is not a heavy sleeper. Not at all. He’s grown pretty accustomed to waking up at all hours of the night because of his brother’s antics, so he felt the shifting weight on his mattress almost instantly.

They probably weren’t expecting him to suddenly jerk upright and spin towards them, fireball in hand ready to lob at their face... but that’s what they got.

After realizing that it was just the human and not Mammon coming in to take his stuff again, he made them sit down in front of his fireplace while he gave them a looong lecture about personal boundaries and how it’s really not smart to sneak up on demons like that… 

But he was still sympathetic to their sleep-deprived state so he offered them some tea and Devildom sleep remedies in hopes of getting them back to bed. ...Just not his. Back to your bed with you, MC.

Mammon

Mammon was their “babysitter.” Their protector. Their guardian. So why wouldn’t they want to go to him on a difficult night?

Getting into Mammon’s bed was hardly a challenge, sure they had to tiptoe through the garbage heap that made up his bedroom floor but it wasn’t Mission Impossible or anything…

What did catch them off guard was just how… not clothed he felt after they slid in under his covers. Like, pretty much wearing nothing at all. Not even a pair of courtesy boxers. 😓

It was their squeal as they flung themselves out of the bed that actually woke Mammon up. They had him ripping the covers off, ready to leap into action and everything, which definitely didn’t help matters. (Or maybe it did, depending on your point of view 🤷‍♀️).

Both parties pretty much turned into a cursing/blushing mess as he shot them embarrassed, rapid-fire questions while desperately trying to pull on some sweats. Meanwhile the MC stayed plastered up against the wall of his bedroom, answering him in equally defensive shouts.

Eventually, their fuss woke up Lucifer who was quick to send both of them back to their respective beds. The House teased them mercilessly for weeks… How were they supposed to know Mammon slept naked??

Leviathan

Levi might be a… strange choice for bedmate at first glance (he doesn’t really even sleep in bed, but a tub hardly meant for two people). However, there’s a certain level of approachability to him, isn’t there? Considering his own struggles with anxiety, maybe they thought he could relate…?

They tried knocking on his door first, thinking he might have been gaming, but there was no answer. When they walked in and found the otaku actually asleep for once, it seemed like their wishes might have actually been granted!

...But then came the actual trouble of trying to get into bed with Levi to start with. There wasn’t really an easy way to squeeze their body in past his because the tub was so dang narrow…

Any rational person might have just given up on the venture, but not MC. Whatever's possessed them to want to sleep with this awkward shut-in has a pretty good hold on them yet.

Lack of sleep might have been what gave them the bright idea to just try and lay on top of Levi veeerrry sooooftlllly…. Which is how the poor demon woke up to them halfway straddling his waist in the middle of the night.

His remarkably high-pitched scream woke up the whole dang House and the sheer amount of force he used when trying to jerk out of the tub toppled it over… Even after many apologies (and a trip to go buy a new tub), Levi still double locks his door at night to this day… 😓

Satan

Really an odd choice there, not going to lie. They’re well aware of the possibility that they could accidentally wake him and he maaaay not be the best waker (what being Wrath and all) but if it’s irrational worries that got you down, why not go to the most rational person in the House? Sounds like a perfectly logical decision, right?

That might have been what their half-baked disillusions were telling them on the way to Satan's bedroom but actually standing in front of the sleeping man was a whole other story. They felt crazy, genuinely crazy… But they still slipped in under the covers anyway.

Satan stirred almost immediately and turned to face them… but his eyes could hardly keep focus and the look of dopey confusion on his face could have honestly made the perfect screen background. "Huuuuuh…? MC…? What're you doin' 'ere…?"

They kind of had to hold in a laugh while they explained that they just wanted to sleep next to him that night. Satan beamed them an oddly serene smile and just nodded. "Okaaay…" With that he seemed to roll over to go back to sleep… but his mind caught back up with him before his drowsiness did.

"Wait a minute..." Ah shit….

 Like Lucifer, Satan ended up giving them a pretty good lecture on boundaries and the like when he finally snapped out of his stupor. Thankfully he wasn't mad, just a little embarrassed that they had seen him like that. He offered them a good book or two to pass the time if they couldn't sleep, but sent them back to bed all the same.

Asmodeus

Asmo probably doesn’t get people coming into his bed with completely chaste intentions very often, but he’s by far the most emotionally in-tuned demon in the House. If they're after a little sympathy, best just go to Asmo right?

They weren't really sure what to expect when they walked into his room... Does Asmo sleep like a Disney Princess, hair and makeup done perfectly in defiance of all laws of beauty?

