#in any case not without abandoning some of them
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Jason shoots the man in front of him, once, then twice, and then a third time. The image of this man standing over his baby brother is seared into his head, and he can barely push back the green tinting his vision. The only thing that pulls him back from the edge is Dickâs voice. It sounds muffled and far away, but he can make out Damianâs name. Jason turns around, his hearing starting to come back. Dick is hunched over Damianâs body, his hands pressed against Damianâs chest. It takes Jason a few seconds to realize whatâs happening, but he feels his legs almost go out from underneath him when he does.Â
Four Hours Earlier
Jason kicks his feet up on the coffee table, leaning back in his chair. Itâd been a long day, and he was working early instead of his normal six to three night shift. He finished all of his work and got home by seven. So, he turns on the TV as background noise, and picks up a book. He quietly reads for a few minutes before his phone starts ringing. He glances at it, and sees Dickâs caller ID on the screen. So, he silences the ringing, and puts it back down. It only takes a few minutes for it to start ringing again, and Jason puts his head back.Â
âI canât get one night where they leave me alone?â he mutters as though the last time he talked to one of them wasnât two weeks ago. Also, it was Damian, who busted in on one of his drug deals while actively fighting a rival gang. âWhat do you want?â Jason asks, sounding annoyed.Â
âDamian is missing. I need your help.âÂ
âWhereâd the brat run off to this time? Have you checked the Kentâs?âÂ
âYes, he didnât run off. He was kidnapped, and Iâm sure of it.âÂ
âOk, why canât Bruce just track him down?âÂ
âBecause Bruce isnât here.âÂ
âThen call him. Where could he possibly be thatâs more important than tracking down his son?âÂ
âHeâs in the hospital. Can you please just stop arguing, and help me look for him?âÂ
Jason freezes, his throat getting tight. âWhy is he in the hospital?â His voice comes out tighter than he means for it to.Â
Dickâs tone softens as he answers, âHeâs fine. Apparently he and Tim were out walking earlier when someone started shooting everyone in the area. They think that it was a random shooting, but Tim got hit. That was actually why it took us a while to realize that Damian wasnât home after school. Some of the teachers saw him before class, but he wasnât there when class actually started. His bag was still at school too. I need your help to find him. I havenât told Bruce, because Tim needs someone there in case something happens.âÂ
âIn case something happens? Like a medical proxy?âÂ
Dick sighs. âYes. Itâs not looking good right now, but heâll pull through. He was shot in the chest, and heâs in the ICU. They think heâll be fine, and that heâll be moved soon.âÂ
âOk, Iâll help. I still think we should tell Bruce though. I know heâll want to come running, but we canât lie to him about his youngest child being missing .â
âI know, I know. I just wanted backup, so I could convince him not to leave the hospital.âÂ
âFine, where should I meet you?âÂ
âIâm almost at your safe house right now.âÂ
Dick hangs up before Jason can respond, and he grips his phone almost hard enough to break it. He grabs his guns, and heads outside to meet Dick. They end up searching for hours without finding any leads before Dickâs phone starts buzzing.Â
âWhatâs that?â Jason asks, peeking over Dickâs shoulder.Â
âItâs a distress signal. I think itâs Damianâs. We have to get to this location. Itâs an abandoned amusement park on the edge of town. Thatâs really weird. I donât know why anyone would take him there, but we have to check it out. Keep your eyes peeled.âÂ
Jason nods, forcing himself not to roll his eyes. They head to the amusement park. Even as theyâre hopping the fence surrounding the property, they can hear laughing that breaks the silence. Jason frowns, reaching out to touch Dickâs arm. Dick barely glances at him before following the noise. Jason follows a little more cautiously.Â
That is until he sees the scene thatâs causing the laughter. One man off to the side is telling the others to stop, but no one is listening. Two men are standing in front of a small body while a third one is standing over him with his foot planted on Damianâs chest. Jasonâs chest constricts as Dick races over. He kicks one of the first two men in the head, and everyone backs up.Â
Jason starts shooting before any of them can do anything. Two go down immediately, and he shoots the last one in the arm. The one Dick kicked was knocked out cold on impact. The two men Jason shot are already dead by then, but he saved the rest of his bullets for the man that thought he could put his foot on Jasonâs brother. He shoots him over and over again, unable to even stop.Â
Then he sees Dick doing chest compressions on Damian as he sobs, and begs unintelligibly. Jasonâs hand goes for his phone immediately. He calls Barbara as he crashes to his knees beside Damianâs head. Heâs covered in blood, and his fingers are broken. Theyâre bent completely out of shape, though his chest doesnât seem to be in much better shape. It almost looks caved in, not that the CPR is helping with that.Â
âJason, Iâm surprised to hear from you.âÂ
âWe need an extraction, and medical help right now.âÂ
âIn costume, or out?âÂ
âOut, it can be an ambulance. Just call someone.âÂ
âWho is it?â Barbara asks, his voice all business.Â
âDamian. Heâs-â Jason has to pause for a second before continuing. âHeâs not breathing. We need an extraction right now.âÂ
Dick motions towards Damian, and pauses his compressions. He still hasnât said anything coherent, but Jason understands. He takes over rescue breaths while Dick continues with compressions. Barbara keeps asking questions, but he canât tell what they are. He drops his phone back onto the ground, and doesnât give it another thought. He keeps his eyes on his brother even as sirens start wailing in the background.Â
How are they already here? It hasnât been that long, has it?Â
He breathes for Damian again before pressing his fingers into Damianâs neck. Dick is looking at him with so much hope in his eyes, but Jason just shakes his head. Paramedics run up, and Jason has to pull Dick away from Damianâs still body. Dick goes completely limp, and Jason pulls him in for a hug. He watches over Dickâs shoulder as they continue trying to reestablish a heartbeat. He keeps Dick tucked against his chest. The air stays trapped in his lungs until he hears them start to load him up. Heâs not close enough anymore to hear the EEG over the sound of blood rushing in his ears. The lights are still on when they drive away though, and thatâs the only reason Jason even knows that they succeeded.Â
âHeâs alive,â he whispers, but itâs enough for Dick to hear.Â
âHe is?âÂ
Gordon runs over to them. Theyâre both still collapsed on the ground, Jasonâs arms loosely wrapped around Dick. Dick is crying again, but relieved this time.Â
âWhat happened?â Gordon asks, kneeling down beside them.Â
Jason lets his hands drop to the dirt on either side of himself. âDamian was kidnapped earlier. He was actively being assaulted when we got here. Someone was practically standing on him,â Jason says, his eyes distant.Â
âIs he alright?âÂ
âNo, but maybe he will be. Can you call the old man? Tell him what happened and that Damian is heading his way?âÂ
Gordon nods, and stands up. Heâs still watching Dick, but he calls Bruce. Jason eventually forces Dick to his feet, and drags him to his car. They both get changed, and then head to the hospital. Bruce is waiting for them in the lobby.Â
âHey, whatâs the news? On either one of them,â Jason adds.Â
âTim is stable, and in a normal room now. Damian is in surgery now. I donât know anything else.âÂ
Dick sniffles, and Bruce wraps his arms around Dick. âShhh, Iâm here. Youâll be alright. Weâll figure everything out. Thank you for helping, Jason.âÂ
Jason nods. âYeah, itâs no problem.âÂ
They end up sitting together for hours waiting to hear about Damian. They donât talk, all three of them still unsure of what to say. Eventually a doctor comes out, and makes a beeline for Bruce.Â
âMr. Wayne, Iâm here to talk to you about your son.âÂ
Bruce stands up. âWe can speak over there. Iâll be right back.âÂ
Jason puts a hand on Dickâs arm, offering silent support. Dick leans into the touch, both of their eyes still trained on their dad. Bruce talks to the doctor for at least fifteen minutes before walking back over.Â
âHeâs out of surgery. He has eight broken ribs, four broken fingers, a broken cheekbone, and a fractured collarbone. Theyâre pretty confident that heâs going to survive though.âÂ
Jason feels Dick deflate next to him. âCan we see him?âÂ
Bruce nods, looking twenty years older than he did the last time Jason saw him before tonight.Â
âCan you point me to Timâs room?â Jason asks, standing up.Â
Bruce nods again, and gives him directions to Timâs room along with the room number.Â
âIâm heading that way. Let me know if anything changes.âÂ
He walks to the elevator, and makes his way to Timâs room. Tim, surprisingly, is awake.Â
âHey, Jason,â he says, sounding sleepy.Â
âHey, buddy. How are you feeling?âÂ
âFine, Iâm surprised youâre here. I figured youâd be with Damian.âÂ
âHow did you hear about that?â Jason asks, sitting down next to him.Â
âI have my ways.âÂ
âYouâre hurt pretty bad. What happened?âÂ
âBruce and I got shot at. I donât really remember anything other than that. How is he?âÂ
âHeâll live.âÂ
âThatâs not a good answer.âÂ
âNot really, but that's all I have to say right now. You should get some more rest.âÂ
âYou should get some rest too. You look like shit.âÂ
âWow, thanks, Tim,â Jason says sarcastically.Â
He leans back in his chair, closing his eyes. Tim laughs softly though it sounds painful.Â
âGet some sleep,â Jason whispers.Â
Tim hums, and Jason allows himself to drift off. Tim is still asleep when Jason wakes up again. His phone is buzzing, and he looks down to see a text from Dick.Â
Damian is awake. You should come see him. Heâs completely out of it, but I think heâs going to be alright.Â
Jason blinks, then looks at the clock.Â
âI was asleep for seven hours?â he whispers.Â
He glances back at Tim one more time, then heads back to Damianâs room. Damian is awake, but his eyes are glassed over. Dick has a gentle hand on Damianâs leg. Damian turns his attention to Jason as he walks in.Â
âAkhi, youâre here. Baba said you were, but I wasnât sure,â Damian says, his accent coming through more than it normally does.Â
Jason blinks, entirely unsure of how to respond. Heâs never heard Damian talk like that, especially not to him. âYeah, Iâm here.â He grabs Damianâs small hand in his own. âHow you feeling?âÂ
Damian pauses, thinking about it. âHigh. I donât really feel anything else.âÂ
Jason snickers. âYeah, that makes sense. Youâre probably on a lot of meds.âÂ
âI donât think I like it. Can you tell them to stop drugging me?âÂ
âNo, I canât. We have appearances to keep up, remember?âÂ
Damian shakes his head. âNo, I donât. Youâll have to keep mine up for me.âÂ
Jason bites his lip, a smile still sneaking its way onto his face. âI can do that.âÂ
âMay I get some more sleep?âÂ
âOf course you can.âÂ
Damian hums, and lets his eyes fall closed again.Â
âHeâs so cute isnât he?â Dick coos, his face soft. His voice still holds a tinge of the grief from earlier, but he looks and sounds better. So does Bruce, who is still standing in the corner.Â
âIâm going to see Tim,â Bruce says, giving all of them a smile.Â
Jason nods before turning back to Damian.Â
âIâm so glad that theyâre both going to be ok,â Dick says. âThank you for coming. I donât think I could have saved him today without you.âïżœïżœ
Jason brushes his thumb over Damianâs knuckles. âYeah, well, I donât want the brats dead. We already knew you were useless anyway.âÂ
Dick smiles, and punches Jasonâs shoulder. Jason smirks, but keeps his eyes on Damian.
Trust Issues
Damian watches through half open eyes as his family eats breakfast around him. He keeps his guard up, a feeling of anxiety and immanent threat choking him. He hasnât slept in days, the smallest noise snapping him back to full awareness. Bruce looks over at him, narrowing his eyes.
âWhy arenât you eating, Damian?â
âI am,â Damian immediately lies.
Bruce looks confused at that, because of how obviously not true it is. Damian puts a singular piece of strawberry from his fruit salad into his mouth. Then he stands up, slipping out of his chair.
âCome on, Damian. Weâre doing so good this morning. Tim is even eating.â
âFather, Tim agreed because heâs still asleep. He was eating, then he fell asleep with his bite of eggs half out of his mouth.â
Bruce turns to Tim, who is in fact asleep with his spoon only half in his mouth.
âTim, dear, youâre going to choke,â Bruce says, taking the spoon out of his mouth.
Tim startles, pulling back.
âWhat? I didnât do anything.â
âI didnât think you did.â
Damian slips out of the room while Bruce is reoccupied with Tim. He heads up to his room to get dressed for school, though thatâs the last thing he wants to do right now. He sighs as he walks into his room to grab his uniform. Itâs only a few minutes before heâs coming back down the stairs, and heading for the door. Damian can hear Bruce trying to get Tim to fully wake up so he doesnât fall face first into his eggs.
Damian walks out without letting anyone know that heâs leaving since someone will insist on driving him to school. The walk is quiet, though thatâs only because itâs so early that no one with good intentions is out right now. Most kids arenât allowed to walk, thatâs why Damian usually isnât either. Itâs not that they donât know he can take care of himself, but they have appearances to keep up. They have to look like theyâre prissy rich kids, though Damian hates how he has to act every time he leaves the house without being in costume.
A few of the small time muggers eye him as heâs walking past, but his glare is enough to put them off till he gets past them. Itâs still quiet as the light manages to get past the clouds, lightening the sky. Damian keeps his hands in his pockets.
The school is empty too since heâs early. The teachers are the only ones there, and they all seem surprised to see him as they pass him in the halls. He heads straight to the cafeteria to wait on everyone else to show up. Itâs quiet, so he pulls out his drawing pad and colored pencils.
A feeling of apprehension creeps up on him even though heâs alone, almost as if something is going to jump out of the shadows. After a few minutes, Damian jumps to his feet. He looks around wildly, but doesnât see anything. He darts out of the exit attached to the cafeteria, leaving his bag, and not even sure where heâs going.
His vision starts going in and out, his hearing cutting out completely. He redirects himself to head back home, but doesnât even get a few feet before passing out. When he wakes up, he canât recognize where he is. It looks like a booth of some sort. People are talking right outside.
âMan, it sure took a long time for that toxin to kick in. We had to follow him for almost eight days,â one complains.
âHe was in his house for a lot of that time, shut up,â another replies, sounding annoyed.
âStill, youâd think it wouldnât be that useless. Thatâs a long time.â
Damian blinks, looking down. Heâs zip tied to a chair, rope wrapped around his wrists and fingers on top of the zip ties.
Someone kidnapped me? They gassed me with some sort of toxin? That must be why I was feeling the way that I was.
He pulls one hand out of the ropes with a smug grin.
Now, time to get out of here discreetly so as not to ruin my secret identity. I need to call in backup.
He pulls the other one out, then begins taking the zip ties off of his wrists.
As long as I donât get caught, I should have no issue with this. Even if they think I escaped somehow, I could still come back in costume with my family. However, thereâs only one door.
Damian walks over to the door, feeling much heavier than he normally does. He cracks the door open soundlessly. Itâs dark outside, but itâs not hard for him to tell that theyâre in an abandoned amusement park. The Ferris Wheel is looming over the buildings, stalls, and shut down attractions.
The guards are less than a foot away from the door, still distracted with their conversation. Damian slips out of the doorway, making a beeline for the next attraction. He makes it there without incident, giving him time to look for his emergency beacon. Luckily itâs there, still tucked into the heel of his shoe.
He clicks it before straightening back up. Then someone grabs him by the collar. A large man shakes Damian. He almost punches the man in the throat, but remembers why he canât in just enough time to pull back. The man punches him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He feels the man throw him towards the two guards that were watching him originally.
One of them kicks him in the face immediately. This goes on for a while as they take turns hitting him while he just has to lie there and take it. Eventually he tastes blood coming up his throat, and at this point, heâs not even sure where itâs coming from. Though it doesnât really matter if heâs throwing it up or coughing it up, either one is pretty bad.
I wonder what they wanted. They sure did do a lot to just kill me.
Someone stomps down on his fingers, breaking them. He doesnât let out a single noise.
Thatâs probably why theyâre still going. I havenât screamed or cried like this is a big deal. I wonder if theyâre going to figure out how badly Iâm already hurt.
Itâs only a minute later when exactly that happens.
âHey, I think youâre going too far. He has to be alive to use him for ransom,â the second man calls, sounding worried. He also sounds far away, and Damian doesnât feel like listening anymore.
A few more sounds bring him back from the edge, even if just a little bit. It sounds like a scuffle of some sort. Then someone grabs his head, startling him. He cracks his eyes open, seeing Dick above him. Heâs in costume, his mask covering his eyes.
âHey, Baby Bird. Just hold on, weâre going to get you to a hospital. Youâll be ok.â
âYou came,â Damian whispers, blinking his heavy eyes.
âWhat do you mean? Of course we did. Donât you trust us?â
Damian doesnât respond, letting his eyes drop closed.
âNo, Damian, open your eyes!â
Dick shakes his shoulders, but everything continues to fade. He doesnât feel it as Dick keeps shaking him, and eventually stops hearing him too. Then nothing.
#whumptober#trust issues#amusement park#damian wayne#batman#prompt 2#writerscommunity#writing#writing challenge#heavy angst#dick grayson#batfam#bat family#no. 2#jason todd#tim drake#bruce wayne
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Decoy [S. R.]
Spencer Reid x fem!reader
word count: 6.9k
summary: when you go after an unsub who catches students making out, the unit is called upon to resort to desperate measures. Or in other words, where you and Spencer become the decoy to catch a voyeur.
warnings: +16. Making out, mentions of alcohol, mentions of violence, insinuation of smut, sexual tension
Do yourself a favor and imagine Spencer in these clothes during the case
You sighed, completely frustrated, while you looked for the thousandth time at the blackboard with some information from the profile that you had made for the criminal in this case.
You believed that the unsub was a Caucasian man between 30 and 35 years old, whose motive was to spy on and photograph university students who were escaping in their cars to make out at night, then force them to have sex in front of him and finally kill them cold-blooded. You imagined that he was a person with a mediocre job, that he felt insufficient, and that his voyeuristic behavior probably came from sexual frustration, something that could be corroborated by the violence that he inflicted on the genital area of the students whom he stalked using a knife, his mark on all homicides. You also believed that perhaps the rejection or abandonment of his last partner (preceded by a bad streak from his youth) due to his impotence had been the triggering event for all his repressed impulses to come to light.
All the psychological analysis was fine, it wasn't something you hadn't seen before, but the hard part of all this? Because he only threatened and killed people, he didn't rape them, at first it was almost impossible to tell who it was. He already had 20 victims in total and you weren't even close to catching him. In the last scene he had made the mistake of leaving a fingerprint and Garcia had been able to trace his true identity: Oliver Davis, a guy who fits the description perfectly. Unfortunately, this turned out to be useless because beyond the accusations of being a pervert, the man didnât have much information that would give a clue to his whereabouts, you had even called the job that he had registered and all you had obtained was that he had several months without working there, which coincided with the beginning of the murders. After that Rossi suggested that he probably lived in a trailer (old, due to his lack of employment) where he developed the photographs and kept his trophies. That only made more sense when you thought that it would make it easier to transport or escape in case things got messy.
But words on paper and intelligent conclusions were of absolutely no use to you. You needed a plan to catch him.
"Do you have something, Reid?" Hotch had asked. You had already interviewed some students, you had set up guard duty to look for any suspicious behavior and you had even shared the photograph of the suspect in the media, but nothing had worked; The only thing left was to carry out the geographical profile to know the area in which he was attacking and thus be able to search for possible targets.
âI triangulated the locations we have of his previous homicides and I'm guessing he hits in this specific area,â he muttered, pointing to a space on the map he had on his blackboard with his middle finger. âConsidering it's an area frequented by the age group due to its proximity to the universities and that it has several parks that the students told us they use to drink or go out as a coupleâ
"So what?" Morgan said from his spot. "We just wait until he kills someone else and hopefully we're near the scene to hear the screams?"
âMaybe we can ask the cops to patrol the area for the unsub's car,â JJ suggested.
âHe's smart, there's a trailer park right here. It wouldn't be strange to find one on the streets as well.â Reid was visibly frustrated like everyone else and he ran a hand through his hair with some despair.
Your options were running out and frankly you couldn't think of anything else.
