#if you are confused then you probably can’t smell ants

[fleursdemeduse]

Remembrance AU: The First Time

So this isn't the first one I wrote for this "series", but this is the first one chronologically, so I decided this will be the first to be posted. Depending on how well this one and the other two I've written do will help me to decide if this is an AU I wanna continue or not. Feel free to send in asks and stuff about the AU!

Warnings: Violence ; Death

Words: 3.5k

You hated the nether. The thick dry heat choked you in a way that made you feel as if you had stepped into a wildfire in the middle of a desert, but worse. The smell of sulfur seemed to cling to your clothes in a way that made you gag every time. To be honest, you probably wouldn’t even be here if you didn’t appreciate the piglins. You were able to barter with them much easier than the villagers back home, and they had much better stuff. You snorted at the thought, and the large brute before you copied the action.

Home.

The village you had set up base in wasn’t really your home. Just a convenient place that you had set up your bed. A bed which now sat on the other side of the portal you had built on the lower level of the bastion below.

You were grateful to have access to the only thing you really needed in the nether. Trading with the piglins gave you a way to achieve more ender pearls so you wouldn’t have to kill the poor enderman on the surface. You held out another gold ingot to the brute, but he didn’t take it immediately. He was looking at something to the side of your exchange and you turned your head slightly to look too.

The heat of the nether was nothing compared to the warmth that immediately bubbled in your stomach. Everything seemed to fizzle out of existence aside from the large man that had entered the bastion. Which turned out to be your mistake.

Searing pain in your back made you grunt as you were knocked forward into the brute in front of you. You turned to see a ghast behind you that breathed another fireball. The piglin, upset at suddenly being “attacked” started to slice at you with its sword and you hissed at the damage you were taking. You didn’t want to kill the piglin. It didn’t understand that it had been an accident.

You cursed at yourself. You hadn’t realized how hungry you had been all this time, and your health felt dangerously low. Another hit from the explosion of the fireball and a swipe at the brute’s sword replaced the pain with nothing as you died.

You cursed when you woke up in your bed next to the portal. The mattress felt almost too soft as you struggled to remove yourself from it and fling yourself back through the portal. You flew up the steps, your feet taking them two at a time and you hoped your items hadn’t despawned.

You couldn’t help your sigh of relief when you saw Technoblade examining your items. You had been fast enough. You jogged up behind him, a grin on your lips, both relieved for your items and excited to finally meet him. “Hey!”

You immediately jolted to a stop at the sword now placed at your throat, but you could help but laugh at yourself. You should have expected that. You held up your hands in what you believed to be a non-threatening manner as you looked up at him.

“Sorry about that! I’m [y/n].” You watched him slowly lower the blade, eyes behind the mask narrowed at you. He looked both exactly how you expected and not how you expected at all.

“Technoblade.” You couldn’t help the giggle that spilled from your lips as you moved around him to collect your items and put back on your armor. Who hadn’t heard of him?

“Man, I hate ghasts. I worked really hard to save up all those levels, and now I have nothing.” You took a cursory glance at your levels. “Oh, I’m sorry, I have two. Fat load of help that would be. Glad I don’t need to enchant anything for a long while, hm?” You turned back to him once you had your golden boots buckled. You were totally going to take advantage of this opportunity to follow him like a puppy. No one else you had met seemed to actually understand you and the chance at an interaction with someone had you almost crawling up the walls. “Where are we off to, then?”

Techno just stared at you. You were much shorter than he was. At least a foot, if not more. How tall was he again? In this form, about seven feet, he thought. You were very short compared to him. The thought made his lips twitch before he turned, walking in the direction of where he last remembered there to be a fortress.

Chat was going crazy at the discovery of this new anomaly. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t met people he didn’t share a couple lifetimes with before. He had met plenty where they just didn’t meet in a life or two, such as George or Schlatt. But never someone he had shared none with. No one here seemed to speak of anyone new either. It was always the same people, a different storyline. As if DreamXD -or maybe Kristen? He had only met her once, but she had been very kind. Would this be her department, then?- just kept recycling their souls into new realities like a -what did that lifetime call it? A movie? Chat confirmed his thought- played for their own entertainment until they got bored and it was onto the next.

He glanced at you out of the corner of his eye. You were talking again, but the roar in his brain was louder, so he didn’t pay too much attention to your words, despite how the soft timbre of your voice made something bubble in his chest. What were you even doing here? He had seen you trading with the piglins before your death, -you had respawned so quickly, anyone else in this lifetime took two or three days but you seemed to reappear in what felt like seconds- so why were you following him now?

Chat’s whispers echoed through his mind.

E.

I wonder who they are.

They can’t be older than Tommy.

E.

Maybe we should kill them again, see what happens this time.

Wilbur will want to know about this.

They said their name was [y/n]?

Maybe they’re like Phil.

Pog.

E.

Blood for the blood god.

E.

They’re probably closer to Wilbur’s age.

Stab them.

Jump off the edge.

Push them off the edge.

E.

Techno, will you call my friend Rachel a nerd?

All warfare is based on deception.

His fingers twitched around his sword at the thought. Was this all a trick? It couldn’t be.

Could it?

He glanced at you once more, focusing on your words, finally.

“-like they seem to notice, y’know? I just kind of walk into their houses, take from their chests, and move on. Hell, I even put my bed in, I think the library? Not one of them batted an eye! It’s almost scary, to be honest. I can loot their things, sleep in their beds, practically dismantle their homes, and I get nothing but a “Hnn.” in response!” A small pout found its way to your lips and Techno hummed in response. This seemed to be what you wanted to hear because a smile replaced the pout and you looked up at him. “So where are we going again?”

“Fortress.” His words were short, tone clipped, as if he didn’t know if you were gonna shove him into the lava, or if that was what he planned to do to you. It didn’t matter, to be honest. You were just thrilled he was letting you accompany him. Heart soaring at the feeling of interacting with another intelligent being once more. He even seemed to be listening as you rambled! That had to be a good thing, right? You hadn’t really met anyone else on the server yet, aside from distantly watching Dream, George, and Sapnap build the large building that stood in the center of what they dubbed the Dream SMP. A small giggle fell from your lips. That would have been a cute name had one of the members not been named it. Rather, it just felt self-centered because of that. You were mildly afraid of approaching the trio. You were almost afraid of how they would react when they met you.

You edged closer to the bridge to the fortress with Technoblade and you felt your heart speed up a little. Ash floated across your vision and you felt it hard to breathe for a moment. The sweat that made your clothes stick to your skin under your armor made you feel clammy. You had only been in one of these once since coming here when you wanted to try your hand at learning how to craft potions and needed blaze rods.

That.. hadn’t worked out in your favor.

You had only had one set of diamond armor, and you hadn’t even enchanted it at the time. When the wither skeletons had overtaken you and murdered you without a thought, you remembered racing back and trying to get your items back. This had only led to yet another death, however. Your eyebrows furrowed as the question entered your mind.

How many times had you died?

You remember when you first came to this world, waking up next to a river with a chest filled with bread, a map, a wooden axe, and a few other paltry items sitting before you surrounded by torches. The gentle babble of the water easing you awake and the smell of fresh flowers floated through the breeze. You almost didn’t mind the ants that were crawling on the ledge just a tad too close to you. You remember being so confused and the days being so hard at first. You didn’t even sleep the first couple days because you hadn’t found a village yet. The stupid phantoms that had attacked you had made you way more aggressive than you had meant to be. But you were tired and you were frustrated and you just wanted to find a stupid village already. You had been residing in the one you were in now since you had first found it your third day here. The first two deaths happening on your second day. One because of said phantoms and one because you had fallen from a cliff. You were devastated at the lack of supplies and progress when you just respawned next to that river, awaking to a few scattered zombies and a skeleton or two. You had dug yourself a hole and cried in it while you waited for sun-up. Many more deaths had happened since, but you couldn't seem to be able to remember the number now.

You hadn’t planned on returning to a fortress until you had better equipment, fearing another death. Something better than your diamond armor and golden boots and your sole netherite sword, but who were you to miss the opportunity to go exploring with The Blood God? Besides you had a bow with Power IV you had stolen from a skeleton that had been in the village. You didn’t know how durable it still was, but it was better than nothing, right?

The rattling of bones brought you out of your thoughts. Already a couple of blazes and some wither skeletons were approaching. You drew your sword, heart hammering in your chest. This wouldn’t be like last time. You had Technoblade to back you up. The top PVPer. The winner of the potato war. The Blood God. You could do this. You could do this.

A lucky swing from one of the wither skeletons caught you in the arm and you hissed as the wither effect immediately took hold and you jolted at the feeling. It was numbing. You felt nauseated. Another hit and you gasped when you felt your health drop to a dangerous level. You sliced up with your sword, removing its head from its spine with a gnarly “click” and you immediately moved out of fire to drink some milk and eat a couple of the pieces of salmon you had brought with you.

Whilst you were letting your health regenerate, you removed your bow from your inventory, aiming at one of the blazes, only to watch something white hit it first. You hesitated, looking towards Technoblade, only to see him ignoring the wither skeletons that were approaching you and focusing on throwing snowballs at the flaming mob. Your lips twitched. Fine. You’d take care of the skeletons, then.

You grabbed your sword once more and began attacking the skeletons in front of you with reckless abandon. You were growing mildly frustrated. Your arm hurt now and Techno seemed to be leaving you on your own to fight off the horde that was slowly amassing. There had only been four of them at first, but now four more had sprinted over to join the fray when they saw the two of you. Now, minus the one you had already taken care of and the two Technoblade had killed within the first ten seconds of their approach, there were five. You winced when you heard the sound of both blazes being taken care of and you hadn’t even killed one more.

‘-so she throws this apple, she just chucks this apple and says like, only the hottest goddess can take this apple.’ Chat loved it when he told them mythology stories, despite them being there when he had read it.

E.

Greek mythology pog.

Semi-demi god for the win!

Speaking of discord, how’s the new person doing?

E.

Persephone is definitely the hottest.

At the mention of you, Techno turned his attention to the sound of metal hitting metal and was surprised to see you still standing there, despite being crowded by wither skeletons. Just another thing to tack onto the list about you. He watched you kill another one, followed by a yelp as you took another hit, the wither effect turning the flesh around your wound a purplish black before you killed one more. You backed up on the bridge, drinking more milk and eating another piece of fish. He could see how the action pained you, but you were resilient.

They’re stupid.

Look at them wave that sword around, do they even know what they’re doing?

E.

They haven’t died again yet?

They can’t be one of Schlatt’s people.

Save them.

Technoblade, wasn’t Eris the daughter of Zeus?

E.

He decided to wait and see what you did. If you died, there was more for him to loot. If you didn’t, then it was a lesson. Either way, he wouldn’t have to worry about protecting you further into the fortress. His nose twitched at the smell of your blood and of rot that seemed to ooze off the skeletons. He still needed more wither skulls.

The remaining four attacked you again, despite your low health, and you felt as if you were going to cry. You hated the nether.

Two more were dispatched a lot faster than the first ones had been and you swallowed. Adrenaline coursed through your veins and you felt just the slightest bit more confident in yourself.

Two more left.

You ducked at a swing, movement still slow. You only had one more milk left, and that scared you. You couldn’t, wouldn’t, get hit again with their stupid swords and their stupid wither effect. You sliced with your sword, hooking the metal into the rib cage in front of you and sending the skeleton careening into the other just as it swung down, making the attack miss.You flinched at the sound of metal hitting stone, but you recovered faster than the skeletons in front of you. You could do this.

Another hit, your sword cutting through the skeleton’s vertebrate and killing it. You could do this.

One more.

Your sword was met with metal as you blocked its attack and you grunted, knocking it back. You could do this!

A downward slice had you throwing yourself back onto the side of the bridge as you dodged. You couldn’t die. Not here. Not now. Not in front of Technoblade again. You shoved another piece of salmon into your mouth as you backed up. You really hoped there weren’t any more blazes around. Or more skeletons waiting for you. You shoved yourself off the wall, hitting the wither skeleton with your shoulder to knock it back again before you struck once more, across the neck, beheading it.

The sight of three wither skulls in your inventory made you fall to your knees and you let out a sigh in relief. Your arms ached. Your wounds ached. Your head ached. Your vision doubled for a moment. Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath. You felt great, despite how dizzy you felt at the moment. You looked at Technoblade, hoping to find him still there.

He was leaned against the wall of the fortress, watching you with crossed arms.

Was he waiting on you?

The thought made you perk up and you scrambled to stand, rushing to him while holding the skulls. “Here! I got them all!”

He merely blinked at you as you handed him all three skulls you had gotten from your fight, placing them into his inventory after a moment. He didn’t speak, just turned to descend further in. Were you supposed to follow him?

You did anyways, feeling proud of yourself. He had waited on you!

The rest of the fortress had been like that. You continuously fighting wither skeletons, blazes, regular skeletons, zombified piglins, and magma cubes, only to turn over your loot to the large warrior who would patiently wait for you. You kept a few of the bars of gold, some diamonds, and one of the saddles you had found, but ultimately, you were just spare hands to help him. The experience you were gaining was more than enough, especially since he seemed to be listening to you ramble on and on. He’d occasionally hum or grunt in response, but not much more than that. It was still such a sweet sound in your ears, despite the constant crackle of fire that just filled the nether.

He didn’t speak when he decided he was finished, just started walking back the way you came and you immediately fell into step next to him when he walked past you.

Despite your exhaustion and the pain you felt, this trip felt more than worth it.

When you returned to the bastion where you two had first met, you grinned up at him.

Techno felt his breath catch in his throat at your smile. That smile almost made the sweltering brightness of the nether feel cold and dark. He had never had someone, aside from Tommy, smile at him with such warmth. No one had a smile like yours. They were all weighed heavy with the memories from lifetimes no longer in reach. But you? You were so tired from accompanying him, still wounded from fighting for him. Aside from the couple small treasures you had hidden away, you had given him everything. There was really no reason for you to have gone with him when you received virtually nothing in return. And now you smiled at him like that? You were-

TechnoSIMP.

E.

Look at how cute they are.

They’re stupid.

Take them back with us.

You should give them something for helping.

Hug them.

Awww look at them!

All warfare is based on deception.

He stopped that thought before it could fully finish.

“I should get going. I don’t know how dark it is and I want a bath.” He nodded at you. “I’ll catch you some other time, alright? Don’t be afraid to come by sometime if you need a buddy again, okay?”

He only hummed in response and watched you glide down the stairs of the bastion to a portal he had never noticed before.

A buddy? You weren’t a buddy. What did he really know about you?

You respawned faster than anyone else he had met. There hadn’t been another chance to test that, but you seemed unphased with your death. When you held up your hands, he couldn’t see the usual hearts on your wrist that they all shared. Even when normal members lost a life, he’s noticed that the normally red hearts are cracked and black. Phil himself had one on the center of his wrist. But yours were bare from the mark. You weren’t immortal, were you? Had he come across a god?

He chuckled at the thought.

Such a tiny god compared to him.

For now, he had to return to Pogtopia. He had to tell Wilbur about you. Perhaps write to Phil and ask if he knew anything about people with no or unlimited lives. He would repay your kindness at a later date.

He only hoped you wouldn’t be on the other side of this war.

[hacked-by-jake]

Hey!

I've just got broken up with after 3 years because he cheated on me with multiple girls... (And blamed me for it)

Can I please request some Jake fluff? I leave it up to your artistic freedom, I just wanna feel better for a bit

Love your little stories, thank you for writing ❤️

The Truth

A/n: Hey dear, I hope you’re okay, I’m really sorry about what happened to you and thank you for telling me that. The words I will say are known from everywhere but they are true.You definitely deserve something much better than him. First of all, it is not your fault that he cannot control himself; it is not your fault that he cannot see your value. He doesn’t deserve you, and you don’t deserve to listen, it’s your fault. Even though it’s always easier said than done but you have to forget it. He's not worth your time, he's not worth your power, and he's not worth anything else. I wish you much strength and send you much love. Feel hugged and if you want to talk to someone you don’t know, feel free to write to me❤️❤️❤️

So, when I saw your message, I jumped right up to write this. I really hope you like it and that it will cheer you up a bit. I wish you a wonderful evening/ a wonderful night or a wonderful day. Take care of yourself. And thank you for the sweet compliments.❤️❤️

Summary: Jake tells you the truth.

Words: 2,1 k

Far away from you, you can hear the quiet bells of the church beating. It’s exactly 12 a.m. on a beautiful summer night.

The cloudless and pitch black sky offers a beautiful view of the sea of stars that sparkles above you and Jake and gives you the feeling that this is the eternity. On the edge of Duskwood town centre, on an abandoned high-rise, you sit cuddling with the Hacker and just watch the Quiet Night. Only occasionally cars drive through the streets of the small town, again and again lights go out in apartments and houses to end the day. The large windows of the shops and stores of the shopping street light up brightly and from up here the few people who are on their way home look like like little ants. You’re leaning your back against Jake’s upper body, and he’s got his arms wrapped around you. His head rests on your shoulder and your legs are knotted together.

You look up at the sky and watch the stars. Every now and then a plane flies by and you imagine yourself sitting up there with Jake on your way to your deserted island.

A beautiful holiday destination that you have traveled two times. A cute little wooden hut surrounded by white sand and crystal clear water. It is just perfect. You remember the moment when you were lying in a hammock with Jake in the middle of the night, under the starry sky and the moonlight, and he read you something from your favorite book. As beautiful as this moment was, as beautiful is this one too. In Jake’s arms, you feel like you own the world, like everything else is standing still and only you and Jake count. And it’s true, up here, it’s just you, him and the eternity.

Satisfied, you sigh, "It’s so lovely here, isn’t it?"

"You're right. It’s the most beautiful thing in the world," Jake whispers in your ear and breathes a tender kiss on your cheek, making you giggle. You turn your head a little to the side to see him, "I’m talking about the sky." He grins slightly, "And I’m talking about something even more beautiful."

Your cheeks turn slightly red and you are glad that it is not visible through the little light. Even after two years of relationship, he still manages to flatter and embarrass you, but the other way around it’s the same.

"You charmer" you joke and turn your head away from him again.

"No, I’m not a charmer. I am a man who only speaks the truth!" He whispers and draws you even closer to his body.

"Oh interesting, and what is the truth?"

He makes a superior sound, "Turn to me," he demands and lets you go so you can move. You do what he asks and turn to him. You sit between his outstretched legs and put your legs over his thighs and slide very close to him.

"Now, I am curious," you wink and look into his eyes that radiate so much love and security that you would like to cry the most, that you have the feeling that a whole zoo would rage in your belly, so tremendously tingles your whole body.

„The truth is that you are the most beautiful thing that could have happened to me. Before, I always felt like I didn’t belong anywhere. As if I were superfluous everywhere and nowhere would a person really understand me. I thought it was my destiny to be misunderstood by everyone and to be an outsider. But when I met you, with your extraordinary kind and your jokes. With your courage and your trust in me, I understood it wasn’t true. I realized that all I had to do was wait for the right person that I found in you. Since I know you, my world is colorful, I see the future and I don’t just live for myself. Or rather, I don’t just exist. Since I know you, my whole life has changed.

When I’m with you, there’s no place I’d rather be. You’re the last thing I think about before I fall asleep, even when you lie next to me every night. You’re the first thing I think about when I wake up, even if you’re half on top of me.

When I look into your beautiful eyes, I can see my future. I never looked for love until you came. I didn’t know that I longed for love and affection, I didn’t know how beautiful life can be. I didn’t know there was a person who made me feel what you made me feel. I had no idea that all I needed was you.

Before, it was just me and my computer. Trying to be anonymous and not letting anyone get too close to me even though that’s what I secretly wanted. All of a sudden, you made my world shine.

Everything I never thought possible became possible when I met you.

You know, MC, there’s flames, but you’re the fireworks, you’re the light that makes me see. Your eyes are my refuge, your touches are my salvation, your voice is my favorite music. Your smell is my healing, your lips my protection, and your love, my life. Your heartbeat is what keeps me alive, I don’t know what I would do without you. I don’t know how a life without you at my side was and is possible. When you enter the room, stops my heart for seconds and then beats twice as fast because you take my breath away.

Every time I look at you, I doubt whether this is the reality. Because I just can’t imagine how someone like you, so perfect, so beautiful, so sweet and tender, can be with me.

I know I talk a lot of messed up and confused stuff and I’m probably repeating myself, but if you could just feel what’s happening inside me while you’re sitting here with me, you’d think I’m crazy. And I am.. I am crazy about you.

I forget the simplest things around you. I forget how to talk and stutter all the time. Breathing is a hard thing too, because my emotions roll over when you’re there. I forget how to walk because I only have eyes for you and no longer look forward.

But I also forget all the bad, I forget all the pain, all the suffering, all the unhappiness. All thanks to you.

When I tell you something, you listen to me and you don’t just pretend. You’re interested in things I like, and even if I tell you boring computer stuff for hours, you listen to me carefully. If I’m not well, you leave everything behind to help me; if I’m happy, you’re happy with me. If someone treats me badly, you say something before I say something myself. You’re defending me from everyone and you’re defending me even if I’m not there.

MC, no one’s ever done this for me.

My heart is beating so fast I think it’s bursting. I feel drunk when you look into my eyes and confuse my mind, I feel so safe and loved. I feel like a human being since you’ve been at my side.

You showed me what happiness means, you showed me what love means. You showed me what life means and how beautiful life can be when you spend it with the right person.

I thank everyone out there that I can have you by my side. That I can be the person who is by your side, who may hold your hand, who may kiss you.

Who can sleep next to you, who can look at you all the time, who can protect you, and I always will. I will protect you from anything that could hurt you.

I would endure any pain in the world to stay by your side.

I would take any pain away from you so that it doesn’t hurt you, I would do anything to maintain your happiness and love. You are my God damn world! You are my angel, my heart, my one and all. You are my freedom and you are my prison, you are my happiness and my pain. You are everything, everything important in this world.

I wish I could describe to you how strong my love is for you but unfortunately there are not enough words to express it. And it drives me crazy that I can’t describe it to you, because I would love to.

I would like to express to you how damn much I love you because you deserve to see how I see you. Because you deserve to hear how perfect you are.

I love you so much that sometimes it scares me because I don’t know how to deal with it if you would to disappear from my life. I would never be happy again MC, I would never laugh again, I would never live again, it would break me, my dear.

We have too much in common. When you go, I go with you, when you cry, I weep with you, and when you live, I live. The truth is, all I am today and what I stand for is because of you, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are all that matters to me, I love you so much that my heart hurts. You gave me a life."

Like frozen you stare at him.

You’re not moving, any more than you were during his entire speech.

Silent tears run from your eyes like little streams. Laughing nervously, the hacker also wipes away some tears that he has lost while he poured out his heart and laid it at your feet.

"I also don’t know where that came from," he murmurs in embarrassment and clears his throat.

You don’t know how to react, should you fall into his arms and crush him? Should you kiss him until you can’t breathe? Should you just burst into tears? Or maybe all together?

Your head has trouble processing all its words and your associated feelings, you don’t know if this is really happening. Whether that’s real, whether you’re awake, whether you’re even alive.

It all seems like a dream, like a dream you never want to wake up from, but that’s the beauty. This moment is real, and it is yours.

"Please say something" his voice trembles slightly and he looks up into the sky, "I am afraid that you get up and run away after what I have said."

The worry in his voice finally lets you break out of your trance. Stormily, your arms wrap around his neck to pull him into a hug. From the momentum and the suddenness he has no chance to hold himself upright and tilts with you to himself, backwards. He groans painfully as he comes up on the ground and remains rigidly lying down. You’re hanging on him, clawing at him like someone’s trying to pull you away from him, hiding your head between his neck and his shoulder. Loudly you sob up and a tremble shakes your whole body.

"I love you," you croak weepy. Your voice sounds as if you have excruciating pain, but at this moment you are the happiest person in the world. "I love you so much Jake, so unbelievable that it hurts"

"I love you, too, my dear," he whispers and wraps his arms tightly around your upper body.

"I don’t know what to say. Or rather where to start" a little laugh leaves your lips, "I don’t know how to give it all back to you."

Jake grumbles, "You don’t have to answer or return anything. Please don’t say anything and take it like that," he asks, "Don’t say anything and just kiss me."

Of course you’ll grant him his wish right away. You straighten up and wipe the tears from your face. You put your hands on his cheeks and look deep into his eyes. He smiles as he wipes a few strands of hair from your face and pulls your head down to him and closes his lips with yours.

You stay there until the sun rises.

🌹🎭

[simplydm]

I’m still awake tonight

Have another fic

It had been quite a while since Sam had stayed at the house for more then a few hours. But Bad and Ant were guarding the prison, and they had all but forced him to go back to his base.

“You need to sleep in a real bed!” Bad had insisted, eyes flicking to the pile of blankets on the floor in Sam’s office. “Take the night off- we’ll call you if anything happens.”

So Sam was here, in his house that kind of smelled musty. He let Fran out and, blatantly ignoring the mess of chests and dirt in the main halls, made his way to his bedroom. He collapsed backwards on top of the sheets, letting out a long sigh. His eyes met Ponk’s eyes on the ceiling and then he closed them.

“What the fuck?” Sam’s eyes flew back open, and after a moments panic, let out an exasperated sigh. He stood up reluctantly and pulled down the picture of Ponk’s face from the ceiling. A classic Ponk prank- putting pictures anywhere and everywhere to get a laugh. Well, it sure had gotten Sam. Sam clicked his tongue and put the picture on the bedside table, face-down. He lay back down, Fran coming to lay beside him.

“How long was that up there?” He asked Fran. “Hell, how long has it been since I stayed the night here?” He racked his brain, but nothing came of it. He had been in and out of the house for resources, but actually staying here? Probably before he and Ponk-

Sam shook his head as if to fling the thoughts from his head. Push it away, he firmly told himself. He lay there for a moment, definitely not thinking about the pretty boy who smelled like lemons. Almost without thinking, he grabbed the picture again and held it above him. It was some meme picture of Ponk, taken a long time ago, Sam realized with a jolt, as he saw Ponk’s left arm in frame, unblemished and still attached to his body. He looked so happy. So beautiful. Not that he didn’t look beautiful now…

“Damn it.” Sam groaned, flinging his arm over his eyes. Ponk was a criminal, a direct threat to the prison. He always annoyed Sam and tried to get under his skin. “Ponk.” He whispered his name like Ponk could hear him. But there was just silence, and Fran shifting slightly.

Sam lay there for a long time, arm pressed against his closed eyes. He ran a thumb carefully over the edge of the picture, trying to tell himself that this was a bad idea.

He eventually reached for his communicator and dialed, holding it to his ear. His heart thrummed, and an ache in his stomach was telling him exactly how stupid he was being right now.

“Hello?”

Ponk’s voice was groggy and slurred.

“Did I wake you?” Sam asked, unconsciously slipping into the deep, flirty voice he did especially for Ponk.

There was a moment of silence. “…Yes.” Ponk finally answered in a guarded tone.

“I’m sorry.” Sam considered hanging up right then and there, but he couldn’t bring himself to bring the communicator away from his ear. Even Ponk’s damn breathing was addictive.

“What do you want, Sam?” Ponk asked. His voice was clipped, dull.

“Do you wanna come over?” Sam knew how pathetic he sounded. The sleaziest of pickup lines, on a man who hated him. That’s alright, Sam countered, I hate myself anyway.

Ponk was silent again. Sam pressed the communicator even further against his ear, almost wishing he could fly through the phone lines and right into Ponk’s room.

There was a sudden click, and the dull beeping of a call broken up. Sam pulled his communicator away from his face.

“Fuck.”

He put the communicator down and lay his arm over his face again. So much for that. Probably for the best, though. Sam’s thoughts tended to get a bit confusing around Ponk. It was a lot easier when he wasn’t around.

A beeping interrupted Sam’s hazy thoughts. Sam looked at the screen over on the desk- a security alarm was going off. Someone was near the house. Sam got up and tried to access the cameras, but they were all out of service. Oh, right, someone had stolen them months ago.

He grabbed a trident leaning against the wall and stalked out to the front door. He knew he looked a mess, with his dog-patterned pajama pants and no shirt, but the trident should help his image.

The door suddenly ground into life, sinking down into the floor. And there stood Ponk on the other side, glaring up at Sam.

“Ponk?” Sam asked in surprise. Ponk stepped inside and pressed the button for the door to go back up. He was dressed in a deep red cloak and his mask, and he came to stand right in front of Sam. Sam looked down at him- he had always enjoyed his height advantage over Ponk- with his heart hammering.

“Sam, why the fuck did you booty call me?” Sam’s brain short-circuited- Ponk’s voice was gravely and sleepy, something Sam hadn’t heard in who knows how long.

“Ponkie,.. god, you’re so cute…” Sam reached for Ponk’s mask. Ponk went completely still as Sam’s fingers brushed the cloth along his jaw.

Ponk moved suddenly, and Sam felt a sharp pain to the stomach. He dropped to the ground with a groan. Ponk’s fist packed a lot more punch now that it wasn’t made out of flesh.

“You can’t just fucking call me at three in the morning with your voice all low and expect me to run over here with my arms outstretched, like nothing ever fucking happened, Sam!”

“But yet here you are.” Sam laughed, then choked as Ponk dropped to straddle Sam’s chest, a delicate but deadly knife pressed to his throat. He knew that knife, red and gold handle, with an engraved blade. It had been a present from him to Ponk.

“I came here because I knew if I didn’t, this would just keep happening.” Ponk’s eyes sparkled with tears. “Sam, stop fucking talking to me. Please. What the hell is it gonna take?”

“I taught you to fight, Ponkie. But that also means that I know your moves and your weaknesses.” Sam laughed, ignoring Ponk’s questions. He started to move to the left, to throw Ponk off, but Ponk pressed his thumb hard against Sam’s throat. He choked.

“You’re not the only one whose taught me to how to fight, Sam.” Ponk said, settling himself more firmly on top of Sam, his feet all but crushing Sam’s wrists. “So shut the fuck up and actually listen for once.” Ponk took a deep breath. “Sam, you tortured me and cut my arm off. Time and time again you’ve proven that your only loyalties are to power and image and your own fears. And I know there’s no stopping you, because I know how it gets to you. I said it while lava was pouring over me, and I’ll say it again: I’d rather be a ghost then see you like this. When your actions catch up to you, and they will, I will have a place for you. But until then, stay the fuck away from me.”

Ponk clambered to his feet swiftly, but Sam made no move to grab him. He lay there, face-up, as Ponk activated the door. It closed behind him with a boom, and a deep silence fell. Sam was still on his concrete floor, as if Ponk were still on top of him with a knife. Sam lay there for a long time, thinking about nothing in particular, yet everything all at once.

[snarkwrites]

m | alpha ➼ b.barnes | m

➼ Before I even start, I wanted to point out that this content is obvs not meant for minors. Credit to @the-purity-pen​​ for the prompts which can be found [here]. While I won’t make 31.. I hope to at least make 13.

Okay, so.. A/B/O with a hint of breeding kink and implied size kink anyone? Just me? Okay, cool.

┇ᵖʳᵒᵐᵖᵗ  ┇

a/b/o + breeding kink, implied and also implied size kink.

┇ʷᵃʳⁿᶦⁿᵍ ┇

Mature as hell. If you’re a minor, do not interact. Breeding kink, body fluids, size kink, a/b/o -and all that it entails, unprotected sex, biting / marking and oral sex. Yeah, if you’re under 18 this was not written for you.

┇ᶜʰᵃʳᵃᶜᵗᵉʳ | ᶠᵃⁿᵈᵒᵐ | ᵖᵃᶦʳᶦⁿᵍ┇

Bucky Barnes x Omega!Reader, marvel cinematic universe ┇ᵗᵃᵍᵍᶦⁿᵍ ᵐʸ ᵇᵃᵇᵉˢ;┇

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@kyleoreillysknee

@micolegg

@mrsstevenbuchananstark​

“Tash.” you sniffed the air and fidgeted in your seat beside Natasha helplessly as a searing heat filled your body. You knew what was starting to happen and as the realization set in, your eyes darted around helplessly. You were powerless right now.

Horny as hell too.

Natasha wasn’t listening to you. She was staring at the television screen in front of you both, dazed. You were hanging around in the common room of the compound, watching movies. Or you had been until something caused your first ever heat cycle to trigger.

You could smell him from down the hall and all you wanted was to get up and go to him. Even though you didn’t exactly know who ‘he’ was at the moment. You were sitting up straight, nose in the air. Your helpless whines were what finally got Natasha looking at you.

Wanda rushed to your side because the whole thing was so intense that for at least a good two or three minutes you couldn’t vocalize what was happening. She was in charge, not you.. The animal within. The one desperate to be united with her mate.. Bred and filled. Erotic mental images filled your mind to a point where all you could do was whimper and whine, tensed up all over as your skin burned and crawled as if ants rushed just beneath the surface.

You stood and Wanda grabbed your wrist to guide you back down into your seat. She gave you a firm head-shake and you pouted. Natasha eyed you in concern. “What’s going on? Talk to me, c’mon.”

“She’s um.. Her heat cycle has been triggered.” Wanda explains when seconds pass and you can’t really seem to get yourself to focus on anything but him. Your Alpha. And the fact that his scent is so much closer. And you want him. You crave him and this is the strongest emotion you’ve ever experienced in your life. You’ve literally never wanted anything -or anyone, more than you crave him right now.

“Oh. Oh.. Wait, what now? You said you were a Beta?” Natasha’s gaze settles on you in confusion. You had told her that years ago, but it was just simply due to the fact that you never presented one way or the other. For a while there, you’d taken comfort in it. Sometimes though, you’d look around at all your friends and your family members with their mates, chosen and otherwise and that lonely feeling would set in.

“I assumed I was.” you managed to get the words out at last, “because I’ve never been in heat before. Probably because I’ve never been exposed to my mate before…” you went quiet and bit down on your bottom lip as a sharp sting shot up the right side of your neck that felt as if you’d just been branded by a hot iron or something. “Ouch, what the hell?” you shot up out of your seat and crossed the room, peering at your neck in the reflection given off by a shiny chrome toaster. You held it up to get a better look.

“Hey, Tash?”

“Yes?”

“When one finds their mate.. And their heat is triggered.. Do you get some weird marking?”

Natasha and Wanda shared a look and wandered over to you, peering at your neck. And then they shared another look and started whispering back and forth. Which of course, prompted you to pout and stomp your foot at them until they finally saw fit to fill you in on whatever inside joke you weren’t part of.

“We know who your mate is. But to answer your question, “Natasha pauses and takes a deep breath as she contemplates just how much new information you can truly handle all at once because this isn’t just your first heat, it’s more special. It’s your first heat and it’s been triggered because you found your true mate.

Not just an acceptable Alpha that your inner Omega wishes to be bred and claimed by. The real deal. Your actual perfect match.

It doesn’t happen often and when it does, it’s nothing if not intense.

She finally tells you everything, beginning with the fact that the marking on your neck right now is probably going to appear on your Alpha soon. As a way to easily identify. As if his scent wouldn’t be enough, you think to yourself in a dream-like daze.

“So no. That.” she nods to the marking that’s branded itself into your skin as she answers your question, “That doesn’t happen often at all. Although, it did happen to Steve recently..”

“Okay?” you sink down on the stool pushed beneath the counter in the little kitchenette in the room and you let out several long and ragged breaths. “What do I do?” you glance from one woman to the other and Wanda sits down next to you. She is gentle when she speaks.

“For now, you do nothing.”

“Trust me, Bucky is… There’s no telling which way he’ll take this.” Natasha explained carefully. And the second you hear his name, your jaw drops.

“Wait a minute.. Bucky as in the Bucky Barnes…?”

“Yeah. Him.” Natasha answers as she tries not to laugh. You’re a bit of a history nerd and your crush on James Buchanan Barnes via his exhibit at the museum a few years ago is not a big secret with her. You couldn’t have hidden it if you tried.

She’d kind of assumed it was a passing thing though. Because aside from here and there casual mentions, you hadn’t really been pining away. No, you were a little ball of workaholic stress, so nothing held your attention for long unless it pertained to work and your little “outings” with Natasha and Wanda.

“I thought he was…” you started, trailing off and shaking your head in confusion. “Dead. Right? The exhibit, it listed a date and cause of death.” you insisted after a few seconds to process. Death date and cause typically meant that a person truly was dead.

“Not technically, no. He was on Hydra’s side, he was an assassin. They assumed he was dead.”

“Kinda like you then, huh? The assassin thing, I meant..” you trailed off. Your hand raises and you drag your fingers through your hair as you attempt to process it all.

“Something like that.. He’s… he’s been through a lot. The best thing to do is wait and see. If I had a better read on him, maybe..” Natasha explains it to you gently.

You swallow hard as the subject of conversation steps into the room, a towel around his neck and black sweatpants nearly sliding off of his hips. All you can do is stare helplessly. Wordlessly.

He’s frozen in place. He’s watching you. Baby blue eyes seem to go from distant  to alive in a matter of seconds. And there’s the smallest hint of red tinting his cheeks as a smirk plays at his lips and he gives you a nod.

And naturally, you’re frozen like an idiot still. You literally can’t do anything. Between everything you’ve just been told about what’s happening to you and about your Alpha, you’re still processing. Slowly, but the fact remains. 

This is happening.

“Bucky… any reason you’re in here?” Natasha’s question is blunt. Pointed. And she folds her arms over her chest as she watches what’s unfolding between the two of you intently. He’s staring at you, you’re staring at him and neither of you have made a move.

“Huh?” his answer is dazed. Baby blue eyes stay fixed on you. That smirk grows just slightly. The heat in your body is reaching an unpleasant fever pitch and you lean against the counter heavily, remembering what Natasha said not even a minute before he wandered into the room. Your eyes roam over him and they fix on the left side of his chest.

On a fresh and angry red marking. The exact one that’s shown up on your own body. Before you can stop yourself, your tongue traces the outline of your lips. Bucky shuffles his feet and swallows hard.

“I asked you if there was any reason you were in here. Because we’re in the middle of a horror movie marathon. Well, we would be, if my friend here,” Natasha nods and smiles at you in affectionate teasing before she continues, “Would stop screaming in my ears every five seconds.”

“In my defense, it’s the jumpscares? And dolls. You know dolls terrify me, Tasha… and you choose Chucky?”

“It’s just a movie.” Natasha is smirking.

Bucky’s gaze shifts from her and quickly back to you. He chuckles quietly as his eyes begin to roam. You’re fidgeting under his intent gaze and you’re well aware that he’s fucking you with his eyes at the moment. The heat in your body soars and you fan yourself a little, promptly blushing as soon as you’ve done it.

“Is it hot in here to anyone else? Just me? Cool beans.” you mumble, mostly to yourself. Going quiet. Training your eyes on the black silk pyjama shorts you were wearing for the horror movie sleepover Natasha insisted on tonight.

The more he stared at you like he was, the more naked you seemed to feel. 

Bucky’s eyes fill with concern and he takes a step closer to you. “Come to think of it, doll.. You look awfully flushed. Real hot.”  

You can’t help but whimper at the way his voice drops a few octaves when he says the word hot. 

He gives you a little grin and cautiously, he steps closer. He’s staring down at you in awe, he’s still trying to get his head around what’s happening. Or the way it makes him feel like maybe there’s hope and happiness ahead for him after all, even if he’d absolutely die before admitting to it right away.

Wanda starts to say something but Natasha nudges her in the side and nods towards the door leading out of the room.

“Hey, we’re gonna go make a snack run. Maybe pick up some shawarma.”

“Wine? You can get some wine too, right?” you ask with a pleading look only to have Bucky chuckling and shaking his head no at you. “No, doll… I think the last thing you need right now is wine.” -he’s stepped even closer to you by now. You can really smell him. Cologne, his body wash and pure pheromones. 

It’s enough to throw you right into a daze as it overwhelms you. More than enough to have you shifting the way you sit on the stool so that your legs are open a little wider. You want to disappear into the floor. Because Natasha has literally just told you to approach this situation in caution and here you go, literally spreading your legs for the man.

Bucky steps between your legs and towers over you. He licks his lips as his eyes fix on yours.

“Yes or no on the wine?” Natasha calls out the question, glancing from you to Bucky and back again as she smiles at you both.

“Nah, she’s good.” Bucky calls out to Natasha, giving her a firm warning look as soon as those protective Alpha urges come rushing to the surface.

“Yeah? Please?” you answer, pouting up at your Alpha a little and then glancing over at Natasha.

He leans down and into you a little. “Pout all you want, princess. But we both know alcohol and your situation aren’t a good mix.” his finger curls beneath your chin and he makes you look up and meet his gaze. He’s doing that thing where he bites his lip again and all you can do is stare at that helplessly.

“Okay, fine. No wine.” you call out to Natasha as you pout a little and kind of grumble under your breath. This makes Bucky laugh and the lazy half grin tugging at his mouth grows just a little more.

“You two play nice.” Natasha says it with a laugh as she gives you a teasing look and grins. You know right then that you’re in for it later, she’s going to tease you relentlessly about your low key crush and how it’s apparently going to return full force, but you really don’t care.

Bucky being your Alpha is… Honestly more than you could have ever dreamed of. Not that you ever really.. Stopped to dream about presenting Omega and finding your true mate on top of it all. But if you had done it a little more often, you’re quite certain that Bucky Barnes is the guy you’d have chosen for yourself.

… Thing is… would he really choose you?... the thought enters your mind and you use it to keep yourself from getting too hopeful and too wrapped up in what’s happening. You push it all out of your brain because you know yourself too well and if you don’t do this now, you will overthink.

“Yes mom.” you retort playfully. Natasha flips you off and after hastily pocketing the keys to her Corvette, she and Wanda are nearly bursting out of the door as if they’re on fire. The door to the room bangs shut behind them and you take a few very shaky and deep breaths.

Bucky’s still standing there, his body keeping your legs spread. A thoughtful gleam in his eyes as he gazes down at you. He happens to catch you staring at the marking on his left pec. His glance diverts as he gazes down at it too. At least it’s stopped the god-awful burning now.

… Because you’ve finally found her.. The question is, what to do now? What if she’s oblivious? What if she doesn’t want to be bonded to you, hm? It’s not that much of a stretch the things you’ve done aren’t exactly secret anymore… but the rational side of James Buchanan Barnes takes over and he realizes that he can use his sense of smell to gauge your current mood. To see if you’re aware of what’s happening, what you are to him.

When he does this, he’s left stunned. Because he can easily pick up your feelings and it’s not just through your scent. He can catch these little fragments of thought if he focuses hard enough. Steve told him about all this after telling him that he’d found his true mate not so long ago. Bucky didn’t really hold much stock in it, but now that it was happening to him, he finds himself in awe.

And shocked because apparently, you’re fully aware of what’s going on -more to the point, you’ve decided that you’re not going to fight it or resist, that you want the bond with him and you’re just as worried as he was not even five seconds before.

“Any reason you keep lookin at it? The mark, I mean..” he asks quietly after a long and heavy pause in which he’s thinking about everything. Deciding what his next move is going to be. Coming to the realization that he doesn’t want to fight the bond either. That he’s tired of being alone, after all. 

Your mouth opens and closes and it’s as if you’ve forgotten how to form words. There’s so much you want to say but whenever you open your mouth it all tries to rush out at one time and you’re trying so hard not to bombard the poor guy with everything at once. You don’t want to see over-excited or too eager. You don’t want to risk saying the wrong thing -or combination of things, and making a mess of everything.

“Maybe?” you finally manage to mumble the one word response. Bucky chuckles. His arms rest on either side of you effectively pinning you between him and the counter you’re sitting with your back against. Your back is pressing lightly against the edge now. You squeeze his sides with your legs before you can stop yourself and his eyes start to change. From baby blue to an almost midnight color as lust fills them.

“Maybe, hm? See, I think there’s definitely a reason, doll.” Bucky’s voice is a deep whisper. His mouth just barely grazes clumsily against the corner of yours with each word spoken.

 He tries to resist the way his mouth -and body seem to just migrate so close to your own but he can’t. The pull is too damn strong. And the last thing he wants to do is fight it or resist. So he doesn’t even stop to consider that you might not want him rushing into all this physical contact. Stops himself short and focuses. Centers himself for a second or two and gets a handle on your current emotional state just to see whether his assumption is right or wrong so he can figure out how much is too much.

It’s not too much. Somehow, it’s not enough if the fragments of thought he picks up on in the back of your mind are anything to go by. The thought has him relaxing even more. Hints of the old and long hidden charmer side rush to the surface easily and take over by blind instinct.

 You whimper and whine and finally, before you can be bothered to stop yourself, you’ve tilted your head and exposed the side of your neck with the marking that perfectly matches up with his. You’re not entirely sure it’s a good idea, but you’re not going to hide it from him, either. Not when he seems to be responding the way he has so far.

Bucky’s eyes turn an even deeper shade of blue and he bites his lip. When he takes a breath it’s shakier. If you thought he was standing as close as he possibly could before, you’d be wrong because somehow he’s even closer all of a sudden, towering over you as his scent envelops you and you can feel yourself just barely starting to cool off and calm down just a little bit.

Not a lot, but a little. It’s enough that you feel as if you can finally catch your breath again. It’s also enough that you can attempt to say something coherent. You gaze up at him quietly as you try to figure out what exactly you should -or shouldn’t, say. You finally choose to go with the safest answer to his assumption and the fact that he’s now seen your matching mate mark.

“Now you know.” you answer quietly because you’re honestly not sure how this will go. All you can think is that Natasha warned you before she left that there’s a chance that Bucky might not be interested at all in the mate bond -or all the emotions and other various things that come along with being in one, and you weren’t about to force the poor guy into anything he didn’t want.

“Mhm.” Bucky answered quietly. He licks his lips and his gaze stays fixed on you. He seems to be lost in thought. Then again, he could still be trying to process too.

It’s when he leans into you just a little heavier that you feel slick flood your inner thighs. He chuckles quietly almost as soon as it happens and it hits you, he can absolutely smell you.

And the thought has you burning hot all over again, only this time you’re at least partially sure it has something to do with the fact that you’re blushing.

He leans in right next to your ear and brushes your hair out of the way to whisper against it quietly, “Yeah. I can smell you right now, doll. Fuck.” the last part coming out as more of a quiet groan than an actual word as his hands move from their resting place on the counter to grip your thighs. His mouth drags clumsy and lazy down the side of your neck before he can stop himself or even think about what he’s already decided that he wants and is about to dive headfirst right into.

He pulls you closer to the edge of the counter and before you can stop yourself, you’ve wrapped your arms around his neck and your legs around his waist. You don’t want to keep staring at him like you are and making this even more awkward so you drop your gaze to your bare legs but almost the second you do this, Bucky’s raising a hand and gripping your jaw. Tilting your head so that you have to look at him. He’s giving you a questioning look.

Your tongue rolls over the outline of your mouth and he growls quietly. He’s whispering against the shell of your ear all over again. “Do it again, doll.”

You give a quiet whimper at the way it feels as rough lips continue to dance down the side of your neck sporadically. You melt into him and he takes several long and shaky breaths, staring down at you intently.

He’s scooped you completely off the counter by this point. All you can think about is how strong he is to be holding you up the way he is. And he’s so tall that he quite literally towers over you and you’re definitely into that.  How this is literally a scene ripped right out of one of your fantasies. Or an erotic novel you read once or twice. Either one would apply. You’re lost in a daze so you miss Bucky’s quiet laugh. Your back settles against the wall with a soft smack and his mouth is inching closer and closer to your own when you finally come back into it and rejoin the moment.

Everyone who ever told you the whole process is intense definitely weren’t lying. Because you were still trying to process. You were still clutching at straws as far as self-restraint went. Bucky clears his throat. “I need ya to focus, doll. Can you do that for me?”

“Y-yeah.” you stammer out your answer and you swallow hard, a needy whine escaping to be swallowed up by his mouth when it crashes against your own at long last. You’re clinging to him and you’re trying so hard to do whatever you can to make yourself as lightweight as possible for him. 

Bucky, of course, picks up on this. As the kiss breaks, he bites his lip and stares at you with lust blown eyes for seconds that seem to stretch and linger forever. His forehead rests against your own lightly and you can’t help but notice as he’s staring at you that somehow, during all of this taking place, your breathing pattern has managed to sync up with his own. He chuckles as soon as he realizes this too. His hands are all over you and finally, they settle across your ass and this rubs you up against him a time or two. He may or may not be doing it deliberately. You’re still pretty tense so he chuckles quietly and mumbles against your mouth calmly, “Will ya relax, doll? I gotcha. You’re not as heavy as you think. And I’m strong.”

“Well I know that, but I…” you stammer and your words die away as you go quiet again and look down for just a few seconds, lost in thought.

How did you tell him that in the past, you’ve had lovers who insinuated that picking you up or carrying you in any form might hurt them and wasn’t worth the hassle? You barely know the man -outside of the rabbit hole you went down after you developed a crush on him thanks to his exhibit at the museum. 

You blink in surprise when he nips at your bottom lip and states calmly. In his gentlest version of his firm and no nonsense tone, he argues against what you’ve just been thinking.

“They were weak, doll. I’m not. And I wanna hold you right now, alright? It’s… Keeping me calm too.” Bucky takes several ragged breaths as soon as he’s admitted this out loud. You melt into the way he’s holding you even more and he gives a quiet growl at the way it feels to have your soft and small frame molded against his larger and firmer one. The contrast has his cock threatening to burst through the sweatpants he’s wearing and the thoughts that fill his mind are enough to make you blush as soon as they somehow manage to bombard your mind as well.

“I wouldn’t object. I’m yours. All you have to do is take me...”

He swallows hard. You bite your lip and cringe a little because you didn’t realize you’d said the words out loud until you felt him buck himself against you and his mouth collides with yours all over again. His tongue sweeps past the barrier of your lips and takes dominance of the kiss and you raise a hand, tangling it in his hair after you’ve tugged it free from the messy ponytail he had it thrown into.

You can’t help the thought that comes next, despite having proof positive that he can hear your thoughts and it’s probably best to censor them at least a little bit. If I thought he looked sexy in the uniform with the short hair, oh my god, I was wrong.. The thought comes and it won’t go away.

And you can tell by the way he nips at your lips and deepens the kiss even more as his grip on your body tightens and he manages to buck himself against you a few more times that yes, he’s heard what you just thought.

“Gotta get you out of here, darlin. Yes or no?” the question is breathed against your mouth and you whimper out a shaky “Yes.” as Bucky starts to carry you out of the room and down the hallway with no hesitation. He stops as you turn a corner in the hallway and you wind up sitting on top of a hallway table as he steps between your legs and you wrap them around his body all over again.

You’re both starting to sweat just a little. Your hands are all over him, one lowering to the waistband of his black sweatpants as you give an impatient whimper and you gaze up at him with a begging look. His forehead settles against your own and he mutters quietly, “As soon as we’re in my suite, sweetheart.. Ugh, the things I want to do to you.”

“Hm?” you purr as your head falls back and his mouth settles against your neck and throat. You can feel his teeth graze and tug against your skin and you whine, rocking yourself into him with more need and force, anything to even try to appease the blinding ache settled deep into your cunt. He rocks himself right back against you just as clumsily. He’s carrying you down the hall again, you’re practically draped across him, your legs around his waist and your arms around his neck. His arms settled below your ass and the scent of you getting sweeter and sweeter by the second.

If he weren’t so diligent with self control he’d snap right here, right now. He knows it. He can feel himself slipping closer and closer to it as it is. It feels like the walk to his suite takes a thousand years but in reality it only takes a minute, -two tops, and he’s coming to a stop in front of the door to it. Your back meets the door with a soft smack and his nose nuzzles against the base of your throat as he lets you rock and rub against him as much as you need to. Because it’s keeping both of you as calm as you can get for the time being. He takes a deep breath, inhaling your sweet scent and his fangs attempt to prick through his gums. It prompts him to grip your body tighter and in a daze, he pushes open the door to his suite, stepping inside and closing the door behind him.

He locks all three locks on the door and sits you on top of the dresser, catching your face in his hands and caressing it as he gazes at you in soft lust. “You’re stayin here… You want to, right?” he laughs quietly and shakes his head, going quiet to stare down at you as he leans into you all over again. Your legs circle his waist and your arms wrap around his neck as you smile up at him. “Kind of turned me on the way you said it the first time.” you admitted with a soft laugh as you grip his chest and raise up, crashing your mouth against his as one of your hands drops between your bodies, your fingers catch in the waistband of his sweats before you can stop to think or censor yourself properly. You pull him closer and the quiet groan escapes before he can stop it. His forehead rests against yours again and he gazes down at the way your small and delicate fingers drag slowly over his abdomen while biting his lip. “If ya keep it up, darlin..” Bucky warns in a low gasp, “You’ll be pregnant, I swear to God.” he rocks himself into you a lot clumsier.

The coolness of his metal hand against your heated skin only makes you melt against him as you gaze up and swallow hard. Flooded because of what he’s just said and the way he can’t stop kissing or touching you. Your hands are all over him too. You tug at his ponytail, pulling it free to run your fingers through his hair and he latches onto your neck, the spot of unbroken and unmarked skin covering your scent glands drawing him like a magnet. Before he really stops to think about it and pull himself together because he’s entirely too caught in the moment and he’s not thinking about anything but how much he needs you and wants you, he’s tilting your head so that the area is exposed to him even more. He licks his lips and growls quietly as his eyes settle on you.

“If you don’t want this, doll..” his voice is shaky as he says it, but you don’t hesitate. You whimper and rock into him in need as your hand settles on his shoulder and the other one on his hip, fingers digging against firm muscle. He licks his lips, takes a few more very shaky breaths.

It’s literally everything he’s ever secretly wanted and at one point in time, felt he was too broken and too fucked up to have. Now there’s hope.

Now there’s you.

His mouth closes over the patch of skin and his teeth sink in. The rush of the bite takes over your entire being and you melt against him, whimpering and whining until your whines die away. He tilts your head to make you look at him again and he wipes a hand across the back of his mouth as he takes several long and deep breaths. 

He plucks you off the top of the dresser and you wrap yourself around him. You’re tossed onto his bed and he follows your body down, settling over you, his mouth and his hands all over your body. Slow and careful. Several times he stops to look at you when you whimper or your breath catches in your throat as if he’s worried that he’s hurting you somehow.

“Bucky, p-please.” you choke out. “I’m not made of glass. I promise you’re not hurting me.” you reach out and take his stubbled jawline in your hand as you mutter quietly, “I trust you. I trust you, okay? You won’t hurt me.”

Bucky nods and swallows hard, letting your words settle and resonate.

You trust him. You really don’t know him at all and somehow, you trust him.

He gives you a soft smile and nods again. “We keep goin, darlin.. You know what it means, yeah?” he asks, unable to bring himself to fully ask the question he desperately wants to -and needs to hear your answer to more than anything, the way he phrases it is as close as he dares to get.

Your answer is to rock against him and whine even more urgently, snagging a finger in the ball chain around his neck that contains his old dog tags. You use your grip on the chain to pull his mouth against your mouth all over again because you need to feel his mouth against your own.

His tongue parts your lips and collides with yours and he growls quietly, a full body shiver racing through him. He can feel his cock getting even harder, almost painful -a blinding ache, and all he can think about is how badly he wants to bury himself deep inside you and get lost. 

He’s rocking himself against you clumsily, each time your bodies rub together he can feel a fresh coat of slick pooling at those little silk shorts you’re wearing. There’s too much in the way between his sweats and your strappy little tank top and the shorts. You're grabbing at the waistband of his sweats all over again and pleading with him, so he raises up and slips off the bed, tugging down his sweats and letting them settle at his ankles, kicking them free.

He’s settled back on top of you in the blink of an eye, his mouth against your mouth and his hands all over you. Catching in the waistband of those little silk shorts as he starts to tug them down your legs without once breaking the kiss, not even to breathe.

The kiss finally breaks and your shorts slip down to your ankle. You shake them off and they settle on the floor next to his bed. The strappy little tank top is pulled off your body as soon as he pulls away enough to let you sit up so he can get it off your body and this is tossed into the floor with the rest of your clothes. Bucky’s focus is back on you entirely and he gazes down at you in adoration and licks his lips slowly as he starts to lick, kiss and nip his way down your body, stopping to gaze up at you when you start to become even more vocal and you’re squirming around and desperately trying to rock your body against his moving mouth with sheer abandon. He watches as your eyes flutter open and closed, the way your small frame arches, graceful and easy. He bites back a low growl at the way the scent of you is strong enough by now that he’s practically drooling and dying to lick you clean so he can get himself a much better taste.

Your hands catch in dark hair and you tug at it as his tongue circles your navel and he gives a quiet chuckle when your stomach tenses because his beard against your skin tickles and burns at the same time. He stops to gaze up at you and watch the way you’re already desperate and needy for him, a whimpering and writhing mess, a pool of your juices dripping down and settling in a puddle on top of his weighted blanket already. “Fuck.” he mutters in a lust filled daze as he raises up and rubs his chin, “So wet for me, darlin. That’s good. Good girl.”

His stubble grazes against the insides of your thighs and your back arches away from the bed as the fingers on one hand tug at his hair and the other hand grips at the comforter. You suck in a sharp breath as the warmth of his thick tongue drags over your skin. Your legs fall open wider and he groans against your thigh. “That’s it, doll.” he mutters in a daze. His tongue circles your clit as he slips a finger inside your heat, working you open. You rock yourself against his finger as he pumps it in and out, adding a second finger as his mouth latches on to your clit, sucking and circling it with his tongue. You’re squirming and clutching at his hair and the harder you tug, the faster his fingers work your heat, strumming up against your spot a time or two. It’s enough that you can feel your stomach tighten and your body starting to tense up as your orgasm starts to build.

“Oh. Oh,mmm. Yeah.” you gasp out the words as your body arches towards him. Bucky pauses and glances up at you, licking his lips as he smirks. The cockier side is coming through in spades now. He’s gotten his head around the fact that this is happening and you want to be bonded to him.

“How’s that feel, darlin?”

“So good, ahhh. Oh fuck. Faster.” you moan out the words as his finger strums up against your spot all over again. Your body tenses up just a little more when Bucky does as you ask, working his fingers in and out of your dripping cunt a little faster. He’s rocking himself against the mattress as he does because watching you take his fingers and feeling the way your pussy squeezes around them so tight has him dying to know what it’ll feel like when it’s his cock being squeezed instead.

He’s growling quietly as he lowers his head and his tongue joins the third finger he’s buried in your heat. You whimper and the sound punctures the silence in his suite as Bucky continues to fuck you with his tongue and fingers, stretching you out. “Gonna feel so..” he groans out against your pelvic mound as he starts to slow down to let you back away from the edge just a little, “Good to bury my cock in you, doll.”

“Bucky, please?” you’re begging for friction, for him to go a little faster, anything to help your orgasm shatter through but he’s not going to oblige you. Not yet. He’s trying to get you ready to take him.

“Just a little longer, darlin. I promise.” Bucky grunts against your inner thigh as he licks up the way your juices flow down freely before burying his tongue inside of you all over again. You’re whimpering and shaking by this point, barely holding on, with each touch or lick threatening to make you come undone and you’re so fucking wet his fingers barely stay in. He can feel the way your body is reacting to his fingers and his tongue and their combined motions and he’s nearly pushed to his own personal brink.

He stops himself just when your shaking intensifies to a point where he knows you literally can’t hold it together any longer. Pulls himself up your body and crashes his mouth against your own as his thick length grazes against your wet inner thigh and his hands roam all over your body. He can’t stop touching you, it’s almost as if he still can’t believe this is all happening.

The thick tip of his cock grazes against your opening, pushing and you whine impatiently, catching his face in your hands as you pull his mouth against your own. “P-please? C’mon, I need it.”

The raw edge to your words has him locking eyes with you and swallowing hard. “Don’t let me hurt you, kitten.” his tone comes out quiet and gravelly. It’s enough to make you even wetter. His tip pushes in and you tense just a little. Bucky’s eyes settle on yours and he goes still, peppering hot little kisses and bites against your skin until he can feel you starting to relax a little. Just the way your walls grip even the tip of his cock so tight have him feeling as if he’ll explode. His hand caresses your cheek and he rolls his thumb over your soft skin.

The way your small frame presses against his larger one is perfect. It’s heaven. It’s going to be an addiction, he’s already aware of this. “Are you okay, doll?”

You nod and cling to him just a little tighter, taking a shaky breath or two. “More, Bucky. C’mon.. I need it.”

He pushes in a little further, pausing the second he feels your walls clamp around his thick and veiny length. Kissing you on your neck and face, smoothing his hand over your hair and your face as his forehead presses into yours. “Fuck.” he chokes out the word, “You’re takin me so well, kitten. Think you’re okay to take a little more?”

You exhale and nod. “Please?” you beg. “Wanna be.. Fuck..” your words fall away as his cock buries inside you just a little more. Past the knot now and you’re locked together. You whine and rock yourself against him until you feel the cool metal of his hand settle against your hip as he gives it a little squeeze to get you still again. “Mine.” he groans out the word as his mouth dances over your skin. His eyes meet yours and he licks his lips. You’re relaxing a little more, so he starts to pound you. Slow and steady. You try to meet his thrusts with your own, you’re trying to speed him up, chasing the friction you crave so bad you can taste it. His body pins yours flat against the bed and his hand captures both of yours to hold them against the pillow. He raises up a little and gazes down, watching the way his cock pushes softly against your belly as he fills you completely, locked in place. “Doll, ahhh.” he groans the words against your neck as he lowers himself again, adding in a quieter growl, “I’m gonna fill you up. Is that what you want,hm?”

You nod eagerly. “Please, baby?” you beg as your hips meet his with each deep drive. Your walls clench his cock a little tighter and he tenses up as he tries to fight off his own approaching orgasm.

But it’s hard because your pussy clamps down even more. Bucky fucks into you faster and deeper and his mouth buries against your mouth. His grip on your body is bruising but it’s not on purpose. “Shit. Doll, holy shit, you were made for me, huh?” he marvels and his words are swallowed by a deep kiss that almost doesn’t break quickly enough for you both to remember to breathe. 

“C’mon.” you coax as your own orgasm grows more imminent, blurring your vision with little dots as you cling to him almost helplessly. “Cum inside me, please?”

Bucky swallows hard and chuckles. It’s really all he’s been thinking about since he brought you to his suite. Well, that and the shock and awe that came with the realization that this was finally happening. 

“If that’s what you want, doll.” his lips meet your forehead softly and he slows down. It’s an attempt to hold off just a little longer. But he knows he can’t hold off much longer, not with the way you take his cock. Not when he looks down and he can see the way your tight little cunt takes his cock when each thrust sends it pushing up against your abdomen. 

“Now, please?” you’re begging breathlessly, shaking. A whimpering and wet mess pinned beneath him and you can’t hold off any longer. You need to feel his hot sticky seed as it fills you. You want him to breed you but it’s something you can’t -or won’t, mention just yet.

Soon, though.

You want to belong to your true Alpha in every sense of the word.

Bucky’s cock twitches and he sucks in a sharp breath as he starts to fuck into you faster and deeper, his hips beat against yours in an almost bruising pace that he makes up for with soft kisses against your skin, your mouth and your neck and gentle,quiet and coaxing praise. 

“You’re takin me so well, darlin. Fuck. Oh yeah. C’mon, kitten.. Let go. Let me have it.” and you need no urging, your orgasm shatters through and leaves you clinging to his body as he fucks into you frantically, trying to chase his own. The way your cunt throbs as it clenches and milks his cock sends him over the edge right after you and he slams his cock into you as deep as he thinks you can handle, bottoming out. Striking against your spot as he growls against your neck and he throbs, emptying out inside of you.

He falls to the bed and reaches out for you, pulling you so that you lie on top of him and he stares up at you, breathless and in a daze as he caresses your face and pulls you into a deep and gentle kiss. “You need to rest, kitten.”

You pout a little, but under his firm look you nod and give a soft laugh, snuggling your body against his.

[pandoraborn]

He can see the shadow in the window before he gets inside. There’s no anger flooding through him, just a quiet resignation. Pushing his front door open, he walks inside, pretending not to notice the ruckus coming from upstairs. He can hear his hidden barrel opening and closing, so he counters the noise by opening and closing his own chests.

It’s another moment before he hears footsteps on the ladder, followed by Tommy coming down. The way his shoulders are hunched over indicates a sense of shame and guilt, but Techno doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t grab at Tommy, and he doesn’t reach for a weapon. He does bite down on his tongue to hold back a smile.

“You’ve got to stop robbing my house, Tommy. I can’t keep coming home to see you here.”

“Teeechnooo!” Tommy lands on solid ground and offers him a bright, charming smile. “How are you bud? Big T? Fancy seeing you here. What are you doing here anyway?”

“To-...Tommy, this is my house. You’re in my house again. You don’t live here.”

“Technically, yes I do. I lived here once, and I never moved out. Means this is still my house too, or have you forgotten?”

“No, you’re right about that,” Techno says. Odd, he feels no ill will toward Tommy anymore. Maybe he’s just done with the child, possibly? “You did live here once. You also moved out.”

“Well, yes. I missed my old home. You remember my old home? Hey Techno, did you know I’m building a hotel?”

“Oh, are you?” Techno heads up the ladder to check his things. Nothing seems to be missing, for once. “Why are you building a hotel?”

“Because Techno blade, I can. I am a great builder. There is a whole construction site dedicated to my hotel right now. Very serious business, hard hats and vests required at all times. If you walk onto the construction site, I will have my bodyguard stab you in the face. That’s how serious I take it.”

“I see, I see.” Techno feels a little confused. Why didn’t Tommy actually rob him? Why is he here, if not to steal from him again? And why is he rambling about a hotel?

More importantly, why is he actually listening to this?

“No, you don’t see. You’re out here, hiding in your little snow biome far far away from everything. You haven’t seen it- hey Techno, have you seen the egg thing growing around the SMP?”

“Oh, the red vines spreading everywhere? Eh, I don’t really care about that. It’s irrelevant to my own plot.”

“Oh, really? Yeah, Badboyhalo tried to take me to see it, and started talking about how much he loved the egg. Techno, did you know he’s on meth? He and Ant both, I think, are on drugs.”

“You think so? Honestly Tommy, I think I might have to agree with you. Everyone sounds a little weird these days. Probably why I chose to live out here in this snow biome. Out here is where all the normal people live.”

“Yeah, it’s too cold for my taste. I will tell you, I just want to vibe in my hotel and charge people to live there. I think I’m done with everything.”

That catches Techno off guard. He turns to face Tommy with a furrowed brow, studying him. Tommy looks perky these days, back to his usual annoying personality. He’s looking healthier than he did while living with Techno, but there’s something still there that seems off. Techno’s really paying attention now.

He’s staring at a teenager who’d just survived a massive fight from hell. He’d forgotten that Tommy’s just a kid still. Not a young one, but a teenager all the same. Techno lets out a heavy sigh as he reaches out, pressing a hand to Tommy’s head.

“Oy, dickhead!” Tommy yanks back, startled by the sudden change in mood. ‘What’s gotten into you? You’re not an egger, are you? Don’t touch me like that, that’s weird.”

“Sorry.” Techno chuckles, pulling his hand back. “I guess I missed you.”

For a split second, Tommy seems to perk up. Tommy’s eyes seem to glow almost with an unbridled joy, and that smile is far too contagious. But then the boy scoffs, hunching back and rolling his eyes. “Yeah, well, you smell like bacon, Techno. I heard you ate bacon. You know what that makes you?”

“I’m not a canni-”

“You’re a wrongin. You’re a peculiar wrongin, that’s like...like...”

“You should go back home,” Techno says. “I think I hear Sam Nook calling your name again. I can’t really tell through all the gibberish he’s speaking.”

“Do you want to buy some drugs?”

“No, Tommy.”

“Can I come back and visit soon?”

“Yeah, yeah I think you can. We have no real reason to oppose each other anymore.” Techno points toward the door though. “You didn’t steal anything though, right?”

“No, I might steal from Ranboo though. I need ten hearts of the sea, and I didn’t-”

“I have thirty-two, Tommy. Just help yourself to some.”

“You always threaten to kill me if I steal from you.” It’s Tommy’s turn to squint suspiciously at Techno. “What is it you want from me for them?”

“Nothing.” Techno’s moving up the ladder again. “Listen, Tommy. You and I, we may be enemies or whatever we are, I don’t know, but we’re still family at our core. We share similar goals and mindsets, we’re two sides of the same coin. You know, you need help and I feel like I should help. It’s not like you’re building a government or anything.”

“A hotel isn’t a government, Techno. It’s a hotel. Christ, you’re so single-minded. You need some character development bruv.”

Techno laughs as he opens his barrel and pulls out a stack of hearts of the sea. “Tommy, you have zero room to talk here. You’ve been focused on those discs for months. You had multiple wars over them. I only blew up L’Manburg once.” He chortles again as he heads back down the ladder. “Here, have a whole stack. They’re for your...hotel, wasn’t it?”

“Sam Nook apparently eats them. If you ask me Techno, I think the egg is infecting his brain. He’s got ghosts in ‘da ‘ead.” Tommy giggles at that.

Why is Techno feeling a surge of affection again for this stupid child?

“Go home Tommy.”

“No seriously, what do I owe you?”

“A stack of potatoes, next time you show up. Just a stack. Two stacks, because Phil’s going to need them too. Deal?”

Tommy perks up again as he pockets the items and heads out. “Yeah, I think I can do that for you two. Thank you Techno, you’re very poggers.”

Techno closes the door behind Tommy and sighs, letting the silence fill his house again.

Damn it, he misses Tommy. No wonder there’s no anger. Just silence.

[katerix]

(How old is New Vegas? And it’s still my fav part! I feel like I need more Raul content even after all these years🥺)

Drink with the living dead

Characters: Raul Tejada x Reader Summary:  Courier and her companion returned to New Vegas after a long wandering to get a drink and gamble, but faced serious inhospitality. Six was not ready to leave her friend behind, so they changed their plans. Warnings: - Words: 2781

***

It was almost half past midday, when a dusty dirty road to New Vegas welcomed the wanderers with just another sandstorm without any declaration of war. Courier’s mirror aviator sunglasses could hardly stand that gusts of winds, so she decided to hide it in the pocket of her jacket until the better times. Six and her ghoul-companion were on foot for nearly five hours, and now the hightower of «Lucky 38» looked huge in contradiction from its look an hour ago.

It was not their first visit to New Vegas, but every time she saw a glowing and sparkling casino’s signs, she was bringing up the idea of going there and wasting an evening gambling and drinking. Just like everyone does. The fact that she spent here some time, passing all the entertaining places by, met with Mr. House and performed several missions for NCR ambassador, but still never took a break to try some of those things, these poor fellows from all Mojave wasteland were arriving for - was a crime by its definition.

Coddling this thought, Courier continued to trudge the nasty weather, until they walked up to the Northern gates of Freeside.

- What’s the plan when we reach Strip, boss? - asked Raul, shaking his dull-green jumpsuit down: it all was full of pervasive grains of sand, as well as the girl’s clothes.

- At first I wanna visit the «Lucky 38» apartment and change the outfit, then go to the bar and win big in the kazino!

- Perfect plan, chief, ironclad like my revolver. - the ghoul was sarcastic as usual, but didn’t evince any sight of disagreement.

When she turned around to continue movement, he added: “Wait, amigo, there's a tuft of straw stuck under your collar.” - and carefully extracted an annoying piece of flora, stuck to during the storm.

“Gracias!” - Six smiled widely and made a fast gesture of gratitude with her hand. Without wasting time, they passed heavy metallic gates.

Freeside met companions with a funky, stinking smell. She still couldn't get used to it. Dusty air seemed to mar the cityscape: it looked much pale and lighter than from the outside. Just fifteen minutes and they’ll reach the destination. The picture couldn’t be called unusual for this time of the day in this part of town: one or two shabby hobos against the dingy walls, kids in wrecked clothes playing a tag-game in the area of the «Mick & Ralph's», random citizens with roving glances, sneaking around, wasting their time in an idle attempts to figure out how to spend their life in this Dump. On the other hand, there are many places where people live even worse: take a look at Westside, for instance.

«What a hopeless sight, - thought the girl. - Hope the Followers are really able to do something about this in the future».

- Something on your mind, boss? - it felt like nothing could hide from Raul’s inquisitive look.

- Just thinking. I find this picture quite dismal, like there’s no tomorrow, and humanity is still doomed. Like there’s no chance to restore life, as it was before.

- When we are on the road again, I’ll tell you about the Football Cup in Mexico, if you like to hear another one “before the Bomb” story. - he obviously picked up on her mood and decided to cheer up the girl, carefully diverting the theme.

- I do. Have you attended it?

- Sure thing. That was a big day. We drove to the capital to see it with our own eyes.

- Sounds pretty good! Let’s not ruin the intrigue.

- You asked.

They passed a small cross-road, which didn't have to be called like that anymore, as it was just one of the ghosts of the past with it’s burned skeletons of cars, left here motionless as evidence of human lost ambitions. The air in this part of the town was stale, despite the fact that they were in the streets, the smell of some broiling meat and spoiled vegetables was sticky like an ant's nectar. Sudden wild cryings and shouts were heard from the nearest dead end. 

One glance was enough to understand that the Kings had cornered swashers, their prey, who were too fucked up and all-fired sure of themselves to attack the town’s main showrunners just a couple of minutes ago. And the Courier was not going to do anything about that: she herself was nearly butchered by one of them, shown up from nowhere. If it was not her loyal companion who dealt with it with one precise shot, she, probably, would be dead by now.

It took more than ten minutes to cover the distance between the East and Strip gates - right now there was no reason to hurry. As they got closer, the protectrons took up their positions immediately. One of them articulated “Move along” with a familiar metallic cold of lifeless voice of his, when companions were passing by.

“Never liked these guys. They are like slow mines: you never know what they do the next second.” - grunted out the Courier, as two of them found themselves on the first line of the Strip between “Lucky 38” and “Gomorrah”.

“Hey, so who is an old one here?” - the ghoul chuckled in response.

She went ahead, so he could never see how her lips slightly bended in a ready-to-laugh smile.

***

Presidential luxe met nomads with a deep, wrapping silence of a broad, gloomy space. This was definitely not the place a person could wish to stay in: walls with, once being gorgeous - now - greasy dark-wine wallpapers were giving an oppressive feeling. Six was happy that they didn’t have to stay here for long. Only to sleep or change the outfit maybe.

She got near to the wardrobe in her room, where the majority of things, accumulated during the long travels, were stored. Took out two dresses, went to the guest-room with a billiards. Raul was civilly waiting for her there.

- What you think? Which one?

He raised up his head, looked from under the sunglasses for several seconds, examining, and answered in a casual tone:

- It’s really up to you, boss. - made a pause, then added, like a little confused: - But I like the pink one. Might look graceful.

- Great! Exactly the one I wanted to pick.

The ghoul just gave her a hesitant nod, wondering if she noticed that detail. Courier went back to her sleeping-room and returned after some minutes, informing: “Ready to go! The next stop is “Ultra-Luxe”, yee-haw!”

***

After a while they were in the street again. All they needed was just to reach the second line of the Strip and pass a hundred meters to the “Ultra-Luxe”. Lots of NCR soldiers were hanging around, goofing off, as long as they had a chance, and indulging in lust in the nearest private clubs. Nothing unexpectable. When they passed by a small group of drunk, barely balancing on their feet big guys, Six suddenly heard a hushed voice from behind her back, addressing his teammates. “Do they let ghouls on the Strip now? Perfect, let’s make it a spooky ghost-town.”

“Yeah. That’s why civilization will start floating away again. Our attempts are meaningless.”

Only just Courier wanted to turn around and shout out something to those sons of a b or event take out a gun and shoot beneath their feet, Raul caught her arm:

- Hey, hey, calm down, that’s okay. NCRs are many here, you know, even for a dashing rider like you, boss. Even with me backing you up. From behind the farthest stone.

- But we can’t simply swallow that shit, Raul!

He just spreaded his hands:

- Fine, then go shoot them and be killed by protectrones because of two drunk idiots. Very helpful, chief. I’ll stay all alone, without my beloved companion but with a protected pride. Thank’s.

Six stood still for some seconds and nodded after that.

- Fine. Whatever.

Then merely continued walking in the direction of the cazino. The ghoul hesitated for a bit. He understood that she was acting out of good intentions and she just wanted to protect her partner, as she was the one who had a right of speech here. And that made his heart melt and he was silently praising her for that, because nobody seemed to do anything like that for him in a while. But picking a fight with these dummies, who fill the streets of Strip like water fills the canyon, was not wise.

“Sorry for that, Niña. I really appreciate what you do. I just don’t want you to get in trouble because of me. You don’t notice, but there are often lots of sidelong looks and hardly heard whisperings along the way. I'm used to it and don’t want it to affect you.” - he tried to lighten things up.

The girl turned her head a bit just for him to see her glance softening.

- Let’s just reach the bar and relax.

*** 

An unexpected trouble struck them further - black line has not ended yet. Courier already picked her place at the bar desk in the distant hall and ordered a glass of whiskey, when a bartendress leaned over and said in a low tone:

“I’m sorry, but here, in “Ultra-Luxe”, we serve only the citizens and guests of the Strip. I’m able to bring a drink only for you, ma’m.”

That was the last drop of her patience. The girl slowly raised her head at the bartendress, ready to blow up, and responded:

- Are you fucking kidding me?

- That’s the rule. I don’t need problems. You can ask any guard or another worker.

She bowed her head and gave a fast hidden glance at her ghoul-companion. He was sitting there next to her and looking straight at his arms crossed on the desk, like he had nothing to do with it. But he, of course, heard every word. His eyes weren't moving, just a finger was slightly knocking the air, producing a rhythm he alone knew. Six couldn’t even imagine what her friend might feel at the moments like that. An anger came upon her.

“Are you all that scumbags here? Keep your drinks for acceptable ones. Ma’m.” - the girl said, getting up from her barstool and heading towards the exit.

Raul stood up without a word and, as he always did, followed Courier. He had mixed emotions. On the one hand he was glad they left that place and that Six is such a kind and loyal partner, but on the other hand he felt a little guilty for himself. After all, it was him who was the reason for such inhospitality in some kind of place. Even now she couldn’t get what she wished for so hard. Her idea of “winning big” in the kazino seemed to be falling apart, as together they won’t be even let to the gambling table. And she, obviously, won’t leave him in the street and have fun on her own, and an old ghoul didn’t want to be a ball and chain.

- Boss? Are you sure we need to leave? Maybe you’d better stay there? And I’d wait for you somewhere else or go back to “Lucky 38”. Fresh air won’t do any harm for my old lungs.

- What are you even talking about? You know, even the best drink worth nothing, if there’s no one to share it with.

- You have a heart of gold, chiff. - these words came fast, in an undertone, as if he was embarrassed, - Well, I saw a small sign in Freeside. I believe we’ve never been in that part of the city before.

- Hope it’s not an «Atomic Wrangler».

- Nope.

- Great! You lead. They passed the ruins, generously spread all over the suburbs, while every their step sounded louder thanks to trash, small pieces of brick and other rubbish. The sun was already going down and the heat was getting less intense.

Finally they reached a small inconspicuous wooden door. Only a little sign next to it represented that place as a bar.

As they entered, nothing changed. There was not much to be changed. There were no crowds of gamblers, no fancy casino machines and no shiny-polished bar desk. Bartender was a man in old ragged clothes, probably in his late fifties. He was slowly wiping cut glasses with a gray dusty piece of fabric full of holes.

When the companions stepped in the room he just looked up at them without raising up his head and got back to his plain, simple activity. There were not many customers besides the two of them. A woman was sleeping on the table in the far corner - her head rested on her arms while her shoulders were calmly going up and down. Another guest settled down at the edge of the bar desk.

“Fancy,” - giggled the girl.

“Ah, let’s get down. Ladies first.” - Raul just waved his hand.

Six made a few steps in the direction of the bar desk and sat down, Raul followed her.

“Barman! Two beers, please”. - she laid some bottle caps in front of him.

The barkeeper took them and then put two opened bottles onto the surface.

“Bon appetit.”

Courier took her bottle up and clinked it loudly with Rauls one. His soft non-blinking sight of half closed eyes was locked on hers, while he made a sip. His heart always went pop when it felt like there were just two of them in the world, though he never showed that.

Raul looked around and suddenly his eyes stopped on a guitar lurked behind the racks.

“Hey, can I…?”

The barman followed ghoul’s gaze and shrugged his shoulders: “This piece of wood? Be my guest.”

In the next second he was on his feet. The courier raised her eyebrows as she almost forgot if she saw him that agile. Raul approached the metal shelves, put aside some garbage and waste paper, then carefully extracted the instrument and blew away the dust.

Six and the bartender were watching him closely. The ghoul got back to his chair, sat down crossing his legs to position the guitar more comfortably. Then pulled the first string to check out the tuning. It was no surprise that it was out of tune, so the next minute Raul spent trying to fix the instrument.

When everything, as he thought, was ready, he played a couple of notes in fingerstyle to flex some life back into his fingers. After nearly 200 years the skill was obviously weakened.

“I didn’t know that you could play the guitar.” - said the girl.

“Sure you didn’t. I never told about that.” - he looked back at her with a little smirk, - “What was the point if there were no music instruments left anyway?”

He laid his right arm down on the body of the guitar, fingers on the cracked wooden surface, and took a deep breath.

At first Courier could hardly hear or see the slightest movement of ghoul's fingers on strings, but soon the sound became more clear. She was sitting there with a bottle in her hand, unable to look away from her companion.

The sound of slow mexican melody floated across the room, filling every corner of the room with itself. The windows were closed with wooden boards from the outside, so the sunlight was trickling down through narrow gaps between them. Warm light was leaving gold-yellow lines on the walls, tables and the bardesk where the Courier and Raul were sitting. She could even see the tiniest specks of dust freeze in the air. The ghouls face was half hidden by a shadow and the sunbeams were highlighting one of his eyes which now looked like a beautiful transparent crystal and his hands all covered with veins and partially with thin skin.

The whole space imbued with peace and calm, even the impenetrable bartender set his glass aside and leaned his head on the hand, listening to the sensual music.

They travelled together for a while now, but never before had Six seen him the way she did now. Something new was arising in her soul.

“Hey chief,” - Raul closed his eyes and slightly threw back his head grinning a little, fingers still dancing over the strings. - ”You’re the best friend and partner one could ever wish for, you know. Thank you for always being on my side.”

“Raul, I’ll never leave my partner in crime behind!” - she chuckled as she felt like something pinned her heart.

The ghoul continued playing the tune without opening his eyes. A grin turned into a soft smile and the feeling of joy span all over him for the first time in a while.

“I’m following you to the world’s end, boss.”

Also, here’s a link to this fanfic on my AO3 (gif is mine \ use credits if repost)

[bastillewolf]

It’s More About Looks Than Skill (IX)

Pairing: Ryuk/Reader

Summary: Ryuk finds himself gaining feelings for Light Yagami’s best friend, but she doesn’t know he exists. When he makes the grave mistake of touching her, he makes things a lot more complicated.

Notes: Hope you enjoy ;)))

Let me know if you’d like to be added to the tag list! If I wasn’t able to tag you, please check your settings and send me another ask.

@sarai-ibn-la-ahad​​, @rustypotatospork​​ @mantisandthemoondragon @baby-queen-girl​​ @itscalledtrust​​ @emilyshurley​​ @killtherandomness​​ @selmeuuh​​ @felicity291​​ @mahou-no-momo​​​ @bakarinnie​​​ @beccawinter​​​ @chantelle-c333​​​ @ria-demon29​​

Chapter IX

The café was rather quiet, most seats inhabited by typing away behind their laptops or cocooned between their books in an anxious attempt to memorise as much as possible. She recognized some of them as her fellow peers, yet she didn’t feel nearly as stressed; she was at the top of her class, she didn’t have much to worry about. Learning things was like riding a bicycle to her. She never forgets, and it’s just the same wheels that keep spinning.

She ordered a cup of tea while she waited, and glanced down at her watch. She had been told to meet at this exact location, at this exact time.

She was waiting for her date.

 “Does my hair look okay?”

Light studied the Shinigami for a good, serious moment. “…I don’t think anyone in this universe or the next would know what to do with your hair.”

“Hm. I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Ryuk had spent quite some time preparing for his big date. He’d dusted off his clothes, polished his accessories, combed his hair and had even convinced Light to get him his own toothbrush. Though when he’d begged to let him borrow his cologne, the boy thought it went too far.

“It would be suspicious,” Light had explained, “People would be confused as to why there was a random waft of expensive perfume passing them.”

“But you humans are so smelly all the time! I can’t tell where which smell is coming from, because you all wear something different and prominent.”

“What does the Shinigami world smell like, then?”

Ryuk shrugged, “Rotten.”

Light pulled up his nose.

“I don’t see why you’re preventing me from having a successful date,” the Shinigami continued, “I can’t wear your smelly fragrance, I can’t wear makeup and you didn’t even tell her it was me she would be going on a date with. It’s not fair.”

“Stop it about the cologne. You’re not wearing makeup, because that’s for girls, mostly. And I can’t just tell her it’s you.”

“Why not?”

“Have you looked in a mirror recently? You’re a Shinigami, not a cute boy from school. She’d freak out. We need to do this through slow, deliberate steps.”

Ryuk huffed, “Fine.”

 When half an hour had passed, she was starting to grow annoyed. Her second cup of tea had long been consumed, and her third one was now getting cold. She picked up her phone.

“I really hope you have a good explanation for this, Light,” she ground out.

She heard some whispers in the background on the other end of the line, before the boy in question finally responded. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Is your date not going well?”

“No, it’s not going well. Because no one showed up, you buffoon! Tell me this is not some scheme you’re playing out to get me to do something for you-know-who.”

You-know-who had been the decided upon codeword when they referred to Light’s other identity, or to the Death Note. Well, decided upon by her, really. And Ryuk made the final call, as it was her word against Light’s.

“It’s not, I promise. He must’ve gotten lost or something. I’ll call him, all right?”

“Light, you wouldn’t set me up with idiotic boys who get lost-“

She glanced down at her phone with a gaping mouth. He’d just hung up on her.

 She didn’t have to wait long before Light was able to get a message through. Only, it didn’t come to her phone this time.

“Ryuk? What are you doing here?”

Her mistake was evident; people were looking at her funny. She quickly held her phone back up to her ear, smiling awkwardly at one of her classmates, who had also turned their head in curiosity. She’d have to remind herself of that trick more often if she wished to spend frequent time with the Shinigami in public.

The God of death sat in the booth across from her, so she didn’t have to turn her head oddly for the fake phone call she was having. Well, perhaps her eyes gave her away, as they looked up to meet the eyes towering above hers, even as he was sitting down.

“Light asked me to tag along on your date. You know, for moral support.”

“Moral support? Do you even know what that is? Do you even know what dating entails?” She asked.

He blinked. “Sure. Flowers and kisses and all that. Now, I was also asked to tell you that your date is at the wrong café. I can take you there.”

She sighed in annoyance. “I knew Light couldn’t plan a date for the life of him. He’s never even been on one! I’ll be shocked if he even manages to snag himself a girl. Or boy.”

Ryuk chuckled, and guided her outside.

He floated slightly above her as they walked the streets, careful not to bump into any people. He could not afford to mess this up now, he was so close to finally getting what he wanted. Or attempting to get what he wanted. Asking nicely, probably. Begging, maybe.

She wavered in her step as a breeze flew by. And another. She glanced up at him, her eyebrow lifted.

“Ryuk… are you wearing Light’s cologne?”

The Shinigami gulped. “Eh, I probably spend to much time in his room.”

“Smells a bit too strong for that.”

“Well, perhaps he sprayed it while I was next to him. Why? You don’t like it?”

She only hummed thoughtfully in response, making him sweat from nerves.

 Another thirty minutes passed; this time, at a different café. And she called Light once more.

“I really don’t know where he could be-“

“Light.”

“You know what? I bet he misspelled the word ‘café’. I think I know somewhere he could’ve gone-“

“Light, the fact that you’d even presume I’d go out with someone who shows up late, can’t follow clear directions, or doesn’t know how to spell ‘café’ is honestly insulting. I thought you knew me better than that. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going home. To study. Like you should be doing right now.”

She hung up on him this time. She barely glanced back at the distressed Shinigami as she stormed out of the shop.

 “You don’t have to follow me around anymore, Ryuk. No date is going to take place any time soon.”

He thought he’d humour her, and floated upside down beside her in the deserted street. He grabbed the rose he’d been hiding slid on his back behind his belt, and held it out to her. “How about I take you out on a date then?”

She suddenly stopped, and he grew wary once more. Until she smiled. Gently taking the rose from his long fingers, she couldn’t help but blush. “When did you get this?”

“Eh, we walked past a flower stand earlier. Snagged one when the lady wasn’t looking.”

“That’s odd. I must’ve missed it.”

Ryuk didn’t have the heart to tell her he’d been carrying it along for the past two days, unable to decide when the right time was to give it to her.

“It’s getting rather dark,” she noted, looking up at the sky.

“Good,” he said, “I’ve got something nice planned for us.”

“You do?”

 It wasn’t quite where she’d expected to end up on a date, but she wasn’t complaining just yet. Until she stepped closer to the ledge of the top of the office building she was standing on, where the people below appeared to have shrunken down to the size of ants.

“Ryuk, not that I mind you taking me up here for the view, but I don’t really do well with standing this close to ledges.”

He grabbed her hand gently, “I won’t let you fall.”

Her lips quirked up, as her eyes moved across his folded wings. “Do you ever really go flying with those anymore? You know, not floating a bit above the ground, but above the clouds?”

“Sometimes.”

“That must be really cool.”

He glanced down at her with a curious look in his eyes. “What’s so cool about it?”

“You know, just the fluffy white below, and nothing but the stars above while the wind blows in your face. I know rollercoasters have tried to recreate what it’s like to fly, but I don’t think they’ve made all that successful attempts.”

“I don’t know what or who rollercoasters are, but I doubt they’d know what it’s like if they don’t even have wings.”

“That’s true.”

He hadn’t taken his eyes off her yet, when an idea struck him. He bent down to his knees. “Hop on.”

“What?!”

“You heard me. Hop on.”

[hale-13]

Hold Fasts

By Hale13

For the Summer of Whump Day 11 - Whipping

“Is that really all you got?” Peter asked, spitting out a mouthful of blood and one of his incisors in the direction of his kidnapper. A few droplets of blood landed on the man’s hands to mix with the blood that was already dripping from his brass knuckles. The tooth clinked across the floor until it landed beside his foot - Peter really hated when his teeth got knocked out but at least this time it was one of the fake ones that had already been replaced and not one of his actual teeth.

Words: 2220, Chapters: 1/1 (Complete), Language: English

Fandoms: spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)

Rating: Teen

Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark

Peter Parker, Tony Stark

TW: Whipping, Torture, Kidnapping, Blood

Read on AO3 or below the line break.

“Is that really all you got?” Peter asked, spitting out a mouthful of blood and one of his incisors in the direction of his kidnapper. A few droplets of blood landed on the man’s hands to mix with the blood that was already dripping from his brass knuckles. The tooth clinked across the floor until it landed beside his foot - Peter really hated when his teeth got knocked out but at least this time it was one of the fake ones that had already been replaced and not one of his actual teeth.

“Bored already?” The man asked in a light voice, punching Peter across the face again and opening up a cut on his cheek from the sheer force of the hit.

“I have a short attention span,” Peter croaked, blowing another globule of blood out of his nose to drip down onto his already ruined shirt. Masked Goon Number One’s mask crinkled in obvious disgust and Peter smiled at him. He could tell by the coppery taste in his mouth that his remaining teeth were covered in blood – surely making for a gruesome image.

Peter, definitely the unluckiest kid in Queens and maybe all of New York, had been snatched literally right off the street on his way to school the day before. Unfortunately for him as well, his kidnappers clearly had a modicum of common sense because they had not only divested him of all of his tech but they had to have disposed of it somewhere on the way to their cliché super secret base (read: abandoned warehouse – so unoriginal). At least that’s what Peter figured since Tony hadn’t burst in within a few hours of him being missing.

Even more unlucky – they had figured out he had enhanced strength and had compensated with heavy duty cuffs that kept him chained against the concrete wall. So far there had been no mention of his arachnid alter-ego so he had to be thankful for small miracles he supposed.

“If you would just answer the question-,” the man started, an edge of frustration to his voice.

“Not gonna happen.” Peter said firmly, his tone filled with steel in juxtaposition to the light smile on his face.

“Stubborn,” the man in front of him muttered before nailing Peter in the stomach. He grunted but didn’t make another sound, he really didn’t want to give them the satisfaction when he had been doing so well at controlling himself. So far their questions had ranged from wanting information on FRIDAY’s systems to the blueprints for the Arc Reactor. Peter had played dumb for a while until they made it clear that they knew about his connection to Tony and them he just started denying them outright. “Why don’t you think on it for a while. We’ll get back to you later.”

“Won’t change my answer,” Peter snarked back as the man left the room, slamming the door in an odd display of irritation and leaving Peter in darkness. Finally alone, Peter let himself dangle from the chains holding him, his shoulders screaming in protest and his back spasming as it took his weight.

“C’mon Tony,” he thought, letting his eyes slip closed. “Where are you?”

——————————————

“My guys tell me you’ve been pretty uncooperative. And after we provided you with such luxurious lodgings – this is top of the line you know,” a new man said, pushing the heavy steel door open hard enough it hit the wall with a bang and startled Peter awake from his light doze.

“Eh they’re pretty average,” Peter said shrugging and trying to keep the sleepy slur out of his voice – he really didn’t need to sound any younger than he probably looked. “Maybe a four out of ten on Yelp. I could be persuaded to bump it up to a five if you’d take these cuffs off though. A six if you offered a decent room service selection.”

“Tempting,” the man told him. “How about a trade? You tell me how to get past Stark’s firewalls and I’ll let you out of the cuffs?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Come on Marty! How many times do I have to tell you assholes no before it sinks through your thick skulls?”

The man blinks at him in surprise and confusion. “Marty?”

“You look like a Marty,” Peter shrugs. “It’s not like any of you have introduced yourselves. Its pretty poor manners you know.”

“They told me that you were intelligent but you clearly aren’t smart enough to save your own skin,” Marty told him nonchalantly. “Either that or you have no self-preservation instincts.”

“The second one,” Peter agreed with a nod, Mr. Stark had told him the same plenty of times when he was patching him up after patrol.

“Right then. Well we’ll just have to up the ante a little. Get him prepared.” Peter’s eyes narrowed as two of Marty’s henchmen came into the room and wrestled Peter until he faced the wall, arms twisted uncomfortably, and cuffed his ankles to the floor. “Just remember: we can stop at any time, all you need to do is answer the question.” The man turned and left the room, pausing at the door. “Oh and its Nicholas by the way, not Marty.”

“Don’t get your hopes up Nicky!” Peter called after him as he left the room, grunting when he was punched in the stomach.

“God I wish we could gag you,” Henchman One said under his breath as he efficiently slipped his knife into the back of Peter’s shirt and cut it clean down the middle, leaving it hanging open in the back and slipping down his shoulders to pool in the crook of his elbows. Every hair on Peter’s body stood on end as goose bumps rose up on his arms and neck and he let out an involuntary shiver.

“What are you doing?” Peter questioned, renewing his struggles and trying to break the cuffs or pull them out of the wall. Neither man answered him. “Hey shit-stick I’m talking to you!”

“You know? I’m really going to enjoy this,” he heard one of the men mutter before there was the sound of something cutting through the air and then his back lit up in a sharp sting. Peter gasped in a breath as his lungs seized. “Well that shut you up.”

“What the fuck are you doing?” Peter croaked as his back lit up on fire again and his knees went weak.

“I’m sure you can figure it out you little brat,” Henchman One said, just barely popping into Peter’s peripheral vision as the whip cut across his back again. “Scream if you want to answer the question and make it stop.”

Peter grit his teeth and tried to hold in the scream that wanted to tear out of his throat when his back was hit the fifth time. By the seventh he could feel blood start to pool at the waistband of his jeans. He nearly bit through his lip on strike number twelve and he lost count after that – he’s unsure when he finally gave in and started to scream.

———————————————

“Come on Pete, focus up buddy,” a warm voice said just on the edge of Peter’s consciousness. “This isn’t a good look kiddo.”

Fingers tapped on his face incessantly and Peter groaned, allowing his head to loll back on his neck in the opposite direction to get away. “G’away,” he mumbled out, unable to speak louder than a whisper without his throat throbbing in agony.

“No can do Bambino,” the voice said, hands running through his hair and maneuvering him to be more upright, his chest leaning against something warm and solid. “But if you open your eyes for me I’d be willing to negotiate getting you out of here. What do you say?”

Peter huffed out a breath of exertion and slit his eyes open. Everything was a little blurry but he could clearly make out the comforting blue glow of the Arc Reactor from where the Iron Man suit stood sentry behind Tony Stark. The man was leaning Peter’s chest against one of his shoulders to keep him upright and was staring down at him with a pinched expression.

“Hey Mr. Stark,” Peter said, letting his eyes slip closed again and leaning more fully into his mentor’s side. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“I’d ask if you frequented dumps like this but I’m honestly afraid of the answer,” Tony told him lightly, trying to joke but falling flat. “Think you can stand buddy? I can’t really carry you and I figured you might protest the gurney.”

Peter let out a huff and let his head drop to rest in the crook of his mentor’s neck. “I can walk.”

“Try to lean as much weight as possible on me okay?” Tony told him before beginning the complicated maneuver that they had both nearly perfected so that Tony could get his hands under Peter’s armpits and lift him to his feet. Once standing, Peter’s vision pulsed and went grey around the edges and he fell forward to rest against Tony’s chest as the room spun around him. “Whoa there Pete! You’re alright, just take a few deep breaths okay?”

“Dizzy,” Peter breathed, his vision still fading in and out. “Need to sit…”

“Need to…?” Was all Tony was able to get out before Peter’s vision failed completely and he started sliding back down toward the floor. “Oh shit! Can I get some help in here?! Pete? Peter! Stay with me!”

But Peter didn’t. The darkness was a lot more comfortable than being awake and he was pretty sure Tony would forgive him if he took a little nap. There was a lot of confusion and shouting around him and he was just so tired. With that thought swirling through his head, Peter let himself pass out.

————————————————

Even without opening his eyes, Peter could recognize the plush feeling of the MedBay bed and the sharp smell of betadine and chlorhexidine and industrial cleaner in the air. It tickled his nose and made him want to sneeze but he manfully held it in, burying his face a little more firmly into the plump pillow. He was resting on his front instead of his back like normal and he could tell by the slowness of his thoughts and the heaviness of his muscles that he was on his super strength painkillers and probably some sort of sedation as well.

His thoughts were murky and hard to get through with the pain relief on board so he didn’t try to think too hard for now and, instead, blinked his eyes open slowly. The room was dim like it was late in the evening even though warm light filtered in through the barely cracked blinds. There were two chairs beside his bed – the closest one held May’s purse and scrub jacket and the second had his mentor.

Tony was leaned over his tablet, one elbow propped on the arm of the chair and eyes half lidded as he read through something on the screen. He looked tired but, Peter supposed, he always looked that way when Peter ended up in the MedBay. “Mr. Stark,” he muttered out, blinking his eyes and barely managing to get them back open through his exhaustion.

Tony jumped and launched his tablet to the floor but was quick to recover and stand up so he could lean over Peter and run a cautious hand through his hair. “Hey Bambino,” he said softly. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” Peter answered, letting his eyes close again. “High.”

“Yeah I’ll bet,” Tony agreed with him, a touch of amusement in his voice. “You should go back to sleep, you’ve got a lot of healing to do. You want anything before your nap?”

“What happened?” Peter asked, slitting his eyes open to look up at Tony’s worried face.

“When I asked if you wanted something I was thinking water or ice chips,” Tony told him pointedly but Peter didn’t let up on his relentless, woozy eye contact until Tony sighed and settled into May’s chair so he could hold Peter’s hand and continue to massage through his hair with the other. “You were kidnapped for information on me.”

“I didn’t give up anything right?” Peter asked, worried. He could vaguely remember some hazy memories but nothing was really clear through his tiredness and the drugs coursing through his system.

“Not one bit,” Tony confirmed, pride and concern warring on his face. “We’ll have a much more in depth discussion about that later and how you should always save your own skin over a couple passwords,” he promised, “but, for now, all you need to know is they messed up your back pretty good. Cho and Bruce estimate a full recovery with no scaring but you’ll be out for a bit while you recover.”

Peter searched his grey-tinged and sluggish memories before letting out a little hum of understanding. “They whipped me.”

“Yeah kiddo,” Tony confirmed. “They did. But you’re going to be just fine. I’ve got you.”

“You’ve got me,” Peter agreed, letting his eyes slip shut again. “Gonna nap now,” he said groggily, “night.”

“Night buddy,” Tony whispered and Peter fell asleep to the feeling of warm fingers carding through his hair and a calloused hand holding his.

[foreveradreamlover]

amores que matan parte 1

so yes, here it is. My first attempt at writing a semi-decent body of work. There will be a number of warnings so make sure to go through them before preceding. Enjoy! (I apologize in advance for the formatting, I use Tumblr on my phone 🥴) @lavenderhoney12 thank you for inspiring me to write this, I wouldn’t have wrote it at all without you 🤩💖

warnings: young naive reader, terrible Spanish and English translations, work has not been proofread, angst, hurt, power dynamics, future throuple between Miguel-Maria-Reader, possible dubious consent because of the power dynamic, possible dark undertones, talk of abortion and infedelity. Idk what else I’m missing but I’m sure I hit all the marks without giving it all away.

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Sometimes you wished you hadn’t met Felix and Maria. Your life would have been so much easier if you hadn’t crossed paths with them and fallen for both of them. And as you laid between them in their marital bed, you realized your life was going to get a lot more complicated now. You stared at the ceiling, feeling tears well up in your eyes. The guilt began to eat you up, the regret sank in.

You don’t belong here, you have no place here. There was no room for you in their marriage, no matter how spacious their bed was. A marriage is a commitment between two people, a third was not possible. You managed to hold in your sobs as you realized how royally fucked you were because you didn’t want to wake them up. You already felt terrible enough, you didn’t want them to make you feel even worse by trying to justify it.

But how did you get into this mess?

The events of the night before were hazy but as you wiped your tears it all became clear again.

You began yesterday morning like any other morning in the Felix household. It was your responsibility to wake up Abril and Miguelito, as you were the full time nanny, and get them ready for the day. It was the best job you ever had, honestly. You love those two like your own and they were great kids. After the kids were taken to school, you left a two weeks notice letter on Maria’s desk when you returned back to the house.

The rest of the day was anxiety inducing, you spent the majority of your time trying to steer clear from Maria but also trying to complete the chores like organizing Abril’s closet. Eventually, you couldn’t hide from her anymore when Maria managed to have Abril trick you into meeting outside by the pool.

“Gracias mi amor. (Thank you my love)” María smiled at Abril as the little girl practically dragged you outside, knowing that the plan had worked just as she predicted. “Ahora puedes jugar con tu hermanito. Pero no juegan aquí, necesito hablar con tu niñera. (You van go play with your brother now. But you cannot play here, I need to speak with your nanny)”

Abril nodded and before you could make up another excuse, Maria held up your letter.

“¿Qué chingados es esto? (What the fuck is this?)” Maria was never one to beat around the bush, it almost made you regret dropping the notice on Maria’s desk instead of Felix’s.

Felix at least would have accepted it and not confronted you about it. He knew you were replaceable. Maria on the other hand surprised you. At the most you expected a slight sadness but never anger.

“¿Lo leíste? (You read it?)” you cringed, watching Maria’s eyebrows furrow even deeper.

“¡Cómo no! (Of course!)” she noticed you taking a step back before reeling her anger back in, “Perdón, a la mejor estoy un poco confundida. Pense que estabas feliz aqui, cuidando a mis hijos. Fue hace unas pocas semanas cuando me dijiste que estabas la mas feliz que ha sentido en tu vida. ¿Qué cambió? Y no quiero mentiras, quiero la verdad. (Sorry, maybe I’m a bit confused. I thought you were happy here, taking care of my kids. It was just a few weeks ago when you told me that you were the happiest you have ever felt in your life. What changed? And I don’t want to hear your lies, I want the truth.)”

When she asked you that question, you felt your heart beat so fast that you swore even Maria could hear it. You looked at Maria’s face and you knew in that instant that no matter how hard you tried, you would never be able to lie to her. You cared too much about her to lie. Especially in her face when she’s asking for the truth. Even if the truth may scare her or make her despise you, she would have to respect it. She asked so you had to deliver.

You took a deep breath, feeling your eyes starting to water up and causing Maria to give a concerning look. She was about to walk closer to you when you lightly put you hand up to indicate her that you were fine.

“Yo - yo no sé cómo decir esto. Honestamente, no pensé que te lo diría, cara a cara pronto así. No estoy segura que puedo hacerlo. Es different pensarlo que decirlo. Creo que podría morir aquí antes de poder decirlo...(I—I don’t know how to say this. Honestly, I didn’t think I would say it, face to face this soon. I’m not sure if I can do it. It’s different thinking it than saying it aloud. I think I could die before I could say it)” Your voice wavered, Maria’s face suddenly blurry from the tears shedding from your eyes at an alarming rate.

It was like all the tears you had refused to shed for months had finally decided to come out now.

“Mija... puedes decirlo. No sé qué es lo que tienes dentro pero tienes que dejarlo salir. Puedo ver que está haciendo más daño solo por estar dentro de ti. Suéltalo, te vas a sentir mejor si lo hagas. (Honey, you can say it. I don’t know what it is inside you but you have to let it out. I can see that it’s doing more bad being inside of you. Let it go, you’ll feel better if you do that)”

You didn’t know how but those words gave you the last needed to push to finally say it.

“Maria, me gustas desmiasado. No tenía idea de que querer a alguien así podría doler tanto. Pensé que enamorarme de alguien sería hermoso como una rosa, pero las espinas me pellizcaron... Si hubiera sabido que enamorarme de ti me haría sentir así, me habría ido antes. Me quedé porque pensé que podría superarlo. Pero no puedo, así que es mejor que me vaya. Te ruego que me dejes ir. (María, I like you too much. I had no idea that liking someone would hurt so much. I thought falling in love with someone would be beautiful like a rose but the thorns pinched me. If I knew that loving you would make me feel this way, I would have left sooner. I stayed longer than I should have because I thought I would get over it. But I can’t, so it’s better if I leave. I beg you to let me leave.)” Your words came out slurred, you weren’t even sure if it was audible through the sobs.

You felt incredibly vulnerable, your vision unclear and your mind foggy. You hadn’t a clue where Maria stood or if she was even there. All you felt was your heart breaking each passing second you heard silence. You just poured out your heart of all the thoughts you harbored for months, did she know you were happy because you were in love with her? Your happiness was just a facade, it was the rose colored glasses that made you think this was love. Love couldn’t possibly feel this cruel and hurtful.

You were about to wipe your tears when you felt a pair of hands cup your face. The thumbs carefully wiped away your tears, allowing for some relief from the waterfalls pouring out of your eyes. You relished in their touch, not knowing how good it was just to be in contact with another person. You were truly touch starved and even their simple brush of your tears was enough to heal some of your deep-seated wounds you possessed. You were broken and it took one unattainable love to make you realize.

“Ya, ya. Suelta todo que tienes dentro de ti. Te vas a sentir mejor cuando todo esto se termine. (Now, now. Let go of everything inside you. You’ll feel much better when all of this is done.)” María whispered, pulling you closer to her and stroking your hair. You shuddered and felt like the tears would never be able to stop. Maria didn’t yell at you like expected, she pitied you. You honestly didn’t know what was worse. You got to be in Maria’s arms but for the wrong reasons.

You’re so stupid, you thought to yourself. You can’t compete with Felix, which you still had unrealized feelings for by the way. He’s the breadwinner and father to her children, you’re just a stupid nanny who fell in love with someone she couldn’t have.

Having your face buried in Maria’s shoulder only made you feel more in love with her in a fucked up away. Her compassion towards you made you fall harder. With this embrace, you could smell the expensive floral and sweet perfume and feel her in a way you could have only imagined before this exchange. It would have probably hurt you less if she pushed you off her and refused to see you again. At least then you would know to move on. This unexpected reaction from Maria has left you confused. This hug seemed too friendly for a simple embrace.

“¡Señora! (Mrs!)” fellow employee called out, a phone in her hand. “Habla Señor Felix! (Mr. Felix is calling!)”

And just like that, the things you thought you could only dream of crumbled as Maria took her hand out of your hair and sighed. Maria turned to the elderly woman, giving a weak smile, “Por favor dígale que no puedo atender el teléfono. Estoy un poco preocupada en este momento. (Please tell him I’m not able to come to the phone. I’m busy at the moment.)”

The older woman nodded, heading back inside as Maria pulled you back in for another warm hug. You tried to make words, feeling your lips tremble every time you attempted to say something. Your mouth felt dry and your head throbbed with pain. You weren’t sure if you would have any tears left after this episode, they were coming all at once.

“Creo que deberíamos entrar a la casa. Tu cara se siente caliente. (I think we should head inside. Your face feels hot.)” María pulled back to examine your face, a worried expression on her own face when she put the back of her hand on your forehead.

You nodded weakly, suddenly remembering you two were talking outside the whole time. You really hoped nobody heard walking by. The future was uncertain now. Maria neither accepted or rejected your two weeks notice and now that she knows that you loved her, the chances of her being comfortable around you were probably slim to none. You couldn’t blame her if she was uncomfortable with this situation, she was married and you worked for her. You also didn’t know if she even liked women.

You didn’t think you did either until you saw Maria for the first time.

Maria wrapped an arm around your shoulder as she lead the way into the house and to your bedroom. Your eyes kept steady to the ground, averting any possible eye contact with anyone who happened to be nearby. The whole walk to your bedroom was so eerie and tense that you wished nothing more than to disappear.

Maria helped you onto your bed and you accepted the comfort of the bed instantly because you had a feeling that the bed was going to be your only companion from now onwards. At least you got to hug her twice, you thought bitterly. To avoid any more conversation, you turned away from Maria and to the wall, hoping she would walk out and leave you be. You didn’t want to embarrass yourself but more so her anymore. You said enough and for that, you felt that you deserved to be excommunicated.

Instead, you felt her sit at the front of the bed.

“Siempre supe que me amabas. (I always knew you loved me)” She sighed loudly, hearing the instant relief washing over her. The fact shocked you, how did she know? When did she find out? Was it that obvious? The questions came faster than the possible answers and it was as if she knew what you thought because immediately after the short silence she said, “No me interrumpas. Has hablado bastante. Ahora es mi turno. (Don’t interrupt me. You’ve talked a lot already. It’s my turn now.)”

You kept quiet, looking at the wall to try to stop the thinking.

“Sé que te estás preguntando cómo lo supe. Creo que lo supe cuando me dijiste que eras feliz hace unas semanas. Sé cuando a alguien le gusta otra persona y lo vi en ti. Traté de no pensar en la posibilidad de que yo te gustara, no quería pensar eso porque no quería verte de manera extraña. También crecí en una casa muy religiosa ... Nunca le he dicho esto a nadie, ni siquiera a Miguel ... pero siempre supe que también me gustaban las chicas. Y por eso, me asusté cuando me dijiste que me amabas. Mi primer pensamiento fue rechazarte ... fingir que esto no sucedió y dejarte ir como pediste. Pero luego recordé cómo me sentí cuando mi mejor amiga me llamó lesbiana sucia...(I know you’re asking yourself how I knew. I found out when you told me you were happy a few weeks ago. I know when someone likes another person and I saw it on your face. I tried not to think about the possibility of you liking me, I didn’t want to view you weirdly. I also grew up in a religious household...I never told anyone this, not even Miguel but I knew from a young age that I also liked girls along with boys. That is why I was scared when you told me you loved me. My first thought was to deny what you said, to pretend it never happened and let you go like you asked. But I began to remember when my best friend called me a dirty lesbian...)” Maria’s voice wavered a bit before she cleared her throat to continue with her little story, “Recuerdo sentirme tan mal conmigo misma. Pensé que mis sentimientos eran repugnantes y eso me hizo dejar esos sentimientos a un lado. No fue hasta que llegaste cuando empecé a recordarlos. (I remember feeling terrible with myself. I thought my feelings were disgusting and that caused me to put my feelings to the side. It’s what until you came into my life that I began to remember them.)”

“M—María... ¿Porqué me estas diciendo esto? (Why are you telling me this?)” your voice cracked, turning to your other side to see her back was facing towards you. “No es necesario que me explique. No sé qué decir ... Has sido amable conmigo en los pocos meses que trabajo aquí. Realmente amo mi trabajo pero no entiendo el sentido de esta conversación. Estoy despedida ... al menos creo que estoy despedida. (You don’t need to explain to me all of this. I don’t know what to say. You’ve been so kind to me in the few months I’ve worked here. I really love my job but I don’t know why you’re telling me all this. I’m fired...at least I think I am fired.)”

Maria turned to you, her face streaming with tears, “No estas despedida. Te lo digo para que cuando empiece a besarte, no te sorprendas. (You are not fired. I am telling you all of this because when I start to kiss you, you won’t be surprised.)”

The words almost didn’t register fast enough as Maria leaned down to kiss you, slowly at first so it didn’t overwhelm you. Once it began to sink in, you kissed back eagerly. You didn’t know if you were dreaming or dead, everything seemed to happen so fast. Never in a million years did you think your feelings would be reciprocated.

Maria’s hand gripped the hair on the back of your head, intending to keep your face in place when she broke the messy kiss to peck at your neck. Even though you two only kissed once, it told you a lot about Maria. Things you suspected but never truly could have known until this moment.

Maria is domineering. She’s the one in control and you were the one to be controlled. You didn’t mind, you were taking anything you could get from her.

Maria was also playful, her free hand was playing with your necklace as she kissed around the exposed skin on you neck and upper chest.

But above all, she was passionate. You were so under her spell and past sanity that you didn’t notice when she unbuttoned your white shirt. Your face flushed as you looked down to see that she had taken off her own top, wondering if this was a signal to take off the rest of your clothes. You fumbled with your hands to reach your back to begin unhooking your bra when she stopped you.

“Creo que deberíamos continuar con los besos. Lo que queremos no puede suceder porque no tenemos suficiente tiempo. No pensé que me pondría cachonda tan rápido.” She smiled as she traced a finger along your collarbone, “Te ves tan hermosa sin camisa puesta, casi no puedo esperar para ver más. (We should continue with only kissing. What we want cannot happen because we don’t have enough time. I didn’t think I would get horny so fast. You look beautiful without a shirt on, I can hardly wait to see more of you).”

You blushed and leaned in to continue making out with her. Maria pulled you onto her lap to straddle her, her hand immediately grabbing your ass. You gave a surprised gasp, making Maria laugh in response. You both kiss each other, your lips feeling swollen when you parted. You pulled away, breathless and laid down on the bed.

“Esto se siente mal. Usted es mi patrona, cuido a los niños... eres una mujer casada. (This feels wrong. You’re my boss, I watch the kids...you’re a married woman).” You began to panic, sitting up instantly in fright when Maria placed her hand on your stomach to push you back down.

“Querida, tengo una pregunta y quiero una respuesta. (Darling, I have a question and I want an answer from you)” Maria turned to you and made sure you two shared eye contact, “Te gusta mi marido, ¿no? (You like my husband, don’t you?)”

You gave her a confused look. Did Maria know all? Had she been spying on you? How does she know that you like Miguel as well? I guess I’m not as secretive as I thought, you thought to yourself. But how can you answer her? What was the right answer? What did she want to hear?

“No no. ¡No pienses! No me gusta cuando haces eso. (No, no. Don’t think about it! I don’t like when you do that.)” Maria shook her head, “Quiero que me des una respuesta honesta. No quiero escuchar una mentira, quiero escuchar la verdad. Usted me puede decir. Realmente me gustaría saber. (I want you to give me an honest answer. I don’t want to hear a lie, I want to hear the truth. You can tell me. I would really like to know.)”

You felt your heart beat faster, suddenly feeling dizzy. You barely realized your dehydration from crying so much earlier.

“Bueno ... parece que ya sabes la respuesta. (Well...it sounds like you already know the answer to your question)” You bit your lip, wiping the slight precipitation on your upper lip.

“Me conoces bien. (You know me well)” Maria gave a wide grin, leaning down to kiss your forehead, “Quiero oírte decirlo. Quiero escucharlo de tus labios. Si no dices nada, haré que uses tus labios de otras formas. (I want to hear you say it. I want to hear it from your lips. If you don’t say anything, I will have you use your lips in other ways).”

Your eyes widened, “Para mí, eso suena maravilloso. (For me, that sounds wonderful)” Maria shot you an unamused expression, prompting you to finally confess, “Tu esposo también me gusta. Lo siento. No eres solo tú. También es él. Y me hace sentir aún más repugnante. (I like Miguel too. I’m sorry. It’s not just you. It’s him as well. And it makes me feel even more disgusting.)”

Maria wasn’t phased, deciding to lay down next to you finally and looking up at the ceiling, “Tuviste ojos en él desde que llegaste. Pensé que ustedes dos ya habrían dormido juntos antes de esto. Todo el mundo sabe que se acuesta con putas. Supongo que elegí no darme cuenta. Todo estuvo bien hasta que me encontré con esa puta que quedó embarazada de él. (You’ve has eyes on him since you’ve arrived. I thought you two would have already slept together by now. The whole word knows that Miguel sleeps with whores. I guess I chose to be ignorant to the fact. I was fine with pretending it wasn’t an issue until I found the whore he impregnated).”

You gasped but quickly regretting it. You had heard the rumors from other employees but didn’t think there was any truth to them.

“Le di dos opciones. La primera fue abortar al bebé y recibir algo de dinero como compensación por el trauma de perder a un hijo. La segunda era tener el bebé y recibir el dinero suficiente para salir de Guadalajara. Me vale madres que pasará con el bebé o ella, me costó mucho no matar a Miguel cuando me contó lo que pasó. Me avergonzó al hacerme hablar con ella en lugar de hablar con ella él mismo. Para abreviar la historia, eligió el aborto. Por mucho que odié a Miguel en ese momento, todavía amo a ese idiota. Sentí pena por esa mujer que pensó que a Miguel le importaría lo suficiente como para hablar con ella. Miguel apenas se preocupa por nuestros hijos, por eso tenemos una niñera. Le rompió el corazón y el mío al mismo tiempo. Qué hombre. (I gave her two options. The first was to abort the baby and receive money as compensation for the trauma of losing a baby. The second was to have the baby and get enough money to leave Guadalajara. I don’t give a fuck what happened with the baby or her, it took everything to not kill Miguel when he told me what happened. He embarrassed me when he made me talk to her instead of talking to her himself. To make a long story short, she chose the abortion. Although in that moment I hated Miguel, I still love that idiot. I felt terrible for the woman who thought Miguel cared enough to talk to her. Miguel barely cares about our children’s, that’s why we have you. He broke her heart and mine at the same time. What a guy.)”

The two of you laid silent, you looked at her and she up at the ceiling. You noticed a stray tear falling from her eye and you were quick to wipe it away.

“Lo peor de todo es que yo también la odiaba. No porque se acostó con él, sino porque quedó embarazada. ¿Por qué todas las putas quedan embarazadas? Solo pude tener dos hijos, quería uno o dos más. ¿es mucho para preguntar? Dolía sugerir el aborto, pero no soportaba que otra mujer tuviera a su hijo bastardo como recordatorio de su infedilidad. (The worst of all is that I hated her too. I didn’t hate her because she slept with him, but because she got pregnant. Why do all the whores get pregnant? I only had two, I wanted one or two more. That’s all. Is that too much to ask for? It hurt to suggest the abortion but I couldn’t stand another woman having his bastard child. That child would always be a reminder to me if his infidelity)” Maria’s eyes closed to stop the tears and even through non sexual ways, you learned more about Maria.

She was broken. As were you. She was just better at hiding it. You didn’t know what to say to make her feel better, you didn’t think you could cheer her up from admitting to forcing a woman getting an abortion. She needed to get this off her chest.

In your mind, you thought Maria was cruel for giving that woman an ultimatum. Maria may have said she had given the woman two options but it was obvious which one the young woman would take. Even if she was carrying the bastard child of Miguel, that baby deserved a chance to live. The baby did nothing wrong but be conceived. It wasn’t like Maria couldn’t have adopted it, she wanted more children. Maybe this child was the chance for her to have the third child she’s always wanted. What was the difference if the baby came from a different woman? Maria was going to be the mom all the same.

“Ahora sabes más sobre el tipo de hombre que es Félix. Es un lobo a la vista, obtiene lo que quiere. Siempre. Eres joven, amable, pero un poco ingenua, te comerá y te dejará sin nada. Te romperá el alma como si nada. Solo te lastimarás en el proceso. (Now you know what kind of man Felix is. He’s a wolf in plain sight, he gets what he wants. Always. You’re young, loving, but a bit naive. He will eat you up and leave you with nothing. He will break your soul like it was nothing. You’ll just hurt yourself in the process)” Maria stroked your hair, leaving a small kiss on your forehead as she shifted towards you.

You turned to her, cupping her face gently. You felt like you hadn’t been looking at her in the eyes enough so you made sure this time to make a point, “Te amo Maria y si lo que dices es cierto sobre Felix, no lo aceptaré. Solo quiero estar contigo, sea lo que sea que eso signifique. No quiero irme, quiero quedarme aquí y cuidar de los niños. Me preocupo por ellos. (I love you Maria and if what you say about Felix is true, I won’t accept him. I just want to be with you, whatever that entails. I don’t want to go, I want to stay here and take care of the kids. I care for them.)”

“Sé que has estado hablando de el amor todo este tiempo, pero ¿sabes siquiera qué es el amor en realidad? Sé que no has estado con nadie, eres apenas una adulta. ¿cómo sabes de lo que estás hablando? Puedes pensar que me amas, puedes pensar que amas a los niños, incluso puedes pensar que puedes cambiar a Miguel. (I know you’ve been talking about love this whole time but do you even know what real love is? I know you haven’t been with anyone, you’re barely an adult. How do you know what you’re talking about? You can think you love me, the kids, you may even think about being able to change Miguel)” she ran a finger over your bottom lip, smiling softly at how you slightly trembled from the sensation, “No sé si te estoy contando todas las cosas malas que tiene Félix para protegerte o para ser egoísta. No me gusta compartir. Eres tan preciosa que no merece ni siquiera tocar un solo cabello tuyo. Está mal querer tanto a alguien. Pero se siente tan bien. Finalmente entiendo a Félix y por qué se coje a mujeres que no son su esposa. (I don’t know if I’m telling you about Felix to project you or to be selfish. I don’t like to share. You’re just so precious that he doesn’t deserve to even touch a single hair on your head. I finally understand why Felix fucks other women who aren’t his wife.)”

You saw the passion in Maria’s eyes and that let you know that she meant what she was saying. She had reason to believe that maybe you weren’t really in love and that it was just lust. You didn’t want to believe it but with every passing moment, you couldn’t help but fall more deep than before. At first you felt terrible at the idea of betraying her marriage and being the home wrecker but how could you wreck a home that was already on its way to be demolished? Maria just wanted to be loved and you planned on doing just that.

You felt that it was the right time to lean in for another passionate kiss when you heard Miguelito pound on your door.

“¿Bebita, estas en tu cuarto? Necesito ayuda con mi tarea, por favor. Te prometo que no voy a dar lata. (*Nickname*, are you in there? I need help with my homework please. I promise I won’t be difficult.)” He whined, continuing to knock softly in the hopes that gig will respond back.

You smiled softly, instantly getting off the bed and freshening up. You had a job to do and you were momentarily sidetracked. “Si estoy aquí. Estaré allí en un momento. Espero que te mantengas fiel a tu promesa, cariño. (I am in here. I will be there in a second. I hope you can keep your promise, sweetheart)”

As you gave an apologetic glance to Maria, you quickly made yourself presentable and happily helped Miguelito with his homework. Anything to get your mind off of everything that had happened before he interrupted.

You were walking out when you saw Felix in the hallway, walking towards you. You tried your best to seem nonchalant in the hopes he would not stop you but right when you walked next to him, his hand gripped your arm tightly to get you to stop in your tracks.

“¿Sabes dónde está mi esposa? (Do you know where my wife is?”

And that’s it folks. For now. 😋 This series will be dialogue heavy so I apologize in advance. Thank you so much for reading!

[bxthharmon]

Never Go Home Again, Pt. VI || JJ Maybank x Reader

Words: 3527

Series Warnings: violence / talking about abuse / toxic relationships / talking about nudes sex tapes and sex tapes / drugs / underage drinking

Pt. Warnings: boats in bad weather??

Series Summary: A new girl, a shoebox of old memories, a past she’s trying to forget coincide with a hotheaded, but selfless, boy.  teenagers getting in way over their heads

Pt. Summary: The group make headway with an underwater drone, while Y/N seeks closure from her family.

A/N: time for some insight into y/n’s history!!! also i have to go into school tmrw and i am NOT here for it 

Chapters linked in my masterlist.

“masterlist”

“Alright, keep a lookout.” JJ reminded you as you pulled up to the hotel,”We’re behind enemy lines.” he pulled out the gun, ignoring how John B argued with him as he loaded it, in full display. “Can never be too careful.” JJ reminded you.

“Hey, I predict bringing a weapon to a four star hotel will likely cause more problems than it solves.”

“Thank you, Pope.” John B sighed.

Kie leaned forward, her head sticking through to the front of the VW, “I swear to God, I’m gonna throw that gun in the ocean, JJ. Put it back.”

You reached through the window and snatched the gun off him, leaning over and handing it to John B, glaring at JJ as you pulled back out of his van window.

“”You can’t grab a gun like that!” he leaned forwards to argue, but at the look of your face when you turned around, he sighed, hopping out of the car, “Can’t forget my badge - professional bus-boy.”

“So where are we going now?” Pope inquired, following JJ to the doors.

“We’re getting the internet because only rich people have electricity right now.” JJ explained, leading you through the crowded, steamy kitchen and trying to grab some bits of food as he did, calling a greeting to a guy named Andrew. “See they got the backup generators going? Kooks don’t miss a beat.” he led you to a door, which opened to a load of computers.

“Sweet Lord, the internet!” Pope ran to the computer, sitting down, “I’ve missed you.”

“Let me get in there,” JJ spoke, “gotta check on my insta models.” you rolled your eyes, walking to the window and watching the ant’s nest of rich people thrive. You heard Pope type in the coordinates, and walked back to see what was going on. After the discovery of it being only 900 feet, and JJ telling you about the drone-camera-thing and his dad’s redundancy, you left again, not wanting to stick around for long.

--

“Pope, we’re not stealing the drone, we’re… borrowing it.” John B tried to justify.

“‘Humans are the only animal that can’t tell fantasy from reality.’” said Pope vaguely.

“Did you come up with that?” John B asked.

“Albert Bernstein came up with it,” he clarified, “but it applies to this whole treasure-hunting thing. So, which is it? Fantasy, or reality?”

“Why’re you so weird, Pope?” JJ asked, concentrating on rolling his blunt.

“It’s fantasy, but possible reality.” Kie suggested.

“Reality.” John B looked around at the group.

“Virtual reality.” JJ muttered, flicking his lighter on and going to light his blunt. You snatched the spliff off of him.

“The smell’s doing my head in.” you said, ignoring his hurt expression.

“Keep the signal clear.” Pope agreed.

“You know what your problem is?” JJ piped up, glaring at you.

“You?” You quipped, raising your eyebrow as if to say ‘I dare you’.

“No!” he shook his head, holding your gaze, “It’s that you take everything so seriously! And you don’t bother to find out what really happened. You make an assumption without knowing the full story.” he didn’t break eye contact with you. John B stopped the van, and you inhaled, holding your anger in.

“My problem,” you seethed, “Is that there is only one way to take most things. I don’t need to know the full story, because the message came through - loud and clear - regardless.” 

“Well maybe,” JJ started, the pair of you ignoring the faces of your fellow pogues as your voices rose, “if you knew the other side to the story, you would know that that’s not how it was meant.”

“Really?” you laughed incredulously, and you could tell he knew he was entering a danger zone, “Because there’s only one way to take it JJ! Please, please, enlighten me on literally any other way I could have taken it!” 

“Okay,” John B said, overpowering your argument, and drawing your attention to the shocked and confused faces of your friends, “Y’all need to sort your shit out, in the meantime, JJ, Pope, the gate’s open, let’s go, and Y/N, get ready, getaway driver.” 

You moved to the driver’s seat, grumbling about being a getaway driver as you watched the three boys run through the gate, which was crawling shut.

You waited for about ten minutes, bored out of your mind as you held a hardly engaging text conversation with a girl from your old school. Your bored brain’s trance was interrupted by the cutting sound of a dog barking. You looked through the wire gate, seeing that the guard had left the car. You jumped out of the car, slamming the door as you ran to the gate, pulling yourself up and over, jumping down the other side in a well-practiced manner, running towards the barking.

You scaled the rows of boats until you saw the guard, calming the dog down as he shouted to a boat. From your angle, you could see a rucksack. JJ.

“Excuse me?” you yelled, and the guard turned his attention to you as you walked towards him. “Uh, sorry, Officer, you left the gate open.” you lied, racking your brain for a lie to distract the man. “There was a girl with a flat tire.” Please, Kie, be there.

“I know.” he responded gruffly, and you nodded.

“Well, Sir, she’s like, panicking ‘cause you ran off, and she has to get to the ferry. You should probably help her out.”

He looked you up and down suspiciously as you played with your hair, battering your eyelashes lightly. He sighed, walking away, the dog in tow. You waited until he was out of sight, and earshot, to call out to JJ. His head appeared over the side of the boat, and then he stood and jogged down the steps to face you. You barely spared him a glance, heading towards the impound yard at the back.

“C’mon, shithead.” you murmured, hearing his footsteps follow you, catching up and joining your stride.

“Y/N,” he attempted, trying to catch your attention as you stared straight on.

“JJ,” you mocked, “I don’t want to talk about it. It should never have happened, and I’m sorry it did. Can we move on?”

You didn’t wait for a reply as you stormed off, towards the others, leaving his heart breaking in the dust.

--

“Kie,” you sighed, collecting glasses from one of the tables, “I told you, okay? He pushed me away. I mean, message received, loud and clear.”

“But you were drunk, maybe he just didn’t want to take advantage of you?” she offered, and you put the tray of glasses down, sighing and looking over to her.

“He just kind of, walked off.” you reminded her, “He just pushed me away and walked off. I felt like such an idiot - it was so humiliating, I mean he flirts with me, he asks me about all the right things, he wants to know about me, and who I am in a way that no guy ever has before. And I guess I got so caught up in my feelings that I didn’t realise they were one-sided. He pushed me away, and there’s only one way to take that. Besides, you saw how he acted at the yard.” You dropped your head into your hands. “How do I face him Kie?” you could feel her rub your back, “How do I face him, and the boys - he’s definitely told the boys - after I embarrassed myself like that?” 

She sighed, taking your face in her hands, “With your head held high, like a fucking a boss, because it’s his loss.” 

“You’re a poet and you don’t even know it.”

--

You had dined at the Wreck, still ignoring JJ and agreeing to reconvene at the Chateau in the early morning to test the drone, which was what you were now doing, as the sun began to creep over the marsh, dawn only having been an hour ago. Pope and JJ stood next to you, checking the camera, with Kie and John B in the water and you sat on the side of the pontoon.

“God bless geeks, Pope, truly man.” JJ said, looking at the screen. “What would we do without you to control the drone?”

“It’s not a drone,” you pointed out, “It’s an ROV.”

“Shut up, shut up.” He said, looking out at Kie and John B, “It’s too early for that right now.”

“Hey, once we get footage of the wreck, we’ll bring it to a lawyer in town and file a claim.” said John B.

“It’s such bullshit, why do we have to do that?”

“Well there is maritime salvage law.” You pointed out. 

“You can’t just go to the bottom of the ocean and scoop a bunch of stuff up.” confirmed Pope.

“I know, I know, it’s just, lawyers aren’t cheap, bro.” 

“JJ, we’re about to get our hands on 400 mil, and you’re worried about being cheap?” you snorted.

“And as soon as they see the footage they’ll work for a comp.” John B explained.

“How do you know all of that?” Kie asked.

“‘Cause my dad said it. Like, a million times.”

“This tether is like, really long.” Pope pointed out, “In the wrong weather it could get pushed around.”

“Then we’ll go in dead calm.” you shrugged, glancing at the storm clouds above you, “So not today.”

“So now we just gotta wait around for the right weather.” You pulled up the weather app on your phone, “Or tomorrow, thank God.” You stood up, “I gotta go anyway. I’ll be back tomorrow evening, so see you guys then.”

The pogues looked confused and you shrugged, “I have a ferry to catch.”

“A ferry?” Kie asked.

“Yeah, my brother’s driving from college to Florida to meet his girlfriend so he’s passing through, I said I’d meet him on the mainland until he leaves tomorrow.” you explained, grabbing your bag. “See you later.”

--

“Do you ever think about Mom?” you asked, taking a scoop of ice cream, making Lewis look at you, nodding slowly. “‘Cause I feel shitty, like yeah, she did some fucked up shit, and is one of the major factors as to why I’m now living in some islands on the other side of the country, but, she keeps calling me, and I want to pick up. Does that make me a bad person?”

“No.” Your brother shook his head, “She’s our mom, you’re still allowed to talk to her, even if you can’t see her. Besides, we deserve some closure, so if you can get it off her, then do.”

You nodded. “I miss her. And I miss how happy Dad was when he was around her. How happy we all were. It hurts that she did that to us.” you looked out to sea, watching the islands in the distance.

“Me too, little sis, me too.” he leant against the bollard next to him.

“So, you have a girlfriend.” you grinned at the way he blushed, “How long you been together?”

“Eight months, since the start of college.” he smiled.

“I’m happy for you.” you smiled at the thought of him finally finding the right girl, he deserved it.

“Thanks.” he grinned, “How about you? Any guys in the Outer Banks catching your eye?”

You thought about lying, but you decided you’d done enough of that for a lifetime. “There was, but I don’t think so anymore. Things are… weird.” 

“Oh yeah, what’s his name?” he nudged you.

“JJ. I thought we had something going on, but I guess he made it clear that that was fabricated.”

“How so?”

“We were like, hanging out everyday, and flirting and shit, but he kinda rejected me when I kissed him.” 

“It’s his loss, any guy would be lucky to have you. But if you need me to kick his ass, I’ll get on that ferry with you and do it like, as soon as I can.”

“You’re so extra.”

“You got friends?”

“What do you mean? You think I’m a loner or something?”

“It’s a simple question!”

“Yes. Yes, I have friends.”

“Good friends? They look out for you?”

“Yeah. I’ve known them a month and they’re already better friends than any of my old ones were. They’re the one reason I’m glad I live in the Outer Banks now. I love them, weird as it sounds. And they love me.”

You went back to the motel he’d rented you rooms in, and sat on your bed, opening your phone and staring at the many missed calls from your mom. You tapped the call button, holding the phone to your ear.

It rang twice, then the line opened with a small crackle.

“Hey Mom.” 

“Sweetie,” you could almost hear her relieved smile, “How are you?”

“I’m… uh, I’m good. I’m settling in. How’s Chris?”

“That’s great! He’s good, we’re good. Thank you. For calling back.”

“Why did you call, Mom?”

“I wanted to apologise. I’m so sorry. What I did - it tore us apart, and it was unforgivable. And now I see the situation you’re in and I wish I could take it back.”

“But you can’t, Mom. You destroyed my life, and you called to kill tow birds with one stone - pretend to seem like the caring mom you proved yourself not to be, and to clear your own conscience. Well fuck you. You really wanna know how I’m doing? I haven’t talked to any of my close friends from Cali because you made us move so suddenly that they thought I’d hid it from them. They all think I’m a slut, and I couldn’t win the fucking court case because of you! You left Dad high and dry, for a rich dude you’d known for a month!”

“Y/N,” she sighed through the phone, and you noticed that your cheeks were wet and stiff with tears.

“No, Mom. Don’t call again. Don’t try to contact me. I thought this would help get me closure, but your apology is just an excuse! I - I don’t ever wanna talk to you again.”

“I love you.”

You hung up, falling back onto the motel bed, and letting the sobs shake your body with such force that you couldn’t breathe.

--

You got back late the next day, when the sky was falling into darker hues every minute. You were tired, but you missed your friends. You dropped your bag off in the hallway and headed straight over the road to the Chateau. You found them in the hammocks. “Hey.”

Kie squealed, jumping up and tackling you in a hug that made you stumble back.

“Missed you,” she smiled, “had to deal with these shitheads by myself.” 

“Sorry.” you smiled, climbing into the hammock with her as the boys protested to her insults. 

“You missed some good waves.” John B commented.

“You guys know I don’t surf.” You chuckled. “I’m sure they were great though.”

“But you should surf.” JJ said, sitting on the other end of the hammock, both of your feet thrown over his. “How’s your brother?”

“I’m good without that hobby.” you laughed. “He’s good, enjoying college. What were y’all talking about?”

“How JJ believes in the gold.” Kie smirked.

“Oh my God, JJ, do you really believe?” John B joked.

“Totally. Wait, are we talking about four mil?”

“Four hundred mil.” You corrected, speaking softly, your anger at him seemingly having dissipated.

“I’m gonna dream about shipwrecks.” he rolled onto his side, as you and Kie giggled.

“Goodnight, Bird!” You laughed.

“Goodnight, Birdshit!” Pope mocked, making you all laugh.

“I love you guys.” You muttered, feeling Kie cuddle into you.

--

You stood at the bow, sunglasses on as you watched the waves roll out in front of you, and the wind bite at your skin, whipping your hair out behind you.

“Alright JJ, pin it here.” John B called, and you turned around, hopping off the front of the boat as JJ responded.

“Roger that, x marks the spot.” you walked to Kie, helping her with the wire.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen.” John B pulled out the ROV, “To going full kook.” he plopped the drone in the water, high-fiving you as he walked back to Pope. Kie started feeding the wire through, and you sat down next to JJ in the cockpit, watching how he pouted when you stole his seat. “Alright, JJ, we’re right over it, ten seconds northwest.”

“Got it!” he repeated the instructions as he followed them. “Why are you in here?” 

“I wanted to sit down.” You countered, swivelling the chair from side to side.

“One hundred feet!” Kie called.

“You could sit down outside.” he nodded to the benches outside.

“But then you wouldn’t get the pleasure of my company!”

“I wouldn’t call it a pleasure.” he joked.

“Two hundred feet.” Kie’s call came.

You put your hand to your chest in fake offence, “C’mon man, you’re breakin’ my heart!”

“Sorry, bro.” he said, adjusting the steering.

“Three hundred feet.” 

“JJ why did you push me away when I kissed you?”

“Y/N, while I would love to have this conversation, now is not the time.”

“Four hundred feet.” Kie looked down, “The tide’s turning.”

“Hey JJ?” John B called out.

“Yup.” You responded for him, swivelling the seat towards John B.

“Ten seconds, easy. South-southeast.” 

You swivelled back around, repeating the instructions and ignoring the  “Yeah, Y/N, I heard.” as he turned aggressively, and you shuffled the chair back.

“JJ, twenty seconds midspeed alright? South.” John B called.

You stood up, the sudden change in weather and instructions causing anxiety to gnaw at your stomach. You grabbed a sweater off the side, pulling it over your head to keep the wind from giving you hypothermia. You went to Pope and John B, hoping to make yourself useful.

“What’s going on?” You asked, looking at the storm clouds.

“700 feet!” Kie called, and Pope turned to you.

“A little bad weather, we’re fine.” He assured you, and you nodded slowly, knowing he could see you were still anxious. 

You stumbled to the side as the waves crashed into the boat, JJ looking back at you, concerned. “This is not ‘dead calm’.” you mumbled as JJ peered out at the clouds.

“JJ, hold it steady!” John B called.

“900!” Kie called.

“JJ, we’re gonna turtle in this storm.” You said, watching the panic in your friends, as you fumbled with the sleeves. “Can I help with anything?”

“Sort the speed.” He said, moving so you could control the meter.

“920!” Kie yelled.

“Crank it north by northwest! Ten seconds!” John B called, panic clear in his voice.

“John B there’s too much current, we’re gonna lose it!” Kie yelled.

“South southwest JJ! Hard!” John B yelled, and you pushed the meter, turning quickly, working in tandem with the blonde boy.

“Half speed! Steady at this bearing, JJ!” He steered by his instructions as you slowed the boat.

“960!”

“980!”

You heard Pope yelling that you were at the bottom, and John B yelling for JJ to be steady, calling for quarter-speed. You slowed the boat again, both you and JJ looking at where the others crowded around the monitor.

“See anything?” JJ called.

You could see them mumbling, and their faces falling. They had found the boat, but came up empty. You helped JJ steer as they swept the wreck twice more, before running out of battery. You could hear Pope trying to bring the optimism back, but you knew it was futile.

“Guys, we’ve been through it three times, there’s nothing there.” you called.

“Shut up!” Kie shouted back, and you sighed, dejected.

“What? She’s right!” JJ backed you. You pulled your hand through your hair, taking the speed controls back off JJ.

“The gold could be buried, we don’t know!” Kie shouted, searching for something hopeful to say.

“If it was there, it would have been found on the metal detector, okay?” John B turned to face the group again. “Somebody beat us to it.”

You could see JJ getting frustrated, the sight of his best friend in pain clearly getting to him. “Or it was never there.” he muttered. You sighed, turning to check on your friends, who were riddled with frustration and anger. Eventually, you decided to go home.

When you eventually got back to the island, Kie pulled you aside.

“Are you and JJ alright again?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. Even if he doesn’t see me like that, I don’t wanna lose him. I talked to my brother about it, and I just feel like we should at least try to be good again.”

“You know we all love you either way right? And JJ cares about you, you guys have got to sort it out, you may have only known each other for less than a month, but I honestly can’t imagine how he’d be if he fucked things up with you.”

“You sure about that?” 

“‘Course. Anyway, you’re coming out with me, Pope and JJ, maybe JB,  tomorrow anyway.”

“I am?”

“Movie night down in the Kook Green.”

Tags: @tangledinsparkles​ @jellyfishbeansontoast​ @lolitstiana​ @ilikealotofpeople-younotsomuch​ @teamnick​ @thoughtsofthestars​ @obxmxybxnk​ @jjmaybankswife​ @kaelyn-lobrutto24​ @sxcretinhuman​ @alexa-playafricabytoto​ @angvelics​ @badwolf00593​

[dailybeastarsthings]

Chapter 7 - Lunch Date With My Victim 7.1. Eden's Errand Boy

It was awfully quiet. Haru and the boys looked each other straight in the eye but no one said a single word. The wind was gently blowing, mixing the fragrance of the thousand blossoms into the air, gently caressing the animals’ noses. Finally, Haru broke the silence…

‘I don’t usually have visitors in the Gardening Club, so this is really a pleasant surprise’ she said.

The other two were still speechless, sunken deep in thought. Haru was pacing them with her eyes, waiting for them to say anything.

‘My word, they are helpless’ she thought. ‘I wonder what they might be thinking.’

Both boys were uncomfortable with the situation. Legoshi could feel his stomach shake. He just wanted to leave this mess, never to come back.

‘It’s the girl from that night! I didn’t think she’d be so small… I must leave… now!’ he thought. ‘But what excuse do I make…? Stomachache or perhaps emergency bathroom break? How about »I just remembered, I’ve got some errands to take care of!«? Yeah… I think that might work.’

‘Oh, umm… I…’ Legoshi tried to say but Kibi was faster.

‘Oh, I just remembered some errands I have to take care of!”

Legoshi was devastated. Just when he came up with the perfect excuse, it was used against him to leave him in the stickiest of situations. He sent a shocked and angry look towards Kibi. If looks could kill, Kibi would’ve died right then and there. Legoshi crouched down to him.

‘Wait, why are you leaving?’ he whispered.

‘Sorry, I’ll buy you an ant shake, but please don’t try to stop me’ Kibi replied. ‘I’ll leave the rest to you – I owe you one.’ And with that, he said his goodbyes to Haru and left through the rusty green door.

As Haru watched them fight, she thought of two possible reasons, why the other two acted like this. One, they were seriously afraid of girls. Two, this was some sort of act on their sides – perhaps a prank of the Drama Club.

‘I thought you came here to get some flowers for the New Student Welcome Event’ she said, momentarily breaking the tension. ‘Am I wrong?’

‘No, of course not!’ Kibi replied to her. ‘We’re gonna need your flowers… It’s just that I really need to take care of some errands. This friendly wolf knows everything you need to know’ he said with a forced smile from the other side of the entrance. Legoshi sent some devastating glares towards him. He tried his best to make Kibi stay, but all was in vain.

‘Look, I’m really sorry about this’ Kibi said. ‘You need to do this for the Drama Club, okay?’

He could finally gather enough strength and slammed the door on Legoshi, almost jamming his fingers in the process.

There was at least a good half minute of awkward silence before anyone said anything.

‘We’re alone’ Legoshi thought.

‘Well, your friend’s gone’ Haru said, while dusting off her uniform. There was some mud on it from watering the flowerbeds at the back of the club previously. ‘It’s always the bad rumors that spread the fastest. I probably scared him off.’ Haru sighed.

Legoshi was still afraid to say a word.

‘Well, all boys are scared of girls in some respect, so it doesn’t really bother me’ Haru said while putting her hands on her waist. ‘Are you different?’ she asked Legoshi with a soft smile on her face.

‘No… not really’ Legoshi responded – his ears drooped.

‘This can’t be happening right now’ he thought. ‘I literally tried to eat you! Of course I’m scared of talking to you! I don’t have the right to talk to you!’

‘Every club gets busy every year, trying to do something big for the event. What club are you in?’ Haru asked, trying to finally break the ice.

‘The Drama Club…’ Legoshi answered. He really just wanted to get this over with. ‘I’m a stagehand and I really need flowers to decorate the assembly hall.’

He handed Dom’s plans to Haru about the decoration. She inspected them thoroughly.

‘I see. So you want to decorate with roses, huh? Well, you shouldn’t decorate the entire hall with pure red roses. They are very poisonous.’

‘Oh, I see…’

‘I’ve got many other roses of many different colors. I’ll show them to you.’

‘Thank you.’

Haru took the lead from then on and they walked to a huge flowerbed, covered densely in roses of all colors. The rabbit girl was not kidding; every color of the rainbow was there, proudly blooming in the golden rays of sunshine, emitting their incredible fragrance in the air for everyone to smell. It was a sight to behold and a scent to enjoy. But Legoshi still couldn’t escape his thoughts.

‘Her head is so far away from mine. I bet she sees the world in a much different way than I do. This may be the first time I’ve ever talked to a small animal.’

‘See, here they are’ Haru said. ‘You can take as many as you want… On one condition.’

‘What condition?’ Legoshi asked nervously. ‘Damn, I can’t look her in the eye!’ he thought.

‘Well, these plants are like my children and I won’t give them away for free. Could you take those plants over to that other flowerbed? I’ll be perfectly honest, I really care about these children, but a girl can only do so much by herself’ she said while pointing towards a dozen of potted plants.

Legoshi sent a kind of confused look towards Haru, but he still agreed to help.

‘It’s settled then’ Haru said, while grabbing Legoshi’s tail. She squeezed it under his suspenders. The situation was definitely shocking for the shy wolf.

‘What are you doing?’ he asked.

‘I can’t just have you break my plants with this big monster tail of yours. Don’t worry, I won’t chop it off’ Haru giggled.

‘She... touched me…’ Legoshi thought.

Legoshi had never seen a small animal touch a large-breed carnivore before, but to experience it himself was something he would’ve never even imagined in his life. After all was settled, Legoshi picked up one of the pots Haru instructed him to and carried it to its new place: next to the club’s fence.

‘I’m a third year student by the way’ Haru said. ‘Which year are you in?’

‘I’m a second year.’

There were quite many of the pots Legoshi had to carry but it was not a task he couldn’t manage. He actually began to enjoy himself and started to become more open towards Haru.

‘Are there any other members in this club?’ he asked.

‘You don’t have to be so formal. There were two older students before but they graduated four years ago. No one joined ever since.’

Legoshi was surprised and amazed. ‘Wow! She’s been taking care of all these plants for four years all by herself? What’s this if not dedication?’

After putting the last pot at the designated area, he picked up a notepad he found nearby. On it, he found a calendar, on which besides the weather, there was a detailed list of the days’ achievements, and how the plants were progressing.

‘It must be rough to do all this work alone’ Legoshi said.

‘Well, it’s not easy for sure, but there are other events where clubs need my flowers so it all works out’ Haru said, while watering some of the flowers nearby. After finishing, she picked up a pot with a beautiful lotus inside it and proceeded to put it to a place with more sun.

‘These plants are like my children: they need me. And I need them. Perhaps a wolf like you wouldn’t understand, but weak creatures need to live by depending on each other. Acting brave doesn’t do me any favors. Sometimes it could be fatal’ she said with a soft smile on her face.

These words sent Legoshi’s mind running to the events of that night. How he hunted down the rabbit girl, how he caused her injury and how she wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Zoe to break him away from his feral side. He looked at Haru’s arm and gulped. Seeing her wearing all those bandages was a painful sight for Legoshi, knowing it was because of him. ‘Don’t say a word’ he thought. But he couldn’t help himself.

‘What happened to your arm?’ he asked. ‘I know exactly. It was me! It was all me! I’m so cruel!’

‘Well... to be honest, I don’t know’ Haru said. Legoshi raised his eyebrows in surprise.

‘I wonder what it was though’ Haru continued. ‘I know it hurt a lot but I don’t have a clear memory of what happened.’

‘You don’t?’ Legoshi asked in disbelief.

‘Nope. Anyway, I’m sorry if I scared you or anything. I know it’s creepy for a small animal like me to be wearing a bandage now of all times, but I’m doing fine. I’m sure it was just a nightmare’ she said with a wide smile on her face.

Legoshi couldn’t believe what he just heard. Does he tell her, or keep it a secret forever? It would’ve ended horribly anyway – never seeing this rabbit again. He finally decided not to say anything else.

‘I bought some scarlet sage seeds by the way. Would you like to plant some with me?’ Haru asked.

‘Sure!’ Legoshi nodded. ‘Her words don’t fill me with salvation or guilt. I just can’t stop looking at her. I enjoy talking to her so much. I usually rarely enjoy getting to know others… I want to become her friend.’

The work was soon done with all the seeds planted and watered in just a couple of minutes. Gardening, of course however, is a dirty job so it’s no wonder both their hands were covered in mud and dirt.

‘We should probably go to the club room to wash our hands’ Haru said. Legoshi nodded in acceptance. The club room was only a few steps away. When they arrived there, they washed their hands with warm water.

The room was filled with furniture and books mostly. There was a bed in the corner with a desk next to it. A table full of pots and watering cans. Underneath the table were pesticides and on the walls, there were gardening tools neatly placed. Even though it felt quite crowded, Legoshi felt cozy in that environment.

‘Thank you so much for moving all those heavy plants for me! They haven’t been feeling well at all, but now they can recover and have flowers, too. Let me give you a reward. What kind of food do you like?’

Legoshi was surprised by the question. Did that rabbit really just ask him about his favorite foods? Does she actually want to spend more time with him?

‘Well, honestly, I’m not really hungry right now’ Legoshi said. ‘But I’m in the mood for some ant shakes. What do you think?’

Haru nodded in agreement and together, they headed for the cafeteria for their late afternoon snacks: shakes.

[flowerfan2]

David x Patrick; 3300 words this chapter; 21k so far.  A03.

Summary:  Being stuck in the Milwaukee airport is bad enough. Then David realizes that the man who broke his heart is sitting right next to him. After a rom-com worthy reunion, David decides he won't walk away again.

Chapter 7

David wakes early and slides out of bed without looking at Patrick; if he starts mooning over him now, it will make it that much harder to get up.

He is soon outside in the early morning chill, watching the patchy fog dissipate as he runs along man-made waterways.  He knows it’s all manufactured, designed to entice retirees into spending their golden years sitting on a patio here instead of in whatever snowbound northern location they earned their 401k in, but it’s pretty nonetheless.

David does a few loops of Patrick’s neighborhood and then ventures out past the gates onto a busier commercial street.  The suburbs look the same as in any medium-sized town, albeit with a slightly sunnier vibe.  He passes a pizza place, a sketchy looking nail salon, and a hardware store, and then pauses when a sweet, yeasty scent floods his senses.  Following his nose, he heads down a side street where a nondescript sign advertises freshly baked bread and pastries.

Inside the shop, David stands and breathes deeply, then takes his time selecting a bag full of treats.  He’s not even upset about interrupting his run, everything smells so good.  It’s all he can do not to taste each of them on his way back (although he does allow himself one little chouquette – it’s been forever since he’s had a decent French sugar puff).

Back at the house, David leaves the pastries in the kitchen while he showers and gets dressed.  Only when he’s completely ready for the day, pastries arranged in a basket and coffee made, does he allow himself to return to the bedroom.  To Patrick.

It’s not creepy, he tells himself.  It’s allowed.  Patrick is curled up on his side, one hand under his pillow and the other tucked under his chin.  The bruise on his temple is almost gone, just a faint yellow-green tinge remaining, and his stitches don’t look nearly as ghastly as they did a few days ago.  Patrick’s hair is short – still the same way he used to keep it – so it won’t take long at all for the area around the cut to fill back in, although David thinks he may have a lingering scar.

David’s still not clear on how the head injury happened, and letting his imagination run wild (an impact against something sharp when he was knocked down?) is disturbing.  He thinks back to what Patrick told him yesterday about the attack, downplaying it as a bar fight, as partially Patrick’s fault for being drunk and stupid.  He knows Patrick can have a temper in the right (or wrong) circumstances, but it still doesn’t make a lot of sense to him.  David doesn’t think he’s being overly dramatic to say that Patrick is traumatized.  No matter what Patrick said, he didn’t ask to have his ribs broken and his head sliced open.

David is seized with the overwhelming need to protect Patrick.  There’s a sadness in Patrick’s eyes now that pains him, and he’s not sure that he’s equipped to take it away, not when David himself caused some of that pain.  But moments of happiness have emerged over the past few days, little smiles and tentative laughter.  It’s a start.  

David slides under the covers and scoots close to Patrick, then leans in and presses a soft kiss to his forehead, letting his hand rest gently on Patrick’s t-shirt clad shoulder.  Patrick snuffles adorably and scrunches his face up, so David kisses him again, this time on his nose, resulting in more adorable scrunching.

Patrick blinks a few times and then focuses on David.  “Morning?”  He reaches out and flops his hand on David’s waist.

“Um, yes.  Almost ten.”

Patrick blinks some more.  “Hi.”

David smiles at him.  “Seems like you slept well?”

“Yeah, actually.”  Patrick closes his eyes and leans his head against David’s face.  “Thanks.”

“Not sure it was my doing, but I’m glad.”  David kisses Patrick’s scratchy cheek, then his lips.  

Patrick kisses back, sleepy and soft, then rolls to his back.  “Do I smell coffee?”

“You do.  And…”  David twists around and presents Patrick with the basket of pastries.  “Breakfast.”

Patrick sits up, wincing, and David tucks him up against his body, one arm stretching around Patrick’s waist.  

“These look great,” Patrick says, curious.  “Did you go shopping again?”

“Found them on my run.  Try this one – it’s chocolate <i>and</i> pistachio.”  David can’t help being excited, even though it’s silly, but Patrick is smiling and happy and if baked goods are doing it, he’s not going to complain.

Patrick takes a bite, then another, and finally gets to the filling, his face stretching with a smile.  “Oh god, this is amazing.”

“Right?”  David kisses Patrick on the corner of his mouth, tasting the flakes of croissant.

“Here,” Patrick hands the pastry to David and takes another out of the basket.  “Is this one almond?”

“What gave it away, the almonds on the top?”

“Funny, you’re very funny.”

They make their way through the basket, trading bits and pieces of each pastry.  David finally gives up and starts breaking them open so he can get to the good parts.

“This one’s apple,” he says, showing Patrick.  “Fruit is healthy.”

“Definitely a healthy breakfast,” Patrick replies.  “Right up there with pizza and beer.”

“I’m offended that you would compare pastries made with imported French butter to pizza and beer.  Take that back or I won’t let you taste the apricot one.”

“Sorry, sorry.”  Patrick grins and nibbles at David’s fingers.  There are flakes of pastry everywhere, and David’s skin is sticky with glaze and sugar, and he could not care less, not when Patrick is warm and safe next to him and smiling up a storm.

After a while they have eaten their fill of the croissants, and Patrick sags back against David, groaning.  “That was delicious.”

“You’re delicious.”  David rubs Patrick’s tummy, a little bit of softness just above the waist of his sleep pants.  Patrick hums and twists his head, meeting David’s lips in a sugar-sweet kiss.

“Thank you for breakfast,” Patrick says softly, kissing David again, and then sighing as he tips his head back.  “But this kind of ruined my plans.”

David tucks his chin over Patrick’s shoulder and nuzzles his ear.  “What plans were those?”

“I thought we’d drive over to the next town, it’s significantly more interesting.  There are some nice architectural features, a few gift shops and boutiques, and a little bistro I wanted to take you to for lunch.  I think you’d like it.”

“So how exactly does our spur of the moment pastry feast interfere with these promising plans?”

“I’m stuffed.  Not exactly conducive to going out for lunch.”

“Patrick, even if we hurry, lunch is still hours away.  I’m sure we’ll be fine.”  David rubs at Patrick’s shoulders and pushes at him.  “At least, if you can manage to get out of bed and get dressed.  I’ll throw the sheets into the wash while you get ready.”

Patrick shoots him a strange look, and David points to the scattering of croissant debris spread out around them.  “I can put up with a little bit of a mess for spontaneity’s sake, but I’m not sleeping in a pile of crumbs tonight.”

As David gathers up the sheets, he thinks he knows what Patrick’s odd look was for.  Generally speaking, when they washed their linens in the past, it was due to somewhat less G rated activities than breakfast in bed.  He hopes Patrick isn’t worried about what they’ve been up to (or not up to) physically.  Given that they’ve only been back together for less than three full days, along with Patrick’s injuries, it seems utterly reasonable that they’ve been keeping it PG.

He knows Patrick has always seen sex in a more black and white light than David has.  For David, being with Patrick over the past few days has been more than enough.  The intimacy they have shared isn’t about sex, and doesn’t have to be – it’s being vulnerable together, holding each other through painful confessions and whispered reassurances.  It’s Patrick casually touching David’s waist when he walks by.  It’s how David’s hands flutter towards Patrick’s shoulders, and how Patrick looks at him when they land.

David thinks maybe they should talk about it, though.  God knows he’s given Patrick confusing signals before – he’s probably never going to live down the whole sleepover mishap when the guy died in the motel.

He goes out by the pool to make sure his outfit is suitable for today’s planned outing – it’s gotten warmer and the fog has all burned away, but there’s still a bit of chill in the air.  He thinks his white and black Christopher Kane sweater will be fine, it’s on the thin side and rather fitted, and if he’s honest with himself, shows off his shoulders quite nicely.

David smiles at the thought of Patrick planning an activity for them.  It’s shaping up to be quite a wonderful day.  And there was even a mention of boutiques…

He takes out his phone to scope out whether any of the shops might actually stock something he would want to buy, and realizes that Alexis has sent him increasingly frantic texts.  And as if thinking about her has actually called her into being, his phone rings.

“What?”

“David. You promised.”

“Promised what?”  

“Didn’t you read my texts?”

“Obviously not.”  David sits down on one of the lounge chairs, after giving the floral cushion a quick sweep with his hand to make sure there aren’t any fire ants or other sneaky creatures lingering about.  Clearly Alexis has something on her mind, he might as well get comfortable.

“The Haute Tea presentation got moved up to <i>tomorrow,</i> and you promised you would help me with it.”

“That was supposed to be next month.”

“Well, it’s not, and Koharu already emailed me twice to make sure you had blessed the key design elements.”

“You told Koharu I was helping you?”  Koharu had been an exchange student from Japan when David met her in high school.  Now she is the CEO of one of the fastest growing and most creative restaurant groups in the Seattle area.

“Yes, David, how did you think I got the account?”  Alexis’ voice is rising into the stratosphere, and David holds the phone away from his ear and takes a deep breath.

“Okay, Alexis, okay, calm down.”

“How can I be calm when you’re ignoring me at one of the most important moments in my career?”

“Given how eager Koharu is to work with me, isn’t it actually one of the most important moments in my career?”

“David!”

“Fine, fine.  Give me a few minutes to get set up and I’ll call you back.  Send me what you’ve got in the meantime.”

There is a silence from the other end of the phone, and then Alexis speaks, her voice gone quiet.  “Really?”

“Of course.”  He had promised to help her, and he isn’t going to go back on his word, not with Alexis.  Besides, he actually has several very promising ideas for the Haute Tea branding line.  Between the two of them, they can generate a dazzling powerpoint presentation in a solid afternoon of work.

The moment he hangs up the phone, however, David realizes his mistake.  “Shit.  Shit shit shit shit shit.”

“What’s wrong?”  asks Patrick, coming out onto the lanai.  David tilts his head back and recites “shit” again in his head another dozen times.  

“I got a call from Alexis.”

“Everything okay?”  Patrick sits down on the other lounger, his jean-clad knees knocking into David’s.  

“Yes.  Well, no, but nothing dire.”

“What’s up?”

“I promised Alexis I’d help her with a client pitch, and it got moved up.  So I can’t go to the cute town with you today.”

Patrick looks briefly disappointed, then his face smooths out and he nods.  “No problem, I understand.”

“I’d much rather hang out with you, you know that, right?”  David leans over and takes one of Patrick’s hands in his.  “I’m sorry to mess up your plans.”

Patrick’s eyes flit around, landing somewhere by David’s shoulder, and David feels his stomach sink.  Patrick doesn’t believe him.  He thinks David is blowing him off.

“What, um,” Patrick starts, then shakes his head.  “Forget it.”

“What?”  David shifts to sit next to Patrick.  “I mean it.  I was excited about our afternoon, the shopping and the food…”

“I know, I know you wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to check out a new restaurant for no reason.  It’s just…”. Patrick lets out a breath and takes his hand out of David’s, crossing his arms over his chest.  “I don’t think Alexis likes me very much.”

Oh.  David must be staring at Patrick with his mouth open, because Patrick huffs out a sad laugh.  

“You don’t have to come up with a response to that, David.  I shouldn’t have said anything.  It’s not your problem.”

David can feel his face scrunch up.  “How is it not my problem?”

“I messed things up with her, I’ll have to figure out how to fix it.”

David tugs Patrick’s hands back into his own.  “We messed things up with each other.  Alexis was merely an unfortunate casualty.”

Patrick stands up and pulls David up with him.  “Regardless, do what you need to do to help her out.  The bistro will still be there tomorrow.”

“Will it?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure.”  Patrick brushes a sweet, toothpaste-y kiss across David’s lips, and David smiles into it.  

“Mmm,” he says, pulling away but keeping his hands draped on Patrick’s shoulders.  “More of that later, perhaps?”

Patrick actually blushes – blushes! – and ducks his head.  “Sure.”

After another moment of awkward adorableness where David steals a few more kisses, Patrick suggests that David use his parents’ office.  David plugs in his laptop, facetimes Alexis on his phone, and they get to work.

It’s not the first time they’ve partnered up on one of Alexis’ many projects, especially where she veers into marketing.  David enjoys the chance to stretch his design skills, and it’s a lot more interesting than the Rose Apothecary sourcing work, which has frankly gotten fairly routine at this point.

Haute Tea is a high-end tea shop that is struggling to build its brand recognition, especially when it comes to competing against the zillions of coffee shops that also happen to sell tea.  They asked Alexis for a plan that would help them bring new energy to their brand and promote their unique strengths.

David thinks their logo needs an update, and he shoots some of his design ideas over to Alexis.  “They need to make sure people don’t get them confused with ‘ye olde tea shoppe’ stores.  Nothing British, nothing floral, no scones with clotted cream.”

“No Liberty prints?”  asks Alexis.

“Exactly.”

They work on some sleek, modern designs, black and white with a bit of color, and think about coordinating ways in which to update the company’s website.  Kokuro doesn’t want to lean into her Japanese heritage, which David thinks is a shame, but then again the name of the company is in French, so there’s that.

They finish up, David agreeing to look over the final slide deck after Alexis makes a few more edits and sends it to him later.  He thinks they did pretty well and is curious to see if Kokuro agrees.  He wouldn’t mind doing more work with her in the future.  If Rose Apothecary was still an independent business, he could see them featuring her teas.

“Thank you, David,” Alexis says.  “I’m sure it was hard to pull yourself away from Patrick, now that you guys have miraculously fixed everything.”

There’s a tone in Alexis’ voice that David doesn’t care for.  “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

Alexis twirls her hair around her finger.  David thinks it’s remarkable that she has any left, given how often she does this.  “Nothing, David.”

“Okay…”

“Just – you were awfully mad at him, for an awfully long time.  It seems pretty convenient that you run into him a few days ago and now everything is magically okay.  Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?”

David feels a pang of doubt, but he’s also insulted.  “That’s my business, not yours.”

“It was my business when you cried on my shoulder for all those months, and when you threw out my French press because it reminded you of the one Patrick bought you, and when you made me delete all those pictures from my phone-”

“Fine,” David interrupts, not at all interested in going over all of this again.  “I will remember not to come to you for emotional support in the future.”

“That’s not what I’m saying!”  Alexis whines.

“What exactly are you saying, then?”

Alexis lets out a breath and shakes her head.  “You made me so angry with him,” Alexis says softly.  “He hurt you.  You guys had something really good, and he ruined it.”  

“It wasn’t all his fault,” David says, hoping he doesn’t have to go into more detail.

“I knew that,” Alexis says, and David rolls his eyes because it’s just like Alexis to pretend she knows better than him, even now.

“You didn’t.”

“David, fine.  Whatever.  Anyway, whosever fault it was, I saw what losing him did to you,” Alexis goes on, looking at him so earnestly through the screen that David has to duck his head.  “That night in the Hamptons… I can’t go through that again, David.  You can’t either.”

“That won’t happen again,” David says, a sick punch in his gut at the memory.  

“But how do you know?”

“I know because I’m working on it, Alexis, every day.”  David fights to stay calm.  He understands why his family is still questioning him, even almost three years later, but he wishes they’d have a little more faith.

“David, it’s just that… your break-up with Patrick wasn’t anything like your other break-ups.  It was more than mall pretzel level damage.  Just thinking about it makes my insides hurt.  I still have all of these icky, upset feelings.”  She waves her hands around.  “And I didn’t get a cathartic rom-com reunion at the airport, or any apology kisses.”  She punctuates her words with her finger, pointing at him accusingly.  “What am I supposed to do now, just do a three-sixty for no reason?”

“One-eighty,” David corrects automatically.  “And there is a reason.  The best reason.”  Patrick, he thinks.  A chance to be together again.  

“I know….” she says, dragging the word out into a whine.  “But it’s your reason, not mine.  Ugh, this is so aggravating.”

“He misses you too,” David says, the words coming out of nowhere.  He knows it’s true as soon as he says it.

There’s a pause, and then Alexis says, sadly, “That doesn’t help.”

Later that night, David finally finishes one last review of the Haute Tea presentation and sends it back to Alexis.  He’s in bed with his laptop, Patrick lying next to him, curled up under the blankets and snoring softly.  David was too busy to even worry about whether Patrick was upset about their current level of physical activity until long after Patrick fell asleep; that issue is going to have to wait for another day.

He also didn’t get a chance to talk to Patrick about Alexis.  David has certainly put a lot of energy into hating on Alexis’ exes after painful splits, and he thinks he understands how hard it can be to forgive someone for hurting a person you love, although it makes him uncomfortable to focus too hard on what that means about how much Alexis cares about him.

David hopes he can find a way to mend the relationship between Patrick and Alexis.  They were close, family, and they deserve to have that back.  And if David can figure that out, maybe there’s hope for him and Stevie, too.

He sets his laptop aside and slides under the covers, beaming to himself as Patrick pulls him close, seeking him out even in sleep.  They can really do this, he thinks.  It’s a chance he never thought he’d have, but it’s here, and David is going to make the most of it.

[samantha-thewinchester]

The God and the Stark fighting along side the Captain.

|| Stiles POV ||

Hope and I, after a while of running, finally catch up to the Captain, the Asgardian, and the Stark. Quite a few trees had been knocked down, by the sonic boom type thing that happened.

When we got there, it looked as if the fight was over, which was a huge relief to me.  I don't have to fight 2 gods and a legend (Thor, Tony, and Rogers) but, Hope look kinda disappointed. Why does she love to fight people?

"Stop looking so disappointed." I whisper yell to her, as we lead Thor and Loki onto the Quinnjet.

"Shut up. I wanted a good fight to get my anger out." She whispers back.

"Oh, my, god, you're worse than Liam!" I whisper yell at her. She just shrugs, and gives me the middle finger.

Whatever.

I get back into the pilot seat, me and Natasha flying the Quinnjet back to the Helicarrier.

About 8 agents take Loki and lead him towards his new home, the cell build for the Hulk. We won't talk about that though. We have Loki's scepter though, meaning we have something to help us find out how to, de-mind control people. Meaning, getting our Wine Uncle Clint Barton back.

"In case it's unclear, if you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass,--" Fury says to Loki, over the camera feed we're all watching. Fury hits a few buttons, the drop sights opening below Loki to show him what will happen to him if he does the things Fury mentioned. "--it's 30, 000 straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" Fury finishes, shutting the hatch.

"Ant, boot." Fury dumbs down for Loki, who just starts chuckling.

"It's an impressive cage. Not buildt, I think, for me." Loki says, acting like an arrogant fuck.

"Built for something a lot stronger than you." Fury assures him.

"Oh, I've heard. Now, the question is, is it for the mindless beast, or the destoryer of the Mikaelsons? They both play like they're still humans. How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?" Loki says. When he mentions Hope, I look over at her to see her looking at Loki over the camera footage like she was going to murder him, 5 times. She's probably murdered him 5 times in her head, let's be honest here.

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did." Fury warns him.

"Ooh. It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is."

"Well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something." Fury says, finally done with Loki, so he walks out. Before we close down the security cameras, Loki gets one last thing in, looking directly at us all.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce says, looking really uncomfortable.

"Loki's going to drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" The Captain questions the God of Thunder. Did I just think those words correctly?

"He had an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." Thor explains to us.

"An army... from outer space." The Captain says, looking kinda confused.

"So, he's building another portal." Banner puts together.

"That's what he needs Erik Selvig for." I add onto Banner's though.

"Selvig?" Thor questions.

"He's an astrophysicist." Hope tells him.

"He's a friend." Thor tells us.

"It's good to have friends... but that isn't the point." I tell Thor sarcastically.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell. Along with one of ours." Nat says, looking down for a minute. Hope puts her head on Nat's shoulder, probably trying to comfort her.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here." The Captain says, confused like the rest of us.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on him." Banner deadpans.

"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but is of Asgard. And he is my brother." Thor repremends Banner.

"He killed 80 people in two days." Hope and Nat say at the same time.

"He's adopted." Thor says. I snort at the ridiculousness of the situation.

"I think it's about the mechanics. Irdium... What do they need iriduim for?" Banner questions.

"It's a stablizing agent." Tony Stark says, walking into the room with Coulson. "I'm just saying, like a weekend, I'll fly you to Portland. Keep love alive." We all hear Tony whisper to Coulson, before Coulson walks away.

"It means the portal won't be collapse on itself, like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D. No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing." Tony tells Thor. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long, as Loki wants." Tony says, walking onto Fury's platform thing.

"Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails." Tony says, acting like he's the captain of a ship. "That man is playing Galaga. Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." Tony says, pointing at an agent. Stark than covers his eye and questions "How does Fury even see these?"

"He turns." Hill deadpans.

"Sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major componet he still needs is a power source of high-energy density. Something to kick-start the Cube." Tony finishes.

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Hill asks him.

"Last night." Tony says.

"How? You were to busy getting your ass kicked by Point Break." I add, getting Hope, Nat, and Hill to laugh a little.

"You." Tony says, pointing at me, "I like you. Anyway, the packet, Selvig's notes, the extractuon theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?" Tony says, making me laugh.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" The Captain asks, looking done with Tony's antics, which I love.

"He wwould have to heat the Cube to 120-million Kelvin just to break through teh Coulomb barrier." Banner adds, breaking my mind at this point. I'm smart, but I'm not Lydia smart.

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantun tunneling effect." Tony debates with Banner.

"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at ay reactor on the planet." Banner continues.

"Finally, someone who speaks English." Tony tells Banner.

"Is that what just happened?" The Captain questions.

"Obseres palatum, Stark." Hope says, speaking.... Latin I think?

"The child speaks Latin?" He asks, looking at Hope surprised.

"Ты понятия не имеешь, на каких языках я говорю, тупица" She tells him, smirking. I hear Nat laugh from beside her.

"What did she just say to me?" Stark questions. I start to crack up now.

"Back in topic!" Nat scolds, still laughing a little.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled. Adn I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enorous green rage-monster." Tony says.

"Thanks." Banner says.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track down the Cube. I was hoping you might join him." Fury says, finally looking back into the room.

"I would start with that stick of his: It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon." The Captain says.

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube. And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys." Fury explains.

"Monkeys? I do not understand." Thor tells us.

"I do. I understoof that reference..." The Captain says, putting his hand up.

"Ha, Loki is a green color and so is the Wicked Witch of the West." I point out, laughing at my own joke.

"Shall we play, Doctor?" Tony asks Banner.

"This way, sir." Banner says, leading Tony to the lab.

"Well, that could have gone worse." Hope says.

[shakespeareismydad]

My thought process as I watch season 7 of GoT

-S07E03

-Can Cersei please shut up god, I’m so tired of listening to her talk

-Qyburn can suck a dick

-i have never hated a character more in my life

-this is painful to watch

-oh no not the ince*t, god anything but that, I’m so over it 

-STOP KISSING

-no one cares if you're the queen stop fucking your brother 

-i would love to see cersei burned by a dragon 

-brooding buddies ahaha

-this scene is so pretty, the way his cloak blows in the wind is *chefs kiss* 

-tyrion and jon interacting makes me happy 

-“are you trying to present you're own statements as wise wisdom” PleaSe 

-don’t make me think about robb and rickon PleaSe

-fucking lord baelish ugh

-sansa and her quick fire wit

-there are some chars i cant stand listening to 

-ooh is it arya, please i hope it is, 

-its bran instead oop, didn’t expect that,, hug it OUT 

-bran is so pretty wow

-this is so sweet, the way the snow enhances her hair is *chefs kiss*

-oh no is Sam gonna be in trouble for helping jorah 

-this is nice

-i hope sam doesnt get kicked out of the cidatal 

-GO SAM 

-ive heard so much about Casterly Rock and this is the first time I’m seeing it and tbh the hype wasn’t worth it 

-SECRET TUNNEL!!

-pointy stick go stabby stabby 

-FUCKING EURON AGAIN I SWEAR

-canny hack it, am not enjoying this

-for fuck sake the lannisters are at highgarden and for why

-I still don’t know if i like Jamie Lannister or not

-they aren’t gonna kill ornella, i hope not

-they really think they're gonna win how embarrassing 

-she really just drank the wine

-the fact that jamie is jofferys dad still grosses me out

-S07E04

-pretty op scene 

-Tom Hopper in game of thrones whaattttt

-Oh my god, every time i see cersei i wanna take my eyeballs out

-i don’t trust baelish with bran

-i don’t trust baelish period. 

-imagine giving a kid a dagger that almost killed him i-

-i don’t want meera to leave

--alot of people died for bran ouch 

-wait bran died, hol up, does that hes ACTUALLY the three eyed raven this time 

-ARYA JUST GOT HOME

-they better let arya in 

-Arya gone ahah

-sansa and arya moment, reunited at last

-this moment is kinda sad tbh

-this is so wholesome 

-its sad again, i wish robb and rickon were here too

-”its wasted on a cripple” i bby noo

-brans wheelchair is so nifty

-i love podrick payne

-okay but theyre outfits are kinda bomb

-thats a lot of fucking dragonglass

-secret cave what will it hold

-the children and the first men are smart 

-yess queen fight with them, wait bend the knee i- nevermind

-ion like this, does she really think he’ll bend the knee and the north folk will be happy

-what now

-oh no shes angry and doubting tyrion that cant be good 

-jon is so pretty 

-Daenerys’ shoulder broche thing is so cool, i want one

-brianne and pod training together is so nice

-im so proud of arya, what a bad bitch 

-seeing arya ad brianne train has me shook 

-”I’m a Bastard” me too jon me too

-ITS THEON I MISSED HIM

-uh-oh jon doesn't look happy to see theon

-are they gonna hug

-NO THEY ARENT FINNA HUG, pleas no fighting

-im glad he isnt killing theon

-the queen is gone?! Miss thing where did she go

-i can't get over the fact that tom hopper is in game of Thrones

-Fuck the queen especially Cersei

-its gone all quiet that means something bad is gonna happen oh no

-this shit gives me anxiety

-thats a lot of dothraki

-"we can hold them off" my guy no you cant

-she brought her dragon good luck holding them off now pahahah

-is this where jamie dies, I wouldn't be mad :|

-miss thing its over for them

-everything is going up in flames i- why are they still fight back at this point

-if ser bronn dies I'm gonna be mad

-sliced off the horse leg and for what

-deadass though if bronn dies I'm done

-i have so much anxiety oh no

-thats a big fucking arrow

-tyrion looks so sad oh no

-jamie is gonna die if he does boost soon

-I dont want the Dragons to get hurt ahhh

-i love bronn but king this ain't it

-HE HIT THE DRAGON THAT DANI IS ON I- THIS ISNT GOOD

-he blew the arrow thing up instead

-jamie leave youre going to die

-mayhe I don't want him to die just yet but he should listen to tyrion and fuck off

-ser bronn to the rescue?!?!

-im so stressed out ahaha

S07E05

-canny hack it they almost drowned

-jamie 'the twat' lennister

-tyrion walking through the aftermath makes me uncomfy, feels bad man

-dragon said rawr

-what the fuck kinda option is bend the knee or die

-tyrion murdered his dad and he'll do it again

-Just bend the knee it literally cant be that hard

-is she gonna feed them to the dragons

-oh my God she is, wait shes gonna roast them, that's definitely far worse than bending the knee

-ashes to ashes ig

-Cersei should be worried, Dani has three dragons why do they think they can win

-cersei gives me a headache

-jon is so pretty and for what

-mister dragon needs to chill

-is he gonna eat jon

-oh hes letting jon pet him alrightie

-it's kinda creepy seeing it up close ngl

-"gorgeous beast" PleaSe

-figure of speech yeah sure right mhmm

-didnt you want jorah dead like three seconds ago

-i fucking hate those ravens

-thats a big mountain

-thats a lot of dead folks oofdt

-oh sam

-hes a smart wee lad

-i hope they listen to sam, hes making very good point

-some of these measter are dickhead

-im so tired of bending this fucking knee

-what the fuck is a wet nurse

-how are you gonna bring a wight to the capital

-this is whisky business

-trusting a stranger is never a good idea but okay I guess

-the minute jon leave everyone starts shitting on him, what arseholes

-sansa is so pretty

-im so confused what is happening

- Ion like this

-oh no is jamie gonna kill tyrion

-not tyrion making jokes as if he isnt gonna die

-wheres gendry i miss him

-look at my mans I love him

-he looks so good,, look at him king shit

-pop off gendry with your big hammer thing,, I was not expecting that

-not miss thing tryna get bronn killed for betrayal i- 🤚🏾hold up

-IS SHE PREGNANT AGAIN OG MY FUCKING GOd,, shes really ginns have another ince*t baby i 💀,, cut the fkn camera

-gendry you had one job

-"youre alot leaner,, you're alot shorter" I king PleaSe pahahaha

-tyrion is so pretty

-jon you need to return cause like, I dont want you to die

-wait is sam leaving,, bye big library

-what is lord baelish up too now,, I'm sus

-only copy of what,, what is he doing

-is arya finna break into his room

-i dont like this,, he probably has whatever arya is looking for on him

-he hid it in the mattress that smart ngl

-what is lord baelish plotting,, it's making me unsettled

-"you need to convince the one with the dragons or the one with that fucks her brother" paahahah I cant pLease that's so fuunny

-tormund and jorah fight let's go

-"were all breathing" I mean ya I guess pahaha

-gendry is so pretty

S07E06

-they look so tiny against the snow

-"down south the air smells like pig shit" "you've never been down south" "I've been to winterfell" "that's the north" "pfftt" I love that whole interaction

-does tormund wanna fuck gendry i- pahahah

-hes allowed to be mad at you for selling him

-jorah and jon are having a moment bless them

-arya reminiscing about her dad is so cute and it makes me sad

-oh no they're arguing

-"beloved Joffrey" ouch

-we were getting along so well,, and lord baelish had fucked it up

-"gingers are beautiful" yes they are my guy yes they fucking are

-dws tomund what dick is 🤚🏾🤠

-uh babies tormund chill out

-the way Jon's jacket coat thing puffs out is so funny

-i really hope Jon's not in love with Dani

-cersei wants to murder alot of people

-wait why cant dani have children

-they looks like ants in the snow

-is that a polar bear,, NOT A POLAR BEAR I REPAET NOT A POLAR BEAR

-THEYVE GOT FLAMING SWORDS

-mans is gonna get eaten alive

-hes gonna die out here and he doesn't even care,, or maybe he wont die i ??????

-where did they get a flaming sword from

-lord baelish needs to stfu

-what is baelish planning

-its gone all quiet again

-jon said slice and dice

-that a loud fucking screech,, oh no I hear rumbling that cant be good

-go gendry go!!

-theyre running across a lake what if the ice breaks,,

-gendry is a fast little fuck huh

-im so stressed I dont want anyone else to die,, especially gendry

-theyre gonna freeze to death

-oh no thros froze, feels bad man

-where did he get a flaming sword,, it pretty poggers

-ive got anxiety

-not sansa going back to king's landing

-miss thing, honey, sansa it's never safe

-yall Danis coat is so pretty

-how to train your dragons type beat

-well done hound you've provoked the dead

-wheres dani and her dragons when you need her

-if tormund dies,, oh nooooo

-someone should help him

-this is so sad

-sis came through what a queen

-the king Walker is gonna throw the ice spear and kill the dragon oh naw

-the stress is coming back

-he just killed on of her dragons,, I'm so shook

-jons gonna drown

-okai hes still alive but how long still he freezes to death

-miss thing you're literally gonna freeze to death dont try to fight

-seeing uncle benjen die, saving him,, that hurted

-the CRUNCH of Jon's coat oft

-shes not gonna kill sansa right?!?

-arya gave her the dagger but now what?!?

S07E07 (this should be good)

-bronn I'm offend men with dicks are just as good with men without them

-the dothraki really just fight for fun huh

-THEON!!!!

-not the brothels 🤚🏾🥴

-the wight doesn't enjoy that box

-cersei you wont be killing anyone,, miss thing needs to SIT DOWN AND STFU

-god I don't wanna deal with any lennister,, apart from tyrion

-i love podrick

-maybe I dont like ser bronn

-im sus,, something bad might happen,, its gone all quiet

-here comes miss thing and euron

-im gonna be sick with anxiety

-does everyone just have a permanent from on their faces or what

-i hate when she speaks

-dragons as a means of travel is so handy

-ats a big fucking dragon pahaha

-constant state of stress

-euron shut the fuck up

-euron is gonna get punched in the face if he doesn't shut up

-sit down euron or fuck off

-cersei shut up for two seconds

-does whe really think the army of the dead is a bad joke,, MISS THING COME ONNN

-does miss thing believe them now after almost being attacked by a wight

-100,000 AT LEAST oh no

-euron is scared lol hes definitely gonna die

-"until the dead is defeated they are our true enemy" Miss thing we've been trying to tell you

-oop mans already been pledged and miss Cersei is pissed

-honestly fuck the Lannisters

-everyone is pissed at jon for not lying lol

-tyrion don't talk to cersei,, that's a bad idea just waiting to happen

-oh lord am stressed

[iggyalfi2319]

Between Borrower and Giant#2

 BBAG: 1/X/? - A/N

Oh wow! I didn’t expect it to take off 0.0

Thanks guys for showing your appreciation ^.^

I’ll try to keep doing my best!

Note: I don’t use the word “human” for any realm because, as I said, it’s a perspective matter. They are technically all humans but with two different scales. Giants and Tinies. Borrowers are Tinies who ventures in the Giant realm, but not all Tinies are Borrowers. - Some backstory in this one, and Virgil being a protective brother. (I really love my OC squad as much as Virge XP)

Warning: mention of dark past, nightmares, discrimination, mild fights, Tinies massacre.

=====BBAG=====

Power: (noun) A specific capacity, faculty, or aptitude.

Different: (adjective) Differing from all others; unusual.

Discriminate: (intransitive verb)  To make distinctions on the basis of class or category without regard to individual merit, especially to show prejudice on the basis of ethnicity, gender, or a similar social factor. - Everything is just a question of perspective. 

Virgil’s eyes fluttered softly when he caught the sound and the smell of Cara cooking breakfast.

He wanted to stretch out from his cramped position, before remembering that his young roommates where sleeping on him once again.

They came from very far before reaching this closeness.

Especially the youngest and smallest one, Björn and Milka, his childhood friend. The two were like brother and sister.

Their first encounter with Virgil wasn’t really the best.

- Flashback -

The two lost their parents because of Giants when they were even younger, during a Big Raid. Some Giants had come down to the other realm just for playing Smash and Grab in some nearby Tiny towns. It was like humans playing with ants.

After the raid, Amos and a few other Borrowers from other towns went to check the ruins, in case there was any survivors.

It was a real disaster.

There was giant footprints, crushed houses....and stomped corpses...

Virgil was accompanying Amos, at that time he was a lot smaller, but still bigger than everyone.

10ft for 15 years old.

In that situation, his size was rather convenient for working through the ruins.

The young Giant looked around.

It reminded him when Amos found him in the forest with no memories of what happened to him nor his family. He was just lying in the middle of a destroyed village, with no one else around but him. He was so scared and confused when the man, clearly older yet smaller than him by a foot or two, came to him -

Virgil’s breath started to get shallow.

The massacre surrounding him was making him anxious and scared.

When he heard a small whimper from a pile of rubble.

He immediately went to it, calling the rescuers.

“Leave the clearing to Virgil and secure the place.” Amos instructed. “Get the medical kit ready if they are severely injured.”

They are counting on me... It’s my first rescuing mission...I can’t mess up...

Virgil’s hands where shaking.

“No pressure. You have to stay calm.” Amos said.

The Giant teen exhaled softly and started to work. He delicately peeled off the big pieces of concrete, making sure to set them in a safe place, away from the ruins who threatened to collapse.

Soon enough, with the help of the other rescuers they cleared a path among the rubble.

“See anything yet?” One asked. “No, it’s still too narrow but it’s too dangerous to try to jostle the building any further.” Another shook their head.

Virgil couldn’t help but think he messed up.

When he saw what they were looking for.

“Move away.” He told the team, before grabbing a great handful off the building.

It revealed a small ginger haired boy, curled up on himself.

Instinctively, the teen went to pick him up.

Immediately, the boy let out a shriek of fear and tried to back away from his hand. He shot Virgil a terrorized look.

The sight of the boy’s icy eyes froze him to the core.

The boy was scared of him.

Of course he would be scared of you. He just got attacked by Giants...

Amos was about to tell the boy there was no need to be scared of Virgil -

“LOOK OUT!”

A big piece of concrete flew out of nowhere, aimed at Virgil.

He would have easily avoided it, if only he wasn’t frozen in place, the boy’s eyes locked into his.

The Giant teen got the full blow and was sent crashing down a few feet away.

“VIRGIL!” Amos yelled and ran to him.

“STAY AWAY FROM US! MONSTER!” Another child shouted.

They were probably a few years older than the first, standing rather tall, with short blond hair, glaring at Virgil with their valid brown eye while the right side of their face was badly injured. The smaller boy went to hide behind his friend.

As soon as the icy eyes were off the emo teen, he suddenly unfroze.

“Are you okay?” Amos asked him.

“I don’t know why but I was completely frozen...” He groaned softly. “But I think I’ll manage...”

“Are you siding with that...thing?!” The blonde snarled, trying to be brave.

But they were as shaking as the other child.

“His name is Virgil. And he’s not a thing.” The bearded man scolded.

“H-He’s a Giant!” They protested vehemently.

“He’s actually a special case.” Amos said. “As special as you two.”

The children’s eyes widened.

“How...” the smallest whimpered.

“When you locked eye with Virgil, you totally froze him. So I guess you have the ability to paralyze anyone who looks into your eyes.” The boy looked down.

“As for you...” Amos looked at the oldest. “The piece of concrete didn’t fly on its own, did it?”

“That’s quite some strength you have in here, lil guy...” Virgil grunted, rubbing the sore spot where he received the blow. Luckily nothing was broken, but that would surely leave some bruises.

“Milka not boy!” The little one huffed cutely.

“Björn!” The blonde hissed.

Virgil blinked.

“Sorry for assuming -”

“Keep your apology!” Milka cut him. “Girls aren’t supposed to be strong... so I can be as strong as I want as a boy!”

Virgil snorted.

“You can be a girl and strong at the same time, you just proved it.”

He poked her, as she growled and shoved off his hand with a surprisingly great ease.

“Where Björn and Milka go now?” Björn sniffled. “B-Bad Giants taken Björn’s and Milka’s parents... no family...”

“Did he always talk like that?” Amos asked, wanting to check if it was from the beginning or a trauma.

“Björn is...well...” Milka tried to choose her words, but the boy already looked down in shame.

“Hey, now, it’s okay.” Amos knelt down to their level. “You see, I have a daughter, and she is slow on her growth too.”

The children slowly eased down, but they were clearly still scared of Virgil.

“I get it...” he stood up and went to help on another site.

The kids exhaled in relief.

“Don’t be too hard with him...” the bearded man mumbled. “After all, he lost his family in similar conditions...”

“Are you sure he’s really not one of them?” Milk asked once again, trying to fight the urge to feel bad for the teen.

“We cannot be sure, but in scale speaking, it’s the same as you with him.” Amos tried to explain. “He’s merely doll sized to the Giants.”

Milka still wasn’t conviced but didn’t press the matter.

While the children were getting a medical check, Virgil helped the rescuers by clearing the rubble or carrying injured people toward the safe zone.

The team noted that thanks to him, they managed to save a lot more people that they ever did during all their previous after raid rescue missions.

Sadly for the teen, as expected, rescued people were scared and some even mad at him. For everything Giants did to them.

“You’re not like them.” A rescuer tried to comfort him. “These people are just scared.”

“B-B-But what if I really become a Giant?” Virgil rubbed his eyes.

“Just the fact you’re worrying about it makes you different from them. Also, you grew up with us. Another reason for us Tinies to trust you because we know you’ll never hurt us. At least not intentionally.”

“Exactly! What if I accidentally hurt you?” Virgil whimpered.

“Hey, it can happen to anyone. Everyone makes mistake. Now stop worrying over things that didn’t happen, a storm cloud is literally growing over your head.” the rescuer chuckled.

Virgil smiled slightly.

The night fell.

Everyone was gathered in the safe camp.

Well...almost everyone.

Virgil was a few feet away from there.

He could feel the people glancing at him warily, sometimes glaring. But the worse were the not-so-quiet whispers.

Either despite being the greatest sized type, he was still a Giant who could attack them any time. Or worse, he caught a disease that caused him to grow and was turning him into a Giant and they were afraid it might be contagious.

Virgil was scared about that one.

What if it was true? What if something was clearly wrong with him? What if he did turn into a Giant? What if -

“You should eat something.”

The teen got startled by Amos touching him. He looked down, seeing his foster father with a plate of food.

“That thing is going to eat all the food... They should give it to the ones who really need it instead...” Someone muttered.

Virgil hugged his knees, trying to make himself smaller.

Amos wasn’t the one to get mad easily, but there were lines that shouldn’t be crossed.

“His name is Virgil, and he’s not a thing.” He said sternly. “He’s my son.”

“It’s a Giant!” Someone else protested.

“So what?” Amos glared. “If he really wanted to harm us, don’t you think he would have done so a while ago?”

He rested a hand on the teen’s leg.

“This young man here is the one who helped us to rescue you. So instead of throwing stones at him, you should give him some gratitude.”

The rescuers who worked with Amos for a long time and who knew Virgil since he joined the Andersen family went to the teen’s sides. Maybe not all liked him, but they at least showed some respect because he was a good person despite the great bumps on the road at the beginning. If the teen could be a real moody pain in the @$$ sometimes, he still tried to do his best to help people he cared about.

“Everyone is tired and stressed out. I think it’s better for all of us to call it a night and go to sleep.” Amos said.

Virgil stood up, his hair shadowing his face.

Of course, people whimpered and cowered, expecting the Giant teen to be mad at them and attack.

“I’ll take the first turn.” He said, walking away from the camp.

Despite his size, he was pretty swift and quiet.

Björn and Milka watched him go, saying nothing.

The next day, they woke up on the sound of someone scratching the earth and wood snapping.

They went outside, looking for the source of the noises.

The other villagers had the same idea because they joined the children outside.

Their breath got caught in their throat when they found it.

Virgil was digging holes in the ground, bare handed. Then he carefully put down the deceased Tinies, planting a wooden cross next to each holes.

There was at least a hundred of corpses.

Each were ceremoniously placed in the improvised graves, a flower in their hands.

“Virgil.”

Said teen jumped out of his skin when Amos went to him.

“O-oh...good morning Amos...”

As the sun was slowly getting up, Virgil’s state was getting visible to everyone.

He looked really exhausted, like he hadn’t slept at all but also got a very rough night. He was all dirty with several injuries that looked like claw and bites marks

“Virgil...what happened?” Amos worried

“Hm? Oh you mean these?” Virgil showed his injuries before shrugging “I had a “little” skirmish with a bear, that’s all, haha...”

Dread fell upon the villagers. Seeing the Giant teen’s injuries, it was certainly not a little skirmish like he said. He had a bad gash on his flank, barely patched up and deep bite marks on his arms.

“You went to fight a bear?! On your own?!”

“Of course on my own, you guys wouldn’t be any helpful...” Virgil huffed.

“Virgil...” Amos muttered.

The worse was to admit that the young Giant wasn’t completely wrong. If Virgil, being almost at the same height/length as the bear, struggled to fight it off, what a bunch of Tinies could have done against such a beast?

“It was sniffing around the corpses.” The emo muttered, starting to work again. “I thought they deserved at least funeral...”

He laughed weakly.

“Too bad I’m not dead, huh-”

A resonating slap echoed through the ruined town.

Virgil was shell shocked.

Amos had grasped is shirt and downright slapped him.

“A-Amos....” Virgil teared up.

“Don’t you ever say something like that again.” The older man’s eyes were really stormy.

Virgil tried not to weep when, Amos hugged him tightly.

The teen broke down, the lack of sleep and stress catching up.

That was the only time Amos raised his hand at him. He was very angry and scared at that moment.

“Let’s get you treated, okay?” Amos spoke softly.

Virgil nodded.

Before collapsing.

“Still think he’s a nuisance?” A rescuer asked the villagers while the others rushed to help Amos with Virgil. 8 persons were needed to move the 10ft Giant.

Though, the teen was worryingly light for his size.

When Virgil woke up, he was surprised to find Björn and Milka seated by his sides.

“What are you guys doing here...” he muttered

“Hey, Björn, look! Mr Giant is awake!” Milka said.

Before deliberately placing the little boy on Virgil’s chest.

“Is Mr Giant okay?” the small Tiny fretted around the teen. His impossibly icy blue eyes locked inton Virgil’s dark violet ones.

“!!!” His entire body froze up, causing him to be unable to move or talk.

“Yeah, Mr Giant ~” Milka said sweetly. “Are you okay?”

“...” Virgil couldn’t even twitch an eyebrow.

While he did believe that Björn wasn’t aware of the use of his ability on him, he was definitely sure that Milka did that on purpose.

Just you wait you sneaky little -

“Björn, my boy, I need you to come with me. Amos wants to discuss about something very important with you.” A rescuer picked up the boy. “Ah! Wait -” Milka reached for him “Don’t worry.” The rescuer said, cradling the small child. “He’s not in trouble.”

Björn cooed softly in their arms.

Closing his eyes.

“Oh and Virgil.” The adult looked back. “Be nice to her, okay?” They walked off.

“Oh no...” Milka whimpered.

She slowly turned around, seeing the Giant form of Virgil towering her.

“Don’t worry.”  he grinned dangerously as he slowly creaked his knuckles. “I’ll be  V-E-R-Y nice to you.” “I’ve discussed with the village’s elders. They agreed to let you two live with us since you don’t have anywhere to go.” Amos told the boy.

“Huh?” Björn blinked, not sure to have heard right.

“Yes Björn.” Amos said, trying to focus on the boy’s flamboyant hair instead of his big teary eyes. “You and Milka will live with Virgil and I.”

Big fat tears flooded out the boy’s face as Amos hugged him tenderly.

“I wanted to tell you first because I think Milka would have done everything to make you refuse...” He ruffled his hair. “I know she just wants to care about you. But if it’s you who wants it, I’m sure she’ll follow you with no hesitation.”

“Björn is so happy!” The boy bawled out, creating a big wet spot on Amos’ shirt.

“Now now. Dry up your tears and let’s tell the news to Milka and Virgil. Okay?”

Björn paused.

“Does it mean Mr G- Virgil will be Björn’s brother?” He whimpered softly.

“Don’t worry.” Amos reassured him. “I’m sure you three will get along just fine.” SLAM

“GOTCHA!” Virgil said triumphantly when he pinned Milka under his hand onto the ground.

“Oh yeah?” Milka glared, before biting into his finger.

“OW!” The teen drew back his hand and glared back. “Oh really is it now!”

“Bring it on!” She challenged.

While Virgil was clearly advantaged by his size, Milka’s terrifying strength wasn’t something to scoff at.

The two bickered and fought over ferociously.

Every time Virgil immobilized her, Milka easily broke free from his grasp. She tripped him off his feet several times, but he was quick to get back up.

“Milka! Milka! Guess what!” Björn ran to them before stopping abruptly.

“AAAAAAH!” He screamed.

“Björn?!” Amos ran to him, when he saw the scene.

Virgil was restraining Milka by her waist as she was pushing his face away.

“ENOUGH!” Amos’ voice thundered.

Virgil froze and Milka used that opportunity to elbow him in the ribs and made him drop her.

“What on earth is going on here!” Amos crossed his arms.

“He/She started it!” They both said before glaring at each other.

The older male pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily.

“So, since you two seems to get along very well, there’s no problem in me saying that Milka and Björn will live with us, starting today?” Amos told them

“WHAT?!” Both screamed.

“I never agreed -” Milka protested. “I already asked Björn and he accepted.” She quieted down

“What about Cara and the twins?” Virgil spoke up.

He already had to deal with Matthias all the time. There was no way he could stand Matthias AND Milka.

Amos scratched the back of his head.

“I’ll face the consequences later.” He said sheepishly.

Virgil groaned and covered his face.

- End of Flashback -

“Hn..Hn...”

Virgil was pulled out of his reminiscing when he heard soft whines.

He looked down, seeing Björn curled up, crying softly. He was probably having a nightmare.

Björn didn’t grow much over the years, both physically and mentally. On cue, Björn still slept with a pacifier and his teddy bear.

Virgil sighed soft and sat up, careful not to wake the others.

He gently scooped up the ginger haired boy and rocked him against his chest like a baby.

“There there, it’s okay. I’m here.” Virgil hummed softly. “Shhhh.”

The boy cooed softly, gripping his shirt.

Virgil smiled lightly.

“He had another nightmare, didn’t he?”

The young man looked over the person who spoke.

Milka.

“He really likes you.” She said, standing before him. “I’m jealous.”

“Don’t say that.” Virgil shuffled, letting her sit on his lap. “You will always be his big sister and best friend.”

She sighed, crossing her arms.

“Do you want me to comb your hair?” He asked her.

“Huh?” She looked up at him.

“Your hair. Do you need help with them?”

“...” She looked away. “Fine.”

She went to retrieve the hairbrush before giving it to the young Giant and carefully sitting on his knee.

Virgil moved lightly his right arm so he could support Björn against his chest before taking the hairbrush and starting to work.

Despite his size, he was very gentle and careful.

“A lot happened since you grew them out, huh.” He said.

Milka just hummed.

Her vanilla blonde hair now reached just below her waist, as long bangs completely covered the right side of her face, hiding the reminder of the scary event.

Amos came over, about to wake the children for the day, When he saw the scene.

Despite everything they went through, it was clear that Virgil cared about each member of his family.

The old man chuckled softly, deciding to let them bound a little longer.

=====BBAG=====

(EDIT 19/05/2020: art of Virgil and Bjorn here )

BBAG: 1/X/?

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