#if not i'd be open to do any of the other options you gave as well ]
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starswritten · 2 years ago
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❝ i can't let that stop me from HELPING THE PEOPLE that need my help. and doing the good that i can do. ❞
@liveslost
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kaijutegu · 11 months ago
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So. Now that she's home and safe and gonna be ok, I can talk about this.
I almost lost Kaiju. Christmas Day. I was woken up by a phone call from Allison, who will be referred to a LOT in this story. Allison runs the pet store where I board Kaiju. She called to tell me that Kaiju had lost a LOT of blood. (As it turns out, half her blood volume. Humans die when we lose 40%, just so you know. She lost 50%.)
There were no visible injuries, and she had passed a bloody stool. Or rather, a blood clot with some poop in it. She continued to pass only blood when they put her in the bathtub to clean her up. If I'd taken her anywhere else, that... would have been it, probably.
But Allison is an actual miracle worker and knew an emergency vet who was open- on Christmas Day- and could see reptiles. As soon as she called me, she took her to the e vet, where they gave her fluids and oxygen and got her stable. They did some x rays and found... nothing.
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In fact, the e vet actually complimented me on her bone density and how nice her toe joints look. Whatever this mysterious haemorrhage was, it was in the soft tissue.
The immediate thoughts were:
Impaction
Cancer invading an artery
Aneurism
Reproductive issues
However, the emergency vet couldn't figure it out, and my vet was out of the country. The e vet consulted with a lot of vets and it was decided she'd go into Chicago Exotics for care the next day- they were willing to see her on immediate notice. Allison drove her over and they did an ultrasound... and couldn't differentiate the mass they found.
So, exploratory surgery it was.
But... she didn't have enough blood for that. She wouldn't have survived... if Allison hadn't found blood for her. Tegu donors were found, the transfusion happened, and was completely successful.
And what the surgery found was completely unexpected. No cancer. No repro issues. No typical impaction.
Instead? Weird white things in her muscles and a partial impaction that seems to be related to a reduction in her ability to properly digest. There are two possible diagnoses at this point. One is visceral gout. This is very strange because in reptiles, articular gout basically always happens first, and her kidneys are fine.
The other option? Weird, potentially cross species parasite she picked up when she was in the Everglades. Something she's likely had all her life, something that was dormant until recently.
I'll know when the pathology report comes back in a week or so.
Anyways! She is doing very well. She is alert and interested in things. She has an incredible appetite, even though she can't have solid food yet. She's on three meds, including one I have to inject. At her three week recheck, we will add a fourth- either the correct anti-parasitic or a medication to improve kidney function, depending on the diagnosis. Currently she's in a hospital cage and she hates it- she can't have any substrate because of the stitches.
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The vet says it should take about three months until she makes her full blood volume. Her pack cell count should be at 35%. It was at 7% on the 26th. But by the 28th, it was at 10%. She's gonna be ok. She's tough. My little girl is a fighter, always has been. You have to be scrappy to survive in the wild.
And throughout this entire experience, everybody has told me how lovely her personality is. Through the injections and cloacal probing and everything, she never bit or even tried to. The vet didn't think she even wanted to bite. Like it wasn't a question of wanting to bite and not being strong enough- it's just not something in her behavioural repertoire. She doesn't bite because she doesn't want to. Because even at her most scared, at her most painful, she's still Kaiju, the best tegu to ever live. Love is stored in the tegu, and it continues to be stored in the tegu. We have a long road ahead of us, but she's out of the woods and is going to be ok. We both are.
Also, consider this a MAJOR plug for Curious Creatures in Chicago. I'm never going to board my animals anywhere else.
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joeys-babe · 10 months ago
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Joey B Imagines: Maneater
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Summary: Joe meets the Bengals’ new female athletic trainer and finds her infatuating, but other guys on the team warn him of her and her reputation.
(Part one to - part 2, part 3)
Warnings: None
Pairing: Joe Burrow x *athletic trainer* reader
Imagine Universe: Misc.
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August 9, 2022
“Yo, do you know what this last-minute meeting is ‘bout?” - Ja’Marr
“There's a meeting?” - Joe
I was just sitting at my locker after practice when Ja’Marr came striding up to me.
“Something about a new trainer, I heard.” - Sam
“Oh yeah?” - Joe
“Heard its a female.” - Tee yelled from around the corner
“Why do all of you people eavesdrop?” - Joe shook his head with a laugh.
——
“Okay, settle down everyone!” - Zac
At once. the entire meeting room went silent at the sound of our head coach's voice.
The franchise owner, Mike Brown, was standing next to him, seemingly about to announce something of his own.
“Mike you can take it from here.” - Zac
The older man gave Zac a nod and stood closer to the middle of the floor.
“Thanks for all of you coming together at such short notice, but I'd like to introduce you to our newest hire. She's an astounding athletic trainer and is here to keep you guys healthy as well as get the injured healthy. y/n, would you please step out?” - Mike
The new athletic trainer, y/n, stepped out, and she was one of the most beautiful girls I'd ever laid eyes on.
“Woah.” - someone mumbled
“Hey guys, I'm super excited to be working with the Bengals this season! I grew up in Cincinnati as a Bengals fan, so this is a full-circle moment for me! I'll be in my office if you have any questions you'd like me to answer.” - you smiled
When everyone left the meeting room, there was a bustle in the locker room, with almost every player talking about y/n’s striking beauty.
Unlike everyone else, though, instead of talking about her, I went to her office to talk to her.
Firmly, I knocked on her office door.
“Come in!” - you
After taking a deep breath, I opened the door.
She sent a warm smile my way, and I sent one back.
“Hi, Mr. Burrow! Do you have a question, or is there anything I can help you with?” - you
“No, actually. I just wanted to welcome you to the organization.” - Joe
“Oh, thank you, Mr. Burrow.” - you smiled
“Just call me Joe.” - Joe smiled
“Will do.” - you grinned
Just as I was about to reply, Nick Cosgray, the director of rehabilitation, opened the door.
His eyes darted to me, then to y/n.
“Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting something?” - Nick
“No, I was just leaving.” - Joe
I stood up and reached to shake y/n’s hand.
“It was nice meeting you.” - Joe
“Vice-versa. I look forward to working with you in the near future.” - you
After nodding, I exited the office.
Ja’Marr was standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed while shaking his head.
“What?” - Joe
“You just flashed her with your blue eyes and charm, huh?” - Ja’Marr
“Maybe.” - Joe shrugged with a sly grin
——
August 10, 2022
I was getting lunch in the cafeteria today, scooting my tray around and picking through all of the healthy options.
One last banana, thank god.
As I reached for it, another hand brushed mine, and I pulled my hand back.
When I looked at the person next to me, my stomach fluttered when I saw it was y/n.
“Oh, shit, sorry. You can have it.” - Joe
“Nah, it's okay. I might have one in my car.” - you
“Ew, car banana in the summer? Absolutely not.” - Joe
She laughed and I couldn't help but grin at the way her nose scrunched up.
“I'm not taking a banana from QB1.” - you
“And I'm not taking a banana from the new girl, either.” - Joe
“How about we split it.” - you
“Great idea.” - Joe winked
y/n grabbed the banana and nodded her head to tell me to follow her.
In the corner of my eye, I could see Sam at our usual table, giving me a confused face as I walked in the opposite direction.
She sat her tray down on the table and unpeeled the banana, y/n broke it in half, and placed one piece on my tray.
“Pleasure doing business with ya.” - you
“You too. Are you gonna sit over here by yourself?” - Joe
“No, I'm going back to my office.” - you
“Oh okay. If you ever want to, you can come sit with me, Sam, and Trey.” - Joe
“Thank you for the offer. Have a good lunch, Joe.” - you
That was the first time she’d ever said my name, and it rolled off of her tongue perfectly.
“You too, y/n.” - Joe
She nodded with a smile and walked away. I watched her till she disappeared around the corner and then walked over to my table.
Sam and Trey were giving me weird looks when I sat down, along with Ja’Marr and Tee at the table beside us.
“What?” - Joe furrowed his brows
“The hell was that?” - Sam
“What are you talking about?” - Joe
“You don't share, especially not your fuckin’ food.” - Ja’Marr
Rolling my eyes, I tried to come up with a feasible excuse.
“We reached for it at the same time, only fair to split it.” - Joe
“Joe, dude, I know she's pretty, but have you heard about her?” - Sam
“Heard what?” - Joe
“She's been a trainer for like five other teams. Before she leaves the team, there's always this article saying she hooked up with a player. After she left the Niners, Nick confirmed that she got with the player she was rumored to get with. She's weird about it too, like explicitly telling the guy he’ll never be more than a one-night stand before getting with him. Usually, she's gone in the morning and has filed her two weeks' notice with the team.” - Sam
“What the fuck? Why do teams keep hiring her then?” - Joe
“She's good at what she does, athletic training-wise. But, really, dude, the woman's wild.” - Sam
“Watch out, boy, she’ll chew you up.” - Ja’Marr
“For real, she's a total maneater.” - Sam
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Authors note: This fic came from my very own brain! 😆
Hope you enjoyed! 💕
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mentally-a-slut · 7 months ago
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Can I request "The problem is, if I kissed you, I don't think I'd be able to stop." For Gale with female reader please?
Ahhhhh tysm for requesting! You are my first request! Since you didn't give any specifics about the time frame, I just assumed you wanted it to take place within the events of the game, but it didn't really matter anyway. The reader is left undescribed, though it is implied that she is shorter than Gale. I hope I did your request justice, and let me know what you think!
Prompt: "The problem is, if I kissed you, I don't think I'd be able to stop."
Rating: E
Warnings: I got carried away and made "spicy" into straight up smut... oops? oral (f!receiving), porn with very little plot, smut
Flirting with Gale was a dangerous game. The back and forth we had going on had been constant, never pausing. I loved bantering with him, but the consistent pull back was beginning to kill me.
Harmless flirts with friends are fun, but I had made it abundantly clear to the wizard that it was more than just friendly banter. And as far as I'm concerned, he's been returning that same energy. And yet, every time we get past the line of flirtatious remarks and balance on the edge of action, he would completely pull away. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was afraid of intimacy.
At first I thought he just didn't like me that way, only wanted to banter with nothing coming of it. But something in the way his eyes glittered when he looked at me told me my attraction was not one sided.
When I went to the others for advice, they gave me jack shit. Astarion thought it was hilarious that I was asking him for romantic advice. I had to threaten to cut off his blood supply just to get him to quite yelling about it. Karlach just told me to "fuck it out," whatever that means. Shadowheart just kind of stared at me blankly. I didn't even bother asking Lae'zel, because I value my life. Wyll had good intentions, but he ended up rambling on about proper courtship methods and respectfully, I couldn't care less.
I had exhausted all of my options, which left me with the one thing I had been avoiding: talk to Gale about it.
It was a cool night, a nice change from the overwhelming heat that had layered over our group the last few nights. The day had been uneventful for once, little more than a few ambushes along the roads and some cackling hyenas. The mood around camp was significantly light than usual, everyone content with the lack of carnage.
I didn't give myself much time to rethink my actions, deciding to force myself into the conversation before I could chicken out.
Gale sat in his tent, reading a book with the doors pinned open for anyone to enter. He always stayed awake later than the others, often waiting until everyone else had closed their tents for the night to follow suit. He thought nobody noticed, but it was one of the many things that made me gravitate towards him. He was so naturally protective, unknowingly watching out for everyone.
As always, I took a moment to admire him before he noticed my presence. He looked so calm, contently scanning the pages of the tome in his hands. His everlasting yearning for knowledge was something I couldn't help but admire. I watched as his fingers curled under the parchment of the book and gently flipped the page, hands calloused from years of magical studies.
Gods, his hands that were so veiny and strong, rough but gentle, perfect to glide across my skin and make me shiver with-
"To what do I owe the pleasure?"
I jumped at the sound of his voice, my thoughts that had previously consumed me dissipating. My face felt hot, blushing as if he was able to read my runaway thoughts. "Hi!"
I internally scolded myself for how not-smooth I was being. He carefully marked his place in the book before setting it aside, still seated in his chair as he looked up at me expectantly. His lips twitched into an amused smirk. Handsome bastard knows exactly what he does to me.
"Did you need something from me?"
I tilted my head at his question, blinking as my thoughts grew a mind of their own. I need you to kiss me until I can't breath. Touch me all over and make me shake with pleasure. I shook my head, gathering my thoughts before saying: "Just... wanted to talk to you about something."
He raised an eyebrow, an action that would have had me down on my knees if I had even just a tad bit less dignity. "Is it... a good something, or a bad something?"
My heart started racing in my chest, blood rushing in my ears. "Uhm... well, I suppose it depends. I think it's a good something, but, well, I can't speak for you..."
He stood from his seat, his movements quick but not aggressive. He always took care to control his actions, never making them seem offensive or startling. My eyes widened slightly when he reached behind me to unpin the tent flaps and let them fall closed, his frame slightly hovering over me for a moment as he did so.
His expression was open, concern and care written all over his face. "You can always talk to me. I'm here to listen."
Good gods I want to suck his dick until his brain explodes.
I cleared my throat and shifted nervously, looking up at him. "Right! So, I just... well, I was talking to the others about- actually that's not a good place to start, uhm..."
His amused smirk didn't go unnoticed. He had always liked when I got nervous, especially if he was the reason. "Take your time, darling."
Fucking Hells, he is trying to kill me.
I fought the urge to avert my gaze, forcing myself to keep eye contact. "Uhm, so, you know how we... well, obviously you know, but I mean- Fuck's sake, I mean to say, you know how we, like, flirt?"
His expression didn't falter, smirk growing into a knowing grin. He hummed an acknowledgement that sent vibration through my body, making my heart race even faster. His gaze flickered over my face, then quickly swept down my body, almost fast enough to miss.
"Well, I- Not that I don't like it, I love it! I- I mean, I don't want it to stop I just- Gods damnit, I just wanted to ask- shit... Why don't you just fucking kiss me already?!"
The silence that followed my stuttering words was overwhelming, blanketing over me and making me want to melt away into the earth to never be seen again. My embarrassment only worsened when I heard the slightest chuckle from the man in front of me. My heart dropped as every worst case scenario ran through my head.
He's going to laugh at me, tell me it was just for fun, that he would never want to be with me, he's going to make fun of me to everyone else-
"The problem is, if I kissed you, I don't think I would be able to stop."
I was suddenly aware of how hot it was in the close quarters of the canvas tent, and how Gale was only a few inches in front of me. I brought my eyes up to meet his, blinking rapidly as I tried to process what he just said. His stare held mine, a underlying air of vulnerability in his confession. With a shaky breath, I managed to utter out my response.
"Who said you had to stop?"
His lips crashed against mine within seconds of my hushed words, heated kiss melding our lips together. His hands, his gorgeous hands that I had spent weeks fantasizing about, were gripping my waist and pulling my body flush against his. My mouth moved in sync with his so naturally, so smoothly, that we could have been made for each other.
When I realized my hands were idle, I quickly remedied it and wrapped my arms around his neck. I didn't even notice I was tangling my fingers in his hair until I tugged lightly and was rewarded with a soft groan against my lips. The noise spurred me on, and I nipped at his lip lightly. Soon, our tongues were wildly clashing together, breathing heavy as involuntary sounds of pleasure were exchanged within the kiss.
I yelped when he suddenly lifted me off the ground, hands firmly gripping my ass as he held me. I held onto him, giggling into the kiss as he pressed against me. The stiffness of his arousal against my thigh was enough to make me shiver with anticipation, and he noticed.
He pulled away from my lips reluctantly, settling his forehead against mine. "As much as I want to do this," he glanced down at our positioning, my core level with his growing erection, "I want our first time to be something special."
I tried not to show my disappointment, silently nodding as I prepared myself to drop back onto the floor. As I loosened my thighs from his waist, I squeaked in surprise when his hands roughly squeezed my ass. "Ah ah, I didn't say I was doing to leave you wanting, did I?"
My cheeks reddened as I realized what he was implying. "Oh, Gale, you don't have to-"
"I want to. Trust me, I really, really want to."
His words were drawn out, almost a moan as he pleaded. His darkened eyes were practically begging. "I... If you're sure-"
He cut me off with a searing kiss, turning us around and laying me down on his bedroll. My whole body tingled with excitement as his body hovered over mine, lips desperately kissing down my neck. With the way he was panting as he nipped and kissed down my body, I could almost say he was more excited then me.
His stare was piercing as he looked up from my waist, silently asking for permission. I couldn't help but smile as his fingers grazed the waistband of my pants, impatiently fidgeting with the fabric. "Yes, please, Gale."
He all but tore them off, taking both my pants and underwear off in one go. His hot breath tickled my arousal, and I sighed as his hands lightly caressed the insides of my thighs. His touches were gentle, slow movements spreading open my legs and bearing my glistening entrance to him. I tilted my head up to look down at him, only to find his gaze transfixed between my legs. He practically whimpered his next words: "So fucking pretty for me."
I couldn't help but moan at his words, the heat of his breath ghosting over my clit. His eyes broke away for a moment to look at me, and he gave me a smile that made my heart swell before he dove in.
His beard rubbed against my thighs as his lips and tongue explored my cunt, the burn of his jaw emphasizing the blinding pleasure of his mouth. He moaned against me as he licked a long stripe along my folds, the teasing sensation sending a jolt of want through me. Before I could beg for more, his lips wrapped around my clit, sucking gently as he teased a finger at my entrance.
All coherent thought was left behind, all I could think about was Gale, Gale eating my pussy, moaning into me, rutting into the air as he pleasured me. "Fuck, Gale, please!"
He hummed against me, the vibration adding to the pleasure. He slipped a finger into my dripping hole, pulling his mouth away from my clit to look up at me. "Look at you, darling, so wet and ready for me."
I moaned as he pumped his finger, keeping eye contact with him. When he teased a second one, I couldn't stop my head from falling back with a moan. "Please!"
With a soft groan, he did as I asked. "As you wish."
The stretch of his second finger burned deliciously, his pace torturously slow. My walls pulsed around him, the softest parts of me jolting as he brushed against them. His thumb brushed against my clit as he quickened his pace. I reached out a shaky hand, tangling my fingers in his soft hair and tugging him forward.
He moaned at the tug, immediately replacing his thumb with his mouth. My back arched off the bedroll as he sucked harshly, his fingers brushing against all the right spots. He teased another finger, and my grip in his hair harshened. It must have encouraged him, because he soon plunged a third finger inside of me and relentlessly flicked his tongue over my clit as he finger fucked me.
My thighs began to constrict around him, orgasm fast approaching. He groaned against my cunt, gripping my thighs open and speeding up. "Fuck, I'm close!"
Another hum against me had my walls pulsating, orgasm crashing through me as he coaxed me down with his tongue sending overwhelming jolts of pleasure through me.
He gently removed his fingers, caressing my thigh as he swept his tongue through my folds, gathering my arousal. His gentle movements soothed me through the slight overstimulation as he cleaned me up with his tongue. My vision was unfocused, aftershocks still rolling through my body as he finally pulled away, slowly kissing up my body before planting a sweet kiss on my lips. I chased his kiss as he pulled back, and he chuckled as I pouted. "You did so well for me, love."
I whined at his words, desperately clawing him towards me and pulling him into a slow, sensual kiss. His clothed erection prodded my bare thigh, and he groaned when I shifted against it. "Don't tease me, darling."
I smiled up at him, tilting my head. "Is that a threat?"
He gave an amused hum against the skin of my neck, speaking between soft kisses. His words were teasing, yet heavy with intention.
"It's a promise."
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frvnkcastles · 3 months ago
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I'd love something where the reader used to work at The Beef from the bear show, bur had to move to NYC and met Frank, she ends up feeding him the best Beef this side of the east coast and he instantly falls in love, then she makes him the Family Spaghetti and he's like "I wanna fuckin marry her" internally? Fluff?
But the reader is very much cooking out of stress as that's how she feels she can i guess win people over to stick around?
(I was the cunt in school on wedges day where I'd shout every one in my group wedges since otherwise I think they wouldn't stick around me,I wasn't smart enough for them but I paid for food.
I still do this with my baking business)
HONEY, DON’T YOU LEAVE ➵ F. CASTLE
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Summary: You and Frank bond over your cooking, but you can’t shake the feeling that that’s all he wants from you.
Warnings: Hurt/comfort, language, feminine nicknames
Word count: 2k
Author’s note: Gahhhhh, I am so annoyed that I’m being so slow with requests but college is back in motion and it has NOT been a soft landing, I have been immediately flooded with things to do. On top of that I’ve just been really tired and unmotivated, but I’m trying my best to write at least a little every day! Anon, thank you so much for your patience. I don’t really do crossovers so it’s never specified where the reader worked before, but I hope you like it anyway! I’m sending you so much love <3
Frank fell in love with you quicker than he cared to admit. He had closed himself off from the possibility of finding someone new, not really interested in making connections of any kind, but you came and conquered his heart with immense ease.
It was complete luck, too. It wasn’t unusual for him to pay a visit to a diner for some food and coffee, but you definitely weren’t supposed to be there. You had a history of working in fairly successful restaurants, yet when you had moved to New York, you faced great difficulty with landing a job that you actually wanted. The places you thought were right on your level turned you down, but you needed money for rent, so you lowered your standards, and wound up working for a diner — the same one Frank stumbled into that night.
It had been mostly uneventful and quiet, and you were left alone with the responsibility of closing. There were no other customers except Frank, but he didn’t seem that open to conversation, so you stayed stationed behind the cash register.
And then, two armed men burst in, their faces concealed with ski masks as they held you at gunpoint. With shaky hands, you began to empty the register, but you didn’t have the time to hand over all the money when one of the guys was knocked out to the ground. You flinched, watching in shock and fear how your only customer beat up the other guy and wrangled the gun out of his hands only to whip him in the face with it. You didn’t know what to do, but it seemed he didn’t need your help — within a minute, both armed men were rushing out of the diner with their tails between their legs.
Stunned speechless, you stared at the tall, rugged man who remained. He caught his breath and then turned to you, his sharp features making you swallow. ”You okay, ma’am?” he grunted, his deep voice incredibly enchanting, and you managed a nod. He was about to turn and return to his seat but you found your voice and spoke up.
”Thank you. Let me make it up to you”, you uttered out, making him halt but the look he gave you was almost amused.
”You don’t owe me anythin’, ma’am”, he replied casually, but you weren’t budging.
”Well, I kinda do. Anyway, the food here is… not that great, so maybe you could let me cook for you? Um, we’re closed tomorrow so there’d be no one else here”, you explained, the words coming out of your mouth before your brain fully processed what you were promising him. You were really yearning to cook again, something other than eggs and bacon, and he had definitely earned it.
He eyed you up and down, weighing his options for a second before reluctantly nodding. ”Aight. If you insist”, he agreed, sparking a smile on your face as you nodded to confirm that you weren’t having it any other way. You told him what time to arrive, and as he returned to finish his sandwich, you couldn’t help but feel giddy.
The next day, you got to the diner early and started working on what you hoped would be a meal to remember. You were mostly excited, and at least cooking kept you busy, which meant you didn’t have the time to worry about being alone with the man. Although he had saved your life, it was hard not to be intimidated by him.
As soon as he arrived at the diner, though, he quickly proved to you that there was nothing to fear. He called you ma’am right up until you told him your name and insisted that there was no need to be formal, and when he introduced himself, he did it in a way that was undeniably charming — and polite. You had seen him around the diner enough to know that he wasn’t a chatty person, but as you brought out the food, he attempted to get to know you better and it made your heart race.
You maintained small-talk, but you couldn’t deny you were nervous to find out what he thought of the food. Once he dug in, though, his eyes immediately widened.
”Wow”, Frank blurted out, a little taken aback by the sheer deliciousness. ”Sweetheart, this is amazin’. Where’d you learn how to cook like this?” he inquired, far too curious to not ask.
With heat on your face, you smiled. ”Uh, well, cooking classes mostly. I used to work at a restaurant. Hopefully I will again some day soon. And a lot of practice at home, of course”, you explained, and nodding along your story, Frank divided his attention between the heavenly food and your equally enthralling voice.
”I bet you will. Your talents are wasted in this place”, he commented, making you chuckle softly.
He didn’t stop praising you throughout the meal, but he also asked follow-up questions, keen to learn everything about you. In return, he vaguely opened up about himself, though you could tell he was holding back a little.
That said, the time you spent in that diner over that meal was enough for him to get hooked on you. He kept stopping by for weeks until he finally got the nerve to ask you on a date, suggesting that you’d make dinner together. It hadn’t taken you long to start falling for him, either, so it was easy to agree to what you didn’t realize would bloom into a serious relationship.
Truthfully, you sort of skipped the casual phase. Frank could be an intense man when it came to relationships, even if he hadn’t really thought he would find himself in one. Nevertheless, he felt strongly about you early on, and your first date developed into constantly spending time at each other’s places and sharing a bed on most nights. He tried his best to impress you with his cooking, and while it certainly wasn’t awful, there was a lot you could teach him — and he received the help willingly, eager to listen to you and learn more about your number one passion.
The night that you cooked the spaghetti recipe that your family had followed for years, he was done for.
Maybe if he hadn’t been so captivated by you, and the food, he would have noticed the tension in your shoulders and the constant chewing on your bottom lip. You were quickly falling back into the bad habit of weighing your own worth based on your cooking, convinced that the moment you’d stop making all these elaborate meals for Frank, he would walk out on you. Your way with food was undoubtedly a perk of dating you, and right now, you were struggling to think of any other ones.
”I hope you like it”, you smiled nervously as you handed over the plate of spaghetti to Frank. He gave you an affectionate look and thanked you before giving the food a go, and in an instant, his heart soared.
The food was amazing, but so were you. You had so much talent in you, and when Frank looked up from the plate and met your gaze, he felt so much love in his heart. He admired you and everything you did, finding you so utterly beautiful and amazing and… God, he wanted to marry you.
He had to fight the urge to just announce it there and then, giving you a small smile. ”I’m speechless, sweetheart. You outdo yourself every time. I’m one lucky asshole”, he declared proudly, making you smile but you couldn’t hide the anxiety in your eyes. Would he consider himself lucky if you didn’t cook for him tomorrow?
He noticed the hesitation on your face, though. ”Hey, darlin’. Somethin’ wrong?” he asked with worry evident in his voice, and you rushed to wave it off.
”I’m okay. I’m glad you like it, baby”, you promised, reaching across the table to squeeze his hand.
Only a week later, the issue resurfaced. You came down with the flu and you were rendered useless for a couple of days, giving you a great deal of stress. Frank was all over you, providing you with medication as well as something to drink and eat — and he was not letting you do a thing by yourself. You were his patient to care for and any attempt to get up from the couch was shot down within seconds.
Once his attention faltered from you and he disappeared in the bedroom to find you a cozy sweater, you made your way to the kitchen. Sniffling and aching all over, you began taking out pots and ingredients, and the noise immediately alerted Frank.
”Nah, nah, sweetheart, what’d I tell ya? You ain’t doin’ a thing except rest tonight. You’re sick and you need to just lay down, aight?” he reminded with a firm tone, his hands coming to cover yours in an attempt to stop you.
Reluctantly, you admitted defeat but it didn’t take long for the frustrated, anxious tears to fill your eyes. Frank’s stern expression fell and he tilted his head down at you, concern taking over.
”Hey, hey, hey. I know it sucks but you need to listen to your body right now”, he sighed, trying to understand what was making you cry. You covered your face with one hand as the tears streamed down your cheeks, and with his heart breaking, Frank hauled you into his arms, shushing you softly while wrapping you in a tight embrace.
”I just don’t want you to leave me”, you admitted faintly, and right away, Frank’s eyebrows knitted together and he pulled back to give you a confused look.
”Sweetheart, I ain’t goin’ anywhere. Why would you say that?” he frowned, genuinely surprised by your confession.
With a sniffle, you shrugged. ”You love my cooking. And I guess it’s the main reason you’re with me. So, if I stop cooking… why would you stay?” you explained the logic that you had built inside your own head. But Frank didn’t agree with you, and the fond chuckle that he huffed at you was enough to imply as much.
”Baby, I do love your cooking, but it definitely ain’t the main reason I’m with you. I love you, hear me? I’m with you ’cause you’re so fuckin’ kind and understanding and real supportive. And you make me so goddamn happy. I’d still be just as in love if you stopped cooking for good, yeah? It’s great but it ain’t why I adore you so much”, he countered while lifting one hand up to your jaw and tipping it so you could meet his eye. He looked completely serious, and you really wanted to believe him.
”You mean that?” you asked carefully, and he wasted no time in nodding to confirm.
”I fuckin’ mean it. I, uh… I kinda wanna spend the rest of my life with ya”, he cleared his throat, and astonished to hear that, your eyes flew wide open and a wide smile curled your lips up high.
”Frankie… I want that, too”, you breathed out, earning a tender look from him. He leaned down to kiss your forehead, the soft feeling of his lips making your heart do somersaults.
”Hey, I’mma take over the cookin’ responsibilities this week. You just get cozy on the couch and I’ll whip somethin’ up for us, yeah?” he decided, and you shot him a teasing grin.
”Sure you can handle it?” you wondered, taunting him, and he responded with a mixture of a laugh and a scoff.
”My girl’s a comedian now, huh? Get outta here”, he grumbled, gently patting your ass to encourage you towards the couch.
He may not have been as good of a cook as you were, but he made an effort and stayed true to his promise, not letting you anywhere the kitchen until you were feeling much better. And even then, he insisted on helping or occasionally being in charge, just to show you that you were a team and you didn’t owe him anything.
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alessiathepirate · 1 year ago
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Resident Evil 4
CLUELESS: Leon S. Kennedy x fem!reader
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Summary: Five times they were sure they weren't dating and one time they weren't. OR: Luis, Ashley, Ada and Krauser having enough of how oblivious and clueless they are about their feelings.
Notes: English isn't my first language. I apologize for any mistake I made while I wrote this short story.
Warnings: swearing, violence, my Spanish (if I used something in the wrong context please feel free to tell me so I can improve), Luis being the number one fanboy and Ashley being best girl
•••
Prince Charming and his señorita
"Tell me señorita, are you and Prince Charming a thing?"
She looked up at Luis with furrowed eyebrows, her face full of confusion. She examined his gestures and the way the muscles around his mouth moved, forming a small, knowing smirk.
"Why? You want to take me out on a date or something?" she asked, quickly falling for the assumption that all Luis wants is to know if she's single so he can continue his flirting, hoping the one liners will magically work.
But then again, she thought, he'd still do it without remorse.
So what does he really want with that question?
"I'd love to cariño, but not with a señorita who's already taken."
"I'm not. Do whatever you want with that information."
She turned away from him, continuing her search through the small villa in hopes of some extra ammunition. She opened a drawer, but found nothing other than some old photos.
"I don't believe you, cariño." Luis said, suddenly breaking the silence.
She slammed the drawer shut in frustration and looked at him, trying to keep her cool and not get annoyed at his antics. She took a deep breath to calm herself down.
She should've gotten used to his teasing by now, but it was impossible to do so. He always found something to talk about, question her about and annoy her about. And now that she was afraid her partner and the president's daughter got hurt in some way after they got seperated, Luis's teasing just crossed a line.
"Look, 'cariño', I don't know why you have to annoy me with literally everything all the time, but I'd appreciate it if you stopped." she pleaded slowly, hoping he'll just stop.
"Oh, there's nothing to feel ashamed of, mi vida. Love is a beautiful and natural thing." he continued on, as he leaned against the wall, looking at her with pure naught. "Besides, I'm sure our Yanqui feels the same way... Deep in love, you know, I'm sure it sounds familiar."
She turned away, this time to hide the slight blush that appeared on her face. Thinking about Leon like that made her stomach feel like it's doing acrobatics.
"No one looks at another person like that without being in love. And our Leon looks at you like tu eres todo su mundo."
She turned to look at him quickly, wanting to ask what he meant when he said that - and when Luis noticed her pink cheeks he just smirked.
"Aw, look at that blush! You for sure look you're not in love cariño."
"Shut up!"
"Really? You want me to? How will you let him know your feelings without my advice, ey?"
"Like I'd take your advice."
"I'm not saying you have to," Luis started to explain himself. "I'm just saying I'm your best option."
She just rolled her eyes shamelessly, but Luis didn't seem to care.
"Now- with a boy like our Leon, the best thing you can do in your situation is to make him j-"
She'll never know what he really wanted to say, because in the next second loud noises were coming from outside and both of them ran to the nearest window to figure out what was going on. The moment she realized Leon and Ashley were running towards their hideout as hoards of Spanish undead were chasing them and shouting at them, she ran towards the door, opening it without thinking twice.
"This way!" she shouted.
Ashley was the first to arrive and she gave her a short hug as she waited for Leon to get inside. When they were finally able to close the door behind themselves, she felt two strong arms quickly wrapping themselves around her shoulders and waist, and the next thing she knew she was hugging Leon like there was no tomorrow.
"Are you okay?"
"Of course I am."
"You sure?"
And even if in the next moment Luis was stuck between the wall and a very upset Leon Kennedy, he still sent a smirk her way, as if he'd say: "Sure, princesa, you two are just business partners with heart shaped eyes."
•••
The way they act around each other
"Can I ask you something?" Ashley asked as she was sitting on top of a barrel, dangling her feet as she watched Leon at the shooting range.
"Of course."
"This may sound a little weird, but- are you and Leon dating?"
She turned to look at Ashley as if she just grew another head - what in their situation was quite likely to happen.
"Excuse me?"
"Are you in a relationship with him?" Ashley asked again, examining the ways her expression changed as she waited for an answer.
"I understood what you meant the first time, it's just- what makes you think that?"
"The way you act around each other." Ashley started to explain as she looked back at Leon, who shot a cutout of a pirate in the head. "He always makes sure you're okay and you always check if he has any new bruises."
She leaned against the barrel Ashley was sitting on as she looked at the man they were talking about as well. She watched as his muscles tensed up a bit everytime he pulled the trigger, she watched as he bit his lip in concentration when the target was further away and she watched as his eyes followed the bullet's movement. She bit her lip as her heartbeat got quicker at both the sight and thought - the thought that every single person in Spain seems to think they are dating.
"I care about him."
"That's all?"
"That's all."
"He seems like a great guy."
"He is a great guy." she said, knowing she's saying the truth. Whoever Leon'll date in the future - that girl will for sure be a lucky girl.
She couldn't help but giggle as Leon turned towards them with a satisfied little smile, being proud of himself that he just beat his own highscore.
"Do you think you can beat me?"
"Oh, it's on!" she smirked, accepting the challenge.
She ran up to the shooting range, leaving a confused, but happy Ashley behind. She could literally feel her gaze on them and she could heard her thoughts saying: "They are really cute!" - she shook her head, getting those thoughts out of her head. She needs to focus if she wants to win.
"Handgun?"
"Handgun."
Leon smiled as he put his hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeez, causing her to almost choke on her own saliva.
"Let's see what you can do."
As she rose her gun she could hear Ashley saying "Leon, can I ask you about something?". She missed the first shot when Ashley asked "Are you two dating?", because her heart skipped a beat and beacuse she had to force herself not to look at Leon's expression.
•••
She should keep her boyfriend on a leash
"You should keep your boyfriend on a leash." she immediatelly stopped what she was doing when she heard the very familiar voice of Ada Wong, the woman who was there the night her life became horrific. "He likes to get himself in trouble."
"He's not my boyfriend." she said her voice becoming higher from the annoyance. "And I'm sure he can make his own decisions."
"He clearly can't if you're still not together." she heard the noises of high heels meeting with the wooden floor from behind her and she was sure Ada was walking towards her.
"Where are they?"
" 'They?' " Ada asked and she hated how her voice was full of pride, meaning she knows more than she does. "They got separeted half an hour ago, so now Leon is looking for the both of you."
She turned around, looking at Ada's features hoping they'll give her an explanation to what's going on. But she couldn't read anything off of her face, it was stone cold with a bit of teasing naught.
"So what, you gave Leon a surprise visit as well?"
"No need to get jealous, he didn't give me the welcome I expected."
"What can you expect in a situation like ours?"
She didn't get an answer to her question.
"Leave the girl and get out of here as soon as you can. So maybe you two can finally go on a date." she almost shouted out in frustration, but stopped herself from doing so just in time. "But please, be brave enough to make the first move, because he won't."
For the first time since forever she became speechless and didn't even think about shooting Ada in the leg when she climbed out of the window.
•••
La misión
She almost punched Luis in the face when he touched her shoulder, scaring her and causing her well trained reflexes to react. She stopped just in time, missing his cheekbone by a thread.
"Jesus Christ!"
"Just Luis, mi amor."
"Do you want to die or something?" she asked, not knowing if she meant it as a threat or as a free life lesson.
"Not really, cariño." he answered as she let go of him and took a few steps backwards. "Now tell me, how is la misión going?"
"What mission? Ashley is fine with Leon-"
"I meant our mission, princesa, how are things going with Leon?"
"Oh my God, why do you hate me so much?" she whispered the poetic question as she hid her face in her palms.
"Any success with the confession yet?"
"Can we just stop talking about my love life?"
"Not really, cariño, since we only share this mission together. After that you're on your own."
She chose not to answer and decided to take a look at her surroundings. The other door was locked, she checked it just before Luis arrived, so she had to find another way around the castle if she wanted to reunite with Ashley and Leon. God, she really hoped they are okay, there are some strong enemies around here.
Five seconds. She left Luis unsupervised for five seconds while she walked up to a window deep in thoughts, and Luis has already gotten bored. And in his boredom he decided to give Leon a call.
"Luis, where are you?" she could hear Leon's slightly annoyed voice through the trasmitter.
"Sorry I, uh, I screwed up." he started in a quite serious tone, but then glanced at her and smiled. "Come to our rescue Prince Charming!"
"I'll show you charming!" she almost laughed at his anger. "Wait, what do you mean 'our'?"
Luis turned the transmitter towards her, so Leon could get a clear view of her standing in front of the window. She just furrowed her eyebrows, having enough of both Luis and the situation.
Leon looked both frustrated and confused as he looked at her. She sent a smile his way.
"I met up with your señorita, Sancho. We might as well continue our adventure together, sí?" he turned the machine away from her. "Meet us in the Ballroom and don't be late! Or I'll be the one asking her for a dance! Nos vemos!"
As she looked at the man acting like a child, the only thought she had was: "I should've punched him straight in the jaw."
•••
The rookie kept his girl scout around
"I see you kept your girlfriend around, rookie."
That was the last fucking straw. The last fucking person she wanted to hear that sentence from. If Leon doesn't grab her hand, she would've shot Krauser in the face - and it's not like she's stupid. She knows it wouldn't kill him, but she'd enjoy the feeling of looking at the damaged muscles on his face.
Luis should be the one teasing them. He should be the one walking with them, telling them every five seconds how cute they are and how beautiful amor is. Not that asshole...
She wanted to shout at him, scream at him in anger and sadness, but Leon's grip on her stopped her in that as well. She looked at his face, questioning why he's holding her back when Krauser killed Luis in cold blood for absolutely nothing...
"Don't let him get in your head..." was all he said, as he kept a firm hold on her and they started to walk among the ruins.
"Oh, you're worried about the girl, is that it?" Krauser asked as he played with the knife in his hands. "No, I don't think that's it. I think you're worried about another girl, am I right? You're worried about your girlfriend even though she went through the same training as you. But that's just like you. You always had poor judgment."
She saw how Leon's jaw tightened and it was her turn to keep a firm hold on him, not letting him fall apart.
"But if you think I'm gonna let you out of here alive... you're even more naive than I thought." she was pushed to Leon's other side, further away from Krauser. "You can't save her. You can't save anyone."
She could feel the tension in his body grow and in a last hopeful chance to calm him down she said: "Come on, Leon. 'Don't let him get in your head.' "
"Or do you think you can save the girl scout?" for a short second their gaze met and she wished she could spit at him from this distance. "We both know she wasn't the best in hand-to-hand combat."
"Give it up, Krauser!" Leon acted on his anger so suddenly, that her heartbeat quickened from the sudden fear. "Being a lackey for these maniacs won't bring your men back. And what the Hell for? Revenge on the goverment? You think they would want that?"
She could feel the cold running through her back, the feeling of close danger sharpened her senses. She kept her gaze on Krauser, not daring to blink, afraid that she'll miss the first attack.
"Revenge? You think I'm doing all this for revenge?"
"Isn't that what this is all about?"
She stopped listening to what Krauser was saying and rather focused on his body language. She saw how with every word he says out loud his shoulders become more tense. Some kind of slight anger was about to overtake him.
So what? Let it. She's always liked to fight him when he was pissed off, because then he made more mistakes.
"You know," she started. "you were always an asshole. At least you were a honored one in the past... now, you're simply just an asshole."
She felt Leon's body tense up at her words and she realized he's afraid Krauser will hurt her.
"Enough reminiscing!" this time he couldn't hide his frustration. "Move out and draw fire, soldier!"
She reacted quickly, pulling Leon behind a broken column long before Krauser started to fire. As she sat there, she pulled out her handgun and then put her knife in her shoe. Knowing their ex-major, she'll need that more, but it's better to use that as a surprise.
"Next time, try not to piss him off."
She turned to Leon with a half smile. "What? You think only you can do that, rookie?"
"Stop it!"
"Come on!" she teased with a small smirk. "I know you love it when that name is coming from me."
Leon couldn't hide how his mouth wanted to form a smile. "I let you call me that. Now let's go and kick his ass!"
"Oh, I feel honored!" she said as she got to her knees and shot her first bullet from behind the column.
•••
Fear makes your heart feel full
She felt like her heart stopped beating for a few moments when Leon fell to the ground and it didn't take more than half a second for her to join him on the floor. She landed on her knees as she pressed one of her hands to her chest tightly, still feeling the pain the machine caused as it removed the plaga. The fear that flooded her mind made her numb, her breathing became heavy as she looked up at Ashley and asked her to help her get him up in the medical chair, so they can get the plaga out of him as well.
And now as she sat next to him, holding his hand as she waited for him to wake up she felt like nothing else matters. She won't take a single fucking step without him.
"He'll be fine. I'm sure of it." Ashley said who has found a chair close to them.
"I know." she muttered and she had to swallow, because her mouth felt dry. "I know he will, I'm just- worried about him."
She examined his features, looked him up and down to make sure he's okay - and when she realized he seems calm and relaxed, she felt like she can breath again. Only moments ago he was in pain. She could see it on his face, the way the muscles around his eyes and nose moved... But not anymore. Now he seems to feel better. His cheeks aren't red and the black veins disappeared as well.
"Ashley?"
"Yes?"
"When- when you thought we were dating... You spoke about this, didn't you? How we take care of each other..." she felt her heartbeat quicken as she muttered the last few words.
"Yes, this is what I was talking about."
She looked at Leon again, feeling the pure need to hug him and keep him close so she could feel the heat radiating off of him and feel the way his body is moving with every small breath.
"I don't think I'd be able to feel like this about anyone else... Not even in a relationship."
She could see the soft smile on Ashley's face and for a moment she saw the both of them in a café back in the USA, talking and laughing about nothing at all.
"He's not just a friend, is he?"
"I don't know. Luis said he looks at me like 'tu eres todo su mundo'. Like 'you're his whole world'."
"I can see what he meant by that." for a moment the atmosphere became sad - Luis was still a new loss and a fresh wound, and with that a still present regret. She should've been more playful instead of being an asshole. "That's how you look at Leon everytime we're at the shooting range."
"He looks good at the shooting range." she said without thinking, feeling her cheeks become red soon after.
"You know, it's hard to find a normal guy these days. I'm happy you found each other."
"So you don't have a nice guy in a suit waiting for you at home?" she asked teasingly.
"No. Not really."
"Well I'm sure we can say that after this messed up adventure you won't need one. You'll look after yourself just fine and you'll have time to find that nice guy." she smiled at Ashley who felt more like a friend by now than the president's daughter.
In the next second Leon's hand moved in her hold and she almost fell off the chair. She stood up instead of staying there and she tightened her hold on him.
"Jesus Christ, Leon!" she spoke up, her voice full of both worry and happiness as she looked down at him. "You pull an act like that again and you'll burry me the next time you wake up."
He opened his eyes, the blue irises full of confusion as he looked up at her while he tried to get used to the light.
"The plaga..."
"We removed it." she said, not letting him finish his sentence. "There's no need to worry about that anymore."
She noticed that Ashley walked further away from them, giving them some privacy even if there wasn't another room to go to. Then her gaze was back on Leon again as she slowly let go of his hand.
"You removed it?"
"Yeah, we did." she smiled at him, feeling like her heart is full - full of so many emotions she doesn't know what to feel. "God, I was so worried about you."
"It's fine, I'm fine. Thanks to you."
They smiled at the other with one of those small, shy smiles what paints everyones cheeks pink.
"Can you stand up?"
"Sure, don't worry about that."
But he couldn't stand up. His legs gave up halfway and if she's not there he would've landed on the ground again.
"Careful. You have to take care of yourself." she scolded him as she helped him up, but didn't take a step away from him even when he was standing with a straight back. She craved the closeness more than anything.
"I'm not the priority here."
"Of course you are! To me you fucking are!" the frustration and worry spoke from her without regret and now that she said that out loud, her breathing became heavy.
"Good to know we feel the same about each other."
They didn't speak for a moment and she couldn't do so even if she tried to, because Leon's right hand gently touched her right cheek; his thumb brushing along the angry red cut she got from Krauser's knife.
"Does it still hurt?"
"It never did."
"Such a liar." Leon laughed as he let go of her face.
"But you love me like that."
"Damn right I do."
For a few seconds she forgot how to breath and her chest started to ache, ache from all the bottled up emotions and the realization that he said that out loud. He said that out loud. Her eyes started to sting - God, she's such a weak girl, just like Krauser said in the past; crying over the things she shouldn't cry over...
"You do? You-" she took a deep breath before she continued. "You love me?"
The silence set in again, neither of them daring to speak up. She noticed how Leon shied away from her gaze and how her own heartbeat became dangerously fast.
"Of course he does!" Ashley's voice came so suddenly that she flinched, getting closer to her partner, because she forgot Ashley was still in the room with them. "And if he doesn't take you out on a date when we get back home..."
No one said anything else about that. Leon just pressed a kiss to her forehead, almost giving her a heart attack whille he did so.
"Let's get out of here, yeah? So we can go out on a date..."
She didn't miss Ashley's quiet 'Finally' after they parted. She couldn't miss it even if she tried to.
As they got ready to leave, she noticed that her heart feels full. Full of love, love to give and accept. After all, love is a beautiful and natural thing and she for sure won't be afraid to look at Leon like he's her mundo entero. Not anymore.
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bloomingdayswithyou · 5 months ago
Note
I'll throw a request your way. How about a embarassed Gladion asking his bf to mend his clothes after type null training.
Stitches of Love
Pairing: Gladion x m!reader
Words:
Warnings: maybe a bit ooc, and just cute fluff<3
A/N: so... it's really been a while🧍🏻‍♀️ actually sorry for that :(( hopefully I'm back but I'll post slower than before! At least until I finish with all the requests
Also I was thinking of changing my writing style a bit, so I tried with this one!! Hope it's good enough :)
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The Alolan sun was setting, painting the sky in vibrant hues of orange and pink. m/n was lounging on the couch in their shared apartment, scrolling through his phone when he heard the familiar sound of the front door opening.
"I'm back," Gladion's voice called out, sounding a bit more hesitant than usual.
m/n looked up, a smile already forming on his face. "Welcome home! How was training with-" His words trailed off as he took in the sight of his boyfriend.
Gladion stood in the doorway, his cheeks flushed a deep red that had nothing to do with the warm Alolan weather. His usual black outfit was in tatters, with several large tears across his jacket and pants. His blonde hair was disheveled, sticking up in even more directions than usual.
"What happened?" m/n asked, jumping to his feet in concern.
Gladion averted his gaze, his blush deepening. "Type: Null got a bit... overenthusiastic during training today."
m/n crossed the room, reaching out to inspect the damage. Gladion flinched slightly but didn't pull away as m/n's fingers grazed the torn fabric of his jacket.
"Are you hurt?" m/n asked, his eyes scanning for any signs of injury.
Gladion shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Type: Null would never actually harm me. It's just..." He gestured vaguely at his tattered clothes, his embarrassment palpable.
m/n couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Well, I'm glad you're okay. But your outfit has definitely seen better days."
Gladion groaned, running a hand through his messy hair. "I know. It's ridiculous. I should be able to control my own Pokémon better than this."
m/n placed a comforting hand on his arm. "Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. Type: Null is a powerful and unique Pokémon. It's natural for training to be challenging sometimes."
Gladion gave him a small, grateful smile, but m/n could still see the frustration in his green eyes.
"Thanks," Gladion murmured. Then, hesitantly, he added, "I, uh... I was wondering if you could help me with something."
m/n raised an eyebrow, intrigued. It wasn't often that Gladion asked for help. "Of course. What do you need?"
Gladion fidgeted with the hem of his torn jacket, avoiding m/n's gaze. "I was hoping... maybe you could help me mend these clothes? I know it's a lot to ask, but I don't really have any other options right now, and I can't exactly go out like this..."
m/n's heart swelled with affection. Gladion, always so independent and proud, was asking for his help. He knew how much it must have cost him to do so.
"I'd be happy to help," m/n said warmly. "Why don't you go take a shower and relax? I'll see what I can do with your clothes."
Relief washed over Gladion's face. "Thank you," he said softly, leaning in to press a quick kiss to m/n's cheek before disappearing into the bathroom.
As the sound of running water filled the apartment, m/n gathered his sewing supplies and set to work. The damage was extensive, but not irreparable. He carefully stitched up the tears, his fingers moving deftly as he thought about his boyfriend.
Gladion had come so far since they first met. Back then, he had been closed off, wary of forming any connections. But slowly, patiently, m/n had earned his trust. He had seen the kind, passionate person beneath Gladion's tough exterior. And now, here they were, sharing a life together.
The bathroom door opened, and Gladion emerged, a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was damp, falling softly around his face without its usual styling. m/n couldn't help but admire the lean muscles of Gladion's chest and arms, a testament to his dedication to training.
"How's it going?" Gladion asked, peering over (m/n)'s shoulder at his handiwork.
"Almost done," m/n replied, tying off the last stitch. "They won't be perfect, but they should hold up until we can get you some new clothes."
Gladion took the mended outfit, examining m/n's work with a critical eye. "This is... really good," he said, sounding impressed. "Where did you learn to sew like this?"
m/n shrugged, a bit embarrassed by the praise. "Just picked it up here and there. It comes in handy sometimes."
Gladion slipped on the repaired clothes, adjusting them slightly. They fit well, the stitches barely noticeable unless you knew where to look.
"Thank you," he said again, his voice soft and sincere. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
m/n stood up, wrapping his arms around Gladion's waist. "Probably walk around in tattered clothes," he teased gently.
Gladion laughed, a rare, unguarded sound that never failed to make m/n's heart skip a beat. "Probably," he agreed, pulling m/n closer.
m/n leaned into Gladion's embrace, breathing in the clean scent of his shower gel mixed with something that was uniquely Gladion. "You know," he murmured, "you don't have to be embarrassed about asking for help. Not with me."
Gladion was quiet for a moment, his arms tightening around m/n. "I know," he said finally. "It's just... not easy for me. But I'm trying."
m/n pulled back slightly to meet Gladion's gaze, seeing the vulnerability in those green eyes that he rarely allowed anyone to see. "That's all I ask," m/n said, reaching up to brush a strand of damp hair from Gladion's forehead. "I love you, Gladion. All of you – the strong trainer, the dedicated brother, and yes, even the guy who sometimes needs help mending his clothes after a tough training session."
A smile tugged at the corners of Gladion's mouth, soft and genuine. "I love you too," he whispered, leaning in to capture m/n's lips in a tender kiss.
As m/n melted into the kiss, he knew that no matter what challenges came their way – be it difficult Pokémon training or torn clothes – he and Gladion would face them together. And really, that was all that mattered.
.
.
.
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bloogers-boogers · 1 year ago
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I was thinking of an au where Craig calls Cartman for help during a really bad breakup with Tweek. He asks him to help him get Tweek back and Cartman couldn't find himself to say no (+plus something for exchange) so he ends up suggesting something very basic as making Tweek jealous. Initially, Cartman thought he had everthing calculated until both him and Craig figure out that the both "boyfriend" candidates weren't willing to do the job not even for cash.
So they were left with no more options. However while Cartman was thinking for another solution Craig suggests him to be his boyfriend which leaves Cartman both in shocked and in a panic.
"Dude I'm not dating you! What makes you think I'd do that? I would not hear the end of this with my friends!"
"It's just for the month or until Tweek snaps! Stop being such an asshole. I'm also putting my reputation at point by dating you."
So after a bunch of talking (negotiating) Cartman ends up agreeing to do this. Monday hits and they start settling the plan by snooping around and making Clyde their primary target, making him suspicious and eventually discovering the two snuggling behind some bushes.
And lord an behold, next day everyone had their eyes on them. Whispering, gossiping, giving them the eyes, some looked concerned. But most importantly, they succeeded for the rumor to spread of their so called "secret" relationship.
Some of the girls whispered about feeling bad for Tweek as he entered and walked furious through the hallway.
Tweek eventually find Stan and Kyle, and straight up goes twoards them.
"Is it true?"
"Hey, Tweek. What's up?" Stan asks, clearly aware of the issue but was too awkward to add anything more.
"Is it true?" Tweek repeatedly said more sternly.
"Dude, be smart. It's probably some scheme Cartman is doing," Kyle spoke after brief seconds, "I just can't point out what he'd gain from this..." he added lastly before his eyes darted away from Tweek's, seemingly in thought.
"I figured. My Craig would never go that low".
And after that last thing said the devil was summoned. And Cartman had approached the three with a 'innocent' smile.
"Hey, broships.
Tweek." He seethed out the blonds name. Already taking note of the other's furious appearance.
Seconds after Tweek grabs him from his coat and slams him harshly against the lockers; startling everyone there and ofcourse Cartman. Who cursed out loud because of the impact on his back.
It was quite a sight for the students that they started forming a circle around them.
"WHY ARE YOU SPREADING FALSE RUMORS OF YOU AND CRAIG BEING A COUPLE?!"
"They're not false, Tweek." A nonchalant but familiar voice chimes in making the blond gasp silently as he kept his eyes still on the brunette. "We're dating.
Are you okay, Eric?"
The other students gasped, Stan and Kyle were left speechless. Mostly Kyle who watched in disbelief at Craig and then looked at Cartman for any left affirmation of this but the brunette was too focus on getting loose from Tweeks grip to even notice.
"Do I look okay?! Get this bitch off me!!" Cartman screamed annoyed as Tweek let go.
He gave one look at Craig before marching to class without a word said leaving everyone else watching. Again, except for Kyle who still remained looking at Cartman with a open mouth and a shocked expression.
The bell rang and this was Craig's signal to grab Cartman's hand and drag him away from the others. As the students disperse different ways and head to their respective classrooms.
At class Craig was second doubting about the whole thing, a little anxious and wondering if Tweek would ever forgive him after he tells him this is all some set up to get back with him. But what's done is done, and he has to follow through with it.
Eventually lunch time came along and he and Cartman sat in a table apart from others they use this as an opportunity to talk about their situation and the responses of their peers; mostly close friends and ofcourse Tweek's.
Craig was pleased to hear that Cartman was told by Kenny about how Tweek started questioning further about them during forth period mostly interrogating Stan and Kyle as if he suspected them to know more considering they're close friends with Cartman. However they had nothing and Kyle was skeptical and still unsure about the whole relationship thing aswell.
Speaking of Kyle, he waited at last period outside Craig's classroom and the moment he had come out from class Kyle yanked his arm and dragged him away from the crowd of students, not leaving him to process anything of what was going on.
Craig looked at him confused as the redhead checked that no one was around before speaking up.
"What did Cartman get you into? Is he blackmailing you? Is he forcing you to do this?" Kyle began rambling about Cartman typical ways and that he'd understood if he were being blackmailed by Cartman and that he could help him get out from it if he told him the truth.
All of this talking was beginning to overwhelm Craig and he didn't know why it surprised him that Kyle would come his way just to prevent something involving Cartman when both of them are obsessed in some way with each other. It isn't new to him neither to the rest of the school or town.
"Dude, shut up already. I'm not being manipulated, blackmail neither 'threatened' by Cartman," he hold back as he made sure to sound and look convincing to Kyle.
Kyle on the other hand was giving him these strong vibes, Craig just couldn't tell what it was but his stare was intensely focused on him and he was feeling uncomfortable. Normally he doesn't usually speak with any of these assholes aside from Kenny's and sometimes Cartman so he figured that must've been it. The abruptness of the whole thing and who it was.
"I really like Eric," he frowned with uncertainty, it feels so wrong to say that when he was thinking of Tweek. But he must sound believable.
Kyle frowned disappointed with the answer and began looking at him from feet to head as if he was trying so hard to find something on him.
And a couple of minutes an another ramble about not trusting Cartman blah blah blah, the redhead finished off with giving him a warning and to be cautious. Also call him if anything, which Craig just sighed annoyed once he was out of sight.
"Dude, I just got a 10 hr lecture from Kyle," he spat annoyed as he entered the other's home.
They had agree on coming to Cartman's house every day after school to discuss their progress. However Craig was annoyingly frustrated because their plan never had a added bonus of having to deal with some paranoid motherfucker.
Cartman was in his couch writing down who knows what in some notebook.
"Yeah, that's normal. Just ignore him everytime he tries to approach you with something," Cartman just answers so casually and unfazed by it as he continued writing in the notebook.
"So what, I'll just have to deal with that? The hell, fatboy? How do I get him to leave me alone!"
Cartman just laughed, "He won't leave you alone, you'll just have to deal with him until all of this ends."
"I don't want to deal with him! I only want to be focused on Tweek not worry for my next 10 hr lecture."
"Yeah, well. What do you want me to say? Kyle has always been like that ever since I dated Heidi. Get over it and ignore him, cause he'll do anything to keep anyone from getting close to me. Something about it never ending healthy, me being unworthy, heartless all that shit that's link to being a monster or whatever," Cartman finally put his pencil aside and passed him the notebook. Gesturing for he to read it.
Craig didn't until he was given some answer to get Kyle to leave him alone.
"Don't you think that's a little excessive even for you? Like, yeah you're and asshole and shit, no one really SHOULD get with you but that isn't really his business or no one else's but yours."
Cartman paused as he looked around seemingly in thought before shrugging. "Can't stop the ginger."
Craig frowned and got tired of insisting, dropping the whole subject taking account that Cartman didn't seem bothered by it or remotely interested of preventing Kyle from getting involved.
He looked at the notebook in hand and Cartman explained to him that they were instructions of how their "relationship" was gonna work from now on. Gestures, compliments, cheek kisses a peck on the mouth goodbye and in extremes cases a genuine kiss with tongue.
Craig wondered if it truly was worth it when firstly Tweek was giving him the cold shoulder and two, KYLE.
Two weeks in it was either being bluntly ignored by Tweek (worse if they accidentally bump into eachother Tweek would glare at him) or Kyle pestering about how he should reconsider the class of guy he’s with and to break up with him already. Even though Cartman surprisingly has been following the rules he had made to a tee. So he was being a "good" boyfriend infront of everyone.
"I'm telling you it's all an act. Cartman wants something I can feel it! You really shouldn't trust him, Craig. Besides don't you still have feelings for Tweek?"
'God this loser' Craig thought as he closed his locker and continued walking, trying to mind his own damn business.
"Kyle, for the millionth time. I'm not breaking up with Eric. So just stop insisting on breaking my relationship with him cause it's not happening."
Kyle reaction this time was very diffrent from the other confrontations they've had. This time his face was red as if he was embarrassed and he seem sad for a second before he covered it up with a scowl, "I'm not trying to force you to break up with him! I just THINK you should reconsider it. He doesn't even fit the type of guys you're interested in!"
Craig arched a brow to that, "and what exactly is my type?"
"I don't know, blonds?"
Craig huffed, "Dude why does it matter so much to you? Just let it be. If he does something then I'll handle it on my own, that's my problem not yours!"
He was about to walk off but he stopped when Kyle snapped at him, "WHAT DO YOU EVEN LIKE ABOUT HIM?! What was it that got you to look at him and say to yourself 'fuck I want his fatass'! Cause Cartman has done nothing to you for you to like him! Look at him or touch him! So why do you like him?!" it startled the shit out of him he stood still now looking at the fuming redhead, "he's a narcissistic bigoted piece of shit who belittles people for fun and a freaking racist! What's so charming about that? Why put yourself with a person you know isn't good for you! Is it some challenge for you? Are you challenging yourself to change Cartman?? Cause fuck you! He won't!"
"Dude. What the fuck is wrong with you?" Craig spat in disbelief. Kyle scoffed dryly before silently stomping away in defeat.
Maybe he finally realized how crazy he sounded.
A day after Cartman enters his room with out notice, taking him off guard while changing clothes.
"THE FUCK DUDE?!"
Cartman sat on his desk chair, "Kyle knows." He spat casually as he checks his nails.
"WHAT."
"Yeah I told him yesterday."
"Why the hell would you tell him?!"
"Cause he wasn't leaving me alone about it," Cartman shrugged as it his reasons were obvious.
"Dude you said we couldn't tell anyone and that 'Kyle does it all the time, get over yourself and ignore him' !!"
"I never said I would. Don't trip, Kyle won't say anything," he shrugged it off with his hand, "also that's not why I'm here for."
Craig arched a brow confused as he zipped his pants up.
"Kyle told me something interesting yesterday about Tweek. You're welcome btw, cause if I hadn't told Kyle about this you wouldn't be getting this information at all, but whatever I guess.
Anyways, Tweek is planning to talk to you on Friday so don't mess it up."
"Wait, why all of the sudden?"
"I dunno man, jesus, that's what Kyle overheard during P.E. but if you want to know more about it, you can ask Tolkien. Cause that's who Tweek was talking with."
Craig bit his lip contemplating it but denied with his head, "nah, I'll just wait till Friday and find out from Tweek."
Cartman groaned annoyed, "you're so boring and plain no wonder Tweek broke up with you in the first place."
"Tweek broke up with me because I have problems communicating atleast that's what he says I do."
"Uhuh. He does got a point, cause you suck."
"Can you get out of my house already!"
It was Wednesday and he can for sure tell Kyle was no longer gonna be a problem for him, not even a glance his way since he arrived to school; like how it normally was before he announced "dating" Cartman. Well atleast the first few periods, lunch time however Cartman decided to sit with his friends and Kyle look his way for a few seconds before returning his attention on Stan.
He sighed relieved that he no longer had to deal with all of that.
And after what feels like an eternity he finally was able to sit with his friends without feeling uncomfortable around Tweek. He was still ignoring him and was sitting right next to Tolkien but not much drama aside from Clyde's typical gossip.
He couldn't help but take sneak glances at Tweek. His blond locks, pale skin, he even missed seeing those dark eye circles on his beautiful face. He wants to plant plenty of kisses in ever corner and inch of it.
"So, how things with Cartman?" Tolkien asked.
Craig scoffed awkwardly before taking a sip from his soda, "normal I guess?"
"This time you guys didn't sit together?"
"We don't always have to be stuck to the side of the other every hour of every day. I missed hanging out with you guys and he apparently missed hanging out with his friends. Nothing serious."
"You and Tweek always were," Clyde added with not much thought, Jimmy just smacked the back of his head with one of his crutches, "OW!"
"No we weren't, ngh!" Tweek spat defensive. Finally he spoke.
It's been awhile since Craig heard Tweek speak and honestly he could hear him for hours.
But in reality they did. They were very codependent with the other, not that it was toxic in a way but there were moments when he did feel suffocated by Tweek's panic attacks or him being too clingy. He no longer felt like he could asked for space cause that also made Tweek worry.
Craig knew well enough that Tweek knew that, it's not like he hasn't pointed it out before. So it doesn't faze him to see Tweek react that way, he's was always insecure about and tried working on it but he just made it worse by calling him at nights and asking him "was I being too much today?" So yeah, Clyde definitely hit a nerve right there.
And honestly he feels like he was about to hit a few more just to see his reaction.
"Eric isn't the type to stay too long in the same spot with the same person. You'd think someone as clingy like Eric would want to spend hours with you but he's always finding excuses to hang out with his friends or gets easily distracted with something else so I let this one slide because I felt bad."
"Sounds like he's avoiding spending time with you," Tweek spat dryly while poking at his tray.
Craig would smile widely because Tweek had spoken with him if it were that he has to remind himself that they were broken up and he was currently in a relationship with someone else.
"No. I just noticed that pattern with everyone he interacts with, it's like he's always trying to discover something new or get into some wacky adventure."
"You really must like him to notice that," Clyde added with interest, "first time we've heard you talk about a attribute of Cartman in that way."
Craig arched a brow confused, he actually thought he was playing pretty well the roll of boyfriend but maybe in speaking volumes he was never the best at. Even if this was fake.
In reality he just sucked in expressing himself.
"Yeah. This is all new to me y'know, it feels nice to have some freedom in a relationship for once."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Tweek scowled as he looked up at Craig.
Yeah, he definitely hit the nail on this one.
"Nothing."
Thursday morning was like a breeze, the only odd thing about it was that Cartman wasn't too interesting in displaying much of their "couple" act. He claimed he was feeling something was gonna happen tomorrow and that it would finally end this facade once and for all, so he felt there was no need to continue proving people they were a couple when they already seemed convinced anyways. Also he noticed he kept giving glances at Kyle when he held his hand or place a small kiss on his cheek and he didn't kiss him on the lips goodbye either like the previous times. This time he only planted a kiss on his forehead with a hop and left the scene quickly.
Finally friday morning, and now unlike the other two days he was starting to feel the weight of the whole situation. He was dying to know what Tweek had to say or if he was still planning to talk with him after what happened on Wednesday. Still, he was nervous.
He sat in his desk and place his hand on each side of his head looking down while trying to reassure himself everthing would be fine.
He looked up and was surprised to be greeted by Kyle who was holding on to his backpack strap.
"Just making sure, but after you and Tweek talk things out today you and Cartman are gonna end this whole dating thing right?"
"Yes...?"
"Even If it's not what you expect it to be. Like getting back together, you'll leave Cartman out of this?"
"Why should that matter?"
"Because it does. It's clear it wouldn't matter if you continue 'dating' Cartman so why drag him with you. If things with Tweek doesn't work out in the end then you should just learn to move on and let Tweek do the same. Even if it hurts."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because-"
"Kyle!" Cartman sprinted inside the classroom and grabbed the redhead's arm, glaringly, then looks at Craig, "seems you're getting ready for the big day huh."
Kyle glared back at Cartman but rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Aren't you supposed to be heading to your class, fatass."
"I was until I saw you talking with Craig and I don't want you running your mouth for everyone to hear."
"I wasn't planning to say shit," Kyle then yanked his arm away from him, "and let go of me!"
Kyle walked towards his desk and sat down.
"Whatever he told you it's a lie," Cartman spat out.
"He didn't tell me anything?"
"Are you prepared for what you're gonna say to Tweek ?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well duh? What are you planning to tell him if he asks you to take him back?"
"Yes?"
"That's it?"
"Yeah? What's wrong with that?"
"Dude, you're so dry! You need to make sure you're prepared for any question asked, what if he doesn't even want to talk about your relationship? What if it's something else? What then huh?"
Craig didn't consider that as a possibility, being that there's nothing left about them besides their previous relationship. So what if Cartman is right? What if Tweek isn't gonna speak with him over their breakup? What then... what would he speak to him about?
And thats all i have! This is literally the creek/kyman au i mentioned u guys previously i wanted to post it before it gets forgotten in my drafts, i would love for your opinions on this concept 😭
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s-awturn · 4 months ago
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Us, again || CS55
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summary: Abandoned in a strange country, with no money, friends or family and a positive pregnancy test, Y/N finds herself on the brink of unprecedented chaos. There is no one she can count on, except her ex best friend, who she didn't want to have to turn to.
cw: conflict, abandonment, crying crisis and mention of an anxiety attack. Old conflict, nostalgia, separation, problem solving, relationship to be established, ex-friends to lovers. Extreme cuteness
a/n: I wanted to start something like this, and Carlos and Toto are always my favorites for angst and this plot arose especially for the grid's smooth operator. And I articulated the details of the story while reading "my tears ricochet" by @spngi and it's no secret to anyone that I'm a drama girl, so be aware that this is going to be a lot of drama, something cute and sweet, we'll see how it turns out.
a/n¹: notes: oh my god, this took so long to finish, I almost gave up when Tumblr lost everything I had ever written (I almost cried) after four attempts, three days, I finally finished it, anyway, I hope you like it, yay!
Freely inspired by Taylor Swift's "cardigan".
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“I knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs / The smell of smoke would hang around this long / 'Cause I knew everything when I was young / I knew I'd curse you for the longest time”
"This isn't happening, Y/N, Don't fucking fuck with me! This isn't happening!" I hear Aaron's raised voice as he walks through the hotel room, in my hands, an urgent ultrasound and a pregnancy test with a static "positive" on the test screen. "I can't be a father now!"
"I also didn't choose to be a mother now, Aaron, much less did I make this child alone!" I respond, equally upset and stand in front of him, I would never let him, or any man in the world, get above me.
"So it's decided, we will have the abortion" he says as if it were simple, and my mind spins in a huge spiral, I don't know if abortion is an option for me, much less in a strange country and in circumstances like this. "Ireland guarantees the right to abortion, we can do it today, hopefully!"
Aaron holds my arms tightly and shakes me lightly, trying to convince me. I move away from him as if I had been shocked and stop in the other corner of the suite, looking at him as if he were a stranger.
"I'm not going to have an abortion, much less in a foreign country! I cannot and will not decide this overnight, Aaron!" I speak and I see him become more exasperated and veins grow on his forehead, a sign of stress.
"You've got to be fucking kidding," he complains, and I don't like the glazed look he's giving me. "You can't decide? Y/N, fuck, we have plans, we start our trip now and you can’t decide?”
"No, we're talking about my body! Whether I carry this pregnancy forward or not, is my decision!" My voice echoes in the room and Aaron sighs, I feel a bad shiver running up my spine when I see my boyfriend's green eyes go dark.
"You're right, it's your decision, it's your body..." He rests his hands on his hips, breathing deeply "let's sleep, we'll go back to London and talk better"
I nod and change into comfortable pajamas. The test and ultrasound are forgotten on the table. All around us, the strange tension and feeling of something wrong only allow me to sleep much later than I would like. Aaron falls asleep as soon as he hits the pillow.
-- ♡ --
I wake up as the sun escapes the translucent curtains, my body hurts like I've been hit by a truck. I barely open my eyes and my intuition kicks in and I sit up so quickly that my muscles groan with pain, there is no sign of Aaron, his bags are not in their place, I jump out of bed and open the safe, I only find my passport, torn up, in fact. No sign of my cards or the money we brought for the trip.
Tears burn my eyes as the truth crashes down on my head.
Aaron abandoned me in Ireland, alone, without money and with my documents torn up, he destroyed me. I start to hyperventilate, there's no one I can ask for help, no one to rescue me, I'm alone in a country I don't even know. My boyfriend left me, alone, pregnant, without money or any fucking support.
"Son of a bitch!" I scream and collapse on the floor, crying without stopping, I should have followed my instincts, but I trusted that he would never do something like that to me, I trusted his feelings. I was such a idiot! It takes me a few minutes to recover, taking deep breaths with my left hand on my flat stomach.
"I'll find a way to get us out of this, baby, I promise" my voice shakes and I try to stop crying. "Your stupid mom will find a way, we'll be fine soon"
After forty minutes between "I'll fix this" and "Oh my God, I'm fucked", I call the hotel reception, and I have the excellent news that my stay is guaranteed for another eight days, a Since Aaron — my stupid fucking ex — we paid before we left. At least I have a guaranteed roof over my head for a week, with food and clean clothes, I wouldn't be completely homeless.
My parents passed away years ago, my friends walked away from me when I started dating Aaron, which means I'm fucking alone.
A new bout of crying chokes my throat and I'm tired of being strong, I can't believe that stupid man left me and stole my money. I feel so, so destroyed. I face the test and the ultrasound, I wanted my mother to be here, I wanted her to comfort me and tell me everything would be okay.
Five days later.
"Wow, really? One hundred and fifty euros for a new passport? I don't have that money!" my hope dies as soon as I understand how bad my situation is. "I have the police report, isn't that worth anything?"
"I can check with my superiors, but it will take at least two weeks, Miss L/N"
"Two weeks? I can't afford to stay here for two weeks, I have no money!" My voice shakes and I suppress the urge to cry.
"It's the best I can do, Miss"
"Well, thank you then..." I thank you grudgingly and hang up. It's been five days since Aaron left, in the meantime, I've sunk into so much self-pity that I'm sharing the rent with Samara. I've swallowed my pride the last few days and called some old friends, but all the calls went to voicemail, and that doesn't surprise me.
What did I expect? That they would welcome me with open arms after I turned my back on everyone? How I was deceived;
My reservation will expire in three days, and then I will literally be in the gutter of Dublin, with no chance of returning to London, all the disappointment turns my stomach and brings on the disgusting feeling of sickness, I only have time to run to the bathroom and vomit my breakfast into the toilet. I don't know if it's a symptom of pregnancy or if it's a consequence of the horrible situation I'm in. I brush my teeth and go back to the room, going straight to the suite's balcony and facing the view of the city, I hope Dublin's landscape makes me forget how bad everything is around me. Sitting on the lounge chair, looking at the azaleas on the balcony wall, she absently ran her fingers over her belly; If you asked me a few days ago if I wanted to be pregnant, my answer would have been a giant "no", but now, I feel anxious about the little things.
Looking forward to buying the baby's clothes, choosing the color of the room or making a list of names, nothing will be easy, I know, but I will make it work, even with all the difficulties and problems, I will strive to be a good mother, and a father too if necessary.
"You didn't come at a good time, little one, but I promise I'll do everything I can for you" I murmur, trying to be confident and find some way out. There are no more tears to cry, there's no more pain to suffer so I'm not going to waste any more energy on it, fuck Aaron, I'm capable of taking care of everything, I just need some time, but I'll make it. I remain on the balcony until the end of the afternoon, when the hotel reception calls me, letting me know that dinner is already served, the mention of food makes me salivate with hunger, in the same way that it shakes my stomach in previous waves of nausea. "I need energy to sort things out for us, little one, so you can let mommy keep the food down today, huh?”
I talk to my stomach as I look for my cell phone in the mess on the bed, ignoring the pieces of my passport, otherwise I would have a tantrum and be able to get to England by swimming. I greet some guests, who ask me how I am and if the baby is already giving me trouble, and they also ask me if I managed to solve the passport problem. These same guests found out about this when they found me in tears at the reception, sympathizing with the situation I was in.
"We're fine, he's already deciding what he likes to eat, and avocado toast isn't on the list" I say laughing as we go downstairs. The restaurant is not that crowded, most guests prefer to dine in local restaurants and pubs, so most of the seats were vacant, the process of serving my food and choosing the table furthest from the air conditioning takes less than ten minutes. The food on my plate is almost gone when I'm drawn to the call of an Irish sports program, they were going to rebroadcast the Monaco GP qualifying, with comments from the commentators. I don't even notice the time passing, I end up staying there in the restaurant as the guests leave and say goodbye to me, and my heart starts racing like a rocket when the camera focuses on Carlos Sainz.
"I haven't heard anything from him since... Oh, it's been so long..." I murmur, resting my chin in my hands, hoping he can get a good position. Even though I haven't been to the races for some time, I still know how things work and I also know that Monaco is a difficult circuit. I can't help but be thrilled when he gets P2, it was quite an achievement! This leads me to wonder if he still keeps the same phone number.
Can Carlos help me... I know I'm being selfish, but I have no one else to turn to, and I'm about to despair. We were friends until one of his girlfriends decided that there was no more room in Carlos' life for me, until she decided that I could no longer come between them, not that I would, I always wanted my best friend to be happy, with whoever he was, and what hurt the most was Carlos agreeing with her and cutting me out of his life. Carlos was my best friend.
"It doesn't hurt to try, I already have the 'no'" I murmur, sliding my finger across my cell phone while I look for his phone. With my heart racing, I press "call" and wait and at the height of my anxiety, I count the seconds until he answers. Thirty seconds until I hear Carlos' familiar voice.
"Hello?" He says and I can't hold back my tears, like an emotional idiot.
"Carlos?"
"Y/N? Is that really you?" He looks as surprised as I am.
"Well yes, it's me" I give a choked laugh, the tears are blocking my nose, soon I'll be exhausted. "I know we're not friends anymore, Carlos, but I need your help... I don't would bother you if it wasn't necessary"
I hear the sound of a door closing and a strong accent complaining in what I think is French.
"You would never bother me, how can I help you, cielo?"
And then I talk, I say everything that's happening, my sobs make me cry in some parts, the hormones are already in an uproar, apparently. Carlos listens to me without interrupting once, and if I know him well, I know he's messing up his hair and frowning like he always does when he's concentrating.
"I wouldn't be calling if I weren't desperate, Carlos..."
"Calm down, calm down, you did well in the place, cielo, I won't be able to go, of course, but you'll be home soon, I promise" he says, there are no signs of hesitation in his voice and It comforts me in a way I can never explain. I hear the sound of drawers opening and a sheet of paper being torn apart "give me the address of the hotel, I won't be able to go, because of the rush, but I will send my advisor to take care of everything, don't worry, bien?"
"Thank you, thank you so much! I can't even tell you how grateful I am" I speak emotionally and give the hotel address next to the phone, in case I don't answer.
"There's no need to thank me, cielo, I would never leave you helpless, never" he assures me and I feel eighteen again, sitting on the sidewalk outside my house with him, the two of us eating ice cream and talking about his season. Oh God, I missed him so much.
"Congratulations on P2, you were great" I say sincerely, Carlos is a great driver and I know how much he works every day, I don't need to be with him to know, he is very obstinate.
"Oh, did you watch it? Thanks, Y/N"
We stay silent on the line, sharing our breaths until I break.
"I don't have enough words to thank you, Carlos, but thank you, you saved me" I say, swallowing the lump that suddenly appeared in my throat. "I need to sleep now... Good luck in the race tomorrow, I'll be rooting for you"
"Thank you cielo, have a good night" he says and we remain on the call until I hang up. Carlos and I have always shared silence, staying silent has never been a problem between us. When I lock myself in my room, all the weight of that day falls on me like a stone, I take a hot shower and lie down, tormented by memories.
"You don't call me anymore, so I came to see you, your mother told me you were here" I say, entering his room, something we always did, Carlos and I always went to each other's houses.
"Well, I didn't return your call for a reason" he said and I saw Isabella, his current girlfriend come out of the bathroom, wearing one of his shirts. "We'll talk later, Y/N"
“You never call me Y/N, what’s wrong, cielo?”
"We can't be friends anymore" He says it without pity, harshly and even cruelly.
"Huh? Why? Because of Isabella?"
"Isabella has nothing to do with this" he says quickly, standing in front of his girlfriend, Isabella puts on shorts and says she will give us privacy, I don't even look at her face, keeping his eyes on Carlos. "your feelings do!"
"What the fuck are you talking about, Carlos?! My feelings? Are you crazy?
"I heard your conversation with Blanca" he confesses and I feel my heart stop, he shouldn't have... "Don't make me say, Y/N, So spare us the humiliation of having to break your heart over feelings that should never exist, because you know, we would never have anything."
I could call him names, fight him, or do anything else, but I just nodded and took off the friendship bracelet we had made last summer. A stupid symbol of our bond, which no longer exists.
"I think you're right, I hope you're immensely happy, cielo and that you can achieve everything you dream of" I leave the bracelet on his desk before leaving the room. I say goodbye to Mrs. Sainz and Blanca, Carlos' sister apologizes, she didn't know he was listening. "It's my fault, there's no need to apologize"
I said goodbye to them, aware that it would be the last time we would see each other like that, I had been accepted at a university in England and with the death of my parents, nothing kept me in Spain anymore. Except only for Carlos.
But not anymore, that was the last time I spoke to Carlos.
My heart jumps when I wake up, I feel my face wet and I confirm that just like in the memories, I cried. I really had feelings for Carlos, but I was willing to ignore them if it meant having my best friend with me, I didn't care if he was dating or anything, I just needed him, I didn't have anyone else, feelings that shouldn't have even arisen. I didn't want to ask him for help, but I knew I would never have the courage to ask Blanca, Reyes or Mr. Carlos, so I had to swallow my pride and call him.
I'm still looking at the hotel ceiling, thinking about the floodgate that Carlos opened in me, with just one phone call. I thought I was over it, that the hurt and resentment were gone. As for the mistake, I was as hurt and resentful as years ago, it still hurt as if it had been done yesterday. My daydreams are interrupted by a call from an unknown number, I answer and make the mistake of answering while yawning.
"I'm sorry, please, I just woke up" I ask before hearing the person, who laughs, I would recognize that laugh anywhere, even in a crowd. "Carlos"
"Sorry for waking you up, cielo" he says and I feel my skin itch, the nickname takes me back to good days, where everything was sweet and full of dreams.
"Relax, I literally just woke up. Is everything okay?"
"Yes, yes everything is fine, I just called to let you know that there will be a car to pick you up at one o'clock in the afternoon, you will be taken to a private flying field straight to London" he says, I hear the buzz of the pitlane in the background, lots of shouting in Italian and the uproar of the crowd. The race would start soon. "Is everything okay with you, cielo? Can you get it ready in time?"
"Yes, definitely yes, I didn't want to bother you, Carlos, especially before a race."
"Ah" he clicked his tongue, dismissing my apology "it's no big deal, I promised I would take you home and I will, there will be a car at the private airport to take you home, just give your address to the driver, and don't worry about paying anything, you only need to worry about eating and resting during the trip, as for your passport, I scheduled a time for you to get a new copy of your document, in three days, you will receive a memo on your cell phone."
My throat constricted, well here I am feeling like crying again, these hormones are still going to make me dehydrated from crying, or my tears would dry up at some point.
"You're being a guardian angel for me, Carlos, I'll never thank you enough" I murmur hoarsely, swallowing the tears.
"Oh no, no please, don't cry, you know I never know how to deal with your tears" he says and I know he's despairing, which makes me laugh and sniffle, in a strange way that I know I've never done before "I'm not doing anything much, if with all this money, I can't do something simple like take you home, what is all this for?"
"I know, thank you very, very much... I'll pack my bags and have coffee, you'll do well in this race, I know that" I say quickly and hang up before it gets awkward, or rather, weirder.
The following hours are a mess, checking in at the hotel, the journey to the runway and much of the flight are done with my mind on standby, I could only think about how betrayed I felt by Aaron's attitude, how I needed to swallow my pride and ask for help from someone I swore I wouldn't see again. The Earth turned several times until it threw me into Carlos Sainz's life once again. I sink into the armchair looking at the fluffy clouds through the window.
"I said I would find a way, little one, and we're going home now. Maybe you'll question my methods in the future, but not my results" I laugh at my own joke and I let my hands rest on my belly, I suddenly feel anxious to see it bigger, Being a mother was not a goal for the next five years, I'm not at all prepared for motherhood, but I don't know how to describe the panic that gripped my heart when Aaron suggested the interruption. I have a stable job, which allows me to work from home and a flexible schedule, I have a small apartment, but with an extra room for the baby and well, I decided to move on. I already feel very connected to the baby, and there is a break in the loneliness that I have felt for years, it is good not to feel alone.
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My cell phone rings the moment I turn the key in the lock, Carlos' name flashes on the display and I answer it while trying to push my bags inside.
"The driver just told you he dropped you off at home, did everything go well? Were the flight attendants kind to you?"
"Yes, yes, everything was fine, Carlos, the flight attendants are really cute, I was treated very well, you can put your weapons away" I breathe a sigh of relief as I sit down on my sofa, finally away from all that hell I went through in Dublin.
"That's good, cielo, I've been worried about you all day"
I don't know what to answer, I don't know what Carlos expects from me after all these years, after so much distance.
"I'm glad you're home and well, cielo, I'll let you rest now"
Another time, we are silent on the call until I ask "did you win?"
“It was Charles' home race, my job was to make sure he won, but I got second place” he says, there's a certain 'job done' tone in his voice. "I'm happy with today's result"
"That's good, I'm happy for you, and for your teammate" I say sincerely.
"Thank you, that matters a lot... Anyway, rest okay? You can't sleep late anymore, take care cielo, call me for whatever you need, anything, don't hesitate" he says with such firmness that It almost makes me uncomfortable, so we hang up. I don't know if Carlos is back in my life and I don't know if I'm okay with that. It's so confusing, but I don't need to deal with it right now, I have more important things to take care of.
Almost two weeks later, I got a new passport, applied for new cards and was being monitored by an obstetrician. Luckily I didn't run into Aaron a single day, I changed the locks, I threw his things in the trash and made my transition from a committed woman to a single woman smoothly.
"What do I need to buy at the market?" I mutter as I check cupboards and fridge, licorice dangling from my lips. "milk, eggs, sugar, tomatoes and pasta... Cheese and bacon, for sure" Maybe I'll make a carbonara when I get home from the store. I had been in the middle of an Italian food fixation for days, all I wanted was pasta, tomatoes and cheese. Just when I finish making the market list, my campaign rings and I have a heart attack when I see no one other than Carlos Sainz — and all his other surnames — standing at my door.
"Carlos? What are you doing here?"
"I don't know, to be honest I don't know, but after you called me, I couldn't stop thinking about seeing you again" He says it so fast I think he's going to choke and I pull him into the apartment before the neighbors see him and decide to hold a carnival on my doorstep. He wastes a few seconds looking around, for an instant I saw my best friend there, the guy who knew everything about my life and who today, knew nothing about me anymore, big breakthrough.
"I'm sorry if you think that explains anything," I reply, looking at how lost he looks. "but again, what do you want here, Carlos?"
"I want to apologize, I was a shitty friend to you, I was cruel, I belittled your feelings, you are the most amazing and resilient person I know" he says, taking a step towards me, I don't back away, but I make it clear that he is not welcome in my personal space. "Life without you has been bad, very bad and I only realized that when I saw you, weeks ago."
"Walking away was the best thing we did, Carlos. God knows how we would have ended up if you hadn't put an end to it."
"No, it shouldn't have, it wasn't the right thing! We were left without our best friends because we didn't know how to deal with things, I didn't know"
"Carlos, you can't be best friends with the guy you're in love with, at some point I would hate you and that would be worse"
"and you didn't hate it?"
I keep quiet, because yes, I hated him for a long time, I still think I do and I don't even know why I'm trying to defend him. It must be the hormones talking.
"Yeah, yes I hated you for a long time, maybe I still hate you, but you were my best friend, I can't hate you forever"
I look at the man who was my mainstay for years, my confidant, best friend, accomplice, the guy who won my heart with gumdrops and notes in candy wrappers. The man I fell in love with and broke my heart. There is a mixture of feelings in me, hurt, pain, hope, resentment, all of it shaking my heart nonstop, I don't know what to feel.
"I don't know if I can have you around, Carlos, you were really my best friend, but you were also the guy I fell in love with and who broke my heart, I don't know if I'm ready to have you back"
He swallows, taking in what I said, and for a moment, I think he's going to give up and walk away, but he nods and straightens his posture "okay, I'm going to prove that I'm sorry, for everything, for being a shitty friend, a stupid guy, I'm going to make you forgive me and" he pauses, to emphasize everything "I'll be with you, I'll make up for all the years, all the pain, I'll deserve you, Y/N, I swear"
I don't even know what to think, my mind goes blank as I try to understand what he's up to.
"What if I don't want to?" The question escapes my mouth without permission, the filter between my brain and mouth is off, apparently. "What makes you think I might want you in my life again?"
He doesn't respond for a few minutes, I can almost see the gears in Carlos' head turning, trying to find a good answer.
"Nothing, but that's never been an impediment for me, you know"
I just stare at him, surprised by that, my mouth articulates, but no sound comes out.
"You came all the way here from Spain for this?"
"I would come from anywhere in the world"
After that there wasn't much we could say, Carlos insisted on staying and making pancakes for me, and I couldn't say no as my stomach growled like a monster at the mention of food. In an instant I was watching Carlos move everything in my kitchen, he chops strawberries and blackberries while letting the pancake batter rest for a while.
“Aaron looked for you?” He questions, putting the fruit in a bowl and only looks at me when I sigh loudly. "What? Has he been bothering you? I'll sort it out"
"What? No, no! He didn't show up"
"Then why do you look frustrated?" I watch Carlos put the frying pan on the fire and add the yeast to the dough, and then stir gently, placing small discs in the hot pan.
"I'm just tired, all the stress from the trip is still affecting my sleep..." I murmur, stealing a piece of strawberry, the smell of the pancakes increases my hunger and Carlos laughs when he hears my belly rumbling. "Don't laugh, I'm eating for two and you have no idea how much this little one likes to eat"
We enter another silent space, Carlos focused on finishing the pancakes and my mind wanders to our conversation, some time before. I'm not a hypocrite in saying that I've already forgiven Carlos, but I don't think there's still space for that kind of resentment, I'm not eighteen anymore, I'm about to be a mother, I no longer have the time or inclination to feed old grudges. And God knows how much I missed him all these years, I refused to watch any races so I wouldn't have to see him. Calling Carlos and asking for his help seems to have put all our dramas in order, It made me understand that one way or another, my life would end up intertwined with his again.
No matter how much I wanted or tried, I would never be able to completely move away from Carlos, and it's time to accept that.
"Here you go, eat it all, I don't want your baby to grow up hating me" he says and pushes over a plate full of pancakes, berries, honey and some icing sugar. A beautiful montage.
"I hope it's good, or we'll both hate you" I reply and laugh when he turns pale, I take out a generous piece and the sweet smell intoxicates me for a few seconds. I go to heaven and back when I chew the piece of pancake, the taste is light and the dough melts in my mouth, I know I can eat this for the rest of my life and be happy every day.
"Holy fucking God, this is perfect, Carlos!" I take a piece of pancake with a strawberry and feel heaven on my tongue, a moan of appreciation makes my whole body vibrate, this is perfect, damn"If you had used that to apologize, I would have definitely accepted it from the beginning."
"if I had known food was the secret, I would have come prepared" He laughs as I finish eating, nothing more is said until I finish the second helping, which Carlos was happy to serve me.
I slide my finger across the plate, picking up the traces of honey and sugar, humming as I literally wipe the plate clean. I insist that he put everything in the dishwasher and come sit with me so we can sort everything out, once and for all.
"I still can't believe you came all the way to London... You got my address from the driver and you're here, making me pancakes and everything..." I say, playing with one of the cushions while Carlos takes the armchair in front of me. I allow myself to face him, he's even more handsome than before, the trail of beard over his chiseled jaw, his thick hair in an elegant mess, Carlos is a vision of fucking paradise.
"I'm not lying, Y/N, I really want to make amends with you, in any way" he assures, and breaks the distance between us, sitting next to me while holding my hands. "You missed me so much, and when you called me crying, I realized that we missed so much from each other, I wanted you to be at my first victory with Ferrari, I wanted to see your graduation, help you move in... "
In a strange way, I'm grateful that he doesn't mention the fact that I was in love with him, not that I'm ashamed of it, but ignoring it might make us easier to get along with.
"We can try, Carlos, try to be friends again, because my goodness, I missed you so much" I confess and he laughs.
"I promise to make it worth it, cielo" he squeezes my hands, running his thumb affectionately from the back of my hand. "I won't disappoint you"
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"I bet it'll be a boy," he says, stealing a spoonful of my ice cream, fast enough to avoid the hit of my spoon on his hand. "God said to share bread, you know?"
"Exactly, He said to share the bread, not my ice cream" I mumble, protecting the container with my body. Carlos has been coming to my house for weeks, always bringing food — I'm beginning to suspect that it has a direct connection to my stomach and my hunger —, gifts for the baby and books on child psychology, food introduction and everything he considers necessary to educate a child. He's been taking over my couch whenever he has time off. I dare say that I see more Carlos than my neighbors. "And why do you think it will be a boy? This is misogyny, Sainz"
He tries to steal my ice cream again and this time I slap him right in the middle of the forehead, which is effective because he moves away. "I'm not being sexist, I'm following my intuition, okay?"
"The last time we followed your intuition, we ended up in the middle of nowhere, at three in the morning in a car without gas. If it weren't for my father, you would be grounded to this day." I respond, changing the sofa, Carlos is willing to steal my ice cream, interfering with a pregnant woman's right to satisfy her desire for a sweet treat after lunch. I'm going to report him to human rights.
"But do you think it's a boy or a girl?"
"I have no idea, I still don't have that 'maternal intuition' that I've seen in the support group for solo mothers, but I'm fine with any option, I'll love it regardless of gender" I say, my right hand slides over my recently completed five-month-old belly. "I should have found out the sex at the last appointment with the obstetrician, but this little one here had his back turned, can you believe it?"
Carlos laughs, throwing his entire body back and falling onto the sofa. I just watch him laugh, being enveloped by his laughter like a fluffy blanket.
"Seriously, I didn't even know that was possible, crossing your legs, ok, but being on your back is something new" he says, still laughing and drying his tears. I just realize how close he is, When I feel your hand on my belly, the calloused palm warms my skin even with the shirt between us. My breath hitches in my throat, something new growing and It's not just the little traveler in my womb... I don't know if that could be a good thing, especially considering our history.
"Yeah, she told me to go back there in a few days, if I want to find out the gender before the sixth month, then I'll be there on Tuesday, I won't have a meeting at work and I can buy the paints" I explain, poking at the ice cream, trying to distract myself from Carlos' hand on my belly.
"I just need to be in Maranello on Saturday, so I can join you if you want" he suggests, finally moving to his end of the sofa.
"Really? I don't want to disturb you, I know race week is coming and you need to prepare" I say trying, I don't even know what I'm trying, I'm going to blame my exploding hormones.
"I can deal with that later, you need my opinion on paint colors and someone to hold your hand while you root for the business class traveler to be facing forward this time" he said, and looks at me meaningfully "that is, I am most needed here"
"Are you sure? You don't need to go"
"I would be there, even if I were playing crosswords in the office waiting room" he says, without giving me any chance for discussion.
"Okay, whoever said that is no longer here, now pass the ice cream slowly and no one gets hurt" I say and hold out my hand, waiting for the container he stole when he thought I wasn't looking. "Now"
"That's unfair," he grumbles, handing over the pot.
"I'll let you have the ice cream if you get pregnant in my place."
"You win, you can have the ice cream"
-- ♡ --
"Do you want me to come in with you?" He asks and I bite my lip to keep from laughing, Carlos is holding my bag under his shoulder. Quite a scene.
"I need someone to hold my hand, and" I look behind him "I don't see any more volunteers, so smile, you've been selected" I smile, waving my index finger as if it were a flag.
"Okay, let's confirm that my intuition is right"
"Uh-huh, of course yes, cielo" I say, entering the office.
The obstetrician doesn't need to ask any initial questions, since I was here a few days ago, so asking how I am is irrelevant. I change into that horrible hospital gown and lie down on the stretcher, Carlos looks anxious in the passenger seat and my hand grabs his so fast I don't even register it, I laugh nervously as the cold gel is spread across my bulging belly.
"Let's hope he's being an exhibitionist today" she says confidently and starts to use the device.
"How can you understand anything here, it's all blurry" he says, approaching the screen. "Where is his head?"
"Shut up, chilli" I say, but I give a nervous laugh "I don't understand anything either, so let those who do understand tell you what we're seeing", I shake his hand and receive an eager smile.
"We're lucky today, he's turned around, or rather, she" she indicates on the screen and I start crying immediately, Carlos squeezes my hand and wipes my tears. "Congratulations, you will be parents of a very strong-willed girl."
"Oh, no, no, I'm just the family friend" Carlos corrects her, but this is forgotten, given how much I'm crying. "You're crying a lot, should I be worried, cielo?"
"I-I'm fine" I sniffle crying less, I'm having a little girl, I don't even know what to say, I'm exploding like fireworks "I'm fine, really"
"I'll leave you two alone" the obstetrician leaves and I feel, cleaning the gel from my abdomen and I am hugged tightly, Carlos supports me with care and zeal, there is so much between the lines here, so much implied.
"That little girl is so lucky to be born as your daughter" he murmurs, stroking my hair gently "a little girl, damn you were right, my intuition is shit"
I press my hands to his shoulder blades so hard I feel my fingers tremble. "Thanks for coming"
"There's no place in the world I should be, cielo"
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"You want me to go to the next race? Why?"
"I like having important people cheering me on there, and Charles is bothering me to meet you" he says, painting the wall lilac, he's all dirty, there's dye in his hair, and of course, he is shirtless. As long as I don't have a knife at my neck, I will never confess that the vision is messing with me. "I will take care of everything, you can stay in the same hotel as me"
"You should stop taking care of everything, or you'll have a heart attack instead of appendicitis" I murmur, Carlos insisted that I sit and watch him paint, he even brought books, chopped fruit and even Alexa to play my favorite playlist. "Seriously Charles Leclerc wants to meet me? Why?"
"I have no idea, Charles must have heard it one of the times you called me" he replies. Carlos speaks so quickly that there's no way not to be suspicious, but I give him the benefit of the doubt, I'm sure Charles will tell me why.
"Mhmm, I know... Now I'm curious to meet him too... But the trip to Budapest can be so tiring..." I murmur, peeling the pear as I watch him slide the paint roller along the wall perfectly, Carlos is meticulous and perfectionist in everything he sets out to do, so I admire the paint stains in his hair and on different parts of his body, thank God the fan is on here, otherwise I would be melting from the heat, and having him there, almost naked, doesn't help much.
“It’s not like I’m going to let you take a commercial flight to Hungary, please Y/N, I’m not that petty!” He retorts, touching up the paint on the roller while giving me a quick look "You will go with me to Budapest, on a private flight and I will leave you staying in the same hotel as me, if you are worried, I will hire a private neonatal nurse to accompany us, but I really want you to go, it's important for me to have you two there with me."
"If you insist on that—..." I try to say, but he interrupts me.
"I insist yes, and I'm glad you agreed, I was ready to start the Infallible Convincing Plan for Carlos Sainz" he says and I laugh loudly "What? Am I not convincing?"
"Persuasion isn't one of your best qualities, chilli" I mutter, picking up the folded sheet of paper from among the books he brought me "changing the subject, I listed the female names that I liked most for the baby, feel free to give your opinion, I'm quite undecided here, I have good options."
"I'm listening, I hope they are good names and none taken from the books, considering how obsessed with A Court of Roses and Thorns you are, the girl is in danger of being called Feyre" Carlos shamelessly mocks me and I throw the pear stem at him. "I'm just telling the truth, cielo, but come on, give me the options"
"You know, Ancient Egypt has been my Roman Empire for years, so I thought I would pay homage to one of the greatest queens of that civilization, none other than Cleopatra, but" I pause, aware that Carlos will want to object, so I continue quickly "I chose to shorten the name, Cleo. It's a good option, right?"
"It's a beautiful, elegant and feminine name. I like it, you have a good option" he responds, with his back to me, giving a beautiful view of his lats contracting and relaxing. Oh God, what a hell of a handsome man.
"Well, the next option is Athena, as the Greek goddess of justice, wisdom and war, I don't think I need to explain further, right?"
"It's good, but I still prefer Cleo"
"I like Margot and Elena, they are both elegant and short, I didn't think about long and complicated names, I don't want her to have problems learning to write her own name"
"It's a good justification, giving her a name that's easy to read and write... So I still prefer Cleo"
"Don't you want to hear the other options?"
"Nope, I like Cleo, it's beautiful and very meaningful, and it matches her last name, she'll love it, when she understands it"
I hadn't thought about my last name when choosing the names, so Carlos' reasoning makes sense, so I already had a name chosen.
"Alright, we have a winner, I like Cleo too, thanks for helping me choose"
"You're welcome, we are here to serve well and always serve" he makes an exaggerated bow and I laugh.
"Oh really? My kitchen faucet is dripping non-stop, can you fix it for me?" I ask ironically and Carlos wipes the sweat from his face, giving me another meaningful look.
"Of course yes, cielo, I'll sort it out as soon as I'm done here"
"I'm kidding, chilli, you don't have to worry about it"
"But not me, I'll sort it out as soon as it's over" he insists and I give up trying to make him give up, Carlos is as stubborn as a wild horse, it's no wonder he's at Ferrari. Which makes me think of something:
"I agree to go with you, but I want to meet Lewis, it's my condition" I point my index finger and Carlos looks at me, raising his eyebrow.
"Really? I need to find out what makes Lewis Hamilton so appealing to the female audience" I can't identify the feeling in his voice, and I adjust myself in the seat, stroking my protruding belly. Being pregnant isn't easy, the nausea, all the swelling and fluid retention is horrible, I was already sleeping poorly because my belly wouldn't let me find a comfortable position and of course, I've already lost all my clothes. But I don't regret for a moment having continued with the pregnancy, my little traveler is a gift, Cleo already makes my days wonderful. I observe the lilac covering the walls little by little, making her room take on shape and color, soon the furniture would be assembled.
"I think it's the voice, he has a very good voice to listen to, I could listen to hours of ASMR of him speaking" I respond, hearing Carlos mumble intelligibly. "What did you think of color? I didn't want pink because I thought it was too obvious, and I love the combination of lilac and green"
"I like it, they are very pretty shades and you chose a good brand, they don't have a strong smell and they pigment well on the wall... I'm almost done here, where do you leave the tools to fix the tap?"
"Carlos, I was joking, don't worry about it, the plumber will come on Tuesday to fix it, I'm serious" I say, hoping he will forget this story. "Don't worry, it's serious!"
He puts the rest of the paint in the can and takes the paint roller to the laundry area. I even try to help, but Carlos forces me to sit down again when he returns from the laundry area. He himself collects the newspapers from the floor and opens the windows.
"I need a shower now, can I use your bathroom?"
"Obviously, feel free, I'll order a pizza for us" I say, following him to the living room, Carlos waves and gives a quick kiss and and go to my bathroom in the suite. I see how his jeans fit well on his hips, leaving the waistband of his underwear slightly visible and God only knows how that messes with my hormones. “Y/N, you fucking need to control yourself, he’s your best friend, stop acting like a needy bitch.
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"Are you Y/N? Finally! It's a pleasure to meet you, Carlos talked a lot, a lot about you!" Charles tells me, giving me a tight, loving hug. He is really very handsome and It's easy to understand why his fans are so obsessed with him, he's gorgeous. He has an adorable dimpled smile on his face and I feel shaken all of a sudden.
"He also spoke a lot about you, Charles, it's great to meet you too" I return the hug.
"I hope he said good things"
"I tell her the truth!" Carlos shouted from afar.
Soon we are surrounded by the team, who are extremely warm and kind to me, but I feel claustrophobic among so many people.
"Okay guys, give her space, please, you're making her suffocate" Carlos appears as a salvation and takes me out of the crowd, Charles follows us to the empty area of the garage. "Are you okay, cielo? Here, drink some water, it's too hot and you can't get dehydrated." He offers me a disposable cup of water and makes me sit down. "I have to talk to my mechanics now, but Charles can take you for a ride in the pitlane, if that's okay?"
"Of course, of course don't worry, you can go, we'll be fine"
"Well, take care of them, Charles"
"Relax, being with me is the same as being with God, relax cabrón"
"That's what scares me" Carlos says and kisses me quickly on the cheek, not caring what it does to me, not that he knows.
"Ready? I'm going to give you the best guided tour of the pitlane" Charles interlaces his arm in the middle and guides me through the pitlane, he is approached by a lot of people, always being extremely kind and attentive, he makes some jokes while introducing the places and some people.
"Y/N! Carlos didn't tell me you were coming!" Lando comes running towards us and hugs me too, we were already close to the Mercedes garage, one of the employees told us that Lewis was in a meeting, so I decided to wait
"It was a last minute decision, there was no way to warn you anyway" I say while Charles takes a chair from the Mercedes garage and makes me sit down.
"Why did you meet her before me?! I hear Sainz talking about her all day!"
"I live in London and I met her during his visit, so I tagged along! It's not my fault you don't live in London!" Lando retorts and I laugh at them.
"Sorry if I'm Monegasque! I didn't choose to be born in Monaco!" My laughter echoes around the room and they stop arguing, and then they laugh too, but the moment is interrupted by Lewis Fucking Hamilton. He's more impressive up close, damn it.
"It's good to finally meet Carlos' girl, you've been the talk of the paddock, he says and my cheeks burn and he hugs me too. The four of us talk for almost forty minutes, Lewis is exactly what I expected, polite, kind and attentive, he really has the aura, that aura that few people have and that made it clear why he is one of the greatest in the sport. He's really impressive.
"Let's go to the garage chérie, you need to get some rest, it's too hot for you to stay out here" Charles says as he guides me to the Ferrari garage, where Carlos is already waiting for us, Seeing him is like a cool breeze on a scorching day, he looks so good in red that wow, it hurts to remember he's leaving the Tifosi.
"How was it? Did you enjoy the ride? Did Charles treat you well?" He asks and sizes me up, but I nod dismissively and hear Charles click his tongue, offended.
"I'm fine, Charles was a perfect gentleman to me, and we met Lando on the way, it was amazing!" I say.
"That's great, cielo, let's go to my room, you need to rest, there was a lot of excitement today" He takes me to his private room and lets me rest on the bed there, I don't mind, my feet hurt so much and I wanted to get some sleep, Carlos sits on the edge and rubs my belly, he looks strange, like he's uncomfortable. "Are you okay? How is Cleo?"
"We're fine, she's great" I reply and feel her move and kick, Cleo is Carlos' biggest fan, apparently, she always moves when he speaks, loves the sound of his voice and kicks in the exact place where his hand is. She's going to be his biggest groupie, and there's no argument.
I watch him, feeling my heart beat like a fool, Carlos has been exactly what I hope he will be, a friend, a great companion, he is always in connection with me, I hate knowing that I'm falling in love with him again, that I'm entering that gray area again, putting our friendship at risk because of my stupid feelings, so I'm going to swallow whatever I feel because I'm not willing to be without my best friend again, I couldn't bear to lose him and I want him to be part of my daughter's life, of our life. So it's okay for me to stay in the friend zone if it keeps him around.
"What's bothering you, chilli? You look strange"
"I... I need to tell you something"
"Carlos, if you brought me to Budapest just to kick me out of your life, I swear to God I will run you over with your own car!" I exclaim, trying to pinch his muscular abdomen but failing, obviously.
"What? Of course not, it's nothing like that" he laughs nervously "It's something else... Well, I know this shouldn't happen, and I don't even know how to tell you this, but spending the last few months with you It's been the best thing in my life, I love spending any available time with you and Cleo, helping you with everything, this has left an impression on me and continues to leave a lasting impression on me, I'm so grateful for allowing me to be a part of this."
He stops, leaving tension in the air, making me anxious.
"What I want to say, cielo, is that my feelings have changed, I no longer feel like your friend, I'm just falling more in love with you every day, I tried to avoid it, because we are friends, but it was inevitable and when I realized it, I was already in love. I know it's not the best case scenario, and I broke your heart before, so it's okay with me if you don't reciprocate, but please, let me stay close to you, close to Cleo, I already love this little traveler, I love her so much and it hurts to imagine not being around—..."
I didn't even notice when I sat down on the bed, but I notice the exact moment my hand grabs the collar of his red t-shirt and I kiss him. As I imagined doing since I was sixteen. Carlos responds almost immediately, there is urgency, care and satisfaction in his kiss, all spiced up by the sweet taste of cinnamon. It's exactly how I always imagined it. It's sweet, strong and intense.
"If it's up to us, you'll be with us forever, cielo" I say and he breathes a sigh of relief, kissing me again while leaving his calloused hand on my belly.
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"I'm going back to London now, fuck it, my little girl is coming" he says on the cell phone, I hear the sound of him moving around the room, I breathe loudly when the contraction hurts and I want to cry, but I don't.
"No, no, you're saying goodbye to Ferrari, Cleo won't like knowing that her father is abandoning the race like that" I say in one breath. "We're fine, okay? Blanca is here with me and Reyes will be here soon, please stay calm, love and promise me you will win, for us"
Carlos whimpers and I stop holding him, bursting into tears, I wanted him with me there, but I would never forgive myself if he didn't race his last race with the Maranello team, and Cleo will understand in the future. I know it will.
"Cielo... This is fucking unfair" he kicks something and I sob "I wish I was there, you need me, both of you"
"Win the race, chilli, for us!" I scream because Blanca takes the phone away from me, because I enter the operating room.
-- ♡ --
Cleo is perfect, there is nothing Aaron about her, thank heavens and she is absurdly restless, she doesn't cry, but she doesn't sit still either. I'm absurdly in love with my little traveler, ga she is beautiful, healthy and was born at exactly the same time that Carlos won the race in Abu Dhabi, that didn't give him the championship, but it was extremely important for us, because the checkered flag waved when she cried.
"She's beautiful" Blanca is standing next to the stretcher, holding my daughter's little hand while Cleo breastfeeds, still with her eyes closed. The silence of the maternity corridor is broken by quick footsteps, the door to my room is opened with force and I see Carlos there, he still looks like a mess in his Ferrari overalls, messy hair and very, very tired.
He doesn't say anything, he just walks towards us and kisses my forehead for long seconds and looks at Cleo.
"I'll leave you alone" Blanca gives a suspicious smile and leaves the room.
"Lamento llegar tarde, pequeña estrella, pero gané la carrera por ti". He says in Spanish and I melt with so much love, Cleo seems to recognize his voice and calm down. "she is beautiful, too beautiful, I'm sorry for being late, mi amor"
"It's okay, chilli, you're here at the right time" I say, grateful to smell his expensive cologne, it feels like home and gives me so much comfort. "Thanks for coming."
"There's nowhere I want to be, cielo" he murmurs, carefully I make Cleo stop breastfeeding and cover her breast with the hospital gown. "are you really okay, cielo?"
"I'm, I'm fine actually... How did you get here so fast?"
"Fred left a jet ready for me, I just did the race, got the trophy and came here as soon as I could" he says, running his finger on Cleo's cheek. "She's so beautiful, her nose is identical to yours, happily."
"Do you want to hold her?"
He looks nervous, but accepts it. Carefully, Carlos places Cleo on his lap and walks around the room, talking softly to her, it's the most adorable scene in the world, my heart fills with love as I watch them.
"Cielo, will you marry me?" He says, still looking at the baby in his lap. "I want you close to me always, I want to take care of you, of Cleo. God, I love you both so much and I can't spend another day away from you"
"Are you serious?
"Damn it! I've never been so serious in my life"
"Yes, yes, yes! There is no one better for me, no better father for Cleo" I say in tears, and he comes over, sitting next to me on the hospital gurney. We both watch Cleo sleep in his arms, she looks comfortable and happy with him, just like me.
Months later.
"Let's go see daddy, sweetheart" I say, clearing the entrance to the paddock. It was Cleo's first race since she was born, Carlos had been looking forward to this race for weeks, but didn't want to travel with her so young, so I waited for the Silverstone circuit. I'm in the process of moving to Madrid, but it's happening gradually because of the racing, the 2025 season has been unusual, Williams is finally scoring well, Carlos is having a great season so far, so I thought it was only right that we came to support his race.
Cleo babbles happily, clapping her hands as the team members greet us and joke with Cleo, my little traveler laughs to everyone. She is Miss Congeniality herself, drawing attention wherever he goes. When we finally arrive at the garage, we are greeted by the sound of an engine being tested, the mess of Netflix with the team and Carlos aside, talking to Alex as if they were two old gossips, and when he sees us, he smiles so wide it shines like the sun.
"¡Mi estrellita!" He talks loudly as he comes towards us, Cleo claps her hands and laughs, making the cute baby sounds, getting the team's attention, I don't mind seeing my little girl be his focus first, this is part of what I idealize paradise to be. Cleo laughs as Carlos kisses and tickles her, so I go to greet the team, ask James what his predictions are for the day's race and talk to Alex.
"Where's Lily? I thought I'd have company during the race" I look around, trying to find her, but I hear Alex sigh.
"She's at a golf tournament in Asia, she won't be back until Thursday" he says sadly "She wanted to come, especially since it was Cleo's first race, but she couldn't miss it..."
"Oh, and will it be broadcast? I want to root for her" I say, the two of us spent a long time talking until Carlos came to us, they are both blushing and smiling, which makes my heart skip a beat.
"Hey cutie, I loved your blue jumpsuit it suits you so much" Alex holds out his hands to her and of course my daughter goes with open arms to him, Alex takes her for a walk and sees her cats, giving me and Carlos a little time together.
"Hey cielo, Thank you for coming, it's important to have you here" he says and kisses me, wrapping his arm around my waist, keeping me close."I like this dress, any special occasions?" He says, looking me from head to toe, I try not to blush under his malicious scrutiny.
"I thought we could have dinner today after the race"
"Oh, really? I think we can request a special babysitting service from Lando and Charles... And extend our dinner to the room, what do you think?"
"Excellent! We can make things better then" I suggest, playing with the zipper on his suit.
"And how do you intend to make things better, mi cielo?" He asks quietly, and suddenly everything around us disappears, leaving just the two of us there. The air becomes thicker and my breathing is heavy with anticipation.
"A bet, if you win the race, I'm in your hands, otherwise, you'll be under my yoke, what do you think?" I suggest softly, he laughs, running his tongue over his lips as he stares at me.
"I'm in, and I'm prepared mi amor, because I'm going to be at the highest place on the podium today" He assures me and kisses me, the team calls him to run, I find Alex and Cleo in the corner of the garage, both playing with one of his kittens.
"Come on baby, let's let Uncle Alex run" I pick Cleo up and she whimpers, wanting to keep playing with the puppy. "then we play with the kitten, love, I promise" I say to to comfort her, Alex promises to leave the kitten with Cleo later. The two drivers prepare for the race and I decide to watch from Carlos' room. Cleo is not used to the noise of the cars and I don't want it to become a nuisance for her.
The whole race is full of unforeseen events and surprises, no one is really expecting Williams to perform well, but Carlos and Alex are getting everything they can out of the car, putting pressure on Lewis and Lando in the first positions, the last laps literally become a game of musical chairs, the four exchange risky overtakes, the last lap is marked by an interesting exchange and Carlos takes first place, with Lewis in second and Alex in third. Cleo and I celebrated in the pilot room until we were taken to the garage, When Carlos arrives, he is euphoric and celebrates with the team, I love seeing his joy, how well he is with Williams. He comes to us and picks Cleo up, throwing her in the air and making her laugh. I'm taken by surprise when he kisses me, amidst applause and screams from the team.
"Thank you, thank you for everything, mi amor, I love you, I love our family"
"I love you, chilli, and I know Cleo does too" I respond, leaving my face close to his and kissing him again. I never thought that my life would have such a huge turnaround and that I would end up here, once again in love with my best friend and, on top of that, being reciprocated by him. I thank each and every entity that has guided me to this moment, I thank my incredible partner, my perfect family and our wonderful family.
I watch Carlos go get his trophy, he refuses to leave Cleo in the garage and she loves being in the middle of the mess.
And I love seeing them.
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TO S-AWTURN™ 🪐. I do not allow copying or republication. Any unauthorized publication will be reported.
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hotnbloodied · 11 months ago
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I know you will probably ignore this but can you try doing Yan farmer x hero reader? (I guess an iskei trip or whatever idk I just wanna know if you could try and build with this idea)
I would never ignore a request, if I couldn't do it I'd let you know! But thank you so much for your request it was very fun to do! I hope that you enjoy~ ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚HB˚ʚ♡ɞ˚
Yan!Farmer X Isekai'd Reader
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!Warning! This post contains yandere themes and topics that may be uncomfortable to people who are sensitive to the topic, read at your own discretion.
TW: implied non-con, obsessive personality, controlling behavior, toxic relationships.
!!READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION!! MINORS DNI!!
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It’s been a month since you found yourself in a world very much like the mmorpg game you used to play back when you were on earth. The first week was extremely rough, in the first three days you were in a frenzy trying to get your wearabouts about you. A couple of knights found you and were actually pretty helpful in guiding you to the church where the nuns made sure you were fed and taken care of. On your calmer day you decided you wanted to try something and called out the menu aloud. You almost jumped when the all too familiar screen popped up in front of you, the only thing missing was the option to ‘quit game’. The next chance that you got you asked one of the nuns how you could go about being an adventurer.
Here you were getting the hang of your class, who knew that combat in real life would be harder than it would be in a game. Monsters were actually terrifying and being in the wild sucked but at least you weren’t relying on other people to get by now.
You might have been getting too comfortable though because while taking on a quest to get rid of some monsters terrorizing some local fields you all but reached your limit, you were tired and wounded but the request was done and you just needed to report back to the guild now but you passed out.
You woke with a jolt. You thought the knights found you and took you to the church again but after looking at your surroundings that didn’t seem to be the case since it looked like a quaint cabin. You also noticed you were bandaged up really well. The door creaked open and in came a person you never saw before. “Oh you’re awake! That’s good.” “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to intrude,” you told them. He shook his head, “It’s the least I can do after you helped clear our fields of monsters.” “Ah, I need to report back to the adventurer’s guild.” “You’re not in any condition to move! You need rest.” “I’m okay, I need to collect my money after all.” “Then, let me come with you.” Seeing no harm in that you allowed him to come with you. “I’m Mikha by the way!” The two of you exchange greetings and names. “Wow so you’ve only been an adventurer for a month? What made you want to be one?” “Change of pace I guess.”
After finishing the business at the adventurer's guild you were about to say your goodbyes with Mikha but he invited you to dinner and you couldn’t pass up free food. Back at his home you helped however you could in the kitchen but since everything was so primitive compared to your original world you were slow in learning. Over dinner you two talked about life, his parents died when he was young and he had to learn to take care of the farm from a young age in order to survive. He talked about how nice it was to have dinner with someone after being alone for so long. “Have you never thought about finding a spouse?” You asked. “I have, it’s just so hard when you have to tend the farm all the time.” The night ended with Mikha insisting that you spend the night there, which you agreed to since it’s better than camping out or spending money at an inn again.
A couple more months went by and you basically made yourself at home with Mikha. Even though he insisted that you paid with your company you still gave him money for his hospitality. All seemed to be going well until you informed Mikha that you were leaving this part of the continent to broaden your horizons of the world. “Mikha, are you okay? You dropped your food.” “I- I’m fine, when are you leaving?” “It’s going to take me a month to prepare so I���m not going any time soon.” “I’m going to miss you…” “I’ll miss you too! I’ll definitely try to write to you when I can.” Mikha lost his appetite, he thought everything was going good between the two of you, he thought he could convince you to stop adventuring someday and the two of you would settle down and start a family together. Was this really how it was going to end? No, he won’t allow it.
Your preparations were coming along and you were getting more and more excited about your journey. You couldn’t help but notice that Mikha seemed to have gotten quieter and just overall seemed to be more on edge. When you asked him what was wrong he’d vehemently tell you nothing was wrong.
Finally, the night before your journey arrived and Mihka had prepared more food than usual as a celebratory feast. You two ate and drank to your heart's content and Mihka even seemed like he was back to his cheerful self. After cleaning up, you went to go get a good night's rest but in the middle of the night you felt something burning in your core. You were extremely turned on and it was to a point where it was near uncomfortable. You squeezed your legs together, you tried to breathe it out and you even tried to relieve yourself but nothing was working. You didn’t even notice the knocking on your door until Mikha walked in to ask what was wrong. “Stay away from me!” You warned him, “I’m not in my right mind!” Mikha didn’t listen and because of that you jumped him and used him to your heart's content.
The next morning you were ashamed of yourself, you saw the marks and bruises you gave him from the night before. You were on your knees, crying and sobbing for forgiveness. He seemed like an angel when he pulled you in for a hug and told you everything is going to be okay but you’d need to take responsibility. You kissed your future dreams goodbye and eventually the two of you married and took care of the farm together. Mikha was just glad that you agreed to take responsibility so easily, but in case you ever tried to leave him, he would tell you about the succubus mark that was implanted on the two of you that night meant that no matter who else you decided to be with your lust wouldn’t have been satisfied by anyone except him.
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angelasscribbles · 24 days ago
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Crush: A Bad Romance One-Shot
Series: Bad Romance Continues
Original Series: Bad Romance
Fandom: The Royal Romance/The Royal Heir
Pairing for this chapter: Riley x Max, Riley x Drake, Riley x Liam with tiny hints of Liam x Max
Rating: Fluffy
Warnings for this chapter:  None
Word Count: 3,274 
Thanks to @kyra75 for this ask for the "secret admirer" prompt for the @choicesprompts 2024 Flufftober event. This is my late submission.
A/N: This is a prequel because we already know what happens during Bad Romance so it doesn't fit there. I could have placed it after but I would have had to either bring in a new person which I didn't want to do or go the predictable route of it turning out to be the person's partner all along. Instead, I decided to place it before the events of Bad Romance, and here's why: I've written next to nothing about Riley's first few months in Cordonia but Bad Romance does state that Liam had to work his butt off to pry Riley's attention away from Max during that time. In fact, Liam mentions it often because he's still salty about it. Max mentions it too because he did eventually get dumped for Liam. I thought this was a perfect place to show some of that. I know it's a little angsty, but I hope it's got enough fluff to satisfy the requirement.
To reiterate: This takes place in the first month of Riley being in Cordonia, while she is sleeping with Max, Liam is trying to change that and Drake is trying to pretend he doesn't like her like that.
My other stuff: Master List.
For the life of me, I cannot remember if someone sent me this image or if I stumbled across it myself. It's been in my save folder for awhile. I'd like to give proper credit, so if you sent it to me, speak up!
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Riley entered her room and stopped to smell the roses. The two dozen red roses to be exact. They had been delivered to her room earlier. She closed her eyes as the sweet floral scent washed over her.
The smell was sublime.
She opened her eyes to admire the blood red petals. Her fingers gently stroked a lush bloom, her expression contemplative as her mind whirled.
She turned her head to observe the man who had entered the room with her. “You’re sure they’re not from you?”
“Yes, Riley, I’m sure,” Max admittedly a little reluctantly.
“Any ideas who they might be from?”
He shrugged dismissively. “Could be anyone, really. You have many admirers at court. I’m not surprised one of them decided to shoot his shot.” Hana’s face flashed before his eyes. “Or hers.”
She fluttered her lashes at him. “Does that bother you?”
Max shook his head, and then gave her that boyish grin that always made her heart flutter. “How can I blame them? You’re the total package, babe.”
“You sweet talker.” Riley grinned at him as she strode across the room to pinch his cheeks.
Despite the fact that they were sleeping together, the simple sign of affection from her caused heat to flame across his face. He studied the toe of his shoe as he told her, “You deserve flowers. I should have thought to send you some.”
“Hey,” she put a finger under his chin and lifted his head. “The roses are lovely, but you do sweet things for me all the time. I’m very happy with our little…. Arrangement.”
His face lit up. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She leaned forward and brushed her lips softly across his. “We’re staying in tonight, right?”
They were in between royal events for the next week and while eating in the main dining hall was always an option, Max had suggested room service and a movie marathon in her room instead.
Riley had agreed because frankly, she was sick of Madeleine’s shit. Eating with all the bitchy divas of the nobility was not her idea of fun. Drake avoided her like the plague ever since their encounter on the plane ride over, and Liam rarely made appearances in the public dining hall in between official royal events.
Not that she was interested in him. Their night in New York aside, she knew he would never choose a waitress to be queen. He couldn’t. So, she had found other diversions.
She could certainly do a lot worse than Maxwell Beaumont.
“Right,” Max agreed, as a shiver ran down his spine at her touch. “I had the kitchen make your favorite dinner.”
“See?” she purred. “That’s what I mean about how thoughtful you are.”
“Let’s meet back here at dinnertime, okay?” He stepped away from her and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?”
“You’ll see.” He gave her a mischievous grin as he exited the room.
“Okay then.” With a furrowed brow, she returned her attention to the roses. After a brief moment of consideration, her decision was made.
She might not know why Max was acting weird all of a sudden, but she had enough time before dinner to do a little investigation into her secret admirer.
****
“I’m coming!” Drake yelled in irritation.
Who the fuck was knocking on his door in the middle of the afternoon on his day off?
“Can’t get any peace and quiet ever.” He muttered under his breath as he yanked the door open. “What?”
His eyes widened with a sharp intake of breath. “Riley! What are you doing here?” His eyes darted frantically up and down the hallway. This girl was a scandal waiting to happen.
“Was it you?”
“Was what me?”
“The flowers. Were they from you?” Her gaze bore into him with laser intensity.
His forehead creased as he tried to make sense of the conversation. “Flowers?”
Her eyes scanned his face, then she shook her head. “Of course not.”
His brain finally caught up. “Someone sent you flowers?”
“Isn’t that what I just said?”
“Weren’t they from your boyfriend?”
Was that a note of bitterness she detected? She smiled from ear to ear as her body swayed slightly back and forth. “What boyfriend would that be?”
His face fixed in a scowl, he grunted, “Max.”
She bit into her lower lip as she leaned forward and ran a hand up his arm. “Are you jealous of Max?”
His arms crossed defensively over his chest as he took a step back. “No!”
“Sure, you’re not. But someone sent me two dozen roses, and it wasn’t Max. Any ideas who it could have been?”
Drake blew out a resigned sigh. Of fucking course he knew who it was. Who else would it be? But he wasn’t telling her that.
While he wasn’t going to stand in Liam’s way, he sure as hell wasn’t going to help him. Instead, he shrugged with what he hoped was nonchalance as he shook his head. “Nope.”
“Okay. Bye then.” She spun on her heel and started back down the hallway.
“Riley, wait!” He stumbled out the door into the hallway, ready to sprint after her.
She stopped and turned back with arched eyebrows. “Yes?”
“I…” All the reasons he should not and could not pursue this woman poured through his mind as he stood frozen in the middle of the corridor.
“Well?”
He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Never mind. It’s nothing.”
“Hm. Well, if it’s ever something, you know where my room is.” She wiggled her fingers at him before spinning to leave again.
He watched her go as frustration and regret danced through his chest.
****
Riley questioned several guards and a couple of butlers, but no one knew anything.
She was on her way back to her room when she bumped right into Liam. She found herself tangled in his embrace, laughter rumbling through him as he caught her. “Whoa there! Where’s the fire?”
“Liam!” She made no move to extract herself from his arms. Instead, she smiled up at him. “Sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking.”
“I see that!” He stared down at her with a sappy grin for several long seconds before remembering himself. He cleared his throat as he stepped away from her. “Were you on your way to the dining hall?”
“No, my room, actually.”
“I hope everything is okay.”
She gave him a bright smile as she leaned in and lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Everything is fine. I just can’t take another dinner with those fucking harpies.”
Liam threw his head back and laughed. Yes, it was a scandalous remark, but he found her honesty refreshing. He found everything about her refreshing, not to mention alluring. He moved closer to her to whisper, “Why do you think I never eat in the public dining hall?”
It was her turn to laugh. “Oh, my! What an unprincely thing to say!”
“You seem to bring out that side of me.” His tone suddenly serious, he blurted, “Have dinner with me tonight? In my private dining room?”
“I’d love to, but I already have plans for tonight.”
“Oh. I thought you said you were having dinner in your roo—”
“Yes, we are.”
His shoulders slumped. “I see.”
“Tomorrow?”
His head snapped up. “You’ll have dinner with me tomorrow?”
“Sure. Why not?”
“That’s…. not exactly the response I was hoping for—”
“I mean, if you’d rather not—”
“No! No… I mean yes! I mean… I definitely want to have dinner with you, Riley. Tomorrow night it is.”
“Great. Just text me the time.”
He immediately whipped out his phone and sent her a text.
She rewarded him with a seductive smirk. “That was quick.”
“He who hesitates is lost.”
“I would have said you snooze, you lose. But that works too.”
“I don’t intend to lose.”
“Lose what?”
His voice was unusually low and quiet as he returned the phone to his pocket. “You, Riley.”
Riley Brooks was seldom taken aback by anything a man said, but that did the trick. “What?”
“Surely you haven’t forgotten our night in New York so easily.”
“Of course, not. I just didn’t think—”
“Did you like the roses? They’re from my mother’s garden.”
“That was you?”
“Yes.”
“But…why?”
“Why?” He looked at her with his mouth agape. Glancing around quickly to ensure they were still alone in the hallway; he reached for her and yanked her body to his. Lowering his lips to her ear, he murmured, “I know you think New York was just about sex and that a prince would never marry a waitress, but you’re wrong, Riley. Dead wrong. On both counts.”
She pulled back to search his onyx eyes with her emerald ones. She couldn’t help the skepticism in her voice. “Really?”
“Yes, really! What do I have to do to convince you of that?”
“I don’t know, Liam. But it’s going to take more than a few roses.”
Gifts were not about to win her over. Sure, she had come from poverty, but he hadn’t. Material things were easy for him to come by and easy for him to part with. Simply spending money on her only convinced her that he wanted to sleep with her.
While sex with the smoking hot prince was something she was more than willing to engage in, she refused to let her heart get involved when she already knew disappointment was waiting at the end.
No matter what he said, he was never going to marry her. He wasn’t in love with her. He was in lust with her and that was something she was familiar with, something she could roll with. But she would not be tricked into letting her feelings get involved.
If he expected her to fall in love, he was going to have to invest a lot more than just money. That was too easy. She refused to be merely one more victim in the trail of broken hearts he’d left behind him.
Liam watched her walk away with a myriad of emotions crashing through him. If she wanted him to work harder to get her attention, he would do that. He knew she liked him. The night in New York had proven that. But since her arrival in Cordonia, she had frozen him out. Were her plans tonight with Max? What the fuck did she see in Max that she didn’t see in him? It was frustrating, galling, and, if he were being honest with himself, a little thrilling. He did love a good challenge.
***
Riley let herself back into her room to a stupendous surprise. The two dozen red roses still graced the console table near the entry, but every other available surface, save the bed, was now covered in vases brimming with all manner of blue flowers. Deep blue roses, baby blue hydrangeas, several shades of carnations, and blue and white morning glories, among others, were spread across the tops of the dresser, the end tables, and the vanity.
She gasped as she turned circles, taking it all in. “Max! What is this?”
“Ah…” pink flamed across his cheeks. “I know red roses are romantic and all, but I also know blue is your favorite color, so I took a chance that you might like them.”
“Like them? Max, I love them! But you didn’t have to do all this just because Liam sent me flowers.”
“It was Liam?” His heart sank.
He felt pretty confident about his chances of competing against most of the men at court. But Liam was another story entirely. Of course, she would want Liam. Hell, he wanted Liam, so he certainly couldn’t blame her.
Maybe now was the time to tell her that his feelings for her were real. That it was more than just fun and games for him. “Riley, I—”
There was a knock on the door.
“Hold that thought,” she told him as she strode across the room to answer it.
She pulled the door open to find Drake standing in the hallway. Her face lit up with surprised delight. “Hey, handsome! Did you finally decide on something?”
“I…ah... wanted to talk—” his words cut off mid-sentence as Max appeared in the doorway behind her. A storm raged across his face. “You know what? Never mind. I shouldn’t have—”
“Drake? What are you doing here?”
All three heads turned toward the new voice.
Drake’s brain spun frantically, trying to find a reasonable explanation for his presence. “Ah, I noticed they were missing from the dining hall and wanted to make sure everything was okay.”
Liam’s shoulders relaxed. He had asked Drake to keep an eye on her for him. To personally ensure her safety.
“What are you doing here?” Riley directed her question to Liam.
“I needed to change the time of our date tomorrow night.”
Max stiffened. Drake inspected the casing around the doorframe.
“You couldn’t have texted me that?”
“I could have…” that sparkle that she remembered from New York was back in his eyes. “But I wanted to see you in person.”
“Hm.” She smiled as her finger tapped her lips. “Well, since you’re both here, would you like to come in and join us? We were going to have dinner sent up and have a movie marathon.”
Drake looked skeptically from her to Liam to Max. “I don’t know if we should—”
“I’d love to!” Liam swept into the room with satisfaction radiating from every pore of his body. He pushed past a dismayed Max.
That satisfaction evaporated as he took in the scene in front of him. “That’s a lot of blue flowers.”
Max perked up as his arm went around Riley’s shoulder. “Blue is her favorite color, so I thought she might like some to offset all that red.”
“Yes, I get it. You had to go big after copying my idea.”
“I—” Max’s reply was cut off by Riley’s hand on his chest. “No fighting, boys. We’re going to watch movies and have fun tonight.” Turning back toward Drake, she motioned for him to come in. “Are you going to stand in the hallway or are you going to get in here and help me make sure these two behave?”
Drake hesitated only a second or two.
What could it hurt?
He glanced around at the room full of flowers. Two dozen of Cordonia’s finest red roses, straight from the crown’s own garden shimmered in the waning daylight. At least a dozen vases of flowers turned the room into a shimmering ocean of blue. The younger son of one of Cordonia’s noblest houses and the crown prince himself at a standoff over her attentions, and still she wanted him there. That meant something, right?
Not that he was interested in her. If Liam got his way, and Liam usually did, she was going to be the next queen and his best friend’s wife. Both of those things put her firmly off limits to him, no matter how much she inflamed his desires, haunted his dreams, and bedeviled his waking hours.
Still. What could it hurt to watch a couple of movies with her and two of his oldest friends? It was really Liam and Max he was staying for. To make sure they didn’t fight over her too much. Yeah, that’s why he was staying.
Riley leaned over and whispered into Max’s ear. His scowl was replaced with a flushed face and a broad grin. He nodded as he pulled his phone from his pocket and started swiping. His eyes flicked up long enough to say, “Make yourselves comfortable. I’ll have the kitchen send up more food.”
Drake took the lounge chair next to the bed just as Riley climbed up and settled herself in the middle of the bed. She patted the space on either side of her. “Who wants to join me?”
Before Drake could react, Liam was in the closest spot and Max had hurled himself onto the bed, clambering over two sets of legs to claim the other side. With a disgruntled shake of his head, he thumped back into the chair.
This had been a bad idea.
But it hadn’t been a bad idea. His misgivings were soon put to rest as they all balanced their dinner plates on their laps and got completely and inexplicably sucked into Barbie.
Not a movie he would have picked, but as it turned out, it was not a kid’s movie at all. The existential angst, the clever humor, the insightfulness, and the adventure had him forgetting the awkwardness of the situation and laughing along with his friends at the onscreen antics. He was relaxed and actually enjoying his night off.
Max had pushed aside his insecurities about Liam, choosing to focus, instead, on the promises Riley had whispered in his ear about the rewards he’d receive later for being a good boy and playing nice with everyone. His eyes kept sliding sidewise to gauge her reactions to the movie. He wanted to share all of them with her…. every laugh, every gasp, every moment. Not just of the movie, he realized, but for the rest of his life.
His gaze flicked briefly to the man on her other side. He knew Liam was still an obstacle, but he had infinite amounts of patience and faith, deep in his heart, that everything would work out in the end.
Liam didn’t miss the sidelong glances Max was throwing at both him and Riley. He couldn’t say he was completely oblivious to Max’s charms, but he was nothing if not persistent.
She didn’t trust him yet. That was fine. He would prove to her that she could. She needed him to put in work, and he would do that. He had yet to set his mind to any task that he couldn’t master. He just needed to try harder, be smarter, and focus deeper. Winning her heart would be worth it. He knew to the very core of his being that they belonged together.
Long after the dishes had been cleared, and the night had deepened, Riley lay with her head on Liam’s shoulder, drifting off as the credits for the latest Ghostbusters movie rolled. Max was curled up against her on her other side, one arm slung over her waist as Liam’s fingers gently combed through her hair. The sound of Drake’s soft snoring drifted through the room.
She should probably wake everyone and tell them to go sleep in their own beds. That would be far more comfortable, especially for Drake, who was dozing in a chair. But the warmth emanating from the men on either side of her, combined with the softness of the bed and the darkness of the room, lulled her into a contented coziness that she was loathe to break.
The quiet hum of the air conditioning filled the room as the TV clicked off, sealing her decision as she let herself drift off to sleep surrounded by the sounds, scents, and warmth of the three men who had commanded all her attention for the last month.
For the moment, none of them were fighting each other or her. Their earlier laughter still rang in her ears. For tonight, things were peaceful, calm, and happy, and not a single one of them wanted to do anything to disrupt that.
Liam was the last one left awake. He kissed the top of her head and whispered, “Good night, Riley.” Before closing his eyes and slipping into a contented slumber of his own.
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brbsoulnomming · 1 year ago
Text
Tell Me Sweet Little Lies Part 19
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | AO3
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This time, it's Steve that wakes them up in the middle of the night.
Eddie's disoriented for a moment, unsure what jolted him awake, until he looks over and sees Steve laying on his back in the low light, tense and straining.
"Scoops Ahoy, I work for Scoops Ahoy!" Steve's shouting, the words rough like they're being ripped from his throat. "I already told you!"
Fuck.
"Steve?" Eddie asks, voice raspy from sleep. "Hey, Steve, come on, wake up."
Steve shouts again, jerking like he's struggling against something - or maybe like he's getting hit - and Eddie bolts upright, hands hovering over him.
Should he touch him? What if it makes things worse, what if -
"Steve," he says again, a little louder, as he risks pressing his hand to Steve's chest to shake him a little.
Steve's eyes fly open, and Eddie watches him do the same thing he'd done in the hospital when Dustin jolted him awake - reach one hand down under his bed and reach the other hand out in search of a bed partner.
Only this time, Steve's first hand comes up gripping a baseball bat with fucking nails hammered into it, and his other hand comes into contact with Eddie. There's a quick stab of worry that he's not going to be familiar enough to shake Steve out of it the way Dustin had, especially since Steve's eyes are still unfocused and distant as they land on Eddie.
He must be familiar to something in Steve, though, because he doesn't move after that, watching Eddie and breathing harshly.
"Robin," Steve says a little desperately. "They got her, too, we have to - Erica, Dustin, fuck, I gave them Dustin's name, we have to make sure-"
"Dustin's okay," Eddie manages to get out, all in a rush. "Robin got out, Erica and Dustin are okay."
The vague familiarity shifts into a firm recognition after Eddie speaks, and Steve's eyes focus a little more clearly on him.
"Eddie?" he asks, and Eddie can see Steve trying to sort himself out, to put things back into place. "Vecna. Max, Lucas, are they-"
"Safe," Eddie cuts in. "They're safe, Stevie, everyone's safe."
Steve's quiet for a moment, breathing slowly starting to even out, and then he shifts, eyes roaming over Eddie before settling on his face.
"You too?"
Eddie swallows. "Yeah, me too. I'm here, and we're all safe."
Steve tilts his head, face a little scrunched like he does when he's considering something, then he nods. "Okay."
He sets the bat back down, tucking it under his bed once more, then pushes himself up so he's sitting back against his headboard. Eddie joins him, feeling his own heartbeat start to slow.
"Wasn't sure that was going to work," Eddie admits.
Steve quirks a little smile. "You're my soulmate. You can't lie to me. If you say everyone's safe, then they're safe."
Oh.
"I, uh. Good, that's good, then."
Fuck, Eddie's bad at this.
Except it seems to work for Steve, who just sits there with him.
"Hey, I never asked - are you okay with hiding out here?" Steve says after a while.
Eddie tips his head to stare at him. "Does it look like I've got any other options?"
Steve's shoulders droop a little. "No, yeah, I know that, but - are you okay with it?"
"This is a hell of a lot nicer than the last place I was holed up in." Eddie gives a careless shrug, a little pleased that he can actually manage the motion without pain, now. "Plus, you know, it's got my soulmate, and room service, so I'm pretty good here."
Steve seems to accept that, because he gives an amused little huff and knocks their shoulders together.
"You're the one we need to be worried about, not me. If they find me, you should say I forced you to let me stay here," Eddie says, even though he's pretty sure he knows what Steve's response to that is going to be. "We don't have to tell anyone."
Steve snorts. "If they find you, the first thing I'd do is tell them you're my soulmate and you have every right to be here."
Eddie's breath catches. All right, no, he hadn't known what his response would be. He'd assumed that Steve wouldn't go along with pretending Eddie'd forced him into this, but he hadn't imagined that Steve would want to publicly announce their soulbond like that. "Steve," he whispers, not able to get anything else out.
Steve waits for him, though, the two of them sitting up in bed, not quite touching each other but still so damn close.
"Claim your soulmate rights, then," Eddie says after a while. "So they can't question you too."
"No," Steve replies without hesitation. "They're not going to get you for this, Eds. If I need to be there to show them that you're not lying, I will."
His heart immediately lodges itself right in his throat. "You don't want to do that."
"If they bring you in? Damn right I do. They can handcuff me right next to you."
Before all this, the mention of him and Steve and handcuffs on one or both of them might have got him thinking something very, very different. It's a testament to how much they've been through that his mind doesn't even go there.
Or, really, it's a testament to the fact that he can still feel Steve's heart beating rabbit fast under his palm, can still hear him screaming Scoops Ahoy, I work for Scoops Ahoy! that makes him immediately and viscerally opposed to the idea.
"Maybe I don't want you to." It comes out snappier than he'd meant it to, and he winces.
Steve watches him, head tilted just a little like he's waiting for something.
To see if Eddie's lying, he thinks.
When nothing comes, Steve nods to himself. "Too far?" he asks quietly.
Eddie considers that for a moment. "No," he admits, because he doesn't want to deflect and any other answer would be a lie. He shifts, until he can find the spot on Steve's ribs where he'd seen you know all I care about is you and your safety earlier, and rubs his thumb over it. "I don't want you to go through anything like that ever again, especially not for me."
Steve sucks in a breath, though Eddie doesn't think he can feel anything with his shirt in between their touch.
"Not fair," Steve murmurs. "I don't know where my response to you is."
Eddie swallows roughly. "Inside of my left thigh."
For a moment, as Steve shifts a little, he thinks he might actually reach for it - doesn't know what the fuck he's going to do if he does, because there's no way Eddie's going to be able to hide his reaction - but Steve just sighs.
"It's just the Hawkins PD," he says softly. "It'll be different."
He guesses he can't really protest that, even though he kind of wants to. Steve was the one who went through it, and if Steve says it'll be different, he needs to accept it, just - he still doesn't like it, doesn't like the idea of Steve having to put himself in that position just for Eddie. He doesn't say anything, just sits there with their only point of contact the hand on Steve's ribs that he can't bring himself to move away.
"You talked to me again." Steve's voice is quiet - they both know he did, so it's not about the words. It's a prompt, the same way Eddie took to prompting Steve when they were planning for Vecna.
"I was worried I was going to lose you," Eddie admits. "Me being mad at you for high school shit felt overwhelmingly stupid, in the face of that. I didn't want to risk that no one else knew you were lying about not being hurt worse."
Something complicated flickers through Steve's expression, and he tips his head down, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Eddie sucks in a breath and lets it out, thinks about asking what is it - but he doesn't want to put Steve in a position where he has to lie or deflect if he doesn't want to say it. So he settles for, "Will you tell me?"
He can see Steve's throat working for a moment before he answers.
"I tried not to lie, when they asked me things," Steve says, so quiet Eddie can barely hear him. "I knew I had two soulmates by then, but I didn't know one was Robin, and I didn't - I didn't want the first real thing you guys got from me after so long to be that. Half truths are easy for me, anyway. But some things-"
He cuts off, head thumping back against the wall.
"Steve," Eddie says, slow and gentle. "Can I touch you more?"
Steve nods, and Eddie scoots closer so he can carefully pull Steve into a hug. Steve sinks into him, wrapping his arms around him without hesitation, and Eddie thinks fuck it, clinging on as tight as he can.
"You don't have to look at them," Eddie mumbles. "You won't ever have to see them if you don't want to. But I'm proud of those words on my skin, Stevie. They mean you survived, they mean my soulmate is a fucking badass."
The breath that Steve pulls in sounds ragged. "Robin said that, too. That every time she felt something getting written on her, she knew it meant I was still there. She helped me talk to you, after. I just - I wasn't sure it was you, or anyone in Hawkins, but I couldn't risk it. I was afraid they'd come after you."
Eddie's not sure what to say to that. He settles for burying his face into Steve's neck, and just breathing him in. They stay like that for a long while, until finally Steve hisses softly and starts to pull away.
"Can't hold my stomach muscles like that for so long yet," he says, and Eddie doesn't think he's imagining that Steve sounds reluctant.
"You wanna lay down?" Eddie asks before he's really thought it through.
It takes a little bit of shifting around to find a position that's comfortable for both of them. They end up on their backs, sides pressed together, half turned so they can look at each other.
"Hi," Eddie says once they're settled, hearing the dopey grin in his voice and completely uncaring.
"Hi," Steve replies, his own smile soft and pleased and full of a silly affection. "Oh, hey, do you want to tell everyone tomorrow?"
"That we're soulmates?" Eddie asks.
"Yeah. I mean, you don't gotta let me hold your hand and stuff like I do with Robs, unless you want-"
"I want," Eddie cuts in, before Steve can say what else he does with Robin that he won't be doing with Eddie. "If you want, I mean. I don't know, I'm new at this soulmate stuff. I'm counting on you to be my Yoda here."
Steve wrinkles his nose. "That's the little green guy, right? Who talks in riddles?"
Eddie huffs out a little laugh, watches Steve's eyes crinkle in amusement for a moment before he responds. "You and Dustin had a secret handshake with a lightsaber battle and you're calling Yoda the little green guy who talks in riddles?"
Steve shrugs, the blankets shifting with the movement. "I call it like I see it. Little green riddle guy and the teddy bears."
Eddie groans, tipping his head away. "I can't look at you right now, man."
Steve bumps their shoulders together - and then does it again, and again, and again, until Eddie finally gives up the act and looks at him.
"How about we figure this out together?" Steve asks.
Oh.
"Yeah, I can do that," Eddie agrees. "Let's tell the hoard tomorrow."
They tell Robin first, the next morning.
Not that there's really much to tell. Once the rest of the party has absconded to the living room with breakfast and the three of them are alone in the kitchen, she immediately rounds on Steve and lifts up her shirt, pointing accusingly at I don't think you're clever written just below her belly button.
"Really, Steve?" she demands. "What, were you and Eddie missing a few with the demobat bites, so you just had to create some more to make up for it?"
…fuck, despite them talking about Robin half the time, Eddie had completely forgotten she was going to get those lies written on her, too. He swallows, trying to ignore how loudly his heart is beating.
She looks between them, though, and her demeanor softens.
"Oh," she says quietly.
The next thing Eddie knows, he's getting folded up into a hug with her and Steve - both of them are holding onto him so tightly that he can't really tell who's grabbing what part of him, that it honestly hurts a little, and he never wants it to stop.
"They've always meant something different to me," Eddie says, somehow able to admit that now that he's completely wrapped up in the two of them, when he couldn't say it directly to Steve last night.
"They're the only reason I knew I hadn't lost my soulmate before I told him I knew who he was," Robin replies, and oh, that must be her chin hooked over his shoulder.
"I told him," Steve says softly, voice muffled from somewhere in Eddie's hair. "About them being a lifeline."
They stay like that for longer than Eddie can keep track of - for longer than they probably should, with his and Steve's injuries, and with the rest of the party out in the living room.
Eventually, Robin pulls back to look at him, her eyes narrowed a little.
"You're mine now, too," she tells him. "You know that, right?"
Part of him wants to brush it off and say something about how he'd known for a while that she and Steve were a package deal, or make a joke about how possessive this weird little party is, but - the words die on his lips as he looks back and forth between her and Steve, sees the almost identical solemn expressions on their face.
"I, uh. Yeah, I'm working on getting that."
He is. He's working on believing all of them when they say that he's one of them - and when they show it to him, over and over.
Steve reaches out to both of them, taking one of their hands in each of his and lacing their fingers together, giving a brief squeeze before he lets go. "Ready?"
"No," Eddie grumbles. "But let's do this anyway."
He takes a deep breath, like he's fortifying himself, then follows Steve and Robin out into the living room.
"Are you guys done having your soulmate cry session?" Erica asks without even looking up from the mountain of syrup drenched French toast she's working on.
"Erica!" Lucas hisses.
"What?" Erica demands, looking up to point her fork between Steve and Eddie. "Did you want to wait for those two idiots to bluster around figuring out how to tell us, like we didn't already know?"
Mike - kind of looks like a fish, gaping at them, and Eddie doesn't manage to hide his somewhat hysterical giggle. "We didn't already know!"
Erica switches her gaze over to Mike, raising a very judgmental eyebrow. "That sounds like a Mike Wheeler problem."
"We didn't know," Lucas says. "We just kind of suspected after the whole 'oh yeah, Eddie used to talk to his soulmate like Steve and Robin did' thing."
Shit.
Okay, yeah, in hindsight he guesses Robin admitting to talking to her soulmate as well wasn't a cover at all now that he knows everyone knew about her and Steve's soulmate situation.
"He's also living in your house and wearing your clothes, Steve," Nancy points out.
"For almost a week," Dustin adds. "The only other people who've stayed over that long are me and Robin."
Steve sputters. "Because he's on the lam!"
Eddie smacks a hand over his own mouth so that hysterical giggle doesn't become semi hysterical laughter.
"On the lam?" Max scoffs, rolling her eyes. "Okay, he's been on the lam in your house, in your clothes, for almost a week. We weren't supposed to wonder?"
Steve groans. "Okay, fine, but I'd do it even if he wasn't my soulmate. You guys know that, right? That I'd do the same for any of you?" There's a hint of uncertainty in his eyes, that Eddie thinks he can only pick up because they've been in each other's space so much - like Steve honestly thinks there's a chance the rest of them don't know how much he's willing to do for them.
Erica tilts her head at him, watching Steve closely as she considers that. "Okay, then, I'll take your teal sweater."
There's a beat of silence.
"What?" Erica asks. "He may be a nerd and a dumbass, but at least he has decent fashion sense."
"I want the red sweater," Dustin announces.
"The blue and yellow striped polo!" Lucas chimes in.
"The gray jacket!" Max calls.
Robin bursts into laughter, sounding like it's erupting out of her after too long of holding it back, and Eddie refuses to look at her because if he does he's going to -
His eyes make contact with hers as she bends over, cackling, and nope, that's it, he's laughing too.
Max is whispering something in El's ear when he looks back over at them, making El light up a little before she says, "I would like the green plaid button up."
Which prompts Will to perk up, bumping her shoulder with his and going, "No, El, that's not fair, come on."
El gives him a tiny smile, something almost mischievous in her eyes. "If you get the purple one we can share them."
"Done," Will agrees.
"This was not an invitation for you shitheads to raid my closet!" Steve bitches, looking between them all like he isn't sure if he should be flattered or irritated, and mostly just coming across as that fond exasperation that Eddie already knows so well.
"Kind of sounds like it was, man," Argyle informs him, with Jonathan nodding solemnly in agreement.
Eddie's pretty sure they're both a little stoned, which is kind of impressive considering it's just past 10am, but who is he to judge?
"…I wouldn't turn down the blue Henley," Jonathan says after a moment.
Eddie sputters. "Uh-uh, nope, that one's mine, Byers, I've already been wearing it and everything."
"Not the dark blue one, the light blue one," Nancy puts in.
"No one gets any of his khakis!" Robin manages to get out in between giggles. "I already have dibs on those."
Dustin makes a face at her. "You have dibs on everything."
"Soulmate privileges," she replies matter-of-factly.
Steve is suspiciously silent. It doesn't seem like his input is actually needed at this point, considering all of them have worked themselves all up and are gleefully letting themselves get distracted with something that isn't the open gates or Upside Down creatures or the police, but Eddie glances at him out of the corner of his eye anyway. He looks bemused - like he can't quite figure out what's going on here, but he doesn't want to interrupt it.
"Mike, do you want to claim something?" El asks - almost politely, like she's just worried Mike hadn't gotten his turn.
Eddie's pretty sure if it was someone else asking that question, they'd get a full on Mike Wheeler scowl, but she just gets a little huff.
"Why would I want anything of Steve's?" Mike retorts.
Nancy makes this little noise of disagreement. "Mike doesn't need to claim anything, he already has-"
"Nancy!" Mike hisses, sounding horrified.
Max immediately pounces on that. "Oh my God, what is it?"
Mike scrambles up from his spot by Will and El, like he thinks he can just tackle Nancy and solve the problem. "Nancy don't!"
"Christmas sweater!" Nancy announces from where she's ducked behind Jonathan and Argyle, who look somewhat confused but perfectly pleased to be there.
"Christmas sweater?" Lucas repeats. "Wait, the reindeer one? That's Steve's?"
"You kept it?" Steve asks. His face is doing this smug, cocky grin, but Eddie can hear the faint note of surprise in his voice.
"Kept it? He wore it the last two Christmas breaks," Dustin retorts, somehow looking even more smug than Steve. "When did you even get it?"
"New Years 84," Mike grumbles, apparently resigned to the fact that he's not going to get at Nancy as he settles back in between El and Will. "Mom and Dad made us go to this stupid midnight celebration as a stupid family and it was stupid cold and no one told me it was going to be outside half the stupid time. Steve still had the stupid reindeer sweater even though it wasn't Christmas anymore-"
"The Christmas season lasts until New Years, everyone knows that," Steve cuts in.
Mike rolls his eyes so hard that it looks painful.
"It's okay to like Steve," El informs Mike. "We all do."
Mike turns red, which is expected. Steve's ears go pink, which - is not expected, but is both really fucking adorable and a little sad. Does he really not get how much these people like him?
Eddie'll have to talk to Robin to see how she's working on that, he thinks.
"I don't - that's not -" Mike stammers.
"Friends don't lie," El says seriously.
Or at least, it seems serious, until he catches the glint in her eye, realizes it looks remarkably similar to the one in Will's as he adds, "Yeah, Mike. Friends don't lie."
If Eddie didn't know better, he'd believe those two really were twins.
"I like the reindeer sweater," El adds, graciously giving Mike an out.
"How about this," Steve says. "If we all stop plotting to steal my clothes, El gets a reindeer sweater for Christmas this year and everyone gets a pool party when Eddie's out of the woods."
Eddie doesn't want to ask if Steve means when he's healed up enough for a pool party or when his name has been cleared. Instead, he goes for, "What if I want a Christmas sweater?"
Steve gives him this bitchy little look.
Unfortunately for Steve, Eddie just thinks it's cute.
"Fine, everyone gets a pool party and Christmas sweaters," Steve says. "Deal?"
The younger members of the party all look at each other.
"Deal," Erica says, at the same time as Mike goes, "Ugh, fine."
Steve rolls his eyes. "All right, what's the plan for the day?"
It becomes a routine over the next few days. The Harrington house seems to fall into a kind of headquarters for the party, and from after breakfast to after dinner, there's always at least a handful of them over.
Robin and Eddie put their feet down in unison over Steve attempting to sign himself up for the first patrol, and get him to agree to wait until his stitches are out by the combined forces of their glares. Steve sulks a bit, but settles for the less physically intensive shit like manning walkies, restocking their first aid kits, volunteering at the high school, and making sure everyone is fed. It makes it easier on Eddie, too, means he can help Steve in the kitchen or take his turn manning the walkies, distract the kids by talking D&D, keeps him from feeling useless.
Eddie won't admit it, but part of him is nervous about Robin finally being able to come stay over at Steve's. He'd told her he'd stay in the same room as Steve until she was able to, after all, and if she tells him to get his ass back over to the guest room, he will. Most of him doesn't really think she would - not since both she and Steve know about his nightmares - but it's, you know, a possibility. Especially because the only other option is for all of them to share Steve's bed, or one of them to sleep on the floor, and he just.
Well.
He can't sleep on the floor, not yet. He's not healed all the way.
If he's really honest with himself, he's nervous because he wants all three of them to share Steve's bed. He wants both of them close by, wants to be able to wake up and have them right there, and he feels guilty about it. With him there, there's no way Steve and Robin could get up to any kind of celebratory thank fuck we're alive activities.
Granted, he's not sure Steve's up for much of those activities, but from what he hears on the rumor mill, Steve's a pretty resourceful guy. Eddie's sure they could get up to something. They've disappeared into the bathroom together a couple of times, and he doesn't think they've been in there long enough for anything too heavy - not that he's got enough experience in anything to know, but still, they could -
No, fuck, that isn't the kind of thing he needs to think about for so, so many reasons, and he does his best to push all of that right out of his head.
There's no reason to be nervous.
When the others go home for the night, and it's just the three of them left helping each other climb up the stairs - it turns out there really isn't.
Eddie's leaning half on Robin, and she doesn't even hesitate as she turns to guide them both to Steve's room. Robin's up first in the bathroom, then Eddie, and when he comes out and Steve goes in - the bed's already been turned down, the pile of pillows he and Steve have been using arranged to better suit three people.
Robin's sprawled on one end of the bed, the opposite side that Steve likes. Eddie hadn't really thought about sleeping arrangements. The obvious configuration is to put Steve in the middle, but he knows Steve needs to be on the end, closest to the door and to the nail studded bat he's got under the bed. Which must mean -
"Come on," she says, scooting over a little.
Eddie swallows, wordlessly shuffling into bed and settling in the middle.
"You better not kick," Robin tells him.
And he's got a great comeback for that, really, he does, something about her elbows and his wounded guts, but he must take too long, because her expression goes more sober.
"You almost died, Eddie," she says softly. "You're going to be the PB&J in this sandwich for a while, until we can both get that image out of our heads."
"I, uh. I didn't know," he says, which sounds so dumb he can hardly believe it, but she at least seems to get what he's saying.
"Well, you do now," she tells him matter-of-factly. "Better get used to it."
Steve's soft humming grows a little louder as he comes out of the bathroom, climbing into bed on Eddie's other side.
There's more than enough room for all of them, but they're still so close, the three of them, and Eddie isn't sure if it's everything he's ever wanted or if it makes him want to run again.
Both.
"Light off or on?" Steve asks them.
Eddie glances at Robin, but she's looking at him, so he pulls in a breath and thinks about it for a moment. "Off," he says eventually.
Steve clicks off the lamp on his nightstand, then settles back down. None of them are touching, but both Steve and Robin are so close that he can almost feel them, and he wants - fuck he wants them closer. He feels kind of pathetic about it, partly because it goes against the image he's worked so hard to maintain and partly because he knows he can't ask for it. He's too afraid to ask for it, to be told no, that's weird, you're a grown man and you shouldn't want to cuddle with your soulmate and your soulmate's soulmate.
But then Steve reaches across him and takes Robin's hand, lacing their fingers together. Their joined hands rest on Eddie's chest, careful of where his injuries are, and Eddie - tries not to move, tries not to tremble, tries not to even breathe hard. Slowly, he lifts his own hand and settles it over theirs, fingers curling to hold on. Steve gives a contented little hum, and Robin echoes it on his other side, and Eddie -
Eddie closes his eyes against the sting of tears, sudden and shocking, sandwiched between the two people who've made him feel the safest he's been since Uncle Wayne. There's a thought there, lurking in the back of his mind, but he's asleep long before he can sort it out.
The next day, he's sitting at the kitchen table with Robin, watching Steve fry up some eggs and bacon, when it comes back to him.
"Are Mrs. Byers and Hopper the only Hawkins adults who know about all of this?" he asks.
Robin and Steve look at each other, and Robin shrugs.
"Technically, you and Steve are adults now, but yeah. Why?" Robin asks.
Eddie frowns. "Something Mike said. How Joyce left you guys here, and Nancy told him she wouldn't have done that if they weren't all safe."
There's another, longer look exchanged between Steve and Robin.
"The Byers house was listed for sale for a while before they moved," Steve says, a little reluctantly. "Their family's been through a lot. After Hopper - I think she just wanted out."
Eddie's mouth opens, closes as he thinks better of blurting out his initial reaction, then opens again. "So, she just - moved across the country, leaving the only ones who knew anything about what's been going on here as a bunch of high schoolers and one who only just graduated? Even though every time you guys had thought it was over in the past, it came back?"
Robin's flat, steely look tells him exactly what she thinks of Joyce Byers moving to California and leaving them all behind without her needing to say a damn thing. Steve looks like he's physically repressing himself from saying something bitchy, and turns all his focus back onto carefully flipping the eggs without breaking the yolks.
"Shit," Eddie says absently. "Can we tell my uncle? He might take a little convincing, but he won't freak out, and I can guarantee he won't ever leave us."
"I'm not going to object to another actual adult being in the know," Robin says, but she's looking over at Steve.
His jaw has tightened, and he moves the pan over to an unused burner and turns off the heat. Eddie bristles, ready to leap to his uncle's defense, but when he looks closer at Steve, he realizes he seems - nervous.
"We haven't signed any NDAs yet, this time," Robin says, voice gentle.
"And Eddie hasn't signed one at all," Steve says, a little slowly, like he's thinking carefully.
"I'm not scared of any government types, anyway," Eddie adds with a teasing little laugh, trying to lighten the mood.
It makes Robin grimace, though, and Steve scowl.
"It's not funny, man, you don't know what these guys are capable of," Steve says.
Eddie holds up his hands placatingly. "You're right, I don't. I shouldn't have laughed."
Steve relaxes a little, digging for some plates and dishing out the eggs and bacon. "Sorry. Nancy and I used to argue about it. She wasn't scared of them either."
He looks at Robin, who makes an encouraging little noise.
"My grandpa Otis fought in World War Two. He used to tell me stories, when I was little, and sometimes he'd talk about the Germans disappearing people. One time I told him it was a good thing we lived in America and our government wouldn't do that, and he just kind of smiled at me and said, that's what they say, isn't it?"
Eddie feels a little chill go up his spine.
"Benny Hammond didn't kill himself, and Bob Newby didn't have a heart attack," Robin says quietly. "Nancy and Jonathan got abducted from the park one day just for talking about telling Barb's parents the truth. The more people know about this, the more likely they are to die."
His mouth goes dry. Eddie knew them. Uncle Wayne was friends with Benny Hammond - used to go to the diner after a shift, and on his days off he'd take Eddie, let him sit up at the counter and eat a mountain of hashbrowns cooked almost black, just the way he liked them. Bob Newby never minded Eddie hanging around the RadioShack, gave him a great deal on his amp and helped him pick out his speakers.
"What happened?" he asks.
"They killed Benny because he knew too much," Steve says bluntly. "I don't think people know we know that, but I overheard Hopper talking about it. Bob Newby - demodogs, at the lab."
Eddie breathes out, curling his hands around his coffee mug as he considers. "I don't think I can keep it from him," he says finally. "We've gotta - I have to tell him something."
Steve and Robin look at each other again.
"Okay," Steve says. "It's your call, Eds."
The trust in that statement hits Eddie so hard that he has to close his eyes for a moment, swallowing roughly to get himself under control.
"We gotta do it quick, before they get their shit sorted and we get government agents waving stacks of paper in our faces again," Steve adds.
Eddie nods, opening his eyes so he can look at Steve and Robin. "Okay. How do we get me to him? I can't exactly just waltz into the school gym."
"It'll be easier to get your uncle here," Robin says. "Dustin's been talking to him a little when we volunteer at the school."
"We've been working on a plan," Steve agrees. "Figured we could tell him I want to donate some stuff, but it's too big to fit in my trunk, ask if he'd come to pick it up in his truck."
"Yeah, that'll probably work. Guy's got a heart bigger than anything, he won't be able to resist helping," Eddie says.
Steve shoots him a little smirk. "I'll tell him I know where you get it from, then."
"Do not!" Eddie demands, hiding behind his hair so Steve can't see him smile. "If you try to charm my uncle I'll never forgive you."
"What's the thing the green riddle guy says? There's no trying, only doing?"
"That's it, we're watching The Empire Strikes Back tonight, you get no choice," Eddie says.
Robin groans. "I hate you, Steve, how many times have the munchkins already made us watch that?"
She doesn't say no, though, and Eddie grins for a moment before something occurs to him.
"Wait, is Family Video even still open?" he asks.
"Not yet," Robin says. "It got a little damaged in the fall out. Keith says the owners are planning on opening back up when it's fixed, though."
Steve snorts.
"What?" Eddie asks.
"The idea of the owners actually fixing anything," Robin answers for him.
"They're probably just going to slap new paint over the cracks and call it good," Steve agrees. "But it's fine, I've got it here. The way the kids like to watch them, it was easier just to have their favorites on hand."
Right, Dustin'd said Steve had a VHS collection. Eddie'd kind of assumed that meant, like, Rocky and Top Gun and Rambo, maybe some ones like Romancing the Stone or the Shining for his dates. Past Eddie's really killing him with the assumptions, here, it makes way more sense that Steve'd drop VHS money on the kids.
"Which probably means I have most of your favorites, too," Steve adds with a little smug grin.
He should probably protest that implication that Eddie has the same favorite movies as the kids, but - it's probably not wrong, and really, Eddie's the one winning here if it means Steve's collection is to his taste.
So instead he shoves a forkful of bacon and eggs into his mouth, just so he can talk with his mouth full as he says, "So you'll take Dustin to the high school today to talk to my uncle?"
Steve and Robin pull near identical faces of disgust at him, and he grins at them.
"If you swallow your food before you say anything else, then yes, we'll make plans with your uncle today and watch Star Wars tonight," Robin says.
Eddie considers that for a moment, then nods and finishes chewing. "Deal."
Up next: Steddie grappling with the blurry line between platonic and romantic, and a Munson family reunion!
-----
Part 20
Tag list (always happy to add more!): @vampireinthesun @koibug @estrellami-1 @mentalcyborg @allbimyself26 @questionablequeeries @the-s-is-silent @whimsicalwitchm @a-gae-af-racoon @tinyplanet95 @n0-1-important @velocitytimes2 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @newtstabber @jcmadgirl @roblingoblin285 @lexyvey @paperbackribs @goodolefashionedloverboi @evix-syne666 @raisedbylibrarians @stxrcrossed186 @nightmareglitter @greekgeek24 @starman-jpg @crazyhatlady86 @imfinereallyy @manda-panda-monium @deleataecount @prideandsensibility @chaoticvictorianspirit @maydillydally @disrespectedgoatman @scarlet-malfoy @i-less-than-three-you @hbyrde36 @hallucinatedjosten @dragonsandgayships @arepaconchocolate @g4ys0n @novelnovella @bisexualdisastersworld @ghostofyourvampiregf @scarletyeager @pettrichore @nerd-and-nervous @hiimlevi @queenie-ofthe-void @cinnamon-mushroomabomination
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marbl3z · 1 year ago
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Xiao drabbles as I suffer from insomnia.
i really love Xiao, like. It's so much sometimes, I wanna write him but sometimes I start choking up on my words and everything becomes 10x more difficult, I'd possibly do everything I could to protect him. Like everyone has that one character they love more than love itself and for me that's Xiao.
--
Comfort drabble, SFW, romantic elements, established relationship. A bit of angst. Mention of death.
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Xiao is sensitive, like in battle he doesn't think about being touched as much, but when it's you. Gently tracing his cheek with your thumb, your lips on his. The soft tug of your hand on his lithe waist, oh how his limbs turn to jelly and it takes everything in his power not to melt in your touch.
Xiao sometimes will go missing for days and it has always worried you, but you know it's okay, he's okay. You feel it on the breeze, the occasional butterfly leaf on your nightstand or sometimes a flower picked freshly from a field, it reminds you that he's alive.
When he comes back late, your reading in your bed, the overthinking had gotten too much for you and you decided sleeping wasn't an option anymore. He teleported in your room, nearly making you scream.
"Sorry.." he was the first to speak, you immediately could tell something was wrong... you sat up, climbing out of bed and opening your arms before him.
He didn't say much, just furrowed his eyebrows and closed his mournful eyes and basically melted in your arms. He knows he can't bring back his family, friends, things can't be the same as they once were. But, heavens knows he would do anything to bring them back.
"It'll be okay," you mumble against his ear, rubbing his back gently. He doesn't cry. You know of his karmic debt, how the memories of his family slain before his very eyes, how much torture and pain he has delt with.
"..."
"Xiao," you whisper against his head, hugging him close.
"hm."
"You've done so much for Liyue, my hero," you run your hands through his hair, he tenses. "Do you want to lay down for a little bit? I know you don't need to sleep, but your muscles are so tense.." he reluctantly agrees and lays with his head on your chest as you softly massage his shoulders.
-
Xiao will hold your hand as you sleep, watching your sleeping frame. Sometimes he'll reach over and brush your hair to the side and admire from his side of the bed. Other times he can't help but press a soft kiss on the back of your hand and then get embarrassed about it a few moments later.
His hearing is insane, he can hear anything and everything, like. Dude, you can't sneak up on him, he hears your steps, recognizes them immediately. You tried surprising him with a hug but it immediately backfired by him turning around mid lunge and he just gave you the most confused look of your entire life.
Sometimes though, you're lucky. He'd get lost in thought, his mind filled with memories of his family, wars he's been in, Lantern rite, etc. You wrapped your arms around his hips, your head on his shoulders, it snapped him back to reality in a instant.
"what were you thinking about?" You asked him.
"...memories," you didn't pry any further, only hugging him slightly tighter, he didn't mind it at all. He closed his eyes as his relaxes in your hold, his hand intertwined with yours.
"I asked them for Almond tofu for you,"
He rolls his eyes, "you didn't have to do that,".
"hm, but you've done so much," you blow into his ear which makes him shiver pleasantly. "Let me treat you to something lovely, yeah?"
He nods slowly.
-
He stares at the moon, longingly. His tired eyes blink slowly as his lip quivers. He hates getting to this point, he knows emotions are "human", as you like to call it. But it pains him, drains him of energy Everytime he does cry.
His heart feels as if it's shattering, the flashbacks of his brothers and sisters flood his mind, the domestic moments, pulling pranks, laughing with each other. Daydreaming of the future, oh, how he wishes he could've prevented their demises.
"I'll see you all within the stars once I have done my oath, my brothers and sisters..." he'll whisper to himself, clutching his polearm as a shooting star flies past.
He doesn't indulge himself in philosophies and legends of that humans, but he lets himself make a wish. He wishes, humans and adepti— won't suffer with the unbearable sins that he has to carry until his final breath. That night he teleports to the Inn, the warm, lively atmosphere long since died once the sun had set. It was quiet, you and the others were asleep in your respective rooms.
He appears in your room, watching you engulf yourself further into the soft blanket on the bed. You were having pleasant dreams, it calmed his heart and mind. He brushes your hair to the side, tucking it behind your ear. Pressing a soft kiss to your head, he debates joining beside you, just to lay there. There was no reason to sleep, but his muscles ached and he was afraid you would have a nightmare if he got too close.
--
I hope you enjoyed this, I enjoy writing for Xiao but I get too self conscious sometimes so I never post it.
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littlejuicebox · 9 months ago
Note
this is random, but a prompt idea that made me giggle is what if Tav wasn’t very interested in Astarion, maybe she’s from a more stoic or conservative country/realm/plane, so his flirting either went over her head or pushed her away… until she sees him sewing. Him acting ‘domestic’ immediately attracts her. Him secretly fixing Karlach’s bear, or later maybe fixing up Yenna’s clothes, makes her give him heart eyes.
Astarion, who already gave up after his flirting failed, is very confused by her sudden attention and requests for sewing lessons. For extra fun, what if post-brain she requests for lessons on sewing tiny clothes, not even realizing she’s asking how to make baby clothes—their baby’s.
Olive Branch
This is a bit different from my other work so I thought I'd give it a go! Not 100% satisfied with it, but I hope you still enjoy, anon!
Word count: 1.3K
Tags/warnings: All fluff, Astarion being Astarion lol
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Astarion finally gave up on seducing Tav . He’d originally pegged her as a naive, and therefore easily charmed and manipulated, cleric. Unfortunately, two weeks of wasted effort proved him wrong. She’d barely spoken or paid attention to him and his overt advances at all. 
Any attempts to entrance her with aggressive flirtation or the allure of his sexual wiles seemed to have an opposite effect. In fact, Tav would always gravitate more towards Wyll and Gale and preferred to avoid him almost entirely.
He couldn’t be the issue, of course. He was gorgeous, witty, and made it quite clear he was experienced in bed. He was the man of anyone’s dreams; he knows because he’d manufactured himself to be practically undeniable to the masses. 
So then it was obviously her… she was certainly the problem. Something about that – admittedly attractive – cleric was strange; she was oddly secretive about her goddess. The rogue couldn’t even be sure which goddess it was; Tav never referred to the deity by name.
Her apparent distaste for him was concerning, however. Just a few days back, the monster-hunter had outed him as a vampire. The entire group seemed ready to cast him aside after that, save their cleric leader. She’d granted him a moment of mercy and had been able to convince the others that he wasn’t a danger, though he felt he was on thin ice with her and everyone else. 
Astarion did not know how he was going to charm his way out of this one. And as the rogue sits in front of his tent, mulling over his options for ensuring his own security, he begins to consider that perhaps he should just suck it up and proposition Lae’zel or Gale. One of them would be sufficient, too. 
The elf is ripped from his scheming by a sudden groan of dismay from Karlach just a few tents over. When he turns to survey the scene, he sees the slouched tiefling grasping onto that stuffed bear she slept with every night, muttering something to a concerned Tav.
“Perhaps we can find a new bear, Karlach,” Tav says, frowning as she gently takes the stuffed animal from her friend and spins it around in her hand. The toy’s back seam is split apart; tufts of white stuffing spill from the opening.
Astarion instantly recognizes the issue. And the opportunity. Karlach is easily Tav’s favorite campmate – they were two sappy peas in a pod. It was likely that by offering his aid, he’d be able to win points with both the strongest member in camp and their illustrious leader, all without much effort on his part. Perfect.
“I can fix that for you, Karlach, if you’d prefer!” The rogue calls, snapping shut the book he’d been half-reading before taking a few strides toward his campmate, “It looks simple enough, wouldn’t take me more than an hour or so.”
Karlach, always the easily excitable, affable campmate, is grinning as she responds, “Really, Fangs?! You can do that?”
The silver-haired elf chuckles and then nods, taking the bear from a suspicious Tav before briefly examining it,  “Certainly. It’s nothing a simple whipstitch won’t fix.” 
And then he returns to his tent and quickly sets to work. As promised, the bear is good as new in just over an hour. 
*
Later that evening, the vampire sits close to the campfire, warming his icy skin. Apart from Tav, all his campmates had returned to their tents and since gone to sleep. The cleric was perhaps the only person that loved the fire almost as much as he did; she would often stare at it for long periods of time as if in prayer or meditation.
These nightly moments between the two of them typically passed in relative silence until one or the other dismissed themselves from the strained situation. Sometimes it felt as if they were fighting for a claim over the fire.
But tonight, Tav turns her head to stare at Astarion for a moment too long, prompting him to face in her direction with an arched eyebrow. 
“You’re quite talented at sewing,” She says, her eyes flickering across his face, examining it as if it’s brand new and not a visage she’s already known for weeks. Astarion thinks he sees her skin reddening, but then, she’s sitting remarkably close to the flames.
This olive branch is unexpected.
“Is that an actual compliment?” Astarion retorts, feigning shock and cocking his head just slightly, “I suppose I’ll take it, darling. I have to admit it’s preferable to the eye rolls and sighs you normally send my way.” 
Tav shrugs, not really refuting any of the rogue’s claims, before continuing on, “I suppose I didn’t think you had a domestic bone in your body. I misjudged you.” 
“Domestic?” Astarion asks, his tone betraying his displeasure at being called such a thing. He thinks she means to call him weak and is about to spew an insult in the cleric’s direction before she interrupts.
“I don’t mean offense,” She starts, throwing her hands up in surrender, “I apologize, I forget that isn’t always viewed as a compliment. But where I come from, domesticity is a highly favored attribute.” 
The rogue’s vitriol dies in his mouth as he assesses the woman in front of him. He can’t help it, he’s curious, so he asks, “And where do you come from, exactly?”
There is a long moment of silence. Tav heavily considers her response. And then she sighs and shrugs, “I’m from a hamlet in the Dalelands… it’s quite small, made up of no more than a few hundred. Most of us worship Hestia, the goddess of hearth and home.” 
Astarion’s eyebrows furrow as he tries to recall this goddess, but he doesn’t recognize the name.
Tav realizes Astarion has no clue what she’s talking about and visibly relaxes, “She is the goddess of hearth and home in our beliefs. Most inhabitants of the Dalelands worship Chauntea… Hestia worship is not widely accepted. It’s generally considered savagery.” 
The rogue shrugs. He really didn’t care who worshiped which god. In his eyes, all gods and goddesses were essentially the same and none of them seemed to respond anyway. Everyone was free to beg whatever deity for whatever handouts they wanted; he preferred to abstain from the practice entirely. 
“Good for you, darling, go on and worship whoever tickles your fancy,” The elf responds, turning once again to watch the fire.
Another stretch of silence, this one a bit more comfortable than any moments previous. Astarion doesn’t notice as the cleric quietly admires his profile, her eyes filled with a yearning that hadn’t ever been directed towards the vampire until now. 
After a while, Tav stands and briefly stretches her muscles. She walks a few steps toward her tent but then abruptly spins around to look at the rogue.
“Astarion?” She murmurs, her tone almost hesitant, as if she’s unsure of herself.
“Yes?” He replies, ripping his eyes away from the fire and dismissing his own thoughts to acknowledge the woman.
“Do you think you’d be able to show me how to sew like you? I only know the basics. I thought you could give me sewing lessons and I could teach you something in return… crochet or how to play the lyre, perhaps?” She asks, her hands twisting together in an anxious knot as she speaks.
The rogue nods almost imperceptibly, subtly cocking his head as he processes Tav’s sudden change in attitude toward him before responding, “Certainly, darling.”
Tav grins, and it appears almost childlike. Astarion feels the briefest flicker of affection toward the woman at her relative innocence, which is such a stark contrast to his own jaded nature.
“Okay, then. How about starting lessons tomorrow night?” She asks, still smiling, her eyes shimmering with excitement.
“Sounds like a plan,” The elf responds, and then watches with idle curiosity as Tav bids goodnight and walks away.
Astarion smiles as he returns his attention to the fire. He thinks this is a nice, simple plan; an easy way to keep himself safe in the wilds. Surely a plan as simple as this couldn't fall apart.
Right? 
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skzhua · 1 year ago
Text
We Going For the Win
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MASTERLIST
Pairing: Bang Chan x Female!Reader
Genre: Zombie Apocalypse!AU, fluff, bit of angst. (The Last of Us vibes)
Word Count: 9,982
Warnings: Violence, swearing, mentions of sex/death/killing, drinking. (Not proofread yet!)
Summary: While being in quest of finding your childhood friend you have lost contact with ever since the start of the infection, your ex fling and ex smuggling partner involves you in a difficult situation. New friends and difficulties are waiting for you.
A/N: Might do a part 2 or leave it as it is... I don't know yet.
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"Here." the man simply said while dropping the bag on the table in front of you.
He gestured at his men to open the door behind you as a way to inform you this little meeting was over. However, you didn't budge.
Instead, you took the bag to see the content of it, and frowned. "The deal was 10 silvers and a pack of cigarettes."
"No, no. The deal was 10 silvers and a pack of cigarette if you did the job correctly."
"Which I did."
He started to laugh before taking another shot of whiskey. "I asked you to steal the radio and get SKZ's location from them. You only got the radio. Therefore, you only get the cigarettes."
"You're kidding, right?"
He shrugged, fiddling around with his glass. Not answering your question, he poured himself another drink. Before he could bring it to his lips, you took his glass harshly from his grasp and threw it accross the room.
"What the fuck, woman!" he shouted angrily.
"You fucking asked me an impossible task, plus bringing you a most likely broken radio from the restricted area, made me infiltrate a fucking government base to steal infos and you're thanking me with fucking cigarettes." You slamed the bag in front of him, giving him a glare. "The deal included 10 silvers. I want them."
"Sweetheart, you know it doesn't work like this." he chuckled with a smug smile on his face.
You shut your eyes in disgust of the infamous nickname he gave you. "Don't fuck with me, give me the silvers."
He got up from his seat and signaled to his men to shut the door. The already stinky room was filled by the alcohol's odor, making you want to puke. How could this man drink so many shots without being dead already?
He paused a moment, looking at the ground, before he spoke again. "Do you want to find your little friend or not?"
"What does this have to do with this?"
"Y/N, I know you want the silvers to go across the country to find your friend. That is if he isn't infected yet, of course. What I'm saying is, there is a reason I'm not giving you those silvers."
"That's what this is about? About you not losing your best dealer?"
He laughed, again. "At least you know you're the best. Not only that but we have helped each other so much in the last six years. You're like a daughter to me, I'd hate to see something bad happen to you."
You smiled sarcastically. "And yet, you've sent me away to die thousands of times just so I could do the job for you."
"Because you are the best I have." he pointed out again.
You were getting tired of this. Frankly, you just wanted to get the damn silvers and go to bed. However, you knew the man and he wouldn't let you have what you wanted so easily. With that in mind, you seemed to have only but one option to get out of this.
"Alright then. I guess I'm not leaving today." you sighed, standing up from your chair. "I do want one thing if I don't get the money." He stepped closer with a curious look on his face. "I want to know if Changbin ever sends something on this radio."
He smiled. "Done deal." You nodded before heading towards the door. "And Y/N?"
You stopped on your tracks, rolling your eyes. "What?"
"I better see you tomorrow morning, I have another job for you."
Ignoring him, you resumed your way to the exit. Once outside, the sirens couldn't be any louder. In all of places, you had to be at the worst safe haven of the country where only dealers, smugglers, thiefs and many others lived. You were grateful your uncle was renowned enough for the other rebellious groups to leave you alone, but that also meant you had to do all of his work for him. If not, you were dead meat for sure.
When you arrived at your half torn down apartment, you jumped as soon as you walked in, as you were welcomed by an unannounced man sitting on your couch.
"Yeonjun, what the fuck?" you shouted, closing the door behind you. "I told you to not fucking burst into my place randomly like that."
"I know, but I kind of had nowhere else to go."
This was enough said for you to know he got in trouble, again. "Who was it this time? Beomgyu? Taehyun?" you asked while serving yourself a beer, offering one to your former partner.
He took the bottle and drank from it before talking. "Soobin."
You frowned. "I thought he was off to the west zone."
"So we thought, but turns out he had an encounter with SKZ, and he's been taken hostage. We tried to free him, but fucking stupid Beomgyu crashed into a pole and now all of them are taken away."
"And why are you here?"
He rolled his eyes. "To ask you for your help, obviously."
"No, I know that. But why are you not with them?"
"I jumped out of the car before it crashed. Hid until they all left and came here as soon as it was clear."
You shook your head in disbelief. "No matter how much I'm trying to cut you off from my life, you're still going to involve me in your stupid schemes."
"You're quite literally the best fighter, sniper, liar and also the prettiest I know."
You almost choked on your drink from his words. "We're not going to fuck again, Yeonjun. Stop with the flirting."
He held his hands up. "It was just a joke, relax. But for real, I really need your help."
"I don't deal with SKZ."
"They're just another gang, what's the big deal?"
"They're not feared by the whole country for no reason. I support their whole rebellion shit, but they're taking it a bit far."
SKZ were an anonymous group of rebels. When more people were starting to get infected, the government put the country in war mode. They established curfews, safe zones, duties, everything they could have control on anything that you could think of. As the years passed, they started to like this kind of power, meaning they did close to no research on a cure. Groups against the new regime started to form, but the most well-known of them was SKZ. Apparently, they were formed in the south part of the country, the area with the most infected. They ravaged headquarters, gathered information about the virus so their team could study them in order to find a cure. They had great intentions, but anyone on their way would be one of their victims. And that now included your ex-fling and smuggling partner's own gang.
"Y/N, please."
"No, I saved your butt enough times." You walked to your room and he followed you behind, still bombarding you with 'help me', 'this one time', 'please'... "I said no!" you grunted, closing the door on his face.
You dropped on your bed, sore from your morning task. As you were already starting to doze off, a creek from your door did not allow you to go to sleep just yet.
"Yeonjun, go away." you mumbled, eyes still closed.
The man didn't listen and sat next to your laid down body on the bed. "What if I say I can help you find Changbin?"
Your eyes shot open and you stared at Yeonjun. "Don't." you warned.
"Y/N, I swear I'm not kidding. I know where he is."
"How? You barely go outside of the limits."
"Just... Trust me on this one." he spoke softly. "Look, we've had our ups and downs and I understand how unreliable I am to you. There is one thing that I can assure you, and that is I never would mess with you with this. I know how much it means to you."
He took your hand in his and gave you one last pleading look. You were hesitant. You didn't know if you could trust him, but at this point, who could you really trust? Plus, Yeonjun has always been around. Even if he was a pain in the ass, he might be the only recurrent person in your life other than your uncle and his deals.
"If I learn this is a whole fucking joke-"
"I swear it's not!"
"But if it is... you owe me 1000 silvers, a car and your dead body." you smiled.
"So, you're going to help me?" he stared at you in shock.
"Yeah, sure. As if I have anything better to do."
As you were making your way up the ladder, you couldn't ignore the undistinguished noises Yeonjun was making as he was following you closely.
"Can you shut up?" you half-whispered.
"I didn't know you were thinking of leaving during the night. There is a fucking curfew, Y/N. You know what that means? Agents everywhere and going against the law!" he whispered back quite aggressively. "Also, how the fuck do you know the way to the other side from the sewers?"
"Okay, first of all, a curfew means no one's outside. Less chances of getting spotted. Second of all, we've gone against the law so many times, I don't get why you think it's a problem now. And third of all." you stopped climbing and stared down at him. "I've been outside the limits a few times. Now, are we done? Can we just move and get there before it's morning?"
Yeonjun's eyes went wide as he shook his head in yes. "My bad..."
Satisfied, you continued to climb up. When you finally reached the lid of the manhole, you pushed it up carefully, staying alert in case there would be agents on duty close by. Once you made sure it was clear, you pushed the lid so you could get out. You helped out Yeonjun and you both pushed the lid back into its place.
"Alright, so are you sure they went to District 9?" you whispered.
"For the nth time, yes." he said with annoyance.
"How are you so sure?"
"Dude, I heard them loud and clear."
"They might have said this to trick you?"
"Y/N, focus!"
You tried to remember the quickest way to the fences. Agents were everywhere, and what bothered you the most was Yeonjun not being the most careful, as he kept questioning you on why you knew how to get out.
Finally, you reached a part of the fences that surrounded the city. Yeonjun gasped in amazement, much to your discouragement. Sighing, you headed towards the underground tunner that some kids had dug a few days ago.
"Go first."
Nodding, Yeonjun followed your orders. Once he was on the other side, you copied his action and, soon enough, you both had crossed the limits. Once you got to the other side, you could already feel how different it was from the build closed community. The air was much heavier and actual forms of life were rare. There was already an infected who spotted you, who signaled to his other infect friend there was a meal for them.
"Shit." you muttered.
The monster was already running in your direction, and fast. You took a bar of metal that was randomly (and conveniently) lying at your feet, and you ran to it before swinging your weapon to his head, ripping it off its body. The second infected was next to head toward you and you instinctively pierced the bar through it, making it drop on the ground. When you turned back to check on Yeonjun, he could only stare at you with wide eyes and his breath unsteady.
"Now what?" he gulped.
"Follow me." you said, running towards an old building, visibly abandoned.
Only, it was just that. Visibly abandoned. As soon as you turned the corner, you were met with a bunch of men, four of them, masks hiding the bottom half of their faces while pointing guns at you.
"Fuck." Yeonjun said in a low tone while holding his hands up in the air.
"We were waiting for you." one of the men spoke.
"Oh, so them saying they would be in District 9 wasn't a trap?" you sarcastically asked Yeonjun, pettiness overflowing.
"I was convinced they didn't see me." he said in defense.
"We didn't." the man talked again. "But we knew you were there. Now, mind to follow us?"
"Okay, so now y'all are being polite?" Yeonjun scoffed and you kicked his leg. "Fine, let's follow them bluntly, I guess."
The men led you inside the building, holding onto your arms with guns still pointing at you. This was the exact reason you wanted nothing to do with SKZ, they could catch anyone and they were not afraid to use the weapons they had.
After walking endlessly in a hallway, you reached an elevator. You were surprised it was still functional, as most of the things in the infected zones were destroyed. Once the doors shut, one of the men pushed the button to the basement. Of course, it was the basement. You would've thought they'd be more original with where they kept their hostages.
"Are we meeting your big boss?" you asked in a joking tone.
"You're joining your friends." one responded.
When the doors opened, you didn't waste a second to take the gun from the man who was grabbing your arm, twisting it so he would let go. Hitting him on the head, he fell onto the ground. Meanwhile, Yeonjun copied you and also managed to disarm two other men. As for the last one, he held his gun to you.
"Don't waste my time, give me the gun." you said boringly.
He glanced at his friends on the ground, who were massaging their heads from the hits, and they all seemed to be in agreement to just let you be. They knew the others would take care of the both of you, anyway. You took the gun and didn't hesitate to give him a good punch in the face, making him fall next to his friends.
"Let's go." you nodded your head to Yeonjun.
As he was walking by your side, he started rambling again. "That, right there, was fucking awesome! There was a reason why I came to you for help. If it was someone else, I'm sure I'd probably be-"
"Dead? Yeah, well, you'll be if you don't shut up." you whispered loudly.
By the end of the hallway, you could see a large closed door that was seemingly locked. Pretty convinced it was where they detained the others, you made your way to it.
"I guess that's it." you mumbled.
When you reached it, you searched in your bag to see if you had anything that could help you open the door. Noticing you were short in terms of tools, you figured Yeonjun brought something that might be useful.
"Got something?" you asked, but when there was no response, you looked around and Yeonjun was nowhere to be found. "Jun?" you called out.
Just then you were suddenly tackled onto the ground. You met eyes with a young man with freckles.
"You don't look like an SKZ member to me. Who are you?" he asked, restraining you as you tried to push him off.
"Doesn't matter." you managed to breathe out.
"It does to us."
"I guess you'll have to find out another day."
Kicking him in his lower abdomen, you freed yourself and grabbed your knife from you bag. When you were about to throw it to the boy, a hand grabbed your arm, stopping your motion. The stranger twisted your wrist, loosening your grip on the knife. He took it from you and inspected it for a bit.
"Felix, go see if Minho, Jeongin, Hyunjin and Seungmin are fine." he said, his voice low.
The freckled boy, now up onto his feet, nodded and headed to the elevator you were previously coming down from.
"I didn't expect Yeonjun to bring a friend." he said, now talking to you.
He led you to the door you were trying to open not even 2 minutes ago. In contrary of what you thought, it was a simple empty room with a single lamp as its source of light. He threw you to the ground and closed the door behind him. He sighed loudly before walking to you, crouching down to be at your level.
"Now, as my friend asked. Who are you?" You only stared at him, not a sound slipping from your mouth. "Do you know why we took your friends?" No answer. "Why are you here?"
"For no reason, just to enjoy a different environment I guess, just like y'all do."
He didn't expect you to answer this time. "Looks like you don't know much about us, sweetheart."
You cringed at the nickname. Hearing it from someone other than your uncle was odd. Even just hearing it from your uncle was uncomfortable.
"Maybe I don't. Honestly, I don't give a fuck about who you are." You crossed your arms and gave him a bored look.
"Maybe you don't. Still, I think a little introduction can be helpful. I'm Christopher Bang, leader of SKZ." Unfazed, you were still staring at him. "And you are?"
"Tired and annoyed."
He chuckled at your answer. "I like you." He stood up and started to walk back and forth in the room. "I shall contimue then. SKZ is a group of rebels, as people call us, whose purpose is to take down the government's new policy in order to restore some sort of purpose among the population. We're also trying to find a cure for the infection and we, as you might have seen, have many people against us. Your friends were trying to get to our secret base to steal a drug we use during our experiments. They wanted to sell it to make profit off of it."
"Sounds like them." you huffed.
He smiled at your comment. "We've dealt with TXT before, but you're a new one. I've never seen you, I believe."
"Like I said, I literally don't give a fuck about y'all. I just do my thing on my side."
"Then, why are you here?"
"Ask Yeonjun."
Sighing at your lack of engagement in the conversation, he stopped walking around to turn his body to face you. "You took out half of my squad back in the elevator, I want to know who I'm dealing with."
Half? All this time, you thought SZK had hundreds of members around the country. There were eight of them? This new information was surprising, to say the least.
"Sweetheart?" he called out since you were not answering him.
"How-"
You were interrupted when the door opened. When your gaze shifted towards the door to see who had joined, your met eyes with the person you least expected to see. For a moment, you felt as if time had stopped as you exchanged looks.
"Bin?" you breathed out, your heart pounding.
There stood, alive and well, Changbin. "Holy fuck! What are you doing here?" he exclaimed, running to hold you into his arms.
His embrace was warm and felt like home. After so many years, you felt at ease and tears were streaming down your face.
"Where the fuck were you? I searched for you everywhere." you cried out.
"I'm sorry, baby. I'm here now, it's all good."
When you finally let go of him, he turned to Chris, who was clearly confused on what was happening. "Care to explain, Changbin?"
"She's her. She's Y/N."
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Holding the ice pack to his head, Minho was mumbling some curses, still sore from your attacks.
"I'm sorry." you said shyly and he nodded his head in acknowledgement.
"So, Y/N." Chris started. "Can we do this interrogation again, please?"
You had moved to a small office, Minho tagging along. With knowing that Changbin was there, you felt more relaxed. However, it didn't stop you from being on your guard. Changbin might be a friend you've been looking for in the past 6 years, but him being part of SKZ changed things a little. You couldn't fully trust those men.
"Sure."
"Good. Who are you?"
"I'm Y/N. Been pretty much alone since everything started. I was a neighbour of Changbin and we grew up together. He was my closest friend. I've been trying to find him ever since the walls have been put up." you said, keeping it honest, but short.
"What I'm getting from this is that you're against the government as well?" he asked and you nodded. "Why were you with TXT?"
"I'm only here because Yeonjun quite literally begged me to help him get his friends. I didn't ask questions, I just wanted the job done."
"There was something in exchange?"
You paused, hesitantly, but nodded. "He said he knew where Changbin was."
From your answer, he got up and walked out of the room, leaving you and Minho alone. You smiled awkwardly at the man, who gave you a glare, still pissed at your previous encounter.
Outside, Chris had joined Changbin and Felix to talk. He didn't know what to do with you, and something was stopping from either releasing you, or finishing you off.
"Changbin." he called out and the man immediately focused his attention on his leader. "You know her. So, what's her deal?"
"I can't know for sure, I haven't seen her in years. She is colder than before, for sure. I doubt she is lying, though, but I can't be certain."
"Okay. What do I do with her? She might be lying and has tried to steal something from us."
"Honestly, Chan, I'd give her the benefit of the doubt." Changbin said.
With that, he went back to the office, encountering a rather uncomfortable silence between you and Minho. He coughed a bit before sitting back in front of you.
"Do you have any reason we should believe you?" Chan asked, continuing the interrogation.
"I'm repeating myself, but I quite don't care about what y'all do, and I am not fond of the authorities either."
"A reason we shouldn't believe you?"
"There are many, but one is that you don't know me."
"Your relationship with Yeonjun?"
"He used to work with me... and sleep with me."
"Have you crossed roads with any infected?"
"Two on our way here. I killed both."
"Did you get bitten?"
"Do you see a mark?
"No..." he trailed off.
This kept going for while, and Chan was strarting to be very precise with his questions, as he was wondering why you were on your own and why were you looking so desperately for Changbin. Until then, you were short with your responses, much to Chan's dislike. After a while, Minho, who had been observing the interraction this whole time, stepped forward to take the seat next to you.
Interrupting the conversation, he grunted in annoyance. "Chan, she seems fine to me. Can you just let her go? We're wasting time here."
"No wait." Chan paused, inspecting your traits. "I have some questions, concerning your skills."
"My skills?" you said, confused. "I think you saw them."
"I just know you knocked out my members, killed two infected, do some stupid deals in the city and fucked Yeonjun." he summed up while giving you a blank stare.
"Fucking is a skill?" you scoffed.
"I'm just repeating what you said, sweetheart. Now, skills?"
"I fight, I kill, I spy, I steal, I negociate and I lie." you listed and your last point seemed to grab Chan's attention. "Also, I don't owe shit to anyone."
"Have you thought of joining a group?"
"I told you, I'm on my own."
"But do you like it this way?"
You thought for a moment. Did you? "Yes."
Chan laughed and shook his head. "You're not so much of a good liar there, sweetheart."
You rolled your eyes. "Let's say I do fine alone but being alone can be rough at times."
Minho whined loudly once more. Not only did he have to listen to this whole pointless conversation, but he had to suffer from the tension happening between you and Chris, and he had to see his leader ask a hundred questions before getting to the point. It was very unlikely him, who would usually not bother talk and kill those who are on his path. With you, however, it seemed more like a game. It might be a fun one when in it, but Minho was done observing.
"He's asking you to join SKZ." Minho spilled out, going straight to the point.
"Thank you, Minho." Chan said, giving his friend a death stare.
Thinking about it, being on SKZ's good sad wasn't too bad of an idea. They are great fighters and took care of their business quickly, from what you've heard. Nonetheless, you still had your friends in mind, who remained detained at the moment. If joining the infamous rebels meant you could get them out, you might be able to help them out, after all.
"What do I have in exchange?" you asked, which took Chan by surprise.
"You would join us?"
You shrugged. "Depends on the offer."
"Of course, you'd ask something in return." Chan shook his head. "What do you want?"
"Release my friends. And give Yeonjun 1k silvers, he needs it. Also, I want to choose my own weapons and I still want to be able to do my uncle's deals. Last thing, I want to talk with Changbin, alone."
Chan looked at you curiously. You didn't ask anything for yourself, except talking with Changbin. For a world nearing its end, you were surprisingly selfless.
"Deal."
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Yeonjun came to visit you a few days after. He thanked you a thousand times for what you had done for him but you weren't so happy with how things turned out. While you were close to punching Chan in the face, your friend had been nothing but grateful to the man.
"He really wanted to kill us, you know?"
You rolled your eyes while sharpening the knife you were gifted earlier that day. "I'm literally the one who saved you, but sure. Thank Chan for being such a good person."
Yeonjun frowned, hearing your tone. "You don't sound too fond of him."
"I asked for a moment with Changbin, and he still hasn't allowed me to stay in a room alone with him. It's almost been a week."
"You tend to be impatient-"
"I've waited for six years, Jun." you cut him off, pointing the knife at him. "I am patient, but I have limits."
He lifted his hands up in defense and sighed as you went back to sharpening. The building was so quiet, it was almost sickening. While you thought there would be more action in the group, there was almost nothing to do. Seungmin and Minho were in charge of looking into a cure and the remaining of them were mostly simply guarding the place. As for Chan, he and Changbin were nowhere to be seen.
"Do you know why he joined them?" Yeonjun asked.
"That's exactly what I'm wondering myself."
Just then, Felix walked in the room and took the seat next to Yeonjun, waving at you two. You nodded your head at him and focused back on the blade. Twirling it around, you sighed in boredom.
"Doing some training?" Felix asked.
"No, there's just nothing to do in this shithole." you deadpanned at him. "Weren't you on the lookout?"
"Changbin took over."
You huffed in disbelief. "It's as if Chris is doing everything in his power for me to not meet him."
"He will let you two talk eventually." he assured. "He's still on his guard with you, that's all."
"Sure." you spat out as you got up on your feet.
"What are you doing?" Yeonjun frowned, Felix having the same expression.
"I'm going to talk with Chan." you declared, walking towards the exit.
The boys didn't seem opposed to your idea, so they let you leave, although Felix did look more concerned. You had no idea where Chan could be. The building was so huge, you were barely starting familiarize yourself with the ground level. You soon spotted Hyunjin from afar and didn't waste a moment to run to him.
"Hey, Y/N." he smiled, his eyes almost closing.
"Do you know where Chan is?"
Startled by your lack of courtesy, he nodded his head nonetheless as he pointed to a door nearby.
"Thanks." you said as you left him there.
"He's with Seungmin, just saying." he yelled out but you ignored him.
You stormed into the room and the two men at your sudden entrance. While Seungmin got up with his gun pointing at you, Chan reached his hand out to him as a way to tell him to lower his weapon. You stared at him, unimpressed. He motioned for Seungmin to leave the two of you alone. As the door closed, he invited you to sit with him.
"What is it?"
You looked at him, baffled. "That's it? What is it? I know you know."
He nodded. "Changbin, isn't it?"
"Obviously..."
He shrugged. "What about him?"
"Stop messing with me, Chris." you warned, getting up to lean on the desk to get closer to him.
Sighing heavily, his shoulders dropped in defeat. Without adding another word, he stood up and gestured for you to follow him. You were skeptical of how easy it had been to convince him but didn't say anything about it. If you were just about to get what you wanted, there was no way you'd complain.
Chan made you follow for a good ten minutes. Turning left and right, going up and down the stairs... you were almost scared of getting lost. It was all worth it in the end, though. As soon as he opened the door to the rooftop, you spotted Changbin who wasn't doing much other than playing around with his gun.
"Bin." you called out and the man in question turned around, seemingly taken aback from your presence.
You mouthed a small "thank you" to Chris who answered with a quick nod before leaving, closing the door behind him. You let out a sigh of relief and went to go hug your old friend. As Changbin was still on duty, he returned the embrace coldly as he was watching around the building.
"What are you doing here? I thought Yeonjun was visiting you today." he asked.
"Fuck Yeonjun, I've seen enough of his face. What about you? I've nearly said a word to you since I arrived."
He chuckled, visibly still fond of you. "You haven't changed."
You shrugged, fully knowing you weren't the same person he once knew. "I guess I kept some of my old mannerisms."
He nodded slowly before looking to the view of the city you had. A moment of silence felt both good and torturous. He was right there, just next to you, and you weren't talking still.
"So? How did you get here?" you said, breaking the ice.
"Wow, going straight to the point." he laughed. "I don't know. After the evacuation, I was pretty much on my own. I still have no idea where my family is, if I'm being honest. About five years ago, I had a quibble with Han. It was over some food or whatever, I don't remember. Anyway, I beat him but it was cold that night so he offered to go back to his hideout. And that's when I met Chris. The guy saved our lives, I've never met someone quite like him."
You hummed as he finished. You were as much worried as he was about finding family and such. And that's what he was to you, family. The exact reason why you've been wanting to find him for so long. He was your comfort place, your home. Someone who had been there for you far more than your actual family.
"No." he spoke again. "He actually reminds me of you at times."
Seeing the knowing smile on his face, you cleared your throat as you grew uncomfortable. "So you thought of me..."
"Obviously. You were my closest friend."
Nostalgia hitting you right in the face, you smiled sadly to yourself. "These were the good days."
"They were. How did you even survive on your own, anyway? Six years alone, it must have been rough."
You could hear the worry in his voice which you almost took as an insult. You are small and lanky for sure, but you have always managed to do everything by yourself and with success.
"I was with my uncle for the first year before I ran away. I believe I was alone for about two years, which wasn't that hard. I made contacts everywhere and it became pretty handy. Then my uncle found me and we've been having this thing going on ever since. I do his deals and he pays me." you explained.
Changbin scoffed. "He's still around?"
You nodded. "After my dad got infected, he was pretty much all I had left. Except for you, who I have tried to contact for the past couple of years." you said, sending him a glare.
He held his hands up in defense. "It's not my fault SKZ is a secret organization. I would've put the whole team in danger if I answered your radio signals."
You crossed your arms on your chest. "A little sign of life would've been nice, though."
"Please, Y/N. I'm sorry, okay?"
A loud explosion nearby cut the conversation short. Looking to where it came from, you saw Felix and Jeongin hiding behind a wall while a crowd of infected people ran towards them. They had seemingly threw a bomb at them but it was clearly uneffective. Instinctively, you took Changbin's gun and went ahead with shooting the monsters who were the closest to the boys. Jeongin took a moment to spot you before nodding his head as a sign of thank you. While you continued to shoot, he grabbed Felix and rushed him to a building further away.
"Changbin, Y/N!" Yeonjun's voice said as it came from the door Chris had previously gone through. "The building's not safe anymore, come with me."
You rushed to follow him and walked down the stairs to get to a level where you could jump to the building beside. Changbin took his gun back and made sure to beat any infected with whom you'd come upon.
"Are Seungmin and Minho alright with the cure? And Chris-"
"They're all fine, now's not the time." Yeonjun shut you up.
A couple of levels later, you left the staircase to go find a window wide enough to go through. As it seemed to be a quieter place, you allowed yourself to calm down and take a look around. It resembled an old office room where workers would type all day about whatever.
"I never came here." Changbin informed.
"We didn't necessarily need this space anyway." Chris said as he walked in the room, limping slightly. "I've gotten everyone out, it's just us now."
"Where are the others?" you asked.
Chris let out a grunt from the pain his leg was causing but still took the time to answer you. "I don't know but we have a meeting point. We'll find each other again eventually. It is a shame, though, this place has been the longest settlement we've had so far."
"Oh, fuck." Yeonjun cursed before running to the doors, shutting them closed. "We don't have much time and the way to the next building isn't that simple."
"What do you mean?"
Changbin pointed to the hole in the wall. "It leads to a balcony. The plank of wood there can be our bridge."
You went ahead and helped him get the piece of wood, trying your best to get it out as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Yeonjun was trying his best to keep the door closed but as more infected came, it became harder. Chris wanted to help but his leg wasn't letting him. Helplessly, he watched Yeonjun struggle and you and Changbin doing everything to get out fast.
In his mind, he was already dead. He thought about Minho for a moment, hoping he had taught the younger man everything to take over his place as leader. He truly hoped he did. Because he wasn't going to make it. He would only slow everyone down.
"Man, come here." Changbin yelled at him.
"You'll have to go without me." he declared, feeling defeated.
This caught your attention and you went back to Chris. Seeing him so vulnerable, your heart sank. If he was like Changbin had described him, it would be a waste for him to die. With a determined walk, you went to his side and put his arm around your neck to be his support.
"What are you doing?"
"Saving your ass." you rolled your eyes before looking at Yeonjun. "Jun, we can go now."
Your friend's face was fully red, a result of his entire strength used to keep away the monsters. Even if he wanted to, he wasn't going to have the energy to join you and leave. And one glance at each other was everything it took for you to understand that.
"You've been great, Jun." you smiled sadly, not even feeling the single tear that left your eye.
He gave you a small smirk, the best he could give you given the circumstances.
With a heavy heart, you grabbed tightly onto Chris and dragged him all the way to the hole in the wall, and then to the improvised bridge you and Changbin made. The latter was already on the other side but he crossed back to give you a hand with Chan. You sat the man down so he could slide instead of walk. Once safely arrived, you hurried to join them and throw the plank down, preventing the zombie-like creatures to follow you.
Out of breath, the three of you dropped on the floor. You couldn't believe it, you had just lost Yeonjun. Sure, he wasn't your favourite person on Earth but he had never left your side for years. In a way, he was your safe space. An annoying one for sure but it hurt nonetheless. And without saying a thing, you let one more tear drop from your eye while being totally unaware of Chan's gaze on you.
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Normally, you would have left the neighborhood entirely. But because Christopher was having an issue with his right leg, this was not an option. Staying at the highest floor of the building next to the old SKZ headquarters, you were pleasantly surprised by the arrangement of the space. Someone had stayed there for a bit but left their bedding as well as their canned food and magazines. Maybe this person died but it didn't matter to you at that moment. You were just grateful to have access to such a luxury.
You all had a long day and deserved a rest, and Chan needed it the most. You had bickered beforehand about who was going to stay awake in case of anything but you inevitably won the argument.
With the light provided by the lamp in the middle of the small room, you read out loud the words written on the pages. Boring was one way to describe the texts but it was better than nothing.
"-the release of the movie had been much awaited by fans from all around the world. At its first screening in theaters-"
"What movie?" Chris cut you off.
"Avatar 2."
He chuckled. "It was a big thing, wasn't it?"
"Movie theaters..." Changbin said dreamily. "Will we ever be able to have this kind if experience again?"
You could only roll your eyes. "This is mothing compared to our movie nights."
"Gosh, I forgot about those!"
Chan frowned. "You two were pretty close, yeah?"
Changbin grinned. "My whole childhood was with her."
"At its first screening in theaters, many complained about-"
"Let's do something else." Chan cut you off, snatching the magazine out of your hands.
"What else do you suggest?" you sighed, knowing there wasn't much to do.
"We can chat a bit, learn about each other."
Changbin shook his head. "We already know each other."
"I don't know her, and you might not be aware of some things about her too."
"Fine. Y/N, how's your uncle doing?" he asked, not expecting much of it.
"Head of the bounty group in the city. He's enjoying power and abusing people but at least he gives me some money from time to time." you answered.
"Let me guess, when you do the job for him."
You nodded and that pretty much shut the whole conversation. Well, for the two of you. Chris' mind was going through a whirlwind of questions to ask. He was fascinated by your ability to remain calm and unfazed but it surely meant you had gone through something that made you this way. He wanted to know what happened. He wanted to dig into your mind to find the troubled girl. He wanted to help her.
"Your parents died, no? How did you deal with that?"
Your jaw clenched and you noticed Changbin was ready to throw some fists. Surprisingly, you weren't mad that he dared to mention your parents. In some way, you had beeb waiting for an opportunity to think of them. Ever since they died, you didn't let yourself take a moment for them.
"I coped the best way I could. I mainly tried to forget about it but I miss them still, you know? And my uncle has always been an ass so it didn't help much that he was still alive, let's say. He's family but I would've rather not if I'm being honest."
Chan chuckled. "He seems like one hell of a persona."
"Believe me, he is."
"It reminds me of my own parents."
You frowned, intrigued. "Are they..?"
"Dead, yes. My sister too. I don't know where my brother is but he most likely didn't make it. I miss them too but I made my own little family now. And I won't lose them."
Your gaze softened at his words. Scary is definitely a good word to describe Chris but deep down, he was a simple guy wanting to do good to protect his friends.
"You're part of it now, you know?"
You cleared your throat, uncertain on how to react. "Right... Uhm, it's getting late. You two can sleep, I'll be on the lookout."
Changbin took the gun from you before you could stand up, sending you a look that said plenty to you. He was going to watch first. You let him do and looked at his back while he went to sit next to the closed door.
"I get why you took Bin with you." you said in a low tone to Chris while settling down on the small blanket next to him.
He laid on the mattress himself as he replied. "Why?"
"He's built like a bodyguard, mentally and physically."
"He is, but he was so vulnerable when I met him. I was in a similar headspace and with Han being the anxious guy he is, we were a unique trio."
You didn't expect him to open up like this about the past, especially not the beginnings of SKZ. The organization might be small, as you know now, but the power they hold is something. Knowing the slightest information about them could ruin their doings. But since you were a member, you guessed it didn't matter now.
"We had a different name back then, 3Racha. We thought we were clever but when the other guys joined, it wasn't a good fit anymore."
You laughed. "Good call on changing the name. Why SKZ, though?"
"Stray Kids, a good representation of us I think. We're wandering around with a purpose but, in the end, we're all children still."
You liked that way of thinking. You were about to ask more in terms of the formation of the group but Chris' grunt took you off guard. Wincing more as he wiggles around more, you sat up and leaned towards his body to check where the pain was coming from. From the way he was holding onto his leg, you could tell this was the issue.
"Can I take a look?"
While panting heavily, he nodded in a hurry as if he was begging you to make the pain go away. Carefully, you pulled the blanket off him and went ahead with rolling his pants up to above his knee. That part of his body had clearly gone through a slight fracture.
"Gosh, what the hell did you do?" you mumbled more to yourself than to him.
"I was pushed down the stairs by an infected, no bites though."
You started to massage his knee a bit but the wince he let out was enough to make you stop. Instead, you ripped a piece of your shirt, one long enough so you could wrap it around his leg.
"I don't know if this will help for sure but it will keep it stable for a bit. The more you move, the more it'll hurt and worsen." you explain was tying it all up.
Chris watched you in admiration. There was something about you that he hadn't seen before, softness. There was worry and care in your touch.
"Thank you."
You gave him a small smile. "We don't want our leader to suffer now, do we?"
"Suffering is part of the equation, Y/N. The sacrifices I make are for the others."
"For tonight, it might be good for you to feel at peace. We don't know what will happen tomorrow."
You said this as if this had not been the case for the last six years. Every day was an adventure with risks. However, now that the team no longer had a safe space, it was much more dangerous to be out in the forbidden zones.
"Sleep well, Y/N." Chan finally spoke up, laying down again.
"You too."
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It took two weeks for Chris to be able to walk in some way. In that time, your trio grew to have a routine. You and Changbin would switch places every night for the lookout but he was most often out to get the food and such. That left you and Chan alone together for the majority of the time. You didn't mind, Chris was fun when he wanted to be.
You grew closer which made you both glad. You didn't feel like you were walking on eggshells every time you were around him anymore. Instead, you felt safe. He had the trick with words so he could tell you anything in the wisest way possible. That, or he was flirting.
Maybe it was due to his lack of action in the love department, but he would make flirty comments nonstop.
One time, Changbin left to see if he could get a hold of some medicine for Chan's leg. The moment he left, Chris was at it again.
"Now that he's gone, that leaves us alone again." he had said with an eyebrow raised.
This had to stop, now that you were on the move again. The sole focus had to be finding the other boys, and only Chris knew where to find them.
On the run again, you left your little temporary hideout that morning with only a couple of belongings with yourselves such as food and weapons. You were far away from the city now, leaving you wondering where the hell Chris had planned to go.
"Are we there yet?" you asked with a whine on purpose.
"No, I've told you." he answered calmly.
His patience was impressive but you were testing his limits. "How long do we have still?"
"More than expected if you continue complaining like this."
Changbin held back a laugh. For him, seeing the new dynamic his friends had was entertaining. The growth from being distant to joking around all the time was the last thing he would've expected from the two of you.
A couple of miles later, you settled down in an abandoned convenience store to take a small break. To your luck, some snacks were still intact as well as some beverages. This brought back memories from when you would demand sodas from your father and he would repeatedly tell you how bad it was for your health. Let's say it didn't matter anymore. Food was food.
"Look! They got ramen." Chris said, bringing a box full of them.
"Jackpot." you cheered, taking one pack for yourself.
"If only we have boiling water." Changbin pointed out but Chris coming from the back of the store with a boiler shut him off real quick. "Nevermind."
"It almost feels like we're robbing someone's safe place, this store has everything."
Chris shrugged. "We're not staying for long, just to refill our stomachs. We'll continue after."
Your eyes widened. "You mean we won't sleep?"
"Not tonight, we slept plenty last week. What, did you want to cuddle with me?" he winked at you.
"As if." you scoffed.
Changbin, feeling slightly uncomfortable by the tension, started to get the food ready. In the meantime, you and Chan kept an eye outside just in case. In no time, the three of you were on the ground, slurping on your noodles loudly. This might had been the first good meal you had in a long time. You really took instant noodles for granted back when you had easy access to it.
"Are you done?" Chris asked as he finished his bowl.
You and Changbin hurried to finish and you were back to walking again, not forgetting to pack a couple of items from the store.
It felt like you had been advancing for eternity without getting much closer. You were mostly silent, that didn't help. You were growing more and more bored by the minute and, visibly, both boys felt the same.
"Truth or dare?" you suddenly spoke, startling the guys.
"Uh, Y/N?" Changbin said, confused.
"Might as well make the most of this trip." you shrugged. "Truth or dare?"
Chan was the first to answer. "Truth."
"Do you really think we'll find a cure?"
He gave you a look, as if to tell you that you were being weird. "I think so, but it won't be a thing done by the snap of my fingers. Bin?"
"Dare."
"Hum the hapoy birthday song."
"Boring. Y/N?"
"Truth."
Changbin smirked at you, a sign he was uo to no good with his question. "Who's the most handsome in SKZ?"
You cleared your throat, keeping your eyes in front of you. From the side, you noticed Chan looking at you as he expected your answer more excitedly than he should.
"Uh, do I have to say?"
"Yes." both men answered.
You breathed out loudly and stopped on your tracks to look at them both. "You're all good-looking in your own ways but... uh... Chan is pretty nice to look at." you mumbled quickly before walking again.
Chan's smirk crept on his face before he jogged to catch up with your speed. Meanwhile, Changbin proudly tapped his own shoulder to congratulate himself.
"What did you say? I couldn't hear properly." Chris questioned, though you knew he had heard it perfectly.
"Don't make me repeat it."
"I'm pretty nice to look at? This might be the best compliment I have ever received." he snorted in a sarcastic way, earning a glare from you. "If it can help your case, you're pretty cute too, you know?"
If you could control it, you wouldn't blush. Never would you accept a compliment from Chris, even less after you were forced to give him one.
"Let's go back to walking in silence, shall we?" you suggested, ignoring the man completely. "Changbin, can I walk with you?"
He shrugged. "Nah, I'm good in my bubble."
You wanted to rip his head off at this instant but refrained yourself from doing so. Evidently, you had no choice but to continue to trip with Chan next to you.
"Ignoring people is rude."
"I'm not ignoring you." you defended, although it couldn't be any more false.
"It's not such a good look on you, baby."
Your eyes went wide immediately. In the spur of the moment, you shoved him to the side and fastened your speed of walk. You weren't even mad at the nickname. In fact, you kind of liked how bold Chris was. Anywho, you had no time to flirt, even less with the SKZ leader. Trying to recollect yourself, you focused on your breathing to being it back to a normal pace.
Only for Chan to show up again.
"It was a joke, I'm sorry."
"Uhm." you hummed, still not acknowledging him.
"Y/N..."
"It's fine, don't worry."
Feeling defeated, he didn't push it further. So you continued to walk, only hearing the wind and the sounds from your footsteps.
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The warehouse was most likely a place they had previously chosen as a base. The equipment was still functional and tons of weapons had been hidden in a safe place under the floor of the basement. Heavy barbed wire all around on top of high fences, you wondered why they even left this place to begin with.
"Not discreet enough." Minho answered your question, which you had seemingly said outloud. "With all the heavy security mesures here, we are easily spotted by enemies. Sure, it's safer but we prefer places where we can work hidden from anyone."
You were glad the whole group made it to the safe meeting point. Jisung immediately went about taking care of Chan's injury while everyone gathered to figure out what to do next.
"We can always travel to the east part of the country?" Hyunjin suggested.
Seungmin, however, disapproved. "With an injured leader and a newbie on the team, we might want to stay close to the city."
"There's always TXT's hiding place." Jeongin shrugged.
It pinched inside to hear that group. You missed Yeonjun, more than you would have imagined.
"It's too small for you all." you argued.
"Yeah, I need the equipment for the research." Minho added.
"We'll stay here." Chan announced as he came back with Jisung. "We are almost done with the formula, we need a couple more weeks and it should be ready to test. I doubt we'll have issues until then."
"I added traps all around the base while we were waiting for the threesome people, we should be safe." Jisung precised before slumping down on a couch.
"Threesome people?" Chris repeated in a mumble.
"Yeah, like how Changbin was surely going to sleep with Y/N and Y/N and Chris keep eye-fucking each other nonstop."
"We got the point, thanks Jisung." Jeongin stopped him, which you were grateful for.
"She's like a sister to me, that'd be so wrong." Changbin continued.
You sent him a glare but he ignored it. "No one's slept or will sleep with anyone."
"Hmm, you'd be surprised." Hyunjin argued.
"I don't want the details."
Chan clapped his hands together, shutting the conversation. "Can we get back to work?"
Everybody went to their position: Felix and Jeongin on the lookout on the roof, Changbin at the entrance, Jisung and Hyunjin in training, Minho and Seungmin on the cure...
You were left alone with Chris in his new office. With a radio at hand, you were trying to catch any signals of new research found about the virus of potential visits from enemies that you could prepare for. It wasn't that exciting other than hearing people talk.
"Y/N L/N... works for... reward of..." you heard while tuning in the radio.
You had completely forgotten about your uncle, even more the load of work you still had to execute for him. In a moment of panic, you stood uo and paced around the room, looking for your stuff.
"Woah, Y/N." Chris said, standing up as well.
"I have to go back." you announced, breath unsteady.
"What?"
"My uncle, he's gonna kill me if I don't finish his deals."
He frowned. He had tried to understand why you were so insistent on continuing to work for that guy. From his point of view, nothing beneficial for you. You would receive much less than what you deserve, get treated like shit and live in a shitty torn down apartment.
"You don't have to-"
"You don't understand." you interrupted him. "That man is the reason why I'm still alive. I did all of his work and he allowed me to get by in exchange. I let him down, he can ruin my name. He has contacts, I know he will kot hesitate to-"
"You don't have to." Chan repeated. "You're not there anymore, you're not trapped. Look, I don't know what happened with the two of you but I think he might have manipulated you. Telling you that you owe him for what he did for you? You don't owe him anything, he's the one who owes you. You do all of his dirty work for a few silvers and do it all again the next day. And what if he ruins your name? You can't be found with us. Well, your chances are low let's say. You're safe."
You hadn't noticed he had taken your hands in reassurance until you felt his thumbs rubbing against your skin. This might had been the first time someone had touched you like this, so intimately. As much as it was a foreign sensation, you felt as if there was nothing else but you and him. As if a bubnle had created around you. As tears dropped from your eyes, you took in what he just said. For years, you believed you had no choice but to give back to your uncle for lpoking after you, when in reality, he had never done anything but use you. Chan was right.
You let out a chuckle. "In a way, you saved me. By recruiting me."
"In a way."
You stepped forward, getting closer to him. So close that you could smell him. He smelled fresh and new, nothing like someone who spent years being a rebel. Looking up to stare back at him, his gaze had moved down to your lips. So you looked at his lips too and, slowly, you moved closer to each other until you kissed.
It was nothing like you had experienced before. There wasn't just lust and want in the kiss, there was anger, sadness, relief.... It wasn't a clear mix but it felt good.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to seem to take advantage of the situation or-"
You shushed him with a small peck. "You're not, I swear. Look, I don't do great at relationship stuff but-"
It was his turn to cut you off as he let out a laugh. "There is no pressure."
For a moment, you could only smile and stare at one another. This was simple, easy. You loved it, actually.
"... vaccine in development..." the radip glitched, grabbing both your attention. "... no cure found... coming from yeast... mores tests..."
Chan took a deep breath. "I think the guys are going to like that information."
"What do you mean?"
His smile grew bigger. "We know the source of it now. If the guys can combine the source with the developped molecule, we might find a way to prevent it from evolving."
"So..?" you asked again, still not fully understanding.
"We're near the end of it all, Y/N."
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marilynthornhilllover · 1 year ago
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For kinkmas Agatha Harkness smut please 🫣
Kinkmas fanfic: #4
Good girl
Agatha harkness x fem!reader
Warning: arguing, relationship problems, hurtfull words, indecent language,Agatha being mean and full of shit,smut, fingering, Cummings, make up sex, praise kink, mommy kink if you squint, slight overstiumlation.
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The elevator dinged as you arrived on the main floor of your wife's company. You held your phone in one hand and her lunch in the other. Agatha had an unexpected important meeting to attend early this morning which caused her to rush out of the house with an empty stomach - obviously that does no one any good especially when they have a long day ahead.
So you promised her you'd bring her lunch about an hour before you head off to work, that way you'd eating lunch with her but it'd be breakfast for you. You walked up to the lady at the front desk with a polite smile.
" hi good morning! This isn't really my thing, showing up at a office so early but I'd like to see Ms harkness please" you spoke as you placed your bag on the counter. The lady smiled and nodded as she picked up the phone and dialed a number, she waited a while before dialing again. She sighed as she placed the phone back down in its holder.
" sorry ma'am but I'm afraid Ms.harkness is busy and probably can't answer the phone right now" she spoke firmly but her tone of voice showed no attitude or rudeness. You pouted as you looked around the room for another option before the lady spoke up again.
" If you tell me your name I can give you a security pass and you just go up" You turned to her with a huge grin and nodded.
" I'm y/n harness, her wife I'm just here to drop off her lunch and i'll be staying a while" the lady let out a small "oh" as she returned your smile.
" Well I suppose you can go up" you gaved her a small smile before picking up your belongings and reentering the elevator. The ride was long yet so short. With a soft ding again the doors opened and you stepped out into the huge work room where everyone was either standing, walking around or sitting clicking away at their keyboards trying to get whatever work that was assigned finished.
You turned a couple heads as you walked down the isle to your wife's office. You stopped in your tracks as you saw Agatha emerge from her office with her phone at her ear and her laptop in hand. You quickly walked up to her as she entered an empty conference room, where her meeting will be held later.
You knocked on the door to announce your arrival as you entered. She turned to face you and gestured for you to close the door.
" what do you mean you'll be here in an hour?! - no I don't give a shit if your taxi broke down!..... look be here in 20 minutes tops or your fucking fired!" She spoked as she hanged up the phone. If you were being honest if your boss shouted at you like that or didn't even have the courtesy to listen you'd probably only show up to work to give them the middle finger before quitting on the spot, but lucky for you that persons boss just so happened to be your grumpy wife.
She threw her phone onto the desk with a loud thug as she sat and opened her computer.
" what do you want y/n" she asked in a harsh and cold tone, you were a bit taken back to be honest. Even though she was having a rough morning that didn't give her the right to talk to you like shit and that was something you both had agreed on - she promised she'd never do since the last time she did it resulting in you breaking down in tears.
When you didn't respond she looked up at you in rather a aggressive way, it's safe to say if looks could kill you'd be dead. She shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes at you, her way of telling you to speak up or get lost.
" you need to drop that attitude, and plus give that poor guy a chance if his taxi broke down his taxi broke down-" she slammed her hands on the desk making you jump as she held the bridge of her nose, possibly trying to regain her composure. She wasn't- she wasn't losing her cool with you was she? No, nah, she can't be for real.
" look, I don't need anyone making a fool of me and wasting my time and I certainly don't need my pathetic wife showing up at work telling me how to treat my employees because she simply has nothing better to do" you were utterly shocked, your mouth was open and you were positive that your jaw had dropped further than the lost submarine.
The worst part she didn't even look as if she was sorry, or as if she regretted it. She just scoffed at your surprised facial expression and proceeded to type away on her computer.
" here I was bringing you lunch and wanting to have a decent conversation with you wife but no, you have to be a bitch" you placed the lunch in front of her and backed up crossing your arms.
You didn't know what could have upset your wife in such way or what is was you said that could have offended her other than the work bitch that she uses every day but she got up and threw the bowl of food across the table causing it to make a loud crashing sound and making everyone in the office sprint to their feet to see what the commotion was.
All eyes were on the both of you on the other side of the room since the blinds were down and the entire room was made of glass and to make matters worse the room was not sound proof.
" you know what y/n, you can take your ' lunch ' and 'decent conversation' and shove it up your ass" she spoke before walking out of the room and down the hall back towards her own personal office.
" someone get that cleaned up I have a meeting in less than an hour for christ sake!" She shouted before slamming her door making everyone jolt. You were frozen between reality and what just happened. Surely that had to be a dream. She didn't just shouted at you infront of her entire staff, embarrassed you, humiliate you and insulted you. If this situation didn't scream "divorce her!" You didn't know what would. You picked up your bag, carefully not to make the shards of glass of the floor to cut your feet.
You avoided everyone's intense gaze as you walked out. Tears forming as you heard whispers, or maybe it was your imagination, but after what just happened who wouldn't talk. You were beyond embarrassed. You wanted to disappear or worse lock yourself in a closet and survive off ice cream and Gatorade for the rest of your life.
You walked out of the building at the speed of light, not even saying goodbye to the front desk lady. Surly you were the talk of the day now and Agatha sure as hell didn't give a shit. What could have made her reacted like that? You didn't give two flying fucks she owed you a apology.
You got into your car and drived home. To get your mind off things you decided to go to a club with your friends to release some steam, Turing off your phone in the process.
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After you arrived back home you saw Agatha sitting on the couch drinking red wine as she was clearly not paying any attention to the movie that was playing on the TV. As the door opened and closed her eyes flicked up to meet your gaze. You scoffed as you placed your bag down onto the kitchen counter as you began to take off your shoes and jacket. She should be lucky you even spared her a glanced, if you could ignore her entire fucking existence you most definitely would.
Agatha got up and placed her wine glass down on the coffee table as she slowly approached you. A rather apologetic look plastered across her face.
" y/n darling can we talk about what-" you pushed passed her not allowing her to finish her sentence as you made your way into your shared bedroom, her following you like a lost puppy.
" talk about what Agatha? That your full of shit or how you humiliated my infront of almost hundred people. which should we first talk about?" She looked down bitting her lip before she looked back into your eyes that were on fire with several different emotions. Sadness being the most evident one, she could tell that you were hurt by her actions today and that whatever she says now can potentially add to your pain.
" I just wanna apologize for the way i-" again you allowed her no time to speak.
" apologize for what! Don't apologize babe I don't want you to bruise your perfect ego" you scoffed as you slammed the door to the bathroom in her face locking it in an instant.
" fucking unbelievable" you muttered under your breath. She knocked on the door several times but you continued to un dress and do you regularly night time routine. After taking a shower you wrapped your towel around your body and went out to see her sitting on the edge of the bed looking altruistic.
" please my love, let me atleast tell you why -"
" why you threw my bowl of food across the room and told me to shove it up my ass?" You sarcastically asked huffing putting your hands on your hips. That was your signature defense stance. With that she stood to be feet and tried approaching you but you took a step back. She sighed as she spoke up again.
" Yes would you stop interrupting me and let me fucking apologize?"
" I don't need your fucking apology" you shouted, tears threatening to fall from your eyes.
" Yes you do because I can see that your hurt and what I did was wrong"
" wow, the egoistic bitch actually gives a shit about people, one including her wife" you scoffed as you walked towards your closet.
" Oh my lord y/n what is wrong with you" she acquired.
" leave me alone" you replied.
" let me-" she tried grabbing your arm as you walked pass her put you pulled it away.
" you keep saying let you apologize just talk!"
" I can't if you keep cutting me off mid sentence!"
" Well too bad, and sleep in the guest room" you said as you slightly shivered from the amount of tension that had built up over time. You looked up at her and you could tell she was in distress just as much as you were and maybe infact you were being a bit self-centered by not letting her apologize.
Agatha sighed as her will power to try to apologize died, she scoffed as she watched you take off the Towel and slowly put on your underwear, her eyes couldn't help to linger on your boobs and your fleshly shaved cunt and the small curves of your body.
" let me apologize using a different method then" she spoke in a low, sultry tone making you shiver as you made eye contact with her in the mirror, her eyes were suddenly darkened with lust and utterly desire as she made her way towards you from behind. She wrapped her arms around you as her lips found your neck in a slow opened mouthed kiss. You fought the moan that wanted to surpass your lips as you turned around to face her, her hand placement never changing.
" fine, if you can make me feel good in ten minutes i'll let you off but you have to apologizeto me i front of your staff, if not your sleeping in the guess room and your ordering take out tonight and your still gonna apologize to me in front of your staff" you said as your looked into her beautiful determined brown eyes. Your wife bit her bottom lip as she studied you for a moment before replying.
" baby you and I both know I can make you cum in five minutes tops" she husked, as she gently pushed you down on the bed. You chuckled at her playfulness as she sinfully smirked at you as she teasingly removed your underwear not ignoring the already wet patch that was presented before her eyes. She kissed in between your thighs as she maintained intense eye contact with you.
" so pretty my love" she cooed as she used her finger to move your arousal around, pushing her finger through you wet slit. You threw back your head against the pillows as you tried your best to not give her the privilege of hearing you moan so soon. Agatha was indeed very skilled with her mouth and hands and truth be told you weren't sure if you were going to last very long. She gently pushed your thighs up towards your chest as she leaned down and softly kissed your clit, gently pulling it and releasing it with a pop.
" fuck, oh my god" you moaned, you didn't want to give her the satisfactory but you lost all of your self control when it came to how this woman ate your pussy. It was incredible. you whimpered as Agatha makes cat licks up your slit once more before flattening her tongue out against your cunt before enveloping your clit in her mouth making you let out a pornographic moan as your hands immediately flew to her hair.
You whined as your hips stated rocking against her mouth trying to get some more friction before Agatha wrapped her arms around your thighs in a firm grasp pulling you down more so that you could be closer to her mouth. You were slowly losing your sanity as you became more desperate for her.
" good girl, such a good fucking girl, I promise I'll make it up to you sweetie" she spoke against your cunt, as the vibrations ran straight through you making you arch your back and strach your nails against her scalp, making her let out a moan of her own. You could already feel the knot in your stomach being tied,it was just a matter of time before it exploded and it was utterly embarrassing how easy she could get you to cum for her.
" gonna cum sweet girl? Mhm? Your doing so good for me" she mumbled as she sucked harshly on your clit moving her tongue through your folds and slightly entering at your entrance making you cry out. She was a tease and she loved how easily she could have you at her aid.
You plopped yourself up on your elbows to look at her and her gaze immediately flicked up to your tear filled eyes. The pleasure felt too good to be true.
" your gonna cum aren't you?" She chuckled against you when she saw how desperate you looked. It was as if you were stuck between enjoying what she was doing and let her win or play house by holding off your oragsm and making her go over her time limit.
She looked at you dead in the eye as she slowly pushed two fingers into your cunt at the same time. Watching as your eyes roll back and how your face confronts in pleasure as you lay back. She groaned as she felt how your pussy clenched down on her in such a greedy way. She slowly thrusted her fingers in and out of you watching as you tried your best not to ride them. She kissed your mound and your tummy and then your chest area and she picked up her brutal pace, making squelching noises as your moans got louder.
She latched on to one of your breast as her other unoccupied hand gaved the other one attention by twisting and squeezing your sensitive bud.
" Oh God please, Agatha, p-please, I wanna- no" she could feel you trying your hardest to not give into your pleasure rather than to let it absorb you completely. She realsed your nipple with a pop and kissed her way up to your face. She kissed you passionately doing the "barrel" movement with her fingers as she went harder and deeper making your eyes snap out and making you let out a crucial moan. She took the opportunity to push her tongue into your mouth.
You didn't even bother to fight her for dominance you allowed her to completely dominate you, fully submitting to her.
" you know your allowed to cum right? It's not a punishment darling, you have nothing to lose. cum for me please. Make mommy proud." She moaned in your ear as she nibbled on your neck. She curled her fingers in you going faster making you grab onto the bedsheets for dear life as you cummed hard on her fingers.
" FUCK-" you choked on your moan as she kept moving her fingers in and out of you, allowing you some time to come down from your high. You saw little stars floating in your vision as she carefully removed her fingers.
" there she is, such a good girl" she cooed as she licked off her fingers and gaved you a kiss on the cheek.
" so, that's 7 minutes and 34 seconds" she whispered and you chuckled. You turned to look at her with bright eyes.
" 2 minutes late but I still got to see the most beautiful girl in the world cum for me" she whispered and you playfully rolled your eyes.
" I am truly sorry for shouting at you baby girl" she muttered kissing along your jaw line. You hugged her tightly as you rested your head on her chest, listening to her her heart beat as it slowly drived you more into sleep land.
" I love you Agatha" you sighed as you slowly allowed the sleep to take over your body. She giggled at your spent expression and gaved you a little forehead kiss.
" I love you more my little cupcake" she mumbled as she too fell asleep.
Tag list: @readingtheentrails @agathaandgwenslesbian @aemilia19 @barbarasstar @samanthasadhdlife if you want to be tagged in more kinkmas fics coming soon please comment below! Happy holidays!
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