âAnd if we give him a target?â Emily murmured. Noticing that none of you said anything, she went on to explain her plan, âWe ask police officers to send any young people they see around to home so we force our unsub to get close to who we wantâ
"And what are we going to do? Hire a couple of college kids to stalk them?â
âWe can use our own teamâ
"Not to offend you, Prentiss, but we are no longer in the prime of youth"
"We don't, but Y/L/N and Reid do" when you heard your last name you were surprised, but when you heard your friend's you practically froze. First you looked at her and then at the doctor, whose gaze reflected the same stupefaction as you "You two are young, you might look like students"
"Are you saying you want to send us straight into the hands of a sexual predator?" you couldn't be offended, after all, those risks were part of the job, but you did feel somewhat reluctant about the idea.
âDo you have a better suggestion?â
âIt doesn't sound so badâ Rossi murmured âIt's a smart moveâ
âBesides, we would be watching around and we would intervene before that madman got close to you. Once we catch him, the photographs and personal items that he probably has in his trailer will be enough evidence, in addition to the fingerprint from the last crime sceneâ to your surprise, Derek was also pretty convinced of the plan that Emily had just devised.
"Reid, Y/L/N, would you guys be up for it?" Hotch exclaimed with his usual serious tone, looking at you and then at your partner.
Thinking objectively, the suggestion was very good. But thinking about it personally, you felt worried about the danger you two would be running into⊠oh, God. It wasn't until then that you realized that the plan to catch the suspect involved the two of you making out like a couple of hormonal college kids.Â
You knew that the options that remained wouldnât be as opportune as that and taking into account the temporary nature with which Oliver operated, in addition to the fact that he was already deteriorating as a murderer, it was most likely that he was already looking for new victims, so if you did that same night the chances of success were quite high. You were between a rock and a hard place and all you could do was look at him while the gazes of the rest of the room were divided between the two of you.
âI⊠I'll only do it if you say yesâ you exclaimed in his direction, with a cautious voice and a fearful look. You knew your friend and you didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable in any way, even though you knew that both you and he knew that your personal interests would take precedence against the possibility that another couple of victims would lose their lives if you refused. It was your job, you had to do it.Â
"Are you sure you guys are going to catch him before something happens?" Spencer asked your boss. You thought that with his background the last thing he wanted was to end up kidnapped or seriously injured again, even though the truth was that he was caring just as much about himself as he was about you. He had seen the photographs and knew that women were the most affected by the murder weapon⊠he didn't even want to imagine something like this happening to you.
"Of course. You will have communication with us and if something goes wrong we will get you out of there immediately" Aaron answered and your friend sighed nervously and then looked for your approval. You nodded slightly and he delivered the verdict, to which everyone agreed.
He was still standing, but after that he slumped into the nearest chair as he listened to everyone brainstorming ideas for setting up the scene, distributing the crew, and what they would tell the local police to do to make the decoy effective.
At some point you lost the whole point of the conversation, to start thinking about what was implied by what you were about to do.
The feeling of attraction for your co-worker had been latent in you for a couple of years, but you had never confessed it to anyone to avoid creating tension in the team or suffering the humiliation of certain rejection. Also, you knew that a crush meant distractions from what was truly important and you had tried, in vain, to eliminate it completely. But even if it hadn't completely gone, you had known how to control it, only allowing yourself to look at him with loving eyes from time to time and avoiding being too confident with him during group drinking outings. You even limited physical contact, not because you didn't like it but because you knew your greed would demand more and more of you until it became inevitable to beg for his touch. But now all that good work holding you back was screwed because in a few hours you would have to be passionately making out with him.
Still with the internal crisis, you raised your head to look at him and realized that he too had been submerged in his own tide of thoughts, which you hoped would be more positive than yours. At some point Spencer felt you watching him and when his eyes met yours he gave you that tight-lipped smile that was strangely comforting, to which you responded with the same gesture. After that it didn't take long for everyone to leave the room to fulfill their respective tasks, but you stayed seated because you honestly didn't feel enough energy to move. Besides, you had nothing entrusted to you, you were the bait.
"Hey, are you sure you're okay with this?" Spencer asked you, once everyone else had left. He looked so tired of everything, but at the same time there was a kind tone in his voice about him that made you smile.
âIt's just kissing, Spence. I think we'll be fine" you assured him, trying to swallow all your embarrassment and nerves "And you?"
"I agree. I just hope we get lucky today or we'll just have to keep tryingâÂ
"Reid, I need you to tell the cops what area we'll be in," Hotch interrupted you from the door. "You still have time to regret it," he added, looking at the two of you.
You immediately denied and after that Spencer withdrew from there in the company of Aaron. When you were about to drop you exhaled, completely concerned about the last thing your partner had said.
We will just have to keep trying. You didn't know if the idea excited you, or terrified you.
As night fell, Spencer drove the old pickup truck the unit had managed to rent for the two of you to drive into the park, with you in the passenger seat and a six-pack of beer in the backseat.
Although you were sure that it would be cold, you had decided to wear shorts and a button-down shirt that you normally wore for work, but that you had adjusted to make it look more youthful. Spencer was wearing an outfit that Morgan had gotten for him from a department store, simple jeans with a rather baggy cotton shirt and some nice boots that you didn't know where he got from, since in Quantico you had never seen him wear anything like that.
Both of you had showered at the hotel (separately of course) and you had made sure to brush your teeth and put on a good amount of deodorant and perfume before getting in the car. You had paid special attention to your appearance, not because it was necessary, but because you wanted to look perfect for him. Even with all this, you were a nervous wreck next to him, not saying a word along the way and only soft music from the radio filling the air.
When you stopped, the two of you put your headphones on to the channel the team was supposed to be on, and Morgan answered in the affirmative.
"Remember, he doesn't have to see the communicator or your weapon," Rossi spoke, who was also in the van, along with Prentiss and Hotch. "GarcĂa will be watching with the security cameras and he will warn us if the trailer is coming"
"And meanwhile what do we do?"
"Pretend to be a couple, sit on the tailgate and drink beer, laugh, I don't know"
âDid you ever run away like that in college?â you asked, directly at Reid.
âDo you remember that I was like 16 when I studied at the university, right? I wasn't even old enough to drive, much less a car" he muttered and you gave a short laugh "I guess you did"
âI was too busy being the best in the institution to even think about going out and making out with idiots,â you replied, proud of yourself for that. âI mean, it's not like you're an idiot, but they were. You're very smart," you rambled, still twiddling your fingers, "Hotch, you guys will tell us when we're going to start kissing, will you?"
âWhen the suspect approaches, yesâ
"Okay, well... then we have to go out, huh?" you muttered to him as you reached for the beers and tried to open the door to get out. You turned, expecting to see Spencer do the same as you, but noticed that he had lingered in the car for a moment, checking himself in the mirror and applying his lips with chapstick.
My God, could that man make you more nervous?
When he finally caught up with you, you went to the back of the pickup, where you opened the tailgate to sit down with a little hop. Spencer was tall enough to keep up with you just by leaning over the edge, where you watched him cross his arms. You were silent for a few moments, listening to the sound of crickets and cars in the distance.
"Do you think it's a good idea to drink?"
"Only a little. I'm having a hard time thinking while sober, I don't want to ruin the little reasoning I have leftâ you exclaimed as a joke. Or maybe you weren't joking so much "Just empty a couple of cans and leave them on the floor so he'll think we're really drunk." Spencer was about to do what you said when you noticed an important detail and called him over to look at you "Come here, let me fix your hair."
"What's wrong with my hair?"
"You're very well combed, it's not the image we expect" you carefully took his hand until it was close enough to pass the other through all his golden locks, messing them up enough to give him that relaxed touch that he should have. He looked so handsome, but not in the style of a fancy FBI agent but just like a young intellectual who went to parties and smoked weed âLike this. Perfect"
âDo you think we have to think of some backstory?â he asked and you looked at him with a frown. âYou know, something about us. What degree are we studying, what are our namesâŠâ
"This is not a play"
"It's rude to eavesdrop on conversations, Prentiss," you said visibly annoyed, although looking at your partner that expression softened "As you wish, Spencer. Although being honest, I would say that you study⊠literatureâ
"Really?" he exclaimed with slight enthusiasm. You knew that his mother had been a teacher in the subject and you wondered if he had ever considered it.
âMorgan wasnât wrong to choose those clothes for you. It suits youâ you complimented him and Morgan whistled from the other end of the line. You felt like you were having too much fun for the situation you were in, but you needed to talk about something else to put off the reminder of what you had come to do for as long as possible. âI think you would have that hopeless philosopher/romantic vibe who flirts by whispering memorized poetry in your ear.â
âI actually know some good onesâ
"Sure you do" you smiled gently, suppressing the thought of him sighing close to your neck at BĂ©cquer "I'd probably study science or something."
"The unattainable scientist with whom the captain of the soccer team has a secret crush, but she is completely unaware"
"Where did you get that? From a 90s movie?
Spencer's laugh was one of your favorite sounds and today that was precisely not helping your situation. You felt intoxicated by how handsome he looked, like you'd discovered a side to him that no one else had, and the thought of kissing him made you tremble a little with anticipation.
âDo you want to share a beer?â he murmured, carefully opening the can and offering it to you first. You knew your partner wasn't the most enthusiastic about doing anything that involved germs, so it made you feel good that he took the lead. You took a big gulp of the drink to gather something of value and when it was his turn to drink he kept looking at you intently, you would even say that he seemed entranced.
You had made sure you were in a strategic position, with enough light for the unsub to see you and quite lonely, except for the patrol cars and the van that had been positioned at a safe distance.
âHow does voyeurism develop?â you asked quietly, with genuine interest, as you shifted a bit to get closer to him.
âVoyeurism usually begins in adolescence and since during that age it is usually seen with greater tolerance, there are people who continue with these behaviors until adulthood. When voyeurism is pathological, they spend considerable time looking for opportunities to watch, often at the expense of not fulfilling important responsibilities in their lives, and people reach orgasm by masturbating during or after watching. Although if you think about it a bit, everyone is a bit of a voyeur."
"Why you said so?"
âMany men and women enjoy viewing pornography, which can be classified as voyeuristic behavior. It's not a worrying thing, but it's interesting to think about itâ he explained, with those expressions on his face that he had every time he shared knowledge with you. He liked that about you, that you were always willing to listen to his data and statistics even at the most inopportune moments.
"I'm still a little scared that Oliver is trying to do something to us."
âI have my gun. If he tries to do something to you, I'll use it" you knew that killing the unsub was always the last option Reid considered, so you widened your eyes a little to show your surprise "All lives are worth, but when that life has already taken so many and it puts you at risk, I would not doubt it. You have nothing to worry aboutâ he assured you and your heart warmed a little at feeling so protected.
"Do you know if Oliver attacks at a specific time?"
"No, he doesnât. Just as we can be here for ten minutes, we can also be here all night."
You exhaled loudly, before taking another gulp of beer.
âDrink some, boy. I feel kind of selfish around here."
"I am nervous"
"And why do you think I'm drinking?" you exclaimed wryly, still holding out the can to him, and when he finally agreed he drank a little more than you expected âHave you everâŠâ you started to say, but suddenly remembered that literally the whole team was listening to you. If the answer was embarrassing, you didn't want to hear Morgan and Emily taunting you all week, so you covered your microphone for a moment and spoke again, but so quietly that only he could hear you. "I suppose you kissed someone, did you?"
"Yes," he said quickly and you sighed with relief. It comforted you a little to know that it wasn't his first kiss, because you didn't want him to have such a bad memory âDo I look so inexperienced?"
"No, that's not what I meant" you smiled "You're handsome, I know you've probably kissed a couple of girls"
"You don't need to tell lies, you know I'll kiss you anyway"
"But it's not a lie. I really think you're handsome" you confessed, gathering all the courage in you, while you smiled at him in the most serene way possible "And if we weren't literally waiting for a murderer, you know I'd be happy to do this with you"
"Smooch me?"
"Having this bad date attempt, Reid," you hissed, flushing red, as you slammed your palm into his forehead with just a little bit of force. Spencer seemed quite pleased that he made you nervous, rather than the other way around, so he grinned, âThough I think we should have brought food. I'm starving,â you pouted, swinging your dangling legs back and forth.
"That's not a picnic, Y/N"
You hated for a second that everyone was so intent on the conversation. A part of you wanted a moment alone with the brunette, even if it was in the midst of such a strange situation.
You began to talk pleasantly about things completely unrelated to the case for a couple of minutes, staying where you were, until Hotch's interruption made you jump a bit in place.
"Garcia intercepted an approaching trailer, get readyâ your heart immediately sped up and you noticed him tense beside you, too, probably with the same thought flooding his head.
"Okay, come closer," you exclaimed, trying not to panic, as you spread your legs a little to allow the man to step into the space between. He wasted no time and just as you wrapped your hands around his shoulders you heard the sound of another car pulling up.
"Is that our unsub?"
"It is"
You were about to turn your head to peek when Reid grabbed your cheek and stopped you.
"He's smart. If you look at him, he'll realize itâ he reminded you with a serious voice. You were so worried about everything that you were forgetting about your training âOkay, so I⊠Is it okay if I put my hands here?â he asked with a different tone, nervously placing both hands on your waist. You had always admired the size and anatomy of those hands, but until now you had not had the pleasure of feeling them on your body in this way.
âTonight everything you do is fine. I promise"
"It would be a good time to start, he'll see you" Emily reminded you and you could only sigh shakily.
You two were adults, why were you so scared about kissing?
"Close your eyes" Spencer whispered to you, masking his nerves better than you "I'll kiss you, just close them," he asked you and you did.
You felt his body lean against you a little until his chest almost touched yours and then his lips shakily pressed against yours. You would always remember your first kiss, which in essence was such a brief caress that you didn't even know if it could be counted as one, the one where he wordlessly asked your permission to explore your mouth. Still with your eyes closed, you pulled him by the neck towards you and started a new kiss, a little more confident and deep this time, allowing you to savor the beer mixed with strawberries and that strange flavor that each person has.
âWeâŠâ you started to say, once you separated âyou have to do it slowly, what he wants is a showâ you exclaimed. Spencer felt unable to say any words and your hands caressing him so deliciously wasn't helping at all âSlow,â you repeated.
You arched your back a little to get even closer and when you finally looked up you met his caramel eyes. You needed a moment to recover and you unconsciously licked your lips, as if you needed to pick up and savor his presence in your mouth again, something that didnât go unnoticed by his attentive look at your movements.Â
It didn't take long for you to give up, as beginning the third kiss you felt that you no longer had any control over your body, your heart, or your mind. And while it was true that neither of you were experts on the subject, you guys managed pretty well as the seconds ticked by. Spencer gasped as he simultaneously felt you pull the hair from his neck and caress his lips with the tip of your tongue, while you were taken by surprise when his hands left your waist and lowered to the height of your hip, where his thumbs gripped firmly on the clip of your shorts.
There was a kiss, then another and another; they became too many to count. You didn't want to touch him anywhere and at the same time you wanted to touch him completely, in the grip of the fantasy that this was real and not just a performance. And even if you were aware that it was all fake, that would probably only have encouraged you to enjoy something to the fullest that you knew would never come back. Amid everything you didnât know which of the two situations would be worse.
The sound of your lips colliding became so obscene that you were embarrassed, but you had no plan to stop. Your hands slid gently down the length of his neck until you reached his chest and cupped the soft cotton of his garment in your fists to make sure he didn't move away from you. The heat of the moment just went up and up, but a voice on the intercom brought you back with a jolt.
âHe started the trailer. He's going to go"
Spencer closed his eyes in frustration, and you sighed. From the position he was in it wasnât possible to get around him without being seen, so keeping all his attention was on you and him.
Maybe you weren't doing it right? You wondered what the hell this man wanted to see if you were practically eating each other, but suddenly you remembered that his motivation was even more sexual than a couple of wet kisses. Maybe he was getting bored because he needed to see that you were about to⊠well, do it.
"Take off my shirt," you said immediately, still too close to his swollen lips and looking right into eyes that seemed to be pitch black.
"Take... what?"
"Take off my shirt" you repeated, with a tone that made the man shudder completely. With the hands that were still holding his shirt you pulled him to you and he held his breath âAnd kiss me better. Like you really want me"
But Spencer didn't need to pretend that he wanted you.Â
He made you completely dizzy when he began to kiss you so hungrily and you managed to keep enough composure when you felt one of his warm hands travel under your blouse, limiting yourself to letting out sighs that were drowned against his lips. But what finally caused you to let out an indiscreet and unwelcome moan was when he pulled you by the hip until you were on the edge of the tailgate and you could feel the growing bulge in his pants pressing against you. Spencer had almost managed to suppress his, but in the end, you having your own situation down there didn't help one bit.Â
His trembling fingers fussed with the buttons on your shirt until it ended up somewhere on the floor at incredible speed, leaving you half-naked before him and the collection of FBI agents standing around. You might have been embarrassed if your brain could connect two coherent thoughts, but you'd lost that from the moment Dr. Reid first dared to kiss you.
You carefully guided his hands to the beginning of the curve of your breasts and now you both sighed in unison, feeling goosebumps on every inch of your skin. You pushed yourself forward just for the satisfaction of hearing that guttural sound again and your prayers were immediately answered, for it was enough for him to feel the slightest friction and he would go crazy. It was inappropriate to need him like that, but you couldn't help it.
Holding your lower back, he leaned over you and at the same time pulled you towards him until your breasts collided with his chest. In that position, your neck was exposed and your partnerâs hot lips didn't hesitate to go down there, while you sighed agitated just at the height of his ear. Spencer asked you, between each kiss, to look in the direction of the trailer to see if he was still there and as you could you answered yes, which was victory enough for both of you.
As he could, he maneuvered to lay you down carefully on the cold metal of the truck without stopping kissing your neck, and by inertia you wrapped both legs over his hip. When you were hidden by the panels of the pickup he finally looked at you.
"I hope it's enough to get his attention," he said, sounding as agitated as expected, and although the circumstances meant that you two would be taking a break you flatly refused, pulling him back to kiss him.
That kiss did take Spencer by surprise and it was perhaps the sincerest of the night. It wasnât as passionate as the previous ones, but rather it was loaded with softness and you would even say that a hint of supplication. You were begging for him not to stop, for the night to get stuck in an infinite loop where the two of you could kiss for eternity. And suddenly you felt how he, who had been so tense the whole time, completely relaxed against you, as if he understood exactly what you wanted to say. His hands came to rest on the sides of your head to be able to kiss you more comfortably and you dared to take him by the waist with the same care that you were kissing him, feeling even above the cloth the softness of his skin.Â
And then he broke up with you. You feared you had done something wrong due to the suddenness of the movement and your frightened eyes searched his gaze for a sign of the reason, without finding anything. He just looked at you with something you couldn't describe, but that made you feel butterflies fluttering all over your stomach... and he stayed like that for a few seconds: just looking at you, as if he wanted to memorize all your features.
You opened your mouth to say something, but your words were drowned in a new kiss, totally different from the previous ones. Spencer was taking time with him, trapping your lower lip between his and sucking on it gently, pressing himself a little more against your body, sighing heavily into your mouth.
Your hand was already running up his side to make its way to his cheek just as screams filled the silence and you hugged him reflexively. The screams had come from Morgan, who had already moved across the park to take down the unsub and was now wrestling with him to get the knife out of his hand. Spencer hesitated for a moment if he should come over to help, but he preferred to hold you better against his body to protect you and wait for Emily to place the handcuffs on the man under her partner's knee.
From a distance you saw that he only brought with him, in addition to the knife, his camera, and a small backpack with some other murderous instruments that they managed to confiscate without any problem.
"All clear, we've got him," Hotch spoke over the radio. As you exhaled in relief too many emotions washed over you, combined with the adrenaline coursing through your body and the arousal still flowing into your crotch.
"Are you okay?" Reid's gentle voice called to you, as he pulled away to check with his eyes that everything was in order. His hair was messy and his lips were so swollen that it was almost painful to look at the image without launching yourself to kiss him again "My God, your shirt..." he said, completely embarrassed, as he bent down to pick up the garment. You looked him up and down and blushed when you noticed how tight his pants were, feeling your stomach turn a little. When he got up, he took the opportunity to look at your chest covered only by the black lace bra and a big gulp of saliva went down his throat.