Does he sleep like a '60s housewife, with curlers in his hair and leftover chips of mud mask on his face?

Does he sleep like the god of all sex that he is, sculpted chest for the eyes to see and everything underneath laid bare like a honeypot of temptation??

The MC doesn't really get to know, because when they pulled back the covers to climb inside they were met by the sight of someone else's very naked ass taking up the spot where they thought Asmo should be.

They go back to their room willingly, dejected and maybe a little scarred... Apparently they were just too late to the party...

Beelzebub

Okay, everything about Beel screams “Hello! I’m a warm comforting teddy bear!”...aside from the hungry parts. It’s really not hard to see why they’d want to go to him if they’re feeling a little vulnerable.

They didn't worry too much about being quiet when they walked into the twins' room. Belphie could sleep through a rock concert and Beel wasn't too far behind him (as long as he wasn't hungry).

They figured that the tall twin wouldn't mind too much if they just crawled into bed with him… He had make a similar request of them before, it was only fair right?

As they were preparing their tired body for a good night's sleep, they gently pulled the covers back next to Beel but they probably weren't expecting to find so many food wrappers surrounding him… or bags of chips… or packages of cookies… or-

Apparently Beel had yet another sleep-eating run and this time he seemed to have brought the whole kitchen back with him. There was hardly enough room left for Beel anymore, let alone the MC!

Considering their options were to either wedge themselves between a havoc roast and a bag of jerky or just brave one more night on their own, they cut their losses early and went back to their own bed...

Belphegor

They didn’t have to know Belphie since Day One of being there to pick up on how hard he slept. The man was pretty much in a coma for most of the day and that included his nightly rests too. Would he even notice if they… per say… slipped into bed with him to get a little comfort from their nightmares? Surely, he’d stay asleep, right?

When they didn't see his sleeping form in the room he shared with Beel, the MC eventually found Belphie up in the attic room. His little hideaway with a plush-ass bed to boot.

They didn’t bother being quiet at all. They figured that Belphie could have stayed under for anything short of banging pots and pans in his ears so why try to mask their footsteps?

They never expected him to be awake. 😰

The moment they lifted the covers, Belphie struck like some kind of blanket crocodile! He grabbed them by the waist and dragged them into the spot of the bed right under him with a impish grin on his face.

Turns out they weren't the only ones having sleeping problems that night and as they felt the full weight of his worn out body settle in nicely up against theirs they knew that maybe, finally, they'd get a good night's sleep… 🤭

[anabsolutetrainwreck]

tongue-tied like we’ve never known || h. styles

warnings: dad!harry, swearing, not really proofread

word count: 2.3k

summary: two single parents try to start their lives again...

Mornings were always the worst for you. Trying to pry Tommy out of bed, and even yourself for that matter, was always an incredibly stressful task. But you’d learned to live with it and quickly come to accept it. After all, he was only young now. He’d be old soon enough and you knew you’d miss these youthful years. 

You stood by the school gates, waiting for little Tommy to come bounding out of school to tell you all about his latest adventure. You always looked forward to hearing how his day went. As small children scrambled out of the doors after their teachers and straight into the arms of their parents, your eyes fell onto Tommy. He was with a boy you didn’t recognise. “Look, look! Meet my new friend,” Tommy grinned as he stood before you excitedly. “This is my mum.”

“Hello,” the little boy, dark-haired with perhaps the most striking green eyes, smiled. “I’m Oscar.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Oscar,” you smiled. “Are you new?”

The boy nodded, his cheeks flushed slightly. You couldn’t help but smile at the fact that Tommy had made a new friend. He’d been kind to the new kid and offered him a form of friendship. 

You were tugged away from your thoughts as you heard a voice behind you. You quickly turned to see a man, a little taller than yourself. You figured this was Oscar’s father from the dark hair to the green eyes. “There you are,” he smiled warmly and it seemed to make your heart flutter, as if he was smiling at you.

“Daddy, this is my new friend, Tommy,” Oscar grinned excitedly. 

For the first time, the man shifted his gaze from the two young boys to you. Your stomach lurched as you made eye contact with him. “You must be Tommy’s mum,” he said, extending his hand for you to shake. “I’m Harry.”

“Y/N,” you smiled, shaking it gently. You hadn’t felt like this since you first met Tommy’s dad. It was all of eight years ago now on a night out with your university friends, most of whom you didn’t even speak to nowadays. He had been kind then and polite and the sort of man you’d always envisioned yourself marrying. So, you ended up getting together and everything seemed great for the first year and a half. But then things began to decline and you both seemed to lose trust in one another and you felt as if you were putting all of your energy into this relationship. It was killing you. But then you fell pregnant with his baby and he broke up with you anyway. You went back home to live with your own parents for a while before you eventually found a proper job and moved into your own house. 

Anyway, you found yourself walking down the street, Tommy and Oscar running ahead slightly, with Harry. You had Tommy’s light bag clasped between your hands, listening to Harry tell you about Oscar. “And yeah,” he concluded, “we moved down here a couple of weeks ago, just the two of us.”

“What about Oscar’s mother?” you couldn’t help but find yourself prying. 

Harry seemed to tense slightly, before shrugging, “She was never really around much. Her parents thought she should have gotten an abortion but she didn’t want one and had the baby anyway. So, they kicked her out and she left Oscar with me and moved to Dublin with her friends.”

“That’s shitty,” you sighed. “At least you have Oscar, though, right?”

He nodded, smiling, “Exactly. What about Tommy’s dad then?”

“He was a dick. He broke up with me a couple of months after I told him I was pregnant,” you replied. 

“Yeah,” Harry chuckled, “sounds like a dick. Does he see Tommy then?”

You shook your head, your eyes caught between Harry’s and your son's lively figure running up and down the path ahead of you with Oscar. “No. He’s tried to reach out a couple of times but I haven’t let him see him. I just feel like introducing him to his dad six years later could just, you know, fuck it up. Besides, if he didn’t want to be with me through all the shitty, difficult stuff, then I don’t think he’s allowed to enjoy all the joys of being a parent.”

“Well,” he smiled, “good on you.”

And that was how you met Harry Styles. Over the weeks that followed, you would walk Oscar and Tommy to and from school with him. Tommy would spend time round at Harry’s and Oscar would spend time round at yours. And it felt like every time you saw Harry, you felt simultaneously more comfortable around him but more and more nervous. 

But you hadn’t dated anybody since Tommy was born. Having a young child seemed to be a deterrent for a lot of people. Or maybe had more to do with the fact that you didn’t have time for a relationship between work and raising Tommy. Sure, you’d been on plenty of dates and it wasn’t as if you weren’t ready to get back into the world of dating and relationships. If not for yourself, for Tommy. You wanted him to have some kind of parental figure that wasn’t you. 

You found it difficult to focus on the book you were reading when all you could hear was the two boys laughing loudly upstairs. Oscar was round for dinner and Harry was due to pick him up any minute. And as a knock at the front door finally snapped you into a new state of consciousness, you got up to answer it. Harry stood happily on the other side, his eyes lighting up at the sight of you. “Evening, Y/N,” he smiled. 

“Evening, Harry,” you mocked. “Do come in.”

You opened the door wider, allowing the man to step into your home. You called down Oscar and Tommy, only to be met with groans. They appeared at the top of the stairs, their faces twisted into bitter scowls. “Why?” Tommy sighed. “Can he stay for a bit longer?”

You exchanged a glance with Harry, who shrugged. “Fifteen minutes,” you sighed. Really, all you wanted was to go to bed. They grinned and dashed back into Tommy’s small bedroom. You guided Harry into the kitchen, letting him sit himself down at the table. “Do you want a drink?” you asked.

“I’m okay, thanks,” he smiled.

You grinned, pouring yourself a glass of orange juice, “Suit yourself. So, how was your day?”

“Stressful,” he sighed. “Thanks for looking after Oscar.”

“Anytime,” you shrugged. “He’s delightful. Besides, you’ve looked after Tommy so many times, I kind of owed you.”

“Nonsense,” he laughed. “We’re not exchanging favours. We’re just… helping out a friend.”

You couldn’t help but let yourself deflate at ‘friend’. You had known all along that you were just two, young single parents that only knew each other through their six-year-old sons. But a tiny fragment of you hoped what was happening meant something more to Harry, like it did to you. There were instances of harmless flirting and subtle glances. “Right,” you nodded, forcing a soft smile. “Well, thanks for helping out a friend.”

His fingers drummed mindlessly on the table and your eyes wandered from their tips to the tattoos that peeked out of the cuff of his jacket. “Got any plans for tomorrow?” Harry asked and you almost cringed at the small talk. 

But alas, you shrugged, “Not really. I have some work to catch up on, so an action packed day for me tomorrow. What about you?”

He shook his head, “I wish I had plans. Could go out for drinks or something, but I can’t because I have a needy six-year-old.”

“Treasure it while it’s still here,” you said. 

“Believe me,” he grinned, “I am. God, I’m so scared for the day he just… stops needing me. You know, the day he just sort of realises that he no longer needs me to wash his clothes or walk him into town or buy him things. And it took me ages to get used to putting somebody before myself, I don’t think I could imagine living without him now. Like, one day he’ll go off to uni and get a job and only come home every other birthday or Christmas.”

You smiled gently. You were sure he’d never been so vulnerable with you before. “It’s weird to think that’s what we’re doing with our parents now. We fear the day our kids stop needing us, but our parents are living that day.”

He hummed in thought for a moment, “I should probably go see my mum soon. I haven’t seen her in months. And my sister.”

“You have a sister?”

He nodded, “Yeah. Gemma is her name. She’d love you.”

“I’m sure I’d love her if she’s anything like you,” you said. 

You took a final gulp of your orange juice, your eyes beginning to feel heavy. You looked at the clock on the wall, noticing twenty minutes had passed since Harry arrived. “Right,” you smiled. “I’ll go get Oscar.”

And as you walked towards the kitchen door, Harry quickly said, “Wait!”

You turned back to look at him, your heart pounding heavily. All kinds of questions and hypotheticals raced through your mind as he paused for a moment. “Do you think you’ll ever meet somebody else, Y/N?” he asked. 

“Meet somebody else?” you repeated, though you were sure you knew exactly what he meant. 

“Yeah, you know… like somebody to replace Tommy’s dad. Somebody for you to settle down with and raise Tommy together. Do you think you’ll ever meet them?” he asked. 

You were utterly confused as to what had prompted him to ask such a question. But you’d be lying if you said you couldn’t hear your heart in your temples or taste your blood in your mouth. “Maybe,” you shrugged. “Do you?”

“I hope so,” he said. “I’d like Oscar to have a mum.”

“Yeah,” you nodded, “I think that would be great for him. I’ll go get him.”

That night as you lay alone in your bed, you couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to share your bed with Harry. To feel his body beside yours on cold nights. To be woken up by his lips peppering your face in light kisses in the morning. To discuss all the trivial things when neither of you can sleep at night. Maybe he was trying to tell you something that evening…

Oscar had become ill over that following weekend. Nothing too serious, but something that warranted a day or two off school. So, after you picked Tommy up from school, you drove to Harry’s to check if they were both okay. Tommy sat at the end of Oscar’s bed, recounting everything the young boy had missed at school, while you busied yourself in Harry’s kitchen. You were heating up some of the soup you had made for the poor boy. “You’re really too kind. You didn’t have to do this,” Harry told you as he made you a cup of coffee. 

You shrugged, “Well, Oscar’s like my second son at this point.”

He smiled, albeit his cheeks a little red, “I’m glad you think that. I’m pretty sure he thinks of you as a mum at this point too.”

Now it was your turn to turn red. Your face heated up at Harry’s passing comment. Did he really think of you as a mum? “That’s sweet,” you said. “About what you said the other night… about meeting somebody, my friend says she knows a guy she thinks I’d get along with. So, I think I’m really going to try dating.”

He stiffened slightly, “Oh yeah? That’s great, Y/N.”

He hugged you and you couldn’t help but feel so safe in his arms. The hug was perhaps a second or three too long, but neither of you pulled away. And, as your bodies were pressed together, it was almost as if you shared a brief but looming epiphany together. “But,” you began again, “why try dating a stranger when I already know somebody?”

“That’s a good point,” he whispered softly, finally pulling away to make eye contact. He explored your face and you felt his warm breath on your cheeks. 

“I mean, this guy that I know, he’s sweet. Really sweet. He’s super funny and caring and so, so generous. And he has a kid himself, so he won’t be put off by the single parent thing.”

He understood what you were trying to tell him, “Sounds like an angel. Who is this fine man of whom you speak?”

You grinned, “I don’t know if I should say. He has tattoos and green eyes.”

“So he’s incredibly handsome as well as being an angel?”

“I suppose you could say that,” you chuckled. And, as if the sky were falling down, Harry wasted no time in pressing his lips to your own. He kissed you and you kissed him back. All of your prior dating worries just seemed to slip away as you buried your fingers in Harry’s soft hair. It was only when you heard a quiet ‘mum?’ from the doorway did you jolt apart. Tommy stood in the threshold of the kitchen and suddenly the microwave went off, notifying you that Oscar’s soup was ready. You and Harry turned back to each other, finally registering Tommy’s presence, “Shit.”