You thanked him quietly and put your shirt back on, feeling the sneaky glances Spencer was giving you, just before Hotch walked up to you.
"How are you?"
"Very good, excellent" you stammered.
You could perfectly feel your swollen lips, the light sheen of sweat on your face, the heat flowing from all the places Reid's fingers had been, and the abundant moisture between your crossed legs.
After Hotch congratulated you on your performance, the two of you walked as best you could toward the rest of the agents, who were already placing Oliver on patrol. Another group was analyzing the trailer and they managed to pull out enough evidence about the murders that would be very useful in prosecuting the man.
"All good?" Emily asked in your direction, once things had settled down and the rest of the team had gathered in a circle by the van. You and Spencer just nodded at the question.
âI honestly think I'm going to need therapy after what I heard,â Dave murmured, so serious that you couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Don't you even dare make fun of this"
âNo, we won't. I'm just saying you guys seemed to be enjoying it there."
"That's supposed to be the plan, right?" Spencer said nervously, finally daring to look at you and looking away almost immediately as he smoothed his hair back.
Once your boss said you could retire you escaped in a patrol car as fast as you could, wanting to get home so you could take a cold shower and soothe what wasnât satisfied by the man. You could hardly sleep that night, still haunted by the ghost of the kisses you received from your gorgeous coworker, and the next morning you hoped that double coffee would do the trick. But apparently you weren't the only one who thought so, because at the same time that you arrived Spencer Reid crossed your path.
"Hey," he said, in that high-pitched voice that came out when someone caught him off guard, "How are you?"Â
"Fine, and you?"
"Fine too"
You knew that the two of you wanted to talk about what happened, but it only took one of you to have the courage to speak first. At the same time your phones rang indicating a message and you mistakenly assumed that it was JJ contacting you to announce a case. What was your surprise when you opened the file and found a collection of photos from the night before. You knew from Spencer's face that he had received the same thing.
"Garcia did you⊠did she send you the same evidence?"
"That's right," he said nervously. You had to admit that if Oliver had one quality it was that of a photographer: you were sensual and perfectly captured the desire that had existed between you. Well, the one you had pretended to feel⊠right?
Spencer held his breath as he came to a picture of you topless in which his hand was practically on your breast, immediately remembering how that had felt. He just hoped his memories didn't affect him too much or it would be embarrassing enough to walk into the boardroom with a boner.
"They're good," you said to the air and he suppressed a laugh "But I can delete them if that makes you feel uncomfortable"
âNo, no, I⊠I think I want to keep them too. After all, the bureau will have them in the files as evidence of the case, I prefer to have access tooâ
"I just hope she doesn't send them to anyone else, I wouldn't want to see my bra photos going around."
âI'll tell Garcia, don't worry,â Spencer murmured, rushing to type something on his phone.
While you waited for him to type you took another look, feeling your whole body heating up again at the memories. A part of you was grateful to have such material in your custody.
"I never thought of being the protagonist of an erotic photo session and here we are," you said ironically.
âSpeaking of whichâŠâ Spencer started to say, âNot the erotic sessions by any means, don't think I'm planning on inviting you to one or that, because it would be super weird and inappropriate, but I was thinking if⊠huhâŠâ
âSell them online? I thought so too, but it depends on how much profit there is. Garcia can help us find the highest bidder and not get charged for tampering with evidence."
"What? No!" he said, completely shocked, and you laughed because you got the reaction you expected with your joke "Why would we do that?"
âJust kidding, Reid. Those photos are something I prefer to keep to myself" you clarified and your smile made him feel shy "Seriously, sorry for interrupting you. What did you want to tell me?"
"What� huh, yes, right. It's just that this morning I was thinking about what you said yesterday, about how under normal circumstances you would have liked to have a bad date with me, right? and it just kept spinning in my head, so I was asking if you wanted to go for a drink sometime. Not like a date, of course, I'm not saying it is if you don't want to. I can just be like⊠well, go get a drink. As friends"
Yesterday Spencer had practically eaten your mouth and now he was nervous about asking you out. So adorable.
âYou're not doing this just as compensation, are you? because you know that it is not necessaryâŠâ
âI do it because I want to. And I want to believe that⊠that I didn't misunderstand what happened yesterday."
You no longer even cared that it was unethical to date team members, or that if things went wrong, you would probably go into the worst of depressions. What mattered to you was that Spencer was interested in you, even if he had implied it, and that he was asking you out alone with him. Just the two of you, with fun and alcohol involved, without gossipy colleagues or mortal danger.
"Then I'd love to, Reid."
âWow, excellent thenâ he smiled, feeling lucky that you agreed âI know a great bar near here, the atmosphere is generally calm, I like it because they don't play loud music. What day is right for you?"
âI'm available any day you wantâ you responded genuinely, grinning from ear to ear just being around him. That was the effect Reid had on you.
It was stupid to try to deny that you were still attracted to him, especially since now you had a taste of what he could do with you. You wanted to kiss him again, of course, but you were also anxious to earn that completely adoring look you'd received the night before.
âToday?â
"Yeah, why wait?" you responded, more excited than you wanted.
âHey, I didn't ask you, but I wanted to know if I didn't go overboard with you last night. I mean⊠did something bother you?â
It was a smart move, you could see it clearly. It was obvious that Spencer cared about you, but you also picked up on his intentions to find out if you were interested in him too. Well, that's how it was from your perspective, because that probably would have been your motivation being in his place.
Even if it wasn't the case, you weren't going to miss the opportunity to take a little advantage of the situation.
"The kisses on the neck were something he definitely didn't expect, but they weren't unpleasant at all," you assured him, feeling your cheeks heat up again. "Did it feel good to you?"
"It did"
"So everything's perfect," you murmured, shrugging off the matter. But you both knew you couldn't see each other in the office and acted as if nothing had happened.
Something had happened. Those kisses had only fueled the tension that had always existed between you but that you wanted to ignore.
"Do you want to go after work, then?"
âSounds good to meâ
Spencer gave you one last smile and then went to prepare his usual cup of sugar with a dash of coffee. All day you were thinking about him and more than once he caught you looking at him, but you didn't even care.
So, at nightfall, with a few drinks on you and more courage in your body, you finally confessed that kissing was something you had wanted to do for a long time. You almost didn't believe it at first, coming from him, but when you finally accepted it, it wasn't hard at all to rush at him and kiss him feverishly. And this time there did not impede for you to give free rein to your desires, which led you to the soft mattress in your friend's house and kept you awake until a few hours before dawn.
#spencer reid#spencer reid fanfic#spencer reid x reader#criminal minds#criminal minds fanfic#dr spencer reid#matthew gray gubler#aaron hotchner#derek morgan#jason gideon#JJ#penelope garcĂa#david rossi#emily prentiss#spencer reid x you#spencer reid fluff#spencer reid smut
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yuuji calls sukuna a lot.
it's almost like second nature to him now, muscle memory even, so many years since getting his first cellphone; any time he finds himself idle, maybe on his walk home after his part-time job, or on a break between his college classes, he picks up his phone and dials his older brother without thinking. they never talk about anything of importanceâmaybe just what yuuji did that day, or some gossip he overheard, or what the two of them should have that night for dinnerâbut he still makes the call.
sukuna always acts annoyed when he answers, greeting him with a characteristically terse 'yeah, what?' that yuuji never pays any mind to. but he still answers the callâat least most of the timeâand that simple truth speaks volumes in and of itself.
sukuna's phone rings at a few minutes past 1am, and his little brother's name lights up the caller ID.
"yeah, what?" sukuna snaps groggily, holding his phone up to his ear. he'd passed out on the couch soon after he got home from work, a half-drunk and now room temperature can of beer left abandoned on the table in front of his spread knees. yuuji's babbling starts as soon as the call connects and his brother greets him, and it takes sukuna a moment to make sense of him.
"â'n now i can't finder!"
"the hell are you talking about, dumbass?" the elder of the two grumbles, scrubbing a hand across his face. his brother's voice is panicked and hard to understand.
"we got spliddup at the bar, 'n now i dunno where she is anymoreâ"
"don't know where who is? fuck, are you hammered?" sukuna complains, sitting himself upright on the sofa as he wipes sleep from the corner of his eyes, suddenly a bit more awake than he was when the phone first rang.
yuuji says your name with a croaking, worried voice, and sukuna sighs exasperatedly. he stares down pensively at the can of beer he forgot to drink on the coffee table, then his eyes flicker to a framed photo hanging on the wall across the roomâthe glass smudged, frame slightly crooked, and photograph sun-bleached from the years it's spent hanging there.
"just..." he grunts as he pushes himself up to his feet, "fuckin' send me the address and stay where you are, idiot."
it's not hard to find his little brother once he arrives to the address yuuji sent himâespecially since the youngest itadori brother is waiting (as promised) right by the entrance of the familiar bar near the university campus where both you and yuuji attend classes. it's still busy for so late in the night, but the clubs are closed now and little bars like this are the only places still open. sukuna's not even sure what the difference is anyway, because the lights here are still dim and the music is loud and there are still people dancing off to one side of the establishment, so the distinction between the two seems tenuous if not entirely negligible. but as someone who's spent his fair share of nights in bars just like (and including) this one, he's usually not really one to complain.
but tonight's different.
yuuji is teetering a bit when his brother arrivesâan unusual sight, considering he's usually pretty good at holding his liquor.
"shit, how much did you drink?" are the first words out of sukuna's mouth when he approaches.
the youngest itadori's cheeks are flushed as pink as his hair, and he grimaces in the wake of the eldest's questionâhe's always been a terrible liar, especially when it comes to his brother, so he doesn't even bother trying to deny it. sukuna doesn't wait for a response in any case, turning his head towards the thick of the crowd and letting his eyes scan through it.
he doesn't see you.
"where'd you see her last?" he asks, leaning towards his brother to be heard over the music.
"by the bar!" yuuji replies, raising his own voice to overcome the bass. "she said she was getting one last drink, but she never came back to the table."
yuuji's lip wobbles a bit as he concludes his sentence, but he sucks it quickly into his mouth and catches it between his teeth.
"and you looked for her?" sukuna asks again.
"all over," yuuji nods, letting his lip slip out from between the bite of his incisors to reply. "fushiguro's doing another lap. nobara's checking the bathrooms."
sukuna ruffles a hand through his hair, suddenly realizing it's probably a mess from his rudely-interrupted slumber. "maybe she just left or somethin'."
"she wouldn't do that, you know that," yuuji says firmly. there's an insistence burning behind his eyes as he looks to his older brother, and it's the most sober he's seemed all night.
sukuna rolls his eyes, even though he knows yuuji's rightâyou'd never leave on your own, much less without so much as a goodbye. the two of you have been joined at the hip for long enough he's almost surprised that yuuji wasn't able to find you with some weird telepathic form of echolocation. he swings an arm up over his little brother's shoulders pushing him down a little just to tease him, before using his grip to tug him towards the crowd.
"you track down that little sea urchin friend of yours and i'll take a look around. meet me back here in ten minutes or text me if you find that little pest, alright?"
the bar is harder to navigate the further in sukuna travels from the entrance, the bodies pressing closer together with every step he takes away from fresh night air. he's pissed off, but that's not out of character for him. he's more pissed off than he usually is, considering not even an hour before he'd been peacefully sleeping at home, and now he's glaring at some drunk college kid who just almost spilled their beer on him.
"move," he hisses through his teeth at the wide-eyed kid whose life he can practically see flashing through his eyes as he shoulders past him. sukuna would be lying if he said the look didn't improve his mood at least marginally.
as sukuna weaves through the bodies in the bar, his eyes don't stop looking for you. it's almost startling how quickly he can rule people outâhow definitively he can say that someone is or isn't you with just a passing glance. he starts to doubt himself as he reaches the far corner of the bar and begins to round back towards the entrance, an annoying, grating irritation in the back of his mind. worry, maybe, if he were the type.
then he sees you.
just the faintest glimpse of your profile, caught behind the shoulder of the man who has you backed into a corner by a pillar, hidden mostly away from the crowdâat least as hidden as anyone can be in a place like this.
sukuna feels his lip curling into a furious sneer as he takes a step towards youâpeople move out of his path wordlessly as he trudges over to that dark corner where you're tucked away.
it's only when he gets a bit closer that he's able to read the lines of your body properly. you're teetering, just like yuuji had beenâthe two of you had probably enabled each other in your intoxication that night like the stupid kids sukuna knows you both to be. but you're also distinctly uncomfortable, pressed up against the wall as if to put as much distance between you and the man hovering over you as you possibly can. your eyes glance off to the side, like you're searching uselessly for an escape.
instead, they meet his.
"sukuna," you gasp out in surprise, and the man you're speaking to glances over his shoulder in confusion. he seems annoyed, and a bit nervous, when he spots the man (taller, and broader than he is) standing behind him with a scowl.
sukuna hears the relief in your voice when you say his name. reads it behind your glassy eyes.
"what are you doing here?" you ask, reaching out towards him clumsily.
the man in front of you puts a hand on your waistâpossibly to steady you, more likely to stop youâand it makes sukuna see red.
"hands off," sukuna snaps, wrapping a hand around your upper arm and tugging you into his side away from the creep.
"who's this? you said you don't have a boyfriend," the kid asks you, jutting a thumb towards sukuna accusatorially.
you mumble something quietly in reply about him being yuuji's brother, tucking yourself a bit closer to sukuna as you say it.
"your brother?" he asks as his eyes squint in confusion, having clearly only caught part of your explanation. "you're ditching me for your brother?"
sukuna's anger flares again at the entitlement this little brat has the nerve to display so flagrantly. the older man's hand slips down to your waist on instinct, and then lower still to the curve of your ass, making a show of how his big hand grips into the flesh beneath it. you squeak quietly at the contact, turning and hiding your burning face against sukuna's chest. he keeps his hand right where it is.
the stranger's eyes widen at the inappropriate display before him and sukuna leans in close with a vicious, almost manic grin.
"we're very close."
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Light on - single mom/neighbor fic Simon Riley/female reader Prompt: Protective Simon. For the beautiful and talented @lethalchiralium
Simonâs phone is ringing.Â
Price raises an eyebrow from the end of the table, pausing mid-sentence, confused. Simonâs phone never rings. Itâs always on full volume, because he never gets phone calls, except for ones from the 141, and theyâre all here. At this briefing. Â
His fingers find the ringer, ready to silence what heâs sure is a nuisance call, some telemarketer or robot, when he reads your name across the screen.Â
Youâve never called him before. Unease tightens across his chest, and without any explanation, he excuses himself from the room and the bewildered looks being cast his way.Â
âHey, you-â
âSimon?â You sound off. Like youâre trying to be calm, but thereâs something lingering on the edge of your voice, something scared. His spine goes stiff.Â
Itâs enough to propel him into action, his fist thumping against the window of the brief room, jerking his head south. Iâm leaving, the motion signifies. Emergency.
âWhatâs wrong?âÂ
âN-nothing. Just⊠thereâs this guy thatâs been like, half a block behind me since I got off the train.â He closes his eyes. The fucking train. He wants you to stop taking the train. He needs you to stop taking the train.Â
âHe followed you from the platform?âÂ
âWell, he could be walking this way tooâŠâÂ
âWhere are you?â His keys are already in his hand, and heâs running down the hallway, past bewildered administrative staff and everyone else, bursting through the back door and into the truck. His phone chimes with multiple text messages, Price, Johnny, Gaz. All wondering where the hell he ran off to. Only Johnnyâs text scratches the surface: Is it your neighbor? He waits another second in silence, hoping youâre trying to get your bearings. âSweetheart?âÂ
âIâm⊠I think weâre coming up on seventh and Warsail. âm not too sure. Iâve kind been walking in a roundabout way.â Weâre coming up on seventh⊠we.Â
The baby is with you.Â
His foot slams the accelerator onto the floor, counting his breaths as he maneuvers each turn in the road. Do you have the stroller? Are you carrying her? Did this guy peg you as an easy target because he knows what Simon knows, that women are more likely to go along with instruction if their child is threatened? That youâd never leave Emmaline behind? That youâd do anything to protect her?Â
He feels sick.Â
âAre there other people around?â Heâs calm on the phone, trying to visualize the street, the buildings, the alleys. Easy spots where cars could reach the highway in seconds, and then be gone. Cramped alleys that connect to others like tangled webs, able to swallow a human being easy, disappear them into the darkness. It makes his stomach turn over. His fingers tighten around the steering wheel so hard; it hurts.
âYeah, itâs close to the end of the day, so-âÂ
âStay where others can see you. Are you sure youâre on seventh and Warsail?âÂ
âYeah. Weâre in that park. I-I⊠wanted to take Emma to see the ducks.â Your voice wavers. âSimon heâs still behind us.â Heâs turning the corner now, a block from your cross streets, and instead of yielding for oncoming traffic like he should, he floors it through an intersection, abandoning the truck still on, half parked in an empty street spot. âStay where you are, sweetheart. Okay? Iâm coming.âÂ
âYou⊠wait, what? Youâre what?â He doesnât hang up, but keeps the phone against his ear, and takes off down the street in a sprint, fully subscribed to the worst-case scenarios that have been building in his mind, images of you and Emmaline bloody and bruised, or worse. He gets them confused for a moment, memories mixing with the present, two things swirling together until they become indistinguishable, noise and panic roaring too loudly in his head.Â
It all comes screeching to a stop.Â
He spots you in the park. You do have the stroller, and youâre by the little pond, headphones in, Emmaline in your arms, her little beanie pulled down over her ears. Youâre glancing around, nervous, saying his name into the mic. He scans the rest of the faces, passing over anyone who doesnât strike him as a creepy git, until he finds his target: a skinny, younger guy lurking on the edge of the fence line, watching you. He hangs up the phone and moves across the park involuntarily, rolling his shoulders, and he vaguely sees you from the corner of his eye, mouth dropped open in shock, faintly calling his name.Â
âHey, mate. Câmere.â He shouts, half the people in the vicinity startling in his direction. Everyone seems to move away, like a magnetic force, pulsing outwards as he overtakes the guy with an easy grab to his upper arm. âYou like stalking women with babies?â He hisses in his ear, voice low with barely contained rage. The guy is younger than him, but rail thin, and coked out. Probably looking for money. Simon jerks him closer, and he actually yells for help, like heâs a victim. Itâs enough to ground the situation, making Simon realize he has an audience, and he grits out a final warning before shoving him away. âI ever see you around my girls again⊠Iâll fuckinâ kill you. Piss off.âÂ
âWhat did he say?â Youâre frantic, rubbing Emmalineâs back in a circular pattern, over and over like youâre trying to calm her, even though sheâs perfectly content. Itâs you who needs soothing, he realizes, and he takes your hand without questioning it, letting his instincts guide him in regard to you without overthinking it.Â
âHe was high, love. Looking for money.â He doesnât want to scare you but⊠he doesnât despise the idea of instilling some hypervigilance. Maybe this will convince you not to take the train.Â
âOh my god.âÂ
âThink I scared him off for good though.â He looks around, and then slips off his mask, wide thumb stroking a soft touch on Emmaâs cheek before giving you a gentle squeeze. âItâs alright now.â You visibly relax, but donât let go of his hand, tilting your face up to his, all bright and beautiful, still coming down from the adrenaline of your fear with a whisper on your lips, meant for only him to hear.Â
âOur hero.â
#peaches writes#simon riley x reader#simon riley#simon ghost riley#simon ghost riley x reader#this might be my favorite?#Simon threatens a man because he scared you and I find that very attractive#light on
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I think in this context Danny will absolutely HATE Tim. The child ask questions to his parents and asks them, restart them again and again and again.
Under the gaze of Cass then Dick at which she beckons, Danny moves away from his family's location just enough to partially hide behind a tree and breaks down. He cries of frustration, anger, unfairness, tiredness and then resignation
Jazz notices her brother but lets him cry privately, he needs to get him out for a long time but surrenders to his two watchers.
The three of them have an exchange of glances.
Beginning of the kidnapping operation and abandonment of the unrecoverable (at least for a moment)
Camping Trips
A/N: Schools Summer Vacation is starting where I live and even tho I don't get to enjoy that anymore, it gave me the idea for this prompt :D If anyone wants to use it please do but... uhm please tag me then? I am so curious what other ideas fanfic writers could come up with for this. Thank you! And happy Vacation time to everyone that gets to enjoy it!
Camping.
Its concept was the bane of existence for some teenagers and kids while others very much enjoyed that type of vacation. Danny belongs to the type that enjoys this type of vacation. Because going camping used to mean his parents were not stuck in the lab but would pay some attention to Jazz and him. It meant that for once ghosts weren't the most important things to his parents. It meant a literal break.
So when his parents told Jazz and him about a camping trip they were planning he was at first excited. Maybe it would be like the trips they used to go on. Something to remember, roasting marshmallows, fishing, exploring the woods. A change from everything that had become normal.
That was until he arrived at the scene at the camping place and his parents set up a mobile laboratory and various security measures to protect Jazz and Danny from any possible ghost attacks. Just because they weren't in Amity Park right now, didn't mean some ghost scum wouldn't try anything to harm them, or at least that was what his dad said.
Danny had flinched and backed away from his parents that were busy setting up a laboratory instead of a tent and sighed. His eyes roamed around the other camping spaces and landed on the only other people that appeared to want to use this place for a vacation spot. He was not jealous of how normal their camping space looked with just tents, mobile hammocks, campfires, standard camping equipment and no good damn ghost-hunting equipment or mobile laboratory.
Was it too much to ask for just one normal camping trip from his parents like these people had?
Dick had just wanted to give his siblings some form of normality for once. Vigilante life was tiring and one could easily lose sight of what was normal. So he suggested a family vacation to Bruce to mend that overlooked problem. Bruce hadn't liked that idea at first too but after Tim fell asleep in his breakfast 4 times in a row because he pulled several all-nighters to work on cases and Duke had a near panic attack realizing he had forgotten about an exam and Damian smuggled 9 blades into school because he got annoyed with his teachers all in one week⊠the man agreed more easily to Dick's vacation idea. Even more so when some of his siblings even mentioned they never had gone camping before.
It had taken some convincing but the eldest Wayne son even managed to get Jason on board. And Alfred gladly pushed them all out of the Manor if it meant Bruce would not be working for at least one week. So come to school vacation time and they all packed up going to some remote camping place for a NORMAL vacation. He was even going to convince everyone to lock away their phones and laptops for the duration.
Well⊠Dick glanced at the only other occupied space and blinked. That was not normal, was it? The other spice looked like these people had jumped straight out of a SiFy Movie, they were setting up a laboratory! And the adults were wearing hazmat suits! He saw how something green started glowing over there and distinctly but quietly because of the distance he heard machinery starting to hum over there. The man in the orange hazmat let out a boisterous laugh telling something to a girl and a boy that looked dressed normally. The boy then backed away from what he assumed were their parents with clear wariness in his eyes before looking over into their direction with what Dick assumed was envy.
The eldest of Wayne children wanted to ignore the familiar green Color or the yellow tanks that looked like they had a certain green liquid in them. If that was what he was highly suspecting then they would need to investigate these other campers. After watching the other people a little longer and seeing even more suspicious equipment that appeared to be powered by the green liquid, he put his head in his hands and let out a frustrated sigh.
Oh for the love of⊠they were supposed to have a vacation, not investigate what could be a mobile Lazarus Water research site! His head instantly snapped out his siblings hoping that they had not yet noticed and that maybe he could convince them to go to another lake to set up far away from what would set off ALL of their detective instincts. He could put a tracker on these people and return to that case AFTER their vacation was over. But no!
It was too late, he saw Tim's eyes watch the other space with open curiosity and narrowed eyes, Damian and Bruce were watching with wariness but keeping up a cover as they poked around in a campfire, Cass also tilted her head in curiosity before also turning back to the tent she was setting up as cover and the only one who appeared to not care at all was Jason but Dick could see the way he peeked over the book he was reading at the other occupants.
Damit, was it too much to ask for one normal vacation?
#dp x dc#dc x dp crossover#dp x dc crossover#dc x dp#DPXDC#dcxdp#dpxdc#danny phantom#danny fenton#dick grayson#tim drake#cassandra cain#camping#crossover#What would it be like if these two groups meet during a camping trip#Danny is envious of how Normal the bats vacation appears to be#the bats end up continuing workmode instead of enjoying a vacation#Dick just wanted a normal vacation#Danny wanted one too#Looks like both won't get one#in any case not without abandoning some of them#Dick: if his brothers don't want to take a break he will at least give this poor kid one#Cass: baby hero! it's breaking :( nope not on my watch :D Dick a helping hand please?#jazz: this man looks desperate and both seem concerned about my brother's (legitimate) reaction. they could help#Danny : TxT#with a bit of luck they also manage to recruit Jason
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DpxDc AU: Justice League requires all of its youngest members to list at least one adult emergency contact in case something happens out in the field- And Lancer did tell Danny to put his number down if he needed help!
Lancer wanted to call CPS, wanted to call them for years, but something was wrong with his beloved town and the government agents that came were always⊠ill mannered. To say the least. So with the young Mr.Fenton appearing wounded in his class on multiple occasions, sleeping through lectures even more often, Lancer felt himself gradually accept that no other adult was going to step up to protect this child.
He figures out his Identity as Phantom and it makes his rage boil hotter than Danteâs sixth layer of hell. Danny refuses to abandon his parents (who continue to hunt him unknowingly), and he refuses to let any of his ghostly responsibilities fall wayside (this CW fellow is a real piece of work!).
But for all the things he expected when he told Danny that he could be trusted and could help- Ms. Manson and Mr.Foley coming to him for help, patching wounds, offering snacks and covering for Danny when attacks occurred in class- he hadnât expected the Justice League to be knocking on his door.
Lancer blinked at the appearance of Batman in his classroom after the final bell, but then his stomach dropped.
TELLTALE HEART THATS THE BATMAN!!
âPhantom listed you as his emergency contact. Have you had any recent communication with him?â The deep, gravel voice startled Lancer.
Lancer checks his phone, Danny had skipped class today; and while Lancer was working with Danny to get him after school lessons and tutoring for all of the hours he missed, it was uncommon for him not to respond at Lancerâs text asking for a confirmation of his safety.
âNot in 24 hours, but I can message him again.â Lancer is shaking as he types on his phone to team phantom-Who wouldnât be nervous at both the implications of Dannyâs safety and the Batman??
Superman flies into the room from the open doorway, âNo luck, without a heartbeat I canât find him. Where ever they have him itâs lead lined or heâs keeping himself invisible.â
SCARLET LETTER ITS SUPERMAN!?!
Danny doesnât reply to Lancer, and neither do Dannyâs friends.
âHe has two team members with whom he is inseparable, if none of them are responding then all three have been accosted. Iâm coming with you until we find them.â Lancer declares and while heâs sure that Batman is unimpressed, Superman gives him a sad smile and nods.
Thus Lancer joins the Justice League for a day, Helps to save Team Phantom and Informs the takedown of an illegal government agency.
Batman also slides him some adoption papers and a card for a lawyer if Lancer decides to formally adopt Danny. Lancer also wins a Wayne Excellence Award for Teaching that year but heâs pretty sure the money is unrelated to Dannyâs alter ego- after all, Lancer is a fantastic teacher.
#dcxdp#dpxdc#dc x dp#danny phantom#dp x dc#dc crossover#dp crossover#I like to think that lancer learns so much about the IR from Danny that he becomes akin to a consultant for the JL and JLD#like a ghost appears and if Danny is in a different dimension or smith they just call his English teacher#lancer being a bro to Danny is my fave#but Iâm biased cause I had an English teacher who noticed my mental health decline before anyone else bothered to care#lancer gets a check in the mail and itâs for a ton of money and itâs labeled JL Hazard Pay#Bruce: game respects game#lancer corrects both Constantineâs information and his grammar
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Demon Shen Jiu is such a fun idea though.
Especially if he himself doesn't know. Like imagine, Yue Qi finds this abandoned baby and the baby is REALLY OBVIOUSLY not human. But this also enables Shen Jiu to survive being abandoned at such a young age -- a human baby would die without adequate nutrition or care, but demons are a little more resilient. Baby Demon SJ has a way more forgiving digestive system and can move under his own power from a much earlier age. By the time he's a year old he's hunting his own rodents and small birds, and has to be stopped from biting and mauling anyone he doesn't like. Which is most people. Qi-ge develops amazing reflexes.
Why do the slavers tolerate a demon baby hanging around? Maybe it's really not all that uncommon. Demons come across the borderlands from time to time, and are as liable to abandon their kids or die or etc as anyone else. It's maybe an open secret among slavers that demon-blooded kids are a better investment, even, because they can survive for longer on less. The only downside is if they don't ever look human enough to pass as human, because that limits potential buyers, but that's only relevant when the slavers are trying to sell them. For the purposes of having a network of street kids stealing and grifting and spying and etc, it's fine. A lot of the slavers themselves started out as demon-blooded street kids with no other options.
But in SJ's case, he pretty quickly starts passing as human. Mostly because he's quite strong, and he's convinced that he's the same as his Qi-ge, so he makes himself the same. Makes his hands look the same and his teeth look the same and etc. It's largely subconscious, and once he starts doing it, it becomes automatic. SJ forgets that he's a demon in the way that most people don't retain their earliest childhood memories -- although he remembers that some of the slavers were demons.
Then of course there's the question of why didn't the Cang Qiong cultivators notice?
A few options. One is that whatever kind of demon SJ is, it's really good at mimicking humans. Another is that he's only part demon, and like Luo Binghe, fully capable of handling both kinds of cultivation. So once he starts learning spiritual cultivation, even from a heretic like Wu Yanzi, he doesn't seem different from any other recruit with a patchy education on the subject. Anything else odd about him could be easily attributed to his exposure to Wu Yanzi and his wicked practices.
Although full demon SJ is a fascinating idea. (Also, it could contribute to all those qi deviations -- he's trying to cultivate AND "fake" human cultivation at the same time, I doubt Qing Jing's techniques are totally compatible with everything going on there even without the psychological turmoil.) Like I'd imagine Airplane wrote that SJ was abandoned on the streets as a baby, and the system was like "hmm he probably wouldn't survive that?" and then in some nine billionth wife arc, Airplane also creates a variety of demon that can fully pass as human (for some identity conflict with a prospective wife), even to the point of fooling human cultivators and demon-detecting tools. So the system just ties these two disparate pieces of world-building together in order to patch a critical plothole (Airplane doesn't know anything about babies). Which has the side effect that Shang Qinghua doesn't even know that SJ became a demon!
And SJ himself doesn't know. The only person who knows is Yue Qi.
Obviously this wouldn't come up much in PIDW, but it could be pretty funny in the SVSSS timeline. YQY just sitting there through the whole Luo Binghe being a half-demon reveal, wondering if he should say something. Subsequently being the most absolutely chill about the whole demon reveal thing anyway. Like he's definitely not upset that Luo Binghe is a demon, or part demon, and the multiple people who try to make a point about it just run afoul of his impenetrable smile and get nowhere.
Then eventually Yue Qingyuan decides that he should probably tell Bingqiu that Shen Qingqiu is a demon. For like, safety purposes if nothing else. He's kept the secret so long also for safety purposes (even if someone put Shen Qingqiu under a truth compulsion he wouldn't be able to admit to being a demon, because he himself doesn't know!), and he's done tons of stuff to prevent anyone ever finding out (although Xiao Jiu is so talented that he didn't have to do much), but Luo Binghe is the demon emperor. That changes things. If Shen Qingqiu is going to be visiting the demon kingdoms regularly then there's a chance something could reveal the truth unexpectedly, and that would probably be worse.
So Yue Qingyuan sits down and has a very serious discussion with Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe about how Shen Qingqiu is actually a demon, was just the cutest little demon baby in fact, here he drew a picture from memory of what Xiao Jiu used to look like before he learned to look more human, and also how a lot of slave kids and slavers and people who fall through the cracks in society have demon ancestry, some more recent than others, and Shen Qingqiu always retained a certain discomfort around his own kind because of the adult slavers who sold him off, and etc etc.
#svsss#bingqiu#scum villain's self saving system#scum villain#shen qingqiu#LBH: *having deep serious introspection about how his demon blood reveal probably triggered shizun's subconscious trauma*#YQY: *worried how his shidi will take the revelation that he is a being he has struggled to reconcile himself towards for his whole life*#SQQ: *excitedly trying to figure out what kind of demon body he's in and whether or not that means he gets cool extra powers*#also this would make SJ a man-hating man who is also a demon-hating demon#everything circles back to self-loathing with that guy
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that kind of love never dies | chapter one
summary: the one where barbara thinks about an act of rebellion.
pairing: jake x mc
word count: 1.3K
warnings: tkolnd takes place after the events of episode 10; cover images found on pinterest; english is not my first language.
authorâs note: even though she lives in the usa, my main character, barbara, is brazilian. i added terms and expressions that we use in our country, as well as cultural elements, to this fanfic. the words that appear in portuguese are highlighted and you can contact me if you have any questions.
masterlist
Barbara was sprawled out on the dorm carpet, reading a Lucy Maud Montgomery novel she found by chance in the university library, when her cell phone began vibrating on the nightstand. Without wasting time, she closed the book and got up, waiting to hear from her roommate, Meera, but, when Barbara swiped her finger across the lock screen, she found some text messages from an unknown number.
i would like to invite you again to eat something at that chinese restaurant
if you want to meet me, just show up there tomorrow
i'll be waiting for you :)
Her head started to throb just at the possibility of it being who she was imagining, but she quickly pushed the thought away.
Jake wouldn't put himself in danger like that.
After everything that happened in Grimrock, Duskwood's chief of police, Alan Bloomgate, personally went after her to conduct the interrogation, and, more than once, made it very clear that it was best for her to stay away from her new friends for a while. He didn't go into detail when he told her about what happened at the Ironsplinter Mine, but he confirmed that Richy was alive â despite having some serious injuries â and that Jake had fled from the FBI agents during the confusion caused by the explosion.
All the messages she sent and received during that time became evidence. Barbara had what it took to close Hannah Donfort's case literally in the palm of her hand, including the kidnapper's confession.
Consequently, she also had the means that could lead the people who were after Jake straight to him.
She was interrogated by the FBI countless times for months, until Alan decided to intervene and convinced her to hand over her cell phone to them in exchange for her old life. Since then, Barbara has not been part of the joint investigation. Or at least that's what they say â she's too smart to really believe that.
For a few seconds, she considered the chance that it was someone trying to play a trick on her. The video Lilly Donfort posted accusing her of kidnapping had gone viral across the Columbia University campus. Even her grandmother, who lived in the interior of Brazil, found out about her involvement with a hacker wanted by the North American government. However, no one else knew about the brief conversation they had about the chinese restaurant.
Except, of course, the FBI.
Without a doubt, it was a trap. Barbara felt her face turn red. It seemed that solving an old international murder case, giving up her privacy, being forced to abandon her group of friends and possibly cheating on the guy she was in love with was not enough. She also needed to act as bait when it was convenient.
Barbara huffed, irritated. Little did they know that Jake had no contact. Their partnership in crime had ended almost a year ago.
Still, there was no reason to decline the invitation. She could very well take advantage of the opportunity to tell some truths to those nosy agents, and as a bonus she would have an excuse to go to Germany without Alan being able to question her too openly.
Her lips lifted into a smile as the plan emerged in her mind.
After going through customs at Zurich Airport, picking up luggage and going to an exchange office to exchange some notes, only an hour and fifteen minutes by car separated Barbara from Duskwood. Luckily, there were several yellow taxis forming a line next to the sidewalk, because it would be a nightmare to have to deal with someone trying to compete for the same vehicle as her.
She walked out of the lounge, pulling her hot pink rolling suitcase, and turned on her smartphone to announce on the family's group chat that she had arrived safely. But before she could check her contact list to see if her parents were online, she collided with a young man's broad chest.
She jumped away from him, apologizing â or at least trying to â in german. He laughed softly, grabbing her arm to stop her from tripping over herself, and for a moment, Barbara forgot to even breathe. The young man seemed to be a few years older than her, he was tall, had dark hair and prominent round eyes that resembled the curve of a teardrop, he was wearing a white sweatshirt with a hood and black jeans.
âI'm sorry, I didn't see you.â He spoke in english, with a slight accent.
âNo problem, it was my fault.â Barbara quickly straightened up, realizing that she had somehow stared too long.
The young man analyzed her from head to toe with amusement before bending down and picking up the cell phone that had flown out of her hand during the impact.
âI believe this is yours.â He joked, handing the device to her.
âThank you.â
He nodded curtly and turned, making his way through the travelers entering and exiting the airport, as silent as a wraith.
She was inexplicably disappointed to see him leave, however she had more important things to deal with. Then, she handed the luggage to the driver to put in the trunk and got into the taxi, giving the address of the Gates Hotel, on the outskirts of Duskwood.
Barbara ran across the room, feeling the cold floor beneath her feet. She was considerably late, but as far as she remembered, she had never arrived on time to participate in the interrogations, so whoever was waiting for her at the restaurant wouldn't mind too much. She put on a black strapless dress, put on her highest heels and curled her wet hair with her fingers, leaving a small trail of water on the floor.
Through an opening in the peach curtains, she noticed that the rain had picked up outside, beating violently against the window pane. She cursed under her breath, hoping someone at the front desk could lend her an umbrella, and before Barbara could procrastinate her meeting with the FBI Special Agent any further, she took one last look at the floor mirror near the entrance hall, realizing that she was dressed for revenge.
âSomeone would definitely approve of that.â
Smiling to herself, she went down a small flight of stairs to the ground floor, where the girl at the reception was reading a magazine with Nicholas Galitzine's photo on the cover.
âHow can I help you?â She asked in english, without taking her eyes off the celebrity gossip.
âHey, how you doin'? Could you lend me an umbrella, please?â
âOf course.â She said, reaching for the object under the counter and handing it to her. âA fee of two euros will be added to your room bill.â Barbara sighed, surprised, as she mentally converted the currency. âWhat?â The receptionist looked up, frowning. âDid you think it would be free?â
âNo, obviously not.â Barbara lied, smiling politely.
âReturn it by midnight or I will have to charge the full value of the item.â The girl announced, turning her attention to the magazine. Then she added: âNice dress.â
âOkay, I'll pay when I check out.â She assured, walking towards the glass doors while opening her rented umbrella. âAnd thank you.â
âHave fun, Cinderella!â
Barbara regretted walking out the door as soon as she set foot on the sidewalk. Not just because of the rain, but because of the wind blowing your hair back. In any case, she had come too far to give up, and despite the storm, she could see the lights of the chinese restaurant through the blue haze a few meters ahead, on the other side of the street.
Before she could take another step, someone grabbed her arm and turned her around.
âWhat?â She blinked in amazement at the handsome young man she had met at the airport.
âCome with me.â He said, pulling her away from the hotel entrance.
âYou are crazy? I do not know you!â Barbara shouted, dropping the umbrella near her feet. The rain completely drenched them both in moments. âMe solta!â
âBarbara, please.â He asked, breathing short.
The sadness in his voice stopped her struggling.
âHow do youâŠ?â She gasped, eyes wide. âJake?â
taglist: @daniiiworlds; @labemquarts; @deinily
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Fight - M.Riddle
Summary: Mattheo Riddle breaks your nose, and he kinda feels bad about it.
~2.3k words
Content: Modern Au, Characters are 18+, No use of Y/N, No determined house, Mattheo doesn't like using his words, descriptions of fighting and blood, maybe ooc everyone? dunno this fandom is weird i love it, mention of drug use(tobacco, weed, alcohol), Mattheo's love language is acts of service and gift giving fight me, rushed ending sorry chat i'm getting back into writing again, not proof read
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Violence isnât something Iâm particularly fond of. Not for any reason, but I suppose you really donât need a reason to hate something so savage. I donât like action movies, the idea of contact sports and martial arts in the muggle world is barbaric to me, and even watching beaters and chasers hurdle towards each other on the Quidditch pitch makes me cringe.
Hogwarts is full of many fights. They're unavoidable, I suppose. Occasionally, the more disorderly underclassmen will break out into a wizardâs duel. Bright flashes of light and the screams of ignorantly casted hexes will draw onlookers nearby, blocking up the already crowded hallways with a ring of students encouraging their peers with reckless abandon. In fact, there were rumors of a secret dueling club that had been organizing these fights for centuries.
However, there are only so many different hexes and jinxes to terrorize and entertain your classmates with before things become⊠stale. This conundrum, along with unstable hormones, had sparked a new infatuation among Hogwarts upperclassmen.
Fist-fights.
The idea was childish. Any problem imaginable could be sorted with words, or even wands, and yet both boys and girls fought nail, tooth, and, claw just for an ounce of respect. Maybe an ounce of attention. If I remember right, even an ounce of weed (This was the day many students had to undergo a veritaserum-induced interrogation.) . It was foolish, and oftentimes fights were shut down by the hands of professors within moments.
That did not seem to be the case today.
As if by some miracle, or in my case a misfortune, professors seemed to be distinctly absent from the hallways in which Mattheo Riddle and Theodore Nott, seventh year Slytherinâs and star quidditch players, beat each other into a pulp.
And by my luck, I was stuck at the barricade of sorts, facing the fight without obstruction as my peers tried to press closer, obscuring my exit from the situation.
The two of them screamed about who-knows-what, and they flashed between the floor and standing upright. The two of them sauntered and stumbled around, each collision of fist to skin sent my stomach reeling with nausea.
Theodoreâs lip was busted and an uncomfortable looking bruise was already forming around his eye. He shrugged-more-so ripped- his robe off and swung wildly at Mattheo, making him back up.
Now, Mattheo Riddle is a tall man. A solid 6 foot if not taller, muscular build after a few years on the Slytherinâs Quidditch team. He was not someone you would want to stand up against, or really be near in general.
The crowd collectively gasped and hollered as he stumbled backwards, right towards me. Against the thick wall of students, I had no where to go. He swung his arm back, fast and powerful.
The sickening crack was all I could hear. Then all I could see were his angry eyes widening in realization that he had hit something other than Theodore. His head swiveled around, and I almost thought he would apologize before a blow landed in his gut, leaving him to curl over and writhe in pain on his knees. At this point, I believe Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini had forced themselves into the ring to separate Riddle and Nott.
I donât remember falling backwards, but I was in the strong hands of another classmate while a few people asked if I was okay. I tasted blood on my lips. Tears slipped down my cheeks heavy and hot, and blood dripped profusely from my nose.
It was Pansy Parkinson that escorted be to the hospital wing.
Pansy was a pretty girl, black hair, silver jewelry, and eyes sharper than a new blade. She wasnât the most approachable girl I had ever spoken to, but after an assigned pairing in potions, we had become quite the duo. She rambled on about how sheâll have âMattâ apologize, and how âthe boysâ were going to be in so much shit.
My nose was broken, fixed with a simple, âEpiskey!â, from Madam Promfrey, and I was sent on my merry way with Pansy at my side. She, and I do mean this fondly, droned on about how sorry she was( âPansy, I said it was fine.â âNo, it isnât fine! Those nitwits could have done far worse-â) and how sheâll have Riddle pay me back.
âReally, he is a nice guy!â
âSo Iâve heardâŠâ I mumbled, a migraine settling in, and I had half a mind to turn back around to the hospital wing and demand enough tonic to let me sleep for a week.
âWhy donât I just take you back to my dorm and we can watch a movie, eat a few snacks. I still have a ton a chocolate frogs left from our last sleepover.â
I sighed, and gave a small smile. I didnât really feel like it, but if it would make dear Pansy stop worrying, I folded.
The Slytherin dungeons were oddly warm considering being so far underneath the Black Lake. The stained glass casted rays of green and blue lighting among the common room, and fish swam past the great windows. The common room was nearly empty save for a few students among the chairs reading, a couple playing wizard chess, and a small group of familiar faces occupying the couches in front of the fire place.
The first to turn around was Blaise Zabini, and he greeted Pansy with a smile, then turned to me with a small wince. âHow're you feeling?â
âBetter now. Thank you.â
Zabini nodded, turning his gaze back to the ever incessantly whining Malfoy. Pansy rolled her eyes, and I could feel the âhe turned me into a lesbian,â building in her chest. We retired to her room before her own cat-fight could break out
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It was around 2 am when we emerged from Pansyâs room again, both hungry and unable to sleep even after indulging in far too many sweets. She took my hand, racing me down flights of stairs until we stumbled back into the common room with a small giggle that abruptly stopped at the sight of the same group of boys on the couch. Two new heads had joined the count, and simultaneously each turned to face the two of us.
I locked eyes with Mattheo Riddle, and he looked away.
Fucking dick.
âWhat was it this time?â Pansy broke the silence, dragging me to the couch now. She sat at the end, myself in the middle, and coincidentally, Riddle on my other side.
Theodore Nott, who sat across the center table from Riddle, nursing his swollen eye with an ice bag answered. âHe broke my pipe.â
Mattheo Riddle rolled his eyes, âI said I'm sorry and I'll pay you back." He snapped, and Nott yelled something about that being his favorite glass.
Pansy tskâd them, reaching for the bowl of fruit on the table, plucking herself an apple and offering me an orange. My nails, cut short due to nervous picking and biting, dug at the thick skin. I lifted my head only when I heard my name being spoken, and I met Nottâs gaze.
âHowâs your nose?â
I swore he made a snide glance at Riddle, who visibly tense and turned farther away from me.
âItâs fine. Easily fixed.â I turned my gaze back to the orange, biting my cheek in frustration as my nail continued to slip from the peel. A blush rose to my cheeks in frustration.
âSo it was broken. You need to watch where youâre swinging those damn elbows, Riddle.â
Riddle gave Nott the finger, and the company around us laughed. I laughed along, but sighed as I ultimately gave up trying to peel the orange. Pathetic. At least no one had seemed to notice or care.
âNo one would have gotten hurt had you not been a little bitch.â Snapped Mattheo to Theodore, and his bruised hand grabbed the orange from my own so quickly I almost didnât realize it had happened.
His fingers worked swiftly, removing the skin of the fruit before he put it back in my hands. He stood up, âIâm sick of your shit, going to bed. Donât make too much noise when you come up.â He mumbled, and Theodore rolled his eyes. âYeah, yeah. Donât get your panties in a twist, princess.â
I stared down at the peeled orange in my hand. Slowly, I pulled a carpel from the rest of the fruit.
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Things had seemed to turn around for me, lately.
Maybe it was a lucky streak, but the bench I frequented in my free time to read had been consistently available despite being a popular spot most days. Along with that, My favorite seat in History of Magic, which had been unrightfully stolen by a group of friends, had been returned to me (It was my favorite because it's located on the far back wall, perfect for an unseen nap). I even walked into potions and found a little note of all the questions that were to be asked during the class, and all of their answers.
Pansy laid her head in my lap, whining about a girl she was pining for, while I flipped through pages of an uninteresting book on potion ingredients. She sat up slowly, yawning and stretching her arms above her head. "It's the weekend, what are we doing here? Lets go for a walk." she urged, and I grabbed my bag and followed. We walked through hallways mindlessly, chatting about the most recent rumors.
There was a yell from down the hall as we turned a corner, and before either of us could look, a body came hurdling into mine. I fell to the ground, hard enough that the air was knocked from my lungs. I gasped desperately, tears rushing to my eyes at the sudden pain of hard stone on my back, and a massive body on top of me.
It pushed itself up onto its hands, hovering over me.
I looked Mattheo Riddle square in the eye, and I could see the color drain from his face.
"Well? Get off of her!" I heard Pansy shriek, and once he had moved, Pansy helped me off the ground. I looked up at her, smiling in thanks, before I met Mattheo Riddle's gaze again. He stared at me for a moment longer, opening his mouth to say something. He shut it again, and turned away. Zabini raced around the corner, eyes wide as he took in the scene.
"You beat her up again?"
The look Mattheo gave Blaise sent a chill down my spine.
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The next day, Pansy and I found a box of chocolates outside of my dorm.
"Someone has a secret admirer!" She chimed in a sing-song voice.
I blushed a little bit at the notion. It was nice to think, but I insisted it was left at the wrong door and we should leave it. After much convincing, Pansy folded.
"I'm sure it's meant for you. You're probably hurting someone's feelings," She sighed.
"Then they should have left a note."
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It was frigid outside, the wind nipping at my nose, and I pulled my scarf further over my face. The courtyard was empty, most everyone opting to hide away in the warmth of their common rooms, and I started to feel like a fool for daring to come outside. At least it was quiet. I collected my bag, sliding my books into their place when the crunch of snow behind me sent be jumping in surprise.
I whipped my head around and audibly gasped when I met dark brown eyes.
"Do you not like chocolate?"
The question took me off guard, and I obviously took too long to answer when Mattheo started talking again.
"It's fine if you don't. I didn't really know what you would have liked," Mattheo rubbed his hands together, suddenly looking anywhere but at me. He looked nervous. Was Mattheo Riddle nervous?
"Just⊠It was anâŠ" he stumbled over his words, scratching at his palm. "Y'know⊠Merlin, will you just say something?" he snapped, tugging on his scarf.
I couldn't help but stare at him. He looked so.. small.
"You got me chocolate?"
"Did⊠you not get it? I left it outside of your door."
I bit the inside of my cheek. Mattheo Riddle had gotten me chocolates. Why? "I didn't think they were for me."
"Why wouldn't they have been?"
"I thought someone had just left them at the wrong door."
Mattheo looked appalled at the very notion. He ran his hands through his hair, taking a deep, frustrated breath. "Why would I have left chocolates outside of anyone else's door?"
"You didn't leave a note. I didn't know who they were for, or what they were for, or if they were poisoned!"
Mattheo groaned, mumbling something about Zabini lying when he said girls were clever, "Well they were for you! To⊠apologize! For breaking your nose, and then knocking you over, and what I was doing before just didn't seem like enough!"
My mouth felt dry, and I shook my head. "What you were doing before? You could have just said sorry!"
Mattheo sighed, "The.. the seats in class- I had detention for weeks because I knew you liked napping in history of magic, and you were struggling in potions- and.. Really I deserve a 'thank you'!"
"Well then, Thank you."
A blush crept up to Matheo's cheeks, though I'm sure it was just the cold getting to him.
"I'm sorry."
I smiled, reaching to grab my bag off of the bench. "I forgive you."
Mattheo grabbed the bag before I could, and I looked up at him in confusion as he slung it over his shoulder. 'I'll carry it for you," Is all he mumbled while pulling his scarf tighter around his red face.
#slytherin boys#mattheo riddle x reader#mattheo riddle#mattheo riddle fluff#mattheo riddle x reader fluff#mattheo riddle imagine#mattheo x you
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summary: when a disease turns the world into an apocalyptic landscape, you join a group in order to survive. you find yourself drawn to a certain blue-eyed man for no explainable reason. though the two of you have your own pasts to deal with, the two of you grow closer and closer together. after all, it seems as though youâre the only lovers left alive
pairing: gojo satoru x fem!reader
genre: post apocalypse au, strangers to friends to lovers, slight angst, fluff, smut, some hurt comfort, inspired by some of the events from the last of us
word count: 16k+
warnings: 18+ mdni, some heavy-ish themes, mentions of suicide, smut, heavy making out, fingering, vaginal penetration, cum eating, slight begging, gojo is a teeny bit of a dick but overall just doesnât know how to handle emotions
note: i did take some inspo from the last of us, so if you see something you might recognize, itâs because i most likely based something off of it. nothing too major though, but the infected here are like the ones in the game/show. i donât want any comments saying i stole the idea bc i stg iâll just combustÂ
also a thank you for @jadeisthirstingâ for beta-reading again, love her!
You were glad that chocolate bars survived the apocalypse.Â
Those, along with chips (you donât look at expiration dates anymore), crackers, and protein bars seemed to stand the tests of time.Â
The abandoned convenience store was harshly run down. The glass was shattered, and you could hear the crunch of shards underneath your boots whenever you walked up and down the aisles. Vegetation took reign in most of the area, and vines grew alongside the walls and the counters. Weeds sprung through the cracks in the floor and long blades of grass peeked in from the outside.Â
A lot of the aisles were already ransacked from those who came before, but you had to admit that this place was in much better condition food-wise than all the others you had seen. You loaded your cart with whatever you could find; cereal, bars, chips, instant ramen, jerky, really anything that wasnât perishable by your standards.Â
You also made sure to stock up on medical supplies while you were here. Antiseptic, rolls of bandages, needles for stitching, medical tape. You were able to find a bottle of disinfectant and some rubbing alcohol, so you spent a couple of minutes cheering over the small victory.Â
The rays of sun that peeked through and washed out certain parts of the store a quiet orange made it seem more serene than it actually was, and you took your time as you leaned on the cart handle, walking slowly as you tried to pretend like you were just shopping for amenities like you would years ago, without the fear of the outside world trying to hunt you down the moment you stepped out.Â
Under your breath you hummed a soft tune, letting your fingers run over the empty shelves as you looked around.Â
Many opened boxes littered the ground. None of them were to your benefit so you just stepped over them, tapping something on your arm to keep your mind busy. It was only noon, so you had a couple of hours to waste before it got dark.
Though you had the hunting rifle near you in case anything popped out in front of you, you liked to pretend that there was no danger when you rounded a corner. It saved a little naive part of your mind to imagine that everything was normal when you knew that it wasnât. Â
â...yeah, no, no, I agree, I justâŠâÂ
You stopped in your tracks, air hitching in your throat as you went rigid upon hearing the muffled voices.Â
âI heard the bunkers in Kyoto and Osaka fellâŠradio transmission,â It was a female voice, that much you could make out. But assessing the sound of feet shuffling on the floor and the other sounds, you knew there had two be at least two people, maybe even more.Â
You couldnât even remember the last time you had heard somebody speak. You tried to remember, raking your mind for when it was, and it must have been months ago, maybe even a year, and that was just a small encounter. You doubted the guy even saw you. And this is far worse, they closed and you have nowhere to hide without making a sound. They could be raiders or scavengers. One of them could be infected without the other's knowledge. Millions of thoughts ran through your head as you tried to rationalize with yourself.
âWhat happened to the one in Nara?â This time it was a male voice, and much closer than before. They were probably only a few aisles away until they reached you. You could feel your heart beating uncontrollably fast, rattling against your ribcage as your mind faltered on what to you.Â
âTheyâre not letting people inside. They deter anybody unless you have a pre-bought cabin there.â The first woman replied, and you could hear some glass clanking as she kicked an empty beer bottle (from what you could deduce), across the floor.Â
âHow do you know so much?â Another male asked. Three so far, you made a mental note as you tried shoving all your food and things in any pocket you could find, shoving the big bottle of rubbing alcohol down your shirt to nestle on your bra. You didnât risk your life trying to find this place just to have some strangers take the things you so desperately need.
âThey play messages on the radio at night. If you didnât go to sleep so fuckinâ fast you might hear something useful.â The first girl said, but there was no bite to her voice. She even chuckled, and you swore one of the other guys laughed too.Â
âWhy canât we just stay where we are? We havenât seen any infected here.â Four. This time it was another girl's voice. So far, two females and two males. You were severely outnumbered. You doubted you were that skilled, even in all your years, to surpass four people. Â
Deciding to leave a few bars behind, you gingerly moved past the cart, making sure not to make a sound as you tiptoed across the broken bottles and glass. You held your breath and tried to hold onto your jacket, not wanting anything to fall out.Â
You tried to phase out whatever they were saying so you could stay focused. You squinted your eyes as rays of the sun blinded you when they peeked through some cracks in the ceiling. You shuffled slowly and precisely, your heart quite literally beating in your throat as moved around the debris on the floor.Â
You could see the double doors, both open as you let out an inaudible sigh of relief when you saw them, a promise that you werenât going to die right here when-
CRUNCH.
You stopped, eyes slowly falling down to the comically large piece of glass under your foot, now shattered into a million pieces as you stop breathing. You wait for abated second, thinking nobody heard until you heard some clattering coming from behind you.Â
âWhat the fuck was that?â One of the girls asked, her laughter long gone from her voice as her question rang through the store.Â
âI donât knowâŠwait hereâŠâ
You could run, it wasnât that far to the door, but you were frozen in your place. It was like whenâŠyou couldnât even think about it. Your mind blanked, your limbs not moving despite your brain willing them to do something, anything.
It felt like that day all over again, the weakness and fear that overtook your mind and body as you shook, your legs cramping, your hands shivering as your eyes darted around, your lips clamped between your teeth as blood roared in your ears.Â
You wondered if youâd been faster or more agile something may have gone differently. But really, no matter what you were wouldnât have altered the fact that you saw a blur of clothes from your peripheral, craning to look to your right as your eyes meet bright blue ones.Â
Your brows furrowed when the two of you locked eyes, your chests moving up and down as you looked at the weapon in his hand, drawn out, pointing at your head as you blinked, mind going into overdrive as you let out a heavy sigh of air.
He looked angelic and you wanted to smack yourself for that being your first thought. His hair was artic white, tainted a bright yellow as the sun shined over him. He had a sturdy jaw and a tall frame. Long and delicate fingers clutching onto a weapon, getting ready to pull it out the moment he saw you.Â
Sure, you could blame it on the fact that you hadnât seen a man for over three years, but you knew that even despite your blurry and confused judgment he was better looking than most of the guys youâve seen most of your life.Â
There were a few seconds where neither of you said anything, not really knowing what to say as you shifted ever so slightly on your left foot, not knowing if you ran to the door heâd shoot you in the process.Â
âSatoru?â A girl came in from behind him, looking at him and then to where his gaze fell until she saw you, a small aurora of surprise taking over her features.Â
âStay with Geto,â The man said, his voice harsh as his eyes narrowed on you, his face unreadable but cold nonetheless as his focus never left your every tiny motion. Taking in all of your features, your clothes, your skin, your eyes. Anything that could give away that you were infected.Â
Your eyes darted from him to the girl to his side, not knowing who to look at. The person with the gun pointed at you or the one who stared at you as if you were an artifact, a token she hadnât seen before.Â
âIâm not a threat,â You say after a couple more seconds of unbearable silence, your voice hoarse from barely using it anymore. You rub at your throat, wincing a little as you put your arms up to show that you have nothing in your hands, âI swear Iâll just leave and nothing else.âÂ
The girl stayed where she was, gnawing on her lip as she shoved the man's arms with hers.Â
âShe seems fine-âÂ
âSeems doesnât mean sheâs not infected.â He snapped, never taking his eyes away from you as he pulled his elbow away from her grasp. His voice had a bite to it, sending chills that traveled down your spine. He had no emotion on his face, clear of anything human.Â
âI-Iâm not infected.â You retaliate, taking a tentative step forward, watching as his grip on his gun became tighter, and taking a step back as he pushed the girl behind him. You put your arms up again, worried you were playing with fate as you slowly and carefully put your bare arms under a ray of light, making sure he could see your actions. You tugged on your sleeves, pulled down the collar of your shirt, and showed him your calves, anything to prove that you werenât bitten.Â
âSeeâŠ?âÂ
You waited, his stare jumping from your face to your arm, different gears in his head turning as he debated what to do.Â
ââToru, sheâs not infected,â The girl said, trying to nudge his hand so heâd lower the weapon, âSheâs right, sheâd be in pain right now if she was.âÂ
But he didnât move, his jaw ticking as he shook his head, seemingly still not believing you.
âHow do I know you all arenât infected?â You snapped, angry, as you tried to hide the quiver in your voice. They could be and theyâre doing well to hide it.Â
âWeâre not.â He said, his voice steady, confident, and not carrying any trace of a lie.
âWhatâs taking so long?â Another voice joined the three of you, a man, the same in height as the one in front of you as he clasped a hand on his shoulder, his brow cocking in surprise when he saw you. His hair was a stark black, pulled into a bun behind his head. Some strands had escaped and fallen out. He seemed far more easygoing than the man next to him, though. His eyes were brighter and his smile was genuine. He looked over to the side as the girl shrugged, worry lacing her features as he drummed his fingers in her arm. He looked back at you, giving you a tiny smile, âWhatâs your name sweetheart?â
âDoesnât matter if youâd just let me go.â You said, your voice mirroring the white-haired man, the new guyâs lips pulling into a little grin as he let out a deep laugh.
âDrop the gun âToru, sheâs fine.â The new guy said with a laugh, stepping forward as you took one back, your lungs squeezing together tightly as you went to grab the weapon strapped on your back.
He raised his hands as you had seconds ago, trying to show that he wasnât intending any harm as he took another step forward. The playful look he had on his face melted away, forming to something softer as he took in the cuts that littered your cheek and knew, the way your eyes darted from his hands to his face to detect any danger.Â
âHello,â He started with a careful smile, not wanting to scare you off, âIâm Geto, but my friends call me Suguru,â He pointed to the girl behind him, âVera even calls me dumb bitch-â
âOnly when Iâm mad!â She argued, shooting you an apologetic and embarrassed smile when she realized you were there too, and he snorted, continuing.Â
âAnd the blue-eyed freak is Satoru. Annaâs back there, somewhere. Swear we donât mean any harm. Heâs just,â He glanced behind him at the man who was slowly lowering the gun, his face still clearly telling that he was weary of you, âCautious.âÂ
He held out his hand, far larger than yours, for a shake.Â
You tilted your head to the side, eyes squinting a little bit as you tried to make out just what he was trying to do.
But you dropped your hand from grasping onto the leather strap of your weapon, your fingers stretching, itching for some human contact as you debated for a little bit. Surely but slowly you brought your hand to his, softly clutching it to see a smile overtake his features.Â
âY/n,â You reciprocate with a small smile of your own, your chapped lips not used to the feeling. His fingers were long as they overtook yours, calloused, but human. They gave yours a gentle squeeze, almost as if he could tell, and you have one back. Something that you never realized you had missed up until this very moment, âMy nameâs y/n.â
He said your name once under his breath to commit it to memory.Â
âYou going anywhere specific?â He asked, his hands crossed across his chest as he waited patiently for you to answer.Â
You swallowed dryly, in desperate need of some water as you pointed somewhere north.Â
âHeard thereâs a camp somewhere in TakayamaâŠyou?âÂ
He chuckled, nodding as if he couldnât believe your words, looking behind him as the girl you guessed was Vera let out a small laugh too. The blue-eyed man, Satoru you deduced, stayed stoic, not giving anything away.
âBy any chance are you talking about that one camp that has running water ân shit?âÂ
You nod, not trusting your voice anymore as you blink.Â
âNice,â He cocked his head in the direction of his group, the second girl, Anna, now walking in to see what the fuss was about, âThatâs where weâre going too. Or at least, trying to. Care to join?â
You quickly learned that this group was different from your old one.Â
They were serious, sure, but everybody was given the predicament. They were on guard at any sudden noise, guns drawn and ready, but they still acted like you guess they would have back in their old lives. They made jokes, laughed at each other's stupid mistakes, and spent the days and nights filling the silence with whatever they could.Â
It was jarring, really, seeing how your old group of six never laughed nor had a moment of naĂŻve fun, but you were far more fond of this than that.
âDamn, so youâre the youngest one here then?â Geto asked one day as you five trudged through an abandoned city. You looked up, mouth parted in slight awe as you took in the strange sights; abandoned skyscrapers, some tilting over a bit. Many were severely destroyed by the bombings. There were large craters on the ground, concrete slabs, and building chunks that fell into them. Geto nudged your side, snapping you from your trance as he waited for you to answer.
âOh, um, yeah, I guess,â Your cheeks heated up in embarrassment, âOnly by a little bit though. I was about to graduate high school when it started and I guess that was like what, five-ish years ago?â You couldnât distinctly remember, time had just become a construct after so many months.
Vera and Anna had begun talking about how old they were when it started, and you had gotten roped into the conversation.Â
âYouâre the baby of the group now!â Anna exclaimed, pinching your cheeks with a giggle as you laughed softly, looking down at the cracked concrete beneath your feet as your backpack thumped on your back with every step you took, âIt's good though,â She whispered in your ear, âYou can use it to get out of chores.â You snickered at that, rolling your eyes but thankful for the tip.
You found out that Anna was only a couple of months older than you. Then came Geto, who was a year older than you two, Vera was around as old as him, and Gojo was two years older than you.Â
âWait, so youâve been traveling alone all these years?â Anna was the one to ask as she walked closer to you, her brows pinched together in confusion,Â
You could have sworn it was an unspoken rule not to talk about the past unless somebody brought it up directly.
âNo, no,â You shook your head as your nose wrinkled at the thought, âI was part of a bigger group. But we,â You looked away, at nothing in particular as a sharp pang ran through your chest, âWe split up a while ago. Thatâs when I went solo.â
She nodded in understanding, pulling her hair back as she tied it up, fanning her face at the heat. The sun was beating harshly on your face, sweat prickling at your hairline as you squinted through the bright light.
âWas it hard?â Anna asked, clearly not picking up on your reluctance to the subject.Â
You swallowed, feeling like a part of your chest was heavier than it was seconds before as you cleared your throat.Â
âI, well,â You shrugged, stammering a bit, âA little bit, but I learned how to-â
âHowâd you get your food?â She cut you off. You could tell she wasnât trying to do any harm, her eyes shining with childish curiosity but it didnât do anything to hide the fact that it quite literally felt like your throat was closing up.Â
âI would hunt or find whatever I co-â
âSo you like being part of a group?âÂ
âYeah-â
âDid it ever get lonely?â
âAnna,â Gojo cut her off, his voice not loud but commanding enough to get everybody's attention, speaking for the first time in what seemed a couple of hours, âCalm down.âÂ
Her eyes darted from you to him, finally noting the overwhelmed expression that you were trying your best to hide as she muttered out a quiet sorry. She moved to talk to Vera, and you were thankful that it wasnât awkward as you went back to looking at the buildings.Â
You gave him a small nod, grateful, but he only blinked, looking away as he went back to listening to whatever Geto was telling him. You huffed out a small embarrassed laugh, not putting much thought into it as you kicked a pebble across the ground, feeling the wind tickle your cheeks as you tried to hold back the sting of tears in your eyes.Â
Gojo didnât say much, even after you joined their group, and Vera told you it was normal and not to take it to heart. So you didnât try to talk much with him, not wanting to push and prod at any of his boundaries. But he was nice otherwise, in his own ways. He took the night watch, letting you guys sleep, and insisted that he was fine with it. He was attentive, always giving the rest of his food to Anna when she complained about how hungry she was. He was cautious, as Geto would put it, but you couldnât blame him. You were cautious too.
Did it ever get lonely? Her question rang through your mind. It was stupid, youâve only known her for a short amount of time. Hell, youâve only known these people for a couple of weeks but it felt like she had dug a hot iron into your chest with the simple query. It was pathetic, really, but it was that thing where the more you tried to stop yourself from crying the worse it became, and that seemed to be true right now.Â
You fell behind a little bit, not anything much, but enough so that you were by yourself as you looked up. You found it easier to control your emotions as you blinked back the tears, not wanting to wipe them away in case anybody noticed. In front of you, you could hear Vera and Anna arguing about something minuscule, smiles still on their faces as they playfully banter back and forth.Â
The wind began to pick up a bit, your eyes watering even more as you blinked back the fat tears that were threatening to fall and roll down your cheek, biting your lip as if that could make it stop.
âEverything alright?â
Your head whipped to the side to where the voice came from, a little surprised to see Gojo walking next to you. His hair was tucked behind his ears, hands in his pockets as he waited for your response.Â
As you blinked in shock a small tear fell, and you quickly wiped it away with the back of your hand, no use in hiding it now as you nodded, lips quivering a bit as you sniffled. You could count the number of times he had spoken to you on a single hand, so you hid it by looking away. Your cheeks heated up under his heavy stare, not used to it, especially from him.Â
âY-yeah, Iâm good.â You said as you exhaled shakily, not having the guts to look at him as you just stared directly ahead of you at the three heads of the other members of the group. But you weren't good at masking the lie as you watched from the corner of your eyes as he pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to you.Â
Looking at his outstretched hand you saw a tissue and your eyes darted to him in questioning.Â
âItâs not poisoned, yâknow.â He told you, his voice slightly less monotone as you let out a watery laugh, tentatively taking it from him as you whispered out a hushed thanks.Â
You blew your nose as quietly as you could, feeling bad as you threw it to the side of the street you blinked again, hoping this time you could do a better job of controlling your pesky and fragile emotions with somebody next to you.
There was a silent beat as neither of you said anything, wringing your fingers together as you tried to look for an explanation for all this. It was stupid, childish, and downright embarrassing, but you still couldnât find the words to justify anything.
âAnna can be like that. You learn to live with it.â Gojo finally said, interrupting your train of thought as he spoke. You could tell he was slowing down his pace to match yours, his long legs taking shorter steps and you almost laughed at the sight.Â
âItâs okay,â You said, rubbing at your eyes again as your nose wrinkled again, âIâm just not used to beingâŠâ
âBombarded?â He said, finding the right word as you nodded with a small chuckle.
âYeah⊠that. I know itâs stupid. I donât even know why IâmâŠâ You trailed off, wiping at your eyes with your palms as you took in a shaky breath, âItâs just been a while since Iâve talked this much, so Iâm still trying to get used to itâŠsorry.â You let out a little hiccup, missing the way his lips almost pulled into a smile at the sound.Â
âDonât apologize,â He said, shrugging as he kicked a piece of broken asphalt across the sidewalk, âItâs not your fault.â
You went to open your mouth to say something back but Geto waved his arms, motioning the two of you to the rest of them as he pointed to something on the ground.Â
âOi, Gojo, come check this out. I donât know if this is a cordyceps or a regular mushroom.âÂ
And you glanced at the man next to you one more time but he was already jogging forward to see what the fuss was about. It didnât matter much, it shouldnât have, but you couldnât stop the way your little heart fluttered pathetically at his words. You quickened your pace, shaking your head at the thought as you joined the group once again.
But as much as you tried you couldnât get his final words out of your head. Itâs not your fault. How you wish it were true. If only he knew, heâd probably eat his own words. Swallow them up so that they were never spoken into existence because it was your fault. But you couldnât say that now.Â
You hated that time between day and night more than anything.Â
When the crickets chirped and the sky became darker than it should have, casting a shadow over the ground. The stars were freckles across the sky and the light breeze didnât distract you from the fact that clickers could be a stone's throw away from you without you ever realizing it.Â
The abandoned apartment complex they decided to spend the night in was definitely in better condition than the ones surrounding it, but even with the extensive search you guys did up and down to make sure it was clear of any danger, you still felt a little nauseous as they set up base in the lobby.Â
Your sleeping bags were sprawled out on the marble floor lined with dirt. You had your backpack next to you, your gun within arm's reach. Next to the fire was an array of cans to pick from, but you werenât hungry, not in the slightest. You could barely stomach anything after Annaâs bombardment of questions that left you a quiet mess, and being surrounded by people in the dark just made it worse.
âHungry?â Vera held out a can of preserved peaches but you shot your head, biting back the sick that made its way up to your throat at the thought of eating. You could feel her eyes burning on the side of your face but she didnât press any further, eating as the two of you listened to Geto talk about his plan for reaching the camp in Takayama.Â
He was the more animated one of the two males. He talked with his hands, his face contorting in different ways as he conversed with Anna. Gojo sat on the side, watching the flames dance across the rocks, his blue eyes lit a color youâve never seen before as he listened in his own way to the conversation.
âI saw you earlier,â Vera whispered as she leaned in closer to you, throwing the empty can aside as she wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin, pointing to Geto so your attention could stay on him while you listened to her, mostly not to draw any attention from the others as she tucked her hair behind her ear, âTalking with Satoru.â
Your brows furrowed in confusion, looking at Vera but she nudged you to look back at Geto, continuing.Â
âI know heâs not the easiest person to warm up to,â She said with a shrug, picking at her nails as he glanced at you with a soft smile, âHe used to be, before all this. I canât really blame him for being on guard-â You nodded in understanding and she softly chuckled at your response, âBut he cares.âÂ
About what? You wanted to ask but didnât want to prod too much.Â
âSo you knew him before?â This was an easier one to answer, and she nodded, cracking her thumb as she rested her head on her arm. The light from the little fire Geto made casted red and orange shadows on the highlights of her face, and she seemed younger here (she wasnât even old). Her wrinkles were gone, eyes were less full of stress.
âYeah, he lived near us. Us, being me and Geto.â She quickly said to save you the confusion. Huh, you thought to yourself, no wonder they were so close.
âSo you all grew up together?âÂ
âYeah,â Her lips pulled into a soft smile, eyes creasing around the edges as she sat in thought, âFrom elementary school up until university. Geto and Gojo were even doing pre-med together.âÂ
You almost wanted to laugh at the thought.Â
âI know, itâs weird. I canât even begin to think of what theyâd be like as doctors. But their parents wanted them to do it, so they just went along with whatever they said.âÂ
âWhat were you doing?â You asked, not even trying to focus on Geto anymore, finding her stories far more interesting. After some time you quickly learned that Vera had much to say when she wanted to, she was just selective when she did.Â
âI was planning on becoming a teacher. It pissed my parents off, but I liked it.â Her words were soft, almost as if thinking about it brought back better memories. And you bet it probably did, a future she once wanted now far away from her reach.Â
âAnd Anna? Did she grow up with you guys too?âÂ
She shook her head, stifling a yawn as her eyelids drooped a little bit.Â
âNo, we met Anna along the way. She and Emi were close though,â She said, rubbing at her tired face, dragging it down as she tried to fight the sleep threatening its way through her body.Â
Emi?
You watched as her eyes widened slightly, looking over at you to see if you caught the name and she sighed in obvious disappointment, mad at herself for the slip-up. Mumbling something along the lines of shit to herself as she blinked quickly.
âDonât - donât ask,â She shot you a look and you dared to go against it, her face once lined with empathy turned stone cold, threatening even as her voice loomed its way through your bones, âDonât say anything about that. Okay?âÂ
You nod, muttering out a soft ok, almost too scared to answer her loudly as she nodded, clearly not happy with it but knowing there wasnât much else she could do.Â
So you didnât press it, pretending like you heard nothing as you nodded along to whatever Geto was saying. Though nothing could hide the fiery spark of curiosity that came with the new name, one you had never heard here before.Â
You wondered why she tried to hide it.
That night you couldnât sleep.Â
Youâd toss and turn, turning your pillow around to see if it would make a difference, but nothing was able to lull you into a tranquil state of being.Â
The apartment would creak and groan sometimes, the stories above you stable enough not to collapse, but weak enough to freak you out from shutting your eyes as you stared at them. The crystal chandelier overhead was overrun by dust, and it would sway a little when the wind from outside picked up.
After a couple of minutes, you gave up, huffing in annoyance as you rubbed at your sleepy eyes, wishing they would just work with the rest of your body and sleep, but that was a pathetic attempt and didnât work.
You got up, careful not to make a sound and disturb anybody sleeping around you, and looked around, looking for somewhere to sit that was safe and peaceful enough to help ease your mind.Â
Moving as if you were about to step on a bomb, you found the reception desk, the paint peeling, and the wood corroding. It gave you a good view of the main apartment entrance, so you felt more comfortable there having a view of almost anything.Â
Resting your back on it you let out a heavy sigh, your chest moving as your head fell back, thudding against it softly as you played with your fingers.Â
âWhyâre you up?âÂ
You almost yelped but controlled the urge as you jumped in your spot, eyes darting around till they found a faint mop of white hair to your left. He was prodding at the last embers of the fire with a metal pipe, moving them around as they made soft crinkling sounds with his every move. You wondered to yourself, both in shame and worry, how you had somehow failed to miss that.
âWere you watching me?â You whispered, wincing as you tried to lower the volume, scoffing at that being the first thing that came to mind.Â
âI am on watch duty.â He said, his voice tinged with a bit of sarcasm as his brow raised a little bit. You could barely make him out with your limited vision, but you could tell from where he was standing that he was only a couple of feet away from you.Â
âYou didnât answer my first question.â He reminded you after a beat of silence, his voice low as he tried not to wake anybody up.Â
You yawned, shrugging as you picked up a rock not to your thigh, moving it around in your hand as your fingers ran along its smooth and imperfect crevices, its cool touch calming you down a little bit.Â
âCanât sleep.â You responded after a bit of thinking, but it really was the truth. Maybe a simplified version of it, but it caused him to let out a quiet scoff, obviously not satisfied with your lazy response.Â
âInsomnia or bad dreams?âÂ
You laughed a bit, your lips quirking at the edges as you clicked your tongue against the roof of your mouth.Â
âYou would have made a spectacular doctor.âÂ
He took in a sharp breath of air and you laughed, stifling your giggle with your hand. His reaction telling you he obviously didnât want that knowledge to be spread around.Â
âSwear to god, thatâs all she told me though.â You say, holding up your hands as if a pledge of your honesty though you doubted he could even see it. You heard him snort, obviously not buying it but not saying anything about it as he pushed at the coals around a little more.Â
A small rush of wind moved the dust and twigs next to you, the whooshing sound somewhat tranquil as it filled the silence. It wasnât awkward like you thought itâd be, but it wasnât comfortable either. It was a place right in the middle, but it was better than your past three interactions with him.Â
You tried to squint, trying to make out his features. He was attractive, that much you could admit. Even if you met him before seeing a man became a rare occurrence you would have had the same thought. His frame was sturdy, lean, and tall. He filled out his clothes rather nicely, and his face was passive and a grimace away from forming a scowl, but you could tell he once used to laugh a lot more if the smile lines told you anything.Â
You wondered if the name Emi had anything to do with him losing his smile.Â
âTell me something about yourself then.âÂ
A shocked laugh threatened to bubble out of your throat at his sudden statement.Â
âW-Why?â You stuttered out with a laugh, confused as you shifted where you were sitting, tilting your head a little bit to the side, wishing heâd move so you could see clearly just who it was you were talking to.Â
âYou know too much about me,â He said as if it was obvious, shrugging his shoulders as he set the metal pipe down gently to not make any noise, âI donât know anything about you. Other than you canât sleep and are learning to talk more.âÂ
A part of you wondered if he was being genuine or trying to be snarky.Â
But you just snorted, rolling your eyes at the absurdity of this as you threw your hands, looking up as you thought for a second for something interesting yet boring enough to shut him up so you could have some quiet time.Â
âI can only eat semi-sweet or dark chocolate. Milkâs a little too sweet for me.âÂ
You could hear a snort in response, probably the first youâd ever heard from him as he shuffled around a little bit, his shadow moving a little bit closer to where you were sitting. The ray of moonlight illuminated part of his face, his white lashes fluttering against his cheeks as you watched him rest his chin on the palm of his hand.Â
âSeems like weâre complete opposites there,â He admitted, his lips threatening to tug into a smile, but he controlled it as if he didnât want you to see that part of his hidden emotions.
âThen Iâll give you any milk chocolate bars I find.âÂ
He huffed, a part of his lip caught under his teeth as he considered the thought.Â
âIs that good enough for you?â
He shook his head quickly, comically as you sighed, some sleep finally settling in as you rub at your forehead. You could feel the headache coming from a mile away.Â
âNeed something more personal,â He retaliated, moving a little bit so that he wasnât putting all his weight on his arms, his toned chest moving as he resituated himself. You tried to not make it obvious that you were staring, âWhatâs your favorite color?âÂ
âWell now youâve gone too far,â You say with a little laugh, the most genuine one youâve had in a while. You miss the way his face almost mirrors yours, the edges of his lips threatening to pull up into a grin as you smile. âI like yellow.â You finally answer, your smile faltering as you think back.Â
âAny particular reason or do you just like the color of piss?â Â
âI had this perfume bottle, I got it for my birthday when I was twelve. The actual perfume smelled disgusting but the bottle itself was this glass-stained yellow, a soft yellow that I havenât seen anywhere else.â You explained, bringing one leg up to your chest, and wrapping your arms around it to steady yourself.Â
âWhat about you?â He shook his head, waving his pointed finger around, clearly not answering a question yet.Â
âNo, still on you. Where were you when this all started?â Gojo asked, and the jump from the previous question to this one took you off guard. If you were counting correctly he had two more facts above you than you did for him, but you indulged him, having nothing better to do with your time.Â
âAt home. I was watching TV with my dad when they broadcasted that signal,â You paused, the memories flooding back as you tried to blink them away. The car, your neighbors who were already infected, âYou?âÂ
For a second you thought he wasnât going to answer but he shifted, running a hand through his hair as he whistled quietly, thinking.
âI was in a lecture hall.âÂ
âFor your doctor lectures?âÂ
He chuckled, for the first time since youâve known him, shaking his head as he eventually nodded, knowing that you were probably never going to give up the information. You watched as he rested his chin on his palm, the new angle giving you a better view of him and you felt your cheeks heating up under his gaze.Â
âYeah,â He couldnât fight the smile anymore, his face turning softer as he smirked, âFor my doctor lectures.â
âGo sleep,â He said after a heavy beat of silence, his voice softer as he watched you wipe at your eyes, a big yawn escaping your mouth as you blinked tiredly, âItâs almost morning.âÂ
You shake your head, wondering why a part of you was disappointed that he was right. As you stood up, wiping the dust from your pants as you shuffled your way around some bricks, finding your way back to your sleeping bag (with more difficulty than youâd like to admit), and threw it over your body. You could feel his eyes burning on your back, but you shut your eyes and pretended that you were asleep.
A couple of weeks after that night and you wondered if you had somehow passed a test.
While he still didnât speak much to you, he wasnât cautious nor weary when he did.Â
Gojo still didnât laugh or smile much, but his little grin was less guarded when you spoke to him. Maybe it was to save you the pity of your awful jokes, but a part of you felt happier knowing he warmed up to you a bit.
âYou just havenât heard these puns yet,â You argued one day, pulling out the book you found when you scavenged through an abandoned store about a week ago. It had water damage and some of the words you could barely read, âOkay, okay, what about this one? 3.14% of sailors are Pi-rates. Huh?â You looked up at him, wiggling your eyebrows only to see him with a disgruntled look, staring down at you as he shook his head in disappointment.Â
âNone of these should have been published.â He argued, and although he sounded disgruntled, there was an edge of him holding back a laugh.Â
âOh, I like this one!â You exclaimed with a giggle, Vera looking back at the two of you as she smiled to herself, nudging at Geto so he could see too, âWhat do you use to cut a Roman Emperor's hair?â He didnât say anything for a second so you lightly kicked his shin, waiting for an answer.
âI don't know, scissors?â You grinned, shocked at how close he was.
âAlmost, the answer is Ceasers,â You revealed with a giggle, showing Gojo the book as he sighed, rubbing at his forehead in faux annoyance. You put the book in your back pocket, careful when you fold it, wanting to save the rest for later, âDonât worry, Iâm saving the best for last.â You patted the pocket as he laughed, excusing himself as Geto called for him to check something out on the map. Your foot almost slipped when you walked on some grass, wet from the rain last night, and his hands soft out to grip your elbows, steadying you as you thanked him. Your skin felt like it was on fire from where his lingering touch was, and you looked away, hoping he couldnât pick up on the embarrassment.Â
âY/n, can you come here for a âsec?â Anna called your name, ushering you over as you looked around to see her walking a little bit behind you. And you made your way over to her, readjusting your backpack as your shoulder sunk a bit from how heavy it was.Â
She offered you a small smile, though you could tell she was thinking a lot of things through. You noticed that when that line appeared down the middle of her brow, it meant that she was deep in thought. That, or she was mad. But with the way her fingers danced on her arms in discomfort and her eyes darted around the rest of the group, you wanted to bet that she was going through it.
âWhatâs up?â You finally asked, just hoping there weren't any more questions about how difficult it was traveling alone.
âIâve seen that you and Gojo have gotten closer, w-which is great! Donât get me wrong!â She sputtered, shooting you a quick grin that didnât quite meet her eyes, âBut I feel like I should let you knowâŠâÂ
When she didnât finish you raised a brow, wondering what could possibly be so bad.Â
âDo,â She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she shook her body, deciding to just get it over with, âDo you remember that one night? In that apartment lobby?âÂ
You almost laughed. How could you forget?
âYeahâŠvaguely,â That was a fat lie. It was all you could think about in these following weeks. Your conversation with both Vera and Gojo plagued different parts of your mind for different reasons.Â
âListen, I couldnât help but overhear âVer, I didnât mean to eavesdrop, butâŠâ She trailed off, gnawing on her lip as her eye twitched, âI heard her say Emi and I know she brushed it off but I feel like you deserve to know about it. Youâve been with us long enough so that I can trust you with this.â
Was it really that easy? You didnât say anything, hoping the slight excitement and anticipation on your face wouldnât scare her away as you gave her the time she needed until she continued. She took in a deep breath and started.
âIâd known Emi for a long time now - gosh, probably over a decade at this point. She was nice, but she had her own flaws, but she was my only friend so I ignored them. When this,â She motioned her arms around you, âWhole thing happened, she was the only one I had. We were planning on going to a quarantine zone in Tokyo but it fell almost immediately, so we just went wherever we could.
âWe met up with those guys a couple of months later. Maybe two, two and a half years ago?â She thought back, shaking her head because it wasnât important to fixate on, âAnd they took us in. They were all really nice, including âToru.
âAfter a while, he and Emi got closer, and for that while, it was just a fling that would pass the time. But they cared for each, it was pretty obvious. Or from what she told me, it sounded like they did. But,â She bit her cheek, playing nervously with her fingers as she looked up at you, âit was hard. They fought. A lot,â She gave a humorless laugh as she looked back on it, âDay in and day out. They fought over the smallest of things. I swear, I donât know how-â She stopped, apologizing as she got back on track, âAnyways, what Iâm trying to get at is that one of these fights got bad. I canât even remember what it was about. Food? Maybe clothes? Doesnât matter. It got big and they said some shit neither of them meant, but Emi left. She said she was leaving, but nobody believed her. She always said shit like that. But she did, she left and we didnât see her for a couple of days.
ââToru was really worried, never seen him so scared before. He went out looking for her and came back a week later. He told us she was bitten, late in the stages of infection. He said he had toâŠâ She trailed off, voice catching in her throat and you quickly looked for a tissue, as she gratefully accepted it.
âI see the way you try to make him laugh, I know, but Emi took that part of him. He wasnât the same after she left, and I donât think he ever will be. So just - donât get your hopes up when youâre around him, okay?â
âI, um, okayâŠ?â But you didnât even know what you were agreeing to. You just knew that Anna nodded, thankful that you heard, and the two of you made your way back to your group. Maybe it was the way your face had lost all the laughter it had just a couple minutes ago, or that Anna somehow managed to see what you were trying to do, but Gojo glanced at you, his brows furrowing together in slight worry.Â
You donât know why the information affected you so much. It could have been just from how shocking it was to hear it, or the fact that Anna could tell that you were trying to get him to smile more. It made sense, the more you thought about why he was the way he was, but you still felt a part of you crumbling at the thought. Even if you never met Emi, you couldnât definitely feel her presence after she was gone.Â
What? He mouthed, altering his steps so that he could weave around Geto to get closer to you. But you shook your head, reassuring him to stay where he was as you gave him a curt nod and a smile that didnât quite reach your eyes.Â
Itâd be over soon, you told yourself. After you get to the camp in Takayama, itâd be big enough to go your separate ways. Youâll forget the last five years, forget everything youâve gone through, and start something new.
If not, youâd rather just get bitten and get this hell over with.Â
âWhatâd she tell you?âÂ
Gojo cornered you when they were all asleep, the tall trees surrounding you casting shadows over his face. You didnât light a fire this time, Geto saying itâd be safer if you just used flashlights instead. You knew the infected had bad eyesight, relying on sound more than anything, but that didnât mean raiders couldnât see.Â
There was no point in lying, heâd sniff it out immediately if you did, so you shrugged, glancing to the side as you blindly moved around leaves, trying to be quiet to get away from the group in case any of them were awake.Â
âNothing important,â You muttered, glad it was dark for once so that he couldnât see your reaction and vice versa.Â
âBullshit,â His voice was low, your eyes slightly widening in surprise at his reaction, âWouldnât have been nothing if you looked like that afterwards.â
Though you could barely see anything, you could feel his presence. He took up a lot of space, and you could practically feel how his hands were only a little distance away from yours. His fingers were inches away from your wrist, and you knew that because when you moved you could feel the light indent, a slight burn as if heâd set your skin aflame.Â
âNothing important to you.â You specify, crossing your arms across your chest as you heard him scoff, his jaw ticking as he prodded at his cheek with his tongue. If only your past self could see you now, arguing with a man who you thought only ever had two emotions he used on and off.Â
He waited, hands on his hips as he tapped his foot impatiently on the ground, hanging his head down for a second until he looked back up.Â
âGreen.âÂ
You pause, brows creasing as you huff out a laugh.Â
âWhat?âÂ
âGreen,â He repeated, âThatâs my favorite color.â When it dawns on you what heâs doing you have to contain the giggle that slipped past your lips, covering your mouth when your hands as you continue to laugh.Â
âWhyâre you laughing?â He asks, his voice genuinely confused as you laugh more, holding onto a tree trunk to steady yourself, âW-what?â But you hear the soft inflection of a laugh in his voice now, almost as if he is trying to control it as you wave your hands, trying to make it stop but you just hit his hands in the process.
âSo you refuse to tell me and you hit me in the process?â Any seriousness has dropped from him completely and you laugh through your hands, trying to apologize but your cheeks hurt. It wasnât that funny, really you donât know why youâre reacting this way, but itâs that feeling when you start laughing, and it grows out of control for no reason.Â
âI-Iâm sorry!â You wheeze out, trying to find his hands to apologize but he brings them to your mouth. It was dark so you couldnât see, but his eyes darted around, suddenly realizing how loud you were being.Â
âSssh, be quiet.â He hissed out, and you giggled again, licking the palm of his hand as he gave a muted yelp, bringing it close to his chest as he wiped it on his pants. He looked back up at the outline of your shadow, glaring.Â
âYouâre a fucking child, yâknow that?â He groaned, but his words didnât quite match what his face was because his eyes softened at the sound of your laugh, carefree as you failed at trying to control it.Â
âAdmit it, Iâm funnny,â You drawled out, laughing as you hunched over a little bit, waving your finger around somewhere near his face, âYouâre laughinggg because Iâm funnny.â You stated, tugging on his fingers playfully, and he snorted, gently swatting your hand away as he sighed.Â
âYouâre insufferable is what you are.â Is what Gojo finally landed on.
âTell me something more personal and I might tell you.â You poked his chest, repeating his own words back to him as you leaned back on the tree. You had no intentions of revealing what Anna told you, but you wanted to see how far heâd go to know.Â
âYouâre impossible,â He muttered, running a hand through his hair, debating whether or not it was even worth it to tell you something when he knew damn well you werenât going to give any information up.
âIâm scared.â He heaved in a sigh and you cut him off with a chortle.Â
âEverybodyâs scared-âÂ
âOf ending up alone.â He finished, brow raising as your laugh quickly died down, some fort of satisfactory grin that didnât mirror the gloom in his eyes made its way onto his face as he asked, âWhat? Cat got your tongue?â
âNo,â You quickly say, rubbing at your jaw as you take a set back, easing on the trunk as you duck your head down in embarrassment, crunching some dead leaves under your boot, shame riding up your bones as you lamely shrug, âJust wasnât expecting that.â You mutter, looking up at him from the corner of your eye.Â
He chuckles, taking a step closer, his breath hitting your cheek.Â
âWhat? Expecting me to say spiders? The dark?â You can feel his slender fingers a hairs distance away from your arms, careful not to touch you, but still close enough that you could feel the heat radiating off of him.Â
âNo,â You shudder, both from the cold and from him, âThought you were âgonna say med school or something.â
He lets out a big groan, hands gingerly gripping your elbows as his head falls on your shoulder, fighting his smile as you laugh again, muffling it with his coat as you gently pat his back.Â
âWhere do fruits go for vacation?â Your hand stalled on his back, feeling his slumped form take in a deep, steadying breath.Â
âWhere?â
âPear-is.â You heard him mumble something on your shoulder, giggling as he shook his head in mock dismay. But this was different than all the last times, you could tell. His back shook a little, and he refused to look up.Â
You didn't comment on the tears that began to stain your shirt, or his quivering chest every time he breathed. So you wrapped your arms around his back, squeezing a little bit, feeling his arms snake around your waist as he tugged you just a little bit closer.Â
Even though it didnât feel like a lot of time had passed, it had almost been six months since you began traveling with them. The journey would have been far faster if any of the cars worked, but Takayama was only a few weeks away. According to Geto.Â
Gojo walked up next to you, shoving something in the pocket of your coat. You look at him from the side of your eye, digging it out to see a chocolate bar as he looks away, a little smirk on his face as you lightly elbow his side.Â
âCan literally hear your stomach begging for something,â He teased, his face stoic but his voice lighthearted as you laugh, grateful even if you didnât show it as you opened it up, noting that it was dark, telling him thanks with a mouthful of chocolate.Â
âWant some?â You offered, holding the bar out as he declined, shrugging, âSuit yourself.â You muttered, mouth full of the sweet as you finished the rest of it. He felt his eyes lingering on your lips stained with the chocolate as Gojo dryly swallowed, averting his gaze as he looked somewhere else, his cheeks colored light pink.Â
âI think weâre the chosen ones,â Geto stated, walking around freely as he pointed to all of you including himself. Your group made it out of the forest a couple of days ago, so heâs been living his life, trying to enjoy the run-down towns as much as he could before you went into the forests again until you reached Takayama.Â
âGod, youâre so fucking stupid Suguru,â Vera said, shoving past him as she rolled her eyes, taking a bite out of her protein bar as she shared a knowing look with you, the two of you laughing as Geto tried to explain himself.Â
âNo, no, hear me out. Aside from me, you and âToru, y/n, and Anna come from different places. But we all somehow found each other, and as a group, are going to the chosen place.â He concluded, wiggling his eyebrows as everybody else just groaned as he went on another one of his tangents.Â
âNo, really, think about it,â He tried to catch up to her pace, walking backward so that he could also look at all of you when he spoke, âWeâve all been picked through natural selection. These past five, six, years and we survived them. We-â
He stopped, and all of you stopped in your tracks when you heard the dreaded sound.Â
Clicking. Groaning.Â
âOh fuck,â Geto stopped, everybody, drawing out their weapons as you tried to figure out where it was coming from. Your heart was rattling inside your ribcage, your hands fumbling as you tried to find your gun. It had been so long since youâd encountered an infected that you were naively beginning to think that they had just disappeared.Â
âItâs okay,â Gojo muttered, glancing over to you as he held his hand on yours, trying to calm your shaking down a bit, âYouâre âgonna be okay.â He was so sure of it that you almost believed his words.Â
But long gone was the carefree attitude as the clicking got louder both in volume and in amount.Â
âShit,â Gojo looked over to Vera, âHow many dâyou think there is?â The clicking got louder, your fingers trembling over the trigger as you looked at the abandoned city hall, finally locating where it was coming from. He told you that she was the best shooter they had, and she was far more confident in taking clickers and runners down than anybody else was.
âToo many,â She called back, eyes darting from everywhere, looking for somewhere to escape from, âFuck, we âgotta split.â You guys were in an alleyway, stuck between taking the road and going through a hole in one of the walls. But from where you could tell, taking the road was only going to direct you toward the infected. The wall still gave them an opening to wherever you guys planned to run from, so in some way, you were cornered.Â
âWhat?â He called out, taking a step back, his brows furrowed in confusion, âNo way, we canât-â
âListen to me. Here, take my map,â She threw it over to him and he caught it, mouthing confusion but she shook her head, âSuguru and I can hold them off for right now, but you take Anna and y/n. If we canât find-â
âWeâre not going to fucking leave!â He shouted back, raising his voice to be heard over the number of infected, his cheeks tinged pink as you nodded, not trusting your words as you felt your stomach churn.Â
âIf we canât find you, meet us in Takayama! Donât look back, just keep running north!â She motioned down the street, âI can radio with Anna, donât worry!â She was trying to shove him but he wouldnât move.Â
âVera, Iâm not leaving you guys-â But he was cut off by an animalistic roar, everybodyâs attention shooting back to the noise, his words dying down in his throat as you saw a glimpse of the infected.Â
You would never get over the way they looked. You thought youâd be used to it by now, but it never fails to make your hands clammy and you're overall nauseous. They had large fungi popping out of their cranium, their clothes all battered and bloody. They ran so fast that you wondered if they were created just to outrun the human race, but now wasnât the time for it. All you could hear was their and Veraâs screams.Â
âSatoru,â She took his arm, holding it in a tight grasp as her eyes darted from him to them, seething from between her teeth, âTake them. Donât - donât regret it like you did last time. You couldnât⊠butâŠyou can save them. Go. Please.âÂ
He glared at her, eyes hiding a different meaning than what his face showed, nostrils flaring but he stopped. He pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead, muttering out a barely audible Iâm sorry, looking at Geto as he gave him a small nod, holding his position down as he waited to buy you guys some time.Â
He grabbed your wrist, urging Anna to follow him as Vera and Geto began to block you guys.
âW-wait, no, no, let go of me!â You tried to wrangle out of his iron grip but he was insistently dragging you away as you kicked, your eyes welling up, fear overtaking your body as they ran, coming closer and closer to the five of you as Gojo tried to lead you through the hole in the wall.
âGo with him, please, weâll be okay,â Vera urged as Geto began firing, memories, similar moments cursing through your mind as you got the worst sense of deja vu. You almost felt like collapsing had it not been for Gojoâs steady hand, leading you away.Â
You cried out for them one last time but he already pulled you through, Anna not too far behind as you held onto him for support, your mouth open as you looked back at him, slowly beginning to realize what happened.Â
A couple of hours later and you couldn't feel your legs, wordlessly putting Gojo in charge of finding a house to stay at to stay the night.Â
It was in some run-down town, but many of the homes are still standing. It was probably some of the best pieces of architecture youâve seen so far, meaning that most of the paint was still on and the furniture wasnât entirely moth-eaten.
The one Gojo picked was at the end of a cul de sac, seemingly standing unharmed. Vines grew uncontrollably from the sides, and the house was caked with dirt, but youâd take it. He scooped it out, making sure there werenât any infected hiding in any of the dark rooms, but he gave you two the okay signal and you camped out there for the night. Â
It was stocked with water and canned food, some chairs knocked down and carpets scrunched up as if the previous owners were trying to leave in a hurry. All the rooms seemed fine, and you just picked a random one as you threw your bag in, not caring as you made your way downstairs to where the rest of them were.Â
You found them in the living room, the shutters closed, hints of the afternoon sun peeking through. Gojo glanced over at you, his eyes running over your body, quickly scanning to make sure you werenât hurt.
You made your way to a chair, rubbing your hands over your face as if that could wake you up from this living nightmare.Â
âTheyâre okay. Theyâre gonna be okay.â Anna said, more to convince herself than the rest of you, nodding as she said it again, but with no confidence. It wasnât night yet, but Vera still hadnât radioed in, anticipation deep in your throats as your wall stared at the portable radio Anna placed on the coffee table.Â
Gojo sat there, his legs spread out, an elbow on each knee as he rubbed at his mouth, eyes distant, lost, as he stared at nothing.Â
You could only imagine how he feels. No matter the sorrow you felt, he felt it tenfold. Youâd only known them for a couple of months, a year at most, but heâd known them their entire lives. His shoulders sunk as if the guilt he was feeling was already pushing down on him.Â
Even though you didnât know much about Emi, the hurt he carried from her was visible and inevitable. You didnât know just how much something like this would change him if heâd ever forgive himself if something were to happen to them.Â
You cleared your throat, not able to bear it anymore as you shifted uncomfortably in your seat.Â
âDespite whatever happens, I just wanted to say thanks for getting us out. I donât think I could have walked, let alone fought, soâŠthanks.â You address Gojo, watching as Anna nodded in agreement, shooting him a smile that quickly died down when she saw his face.
He dropped his hands, his eyes shining with a different sort of gleam as you took a step back, your brows and eyes squinting at the odd look.Â
âVera and Geto might be dead. They might be dead because I was too fucking scared to stay and do anything to help. We donât know where the fuck we are⊠and youâre thanking me?âÂ
You stuttered, confused as you shared a glance with Anna as she slowly moved from her seat.Â
âI-I, well, Iâm not trying to undermine what they did,â Your head tilted, your voice gentle, knowing that he was surely dealing with every possible ounce of guilt and anger under the moon right now, wishing you just stayed quiet. But youâd already opened your mouth so you had to continue, âIâm just saying thanks because you helped us. Thatâs all-â
âHelp,â He repeated, giving an emotionless laugh as he stood up, shaking his head as his hair followed his every movement, âI ran away. I didnât help.âÂ
ââToru, sheâs right, just - just calm down, come on,â Anna interjected, her eyes darting from him to you, offering you an apologetic smile on his behalf.Â
âShe has no idea what sheâs talking about. Fuck,â His voice broke, looking away as he tried to wipe his tears, âItâs likeâŠ.â He didnât finish but you knew he was going to say Itâs like Emi, judging from the way Anna tried to comfort him.Â
âYouâre,â You said slowly, not wanting to anger him any more than he already was, âYouâre right. Most of the time I donât know what Iâm talking about, but I understand, and I know itâs not easy and-â
âYou know? You know? Fuck y/n, what do you know? What could possibly make you understand?â Youâve never seen him like this, never had the honor of having his words cut you, sawing at your skin until they made you bleed.Â
You scoffed, not knowing if he was being serious, but he stared at you waiting for an answer.Â
âLet me see,â You give a meaningless laugh, wiping at your eyes, trying your best to not cry in front of him, not wanting to show him that his words didnât affect you the way that they truly did, âI thought I was allowed to understand after my dad killed himself. Or maybe it was when my friend tried to kill me because I ate her fucking can of tuna,â You paused, choking on a sob, âO-or when my group left me in the middle of fucking nowhere, saying I was dead weight,â You sniffled, your voice wavering as you shook your head, pointing a finger at Gojoâs chest as you stared at his blank face.
âJust because youâve been through shit doesn't mean that I havenât. So - so donât tell me that I donât understand, because I do. Itâs just, I donât go treating people I know like shit just because of it.â A tear trickled down your cheek, hanging on your chin before it splattered on the ground.Â
Your chest heaved, hands trembling as you heard Anna mutter a muffled oh my god. You didnât want pity, you didnât want any of their sympathies. But after so many years of carrying it around silently just for him to say that you donât understand opened up the floodgates.Â
You went to say something else, opening your mouth before you shut it again, lips wobbling as you shook your head, ducking it as you made your way for the stairs. You tried to zone out Annaâs calls for you to come back as you found the room you assigned yourself and shut the door with a loud slam, rattling the house.
Anna came by, asking if you were hungry, but you just brushed her off, saying that youâd come down to eat later.Â
It was true, you couldnât stomach anything right now, but you didnât want to see anybody after that.Â
You paced around the room, doing anything to occupy your mind and get rid of the thoughts coursing through your head. You packed your bag, which wasnât even yours, you wanted to guess that in the rush of leaving you accidentally packed Getoâs because yours sure as hell didnât have a pack of cigarettes and condoms in it, (youâd put all your money on the fact that him and Vera were hooking up), unpacked, and re-packed it. You folded some clothes lying around, washed your face with the water from the bottles you found, and tried to freshen up. Your eyes were still a little puffy and red, but you knew it would go away quickly.Â
You looked through the closet and did anything you could think of. You didnât really have the heart to take anything, knowing that somebody cared for these things at one point, but you snooped around, having nothing better to do.Â
From what you could deduce, a teenager probably lived in the room. Band posters were plastered on the walls, the bed had some stuffed animals still left on it. You could remember the initial broadcast saying to take only what was necessary, so it made sense why the closet was mainly empty but the other aspect of the room seemed untouched.Â
You looked at some of the books they had, pulling them out of the shelves as you read the titles. Some you knew, some you didnât. The window adjacent to the bookshelf showed you an outside view of the neighborhood, the moon shining bright as you relied on that and your flashlight to move around.Â
As you went to put a book back you heard a knock at your door, startling you as you dropped the book on the ground. You grumbled in annoyance, glancing at it and then back to your book.Â
âIâm still not hungry,â You called out, bending down to grab it as you sighed, âBut thanks,â You put it back where it was, wiping at your face as you navigate around the bed, going to open the door to let her in, âHey, have you heard anything fromâŠâ You trailed off, not expecting to see a taller figure in Annaâs place.Â
You met his eyes, the same ones that managed to knock the air out of your lungs. His gaze softened upon the sight of your face, but you wouldnât let that dictate your feelings. No, you refused. So instead, you quickly gathered yourself, squinting your eyes as you went to shut the door, not quick enough as he was able to wedge his foot in between, whimpering a bit as you still tried to slam it shut with it in the way.Â
âOw, fuck, wait,â His hand gripped the side of the door, and you rolled your eyes, sniffing once as you let him open it himself, knowing that heâd just find another way inside if you blocked this one, âListen,â He invited himself in, a hint of pleading in his voice as he looked at you, âAnna got Veraâs message. They're,â He sighed, his shoulders sagging a bit, âTheyâre fine. Little shakinâ up, but theyâre gonna be okay. Said to meet up with them at the camp.âÂ
Your eyes and mouth slightly opened, your anger with him disappearing for a second as you smiled softly to yourself.Â
âThatâs great,â You breathed out, not knowing how to handle this, almost all the stress leaving your bones as you gave yourself a moment to relax, âGreat news.â You gave him a curt smile, glancing at the door, wondering if that was all he came here for.Â
His eyes traveled from your face, stalling on your puffy lids as he slightly grimaced. He looked around the room, noting all the dĂ©cor, posters, and memorabilia. You could tell he was struggling to find something to say, opening his mouth only to close it just as quickly.Â
âThanks for letting me know,â You start, your hands hovering over his chest as you try to push him out, âBut I wanna be by myself right now, soâŠâ You nodded to the door, waiting for him to get the hint and go.
âAre you leaving?â He asked suddenly, his brows furrowed, creasing down the middle as glanced at your face at your packed bag behind you. You saw his lips trembling, hands moving up to gently cup your elbows, almost as if he needed to, or else heâd crumble over.Â
âWhat?â You look back confused as to what he was talking about, shaking your head, âI was jus-âÂ
âFuck, fuck, fuck, Iâm sorry, so so sorry sweetheart, I swear, I d-didnât know you went t-through all that shit,â His voice cracked, his legs moving faster than his body as you backed up against the bed, alarmed at his sudden change in mood, âEven if I did, I-I should never have said that to you. Iâm so fucking sorry, please, I didnât mean anything I said. I was talkinâ out of my ass and being the biggest fuckinâ dick ever.â Gojoâs voice trembled as if he was on the verge of tears as you almost tripped, glad the bed was behind you as you fell onto it, the springs squeaking at the sudden movement.Â
You watched as a giant of a man sank to his knees, grabbing your hands and holding them to his chest as his eyes watered, his lip wobbling as he almost pleaded for you to look at him and to hear what he was trying to say.Â
âLook, Iâm really, really sorry,â He crouched down, rubbing his thumb over the back of your hand, âPlease don't leave. Iâll shut up for the rest of the way there and youâll never-âÂ
âIâm not leaving,â You say with a small laugh, confusion laced in your voice, âI was bored so I packed. âS not even my bag, think I got Getoâs or Veraâs on accident.â You shrugged as you watched his face change. Morphing as he shut his mouth, his hands still trembling as realization washed over him, slowly only leaving embarrassment.Â
âReally?â He asked, still not letting go of your hands you nodded slowly, heart beating rapidly in your rib cage as you waited for him to say something else.Â
âOh...â He the relief on his face is replaced with something different, âOkay,â He took in a deep breath, slowly letting go of your hands as he looked at the floor, some of his hair falling in his face as he finally looked back up, giving you a small apologetic smile, âSorry, I didnâtâŠâ He couldnât finish, moving quickly to stand up, mumbling something to himself as he went for the door, stopping seconds before he opened it.Â
ââToru?âÂ
His fingers danced over the doorknob, not turning back despite his every nerve telling him to look back at you. But deep down, he knew that if he did, it would all come crumbling down. That the wall he built so highly for himself would crack, and heâd have to face the realization that he cared for you. Cared so deeply for you that seeing your face, your eyes puffy from crying because of his words would be worse than if a scolding knife was to pierce his heart. Because no matter how hard he tried to convince his feeble mind that you didnât matter to him, you did, and he could no longer hide behind a mask and pretend that you didnât.Â
âNow that I think about it I think you would have made a shit doctor.â You say, crossing your arms across your chest as you watch him turn around, his lips red, looking like heâd been repeatedly chewing on it.Â
His hand fell from the doorknob, taking three quick steps to get back to where you were, his hands quickly going up to hold your face, eyes scanning yours as if waiting for you to say anything. But you couldnât, not with the way he was staring at you. He always did a spectacular job of whisking your words away from a single glance.Â
âYou drive me crazy,â He muttered, his nose almost touching yours as your hands traveled slowly up his back, feeling your heart beating in your throat, âWhenever I see your face,â His thumb runs over the corner of your mouth, eyes falling on your lips, âI donât what to do. And then you open your mouth and I donât know if I want to laugh, cry o-or kiss you. And,â He sighed, a hand going behind your head so that you could look up at him, âI donât know what Iâd do without you. Without your gorgeous face, your pretty eyes, your laugh, your kind, kind heart. Iâll spend a fucking lifetime making up for all the shit Iâve done if it means youâd forgive me.â He was a breath away from your lips, if either one of you were to make a single movement itâd be over.
âRelax,â You say with a little laugh, your lashes fluttering on your cheek as you take a step back closer to the bed, âIâm not gonna make you grovel or anything. But if youâre offering something as forgivenessâŠâ You trail off, not knowing how to word words as you push his head closer to yours. Your fingers play with his hair, tangling them back and forth to make little curls, your head moving on its own as you try not to give a stupid giddy smile.Â
He leans in, finally closing that pesky gap between the two of you as you let out a little gasp until you melt against his chest, slowly working your lips against his.Â
Itâs hot, you donât know how else to describe it. Weeks, months even, of pent-up tension are adding up here at this moment.Â
Heâs so gentle when he cradles your face, afraid youâd crumble away if he held you with any more pressure. But his kiss is anything but, aggressive and fast, not wanting to slow down as he tried to commit the feel of you to memory.Â
He nips at your lips, now plumper and shiny with spit, pulling away slightly as he cradles his face to yours. His hands tug you into his body, cradling your jaw as he smiles, his eyes lidded as he looks down at you.Â
Your hands are on his chest, slightly tugging at it as his smile grows, his cheeks all blushed out as you giggle, somewhat intoxicated by the feel of him. Youâd imagine what heâd be like, sure, but the way he kissed or looked at you was nothing your imagination could have ever conjured up.
âSwear to god, if I ever say stupid shit you slap me, okay? Knock some sense into me,â He muttered, holding your cheeks, looking at you as if you had strung up the moon and the stars, and you probably did if you told him so.Â
ââM not gonna hit you, maybe just tell you some stupid puns till you realize what youâve done.â You tease, watching as his head disappeared, your laugh turning into a muted moan as he licks a stripe across the expanse of your throat, gently biting down on your pulse point as he soothed it with a sloppy kiss.Â
ââToru,â You can get out, collapsing on the bed as he gingerly pushes you onto it, feeling lightheaded as you watch him kiss down your arms, your hands, any area of naked skin he could find. It was exhilarating the way his lips felt on your skin.Â
âYou âwanna take that shirt off fâme?â He muttered, hands traveling up your stomach, nimble fingers dancing under the cup of your bra, âOr dâyou want me to stop?â Heâs slow and patient as you quickly shake your head, already getting to work at shedding off anything stopping him as he chuckles slowly, the sound just causing you to grow even wetter. You expertly unhook your bra from your chest, watching as it falls down into your lap, suddenly aware that your top half is fully bare to him.Â
But he doesnât say anything, his body almost malfunctioning at the sight of your bare tits. You almost go to cover them, conscious of his heavy stare, but he gently grabs your wrists, pushing them aside as he moves closer to you, his breath hitting your collarbone as he stifled a groan.Â
âFuck,â He says, not even fully paying attention as he quite literally goggles at your breast, his fingers tugging at your nipples, thumbing at them until theyâre slightly swollen, letting his hands run over them as he feels his cock straining in his pants, âS-shit, youâre so fuckinâ perfect.â He whispers, glancing up at you only to see your head thrown back, finger grasping his as you try to make him work faster, pushing them down to the buttons of your jeans as he chuckles, patting your waist once as if to tell you he understands.Â
He gets to work, quickly getting them off of you, your underwear with it, eyes darkening as he notes your slick between your two puffy lips, gripping onto your thigh with every possible amount of self-restraint he has.Â
âIf you donât hurry up Iâll just tell you a bad pun n-now to get it over with. Fuck just - just touch me already!â You threaten, glaring at him as he snorts, fingers traveling up to cup your cunt as you suddenly gasp, your teasing tone dropping at the euphoric sensation.
âWhere?â His thumb slowly rubs at your clit, using some of your slick as he goes at his own pace, enjoying how you paw at his biceps, gripping onto them with every ounce of strength you could muster, âHere?â He asks, using two fingers to pry your pussy lips apart, nearly coming in his pants as he did so.
âThis what you want, sweetheart?â He asks, his pointer finger traveling up your slit, gathering all of your wetness as he groans, slowly pushing it in, testing your limits as you let out a wanton moan at the feeling.Â
âYes, yes!â You cry out, your hands gripping the sheets. He doesnât need to be told twice to know that youâd probably wring him out to dry if he doesnât pick up his pace.Â
But he wants to be slow, not wanting to hurt you as he pushes it in, inch by inch, until he curls it, your eyes rolling back, holding onto his wrist for dear life as you wait to adjust to it.Â
âF-feels so good, hmm!â You squeal, your lips barely opening as he pushes the second one in, your words cut off by another moan, whining for him to go faster. Youâve been deprived for so long that you canât even feel embarrassed at the needy way you yearn for him and his skilled fingers and touch.Â
Youâve only ever been with one guy before, and he knew nothing about the female antonymy so you donât really have much to compare him to, but Gojo knew what he was doing. He listened to your every sound, noting which places made your toes curl and eyes cross, becoming more and more familiar with your body. His white hair fell into his face as he paid attention to you, glancing up at your face every now and then to smile, wanting to make sure that you were okay.Â
âYeah? Youâre squeezinâ me so much, fuck,â He starts pumping them in and out, the motion enough to make you go crazy, whining out pathetically as he picks up the pace a little bit, his thumb going to find you, âThis pussyâs fuckinâ perfect, fuck, and sheâs mine, yâhear?â He asks, only pumping into you faster, his thumb on your clit mirroring his ministrations as you cover your mouth with your hand, not wanting to be so loud that your cries could travel through the walls.Â
âF-fuck, just yours! Promise!â You say, agreeing to anything he said, babbling nonsense as you feel your stomach clench, your back arching as he takes in the beautiful sight of you sprawled out like this, wanting to take a mental image to commit it to heart.
âHmm, âToru, Iâm gonna, fuck, gonnaâŠ!â You canât even finish your sentence, mewling at the way his relentless motions never stopped.Â
Itâs only a couple of seconds before you cry out, his other hand clamping to your mouth to muffle your moans, seeing white as you fall back onto the mattress, your chest heaving with every breath you take as your orgasm runs through your body. It was the most intense thing youâve ever felt, your walls clamping down on his fingers as you creamed around them, your legs shaking as you moaned out his name.Â
He stops, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face as he watches you struggle to catch your breath.Â
âSo fuckinâ stunning,â He says under his breath, bringing his fingers shining with your essence up to his lips as he sucks them clean, his eyes fluttering shut at your tangy taste, âTaste amazing too, sweetheart.â He takes his fingers out of his mouth, crawling up to your body, tapping on your lips so that theyâd open. He pressed his fingers on your tongue, watching as you sucked on them, your eyes never leaving his. He moans, taking them out before he almost embarrasses himself by coming on the spot.Â
But he stops when he feels his pants tighten around his crouch, wincing because he clearly didnât think this through enough. His dicks feels like a heavyweight in his pants, and he can feel the strain.Â
âWhat?â You sit up, worry lacing your features as you balance on your elbows, âWhatâs wrong?â You're now freaking out inside, thinking that heâs starting to regret this, or that he was drunk off the euphoria and now the realization is settling in.
âI donât have a condom, and the only ones were in-â
âGetoâs bag?â You say with a chortle, pointing your chin at where the said bag was sitting, âYeah, I know.âÂ
Gojo chuckles, patting your cheek as he presses a kiss to your lips, almost not wanting to break away as he tastes everything on them. The chapstick you put on that morning, the chocolate he gave you. Fuck, he can even taste your cum on them, and you have to give his chest a little nudge so that he doesnât forget what he was going to do.Â
Heâs agile as he goes through the pockets, almost doing good at shedding off his clothes, grinning in triumph when he finally locates the pack. It gives you some time to really take in his features, gnawing on the inside of your cheek as your eyes rake over his torso, his defined chest that shines with sweat. You try your hardest not to linger longer on his dick, your mouth going dry at the sheer length of it. Despite him prepping you just a few minutes ago you still wondered how youâd be able to take him.Â
âIf you stare any harder youâre gonna make me blush.â He says, smirking as you discover youâve been caught in the act. But the way he laughs boyishly at you quickly looking away makes up for it.Â
âIf you werenât so pretty I wouldnât be staring.â You counter, tracking him as he makes his way back to the bed, ripping the condom wrapper with his teeth as you swallow, moving so that your head rests on the board behind you as he grinned.Â
âMe?â He cocks a brow, taking a couple of seconds to put the condom on his dick, his mushroom tip leaking with pre as she sucks in a breath at the feeling, hoping he wouldnât nut too fast and embarrass himself when he was finally in you, âIâm gonna need you to take a hard, long look in the mirror then sweetheart.âÂ
You giggle, your eyes wrinkling around the edges as your cheeks glow. He moves above you, his own face plastered with a goofy smile at the sound of your laughter. Heâd bottle it up if he could, save it for the days when he really needed to hear it.Â
âNo! I really mean it, youâre like, so fuckinâ hot, liked unbelievably hot.â You smile as he pecks your lips, grinning against his as he shakes his head in adorable defiance.Â
âAnd I really mean it too,â He counters, his nose pressed against yours as you canât help but bring him in for another kiss, your tongues meeting each other as he laps up your taste, kissing you so harshly that it knocked the wind right out of your lungs.Â
When he pulls away a line of spit is connecting your lips to each other. Yours are swollen, almost bruised, but you welcome the slight sting, knowing what it was all for. After all, his are swollen and pink, so you slowly became drunk at the sight of it.Â
His eyes travel to your tits and down to your stomach, gripping your waist as he kisses your collarbone, his hand gingerly rubbing up and down your skin, causing goosebumps to lie in their wake.Â
He lined himself up with your entrance, your breath hitching in your throat as you felt his tip prod at your walls, and he groaned at the feeling, only imagining what itâd be like when he finally pushes through.Â
âJ-just fuck me already,â You whisper, your words circling through the two of you, âPlease.â You add, and he shakes his head, knowing youâd never have to ask him when your honeyed words drove him to a near point of insanity.Â
âDonât have to beg sweetheart,â He says, pushing himself fully in, the two of you moaning out loud at the feeling.
You clamp down tightly on his dick, and despite him going in as slowly as you could he could feel you clenching around him. Your walls stretched to accommodate his size, and the slight pinch mixed with the godly feeling of having him fill you up almost caused you to pass out.
âShit,â He can barely get it to pass his lips, finally bottoming out in your as your legs circle around his back, pulling him closer to your sweaty body as he places a hand near your head for leverage, âYouâre so fuckinâ tight, squeezing me like that.âÂ
âMmm, sâcause youâre so b-big,â You whine out, your nails raking down his back, leaving angry red lines. He stills, clenching his teeth as he tries to calm down, slowly pulling out before he slammed back into you.Â
âFuck!â You moan, holding onto his waist as he pistons into you, his dick shining with a mix of your own cum and wetness, glimmering in the limited light the moon offered.Â
His hips slanted against yours, balls hitting your ass as he moved fast, like something in him just snapped, and he couldnât hold back anymore. His dick could reach that part in you that just made you see stars, hitting it repeatedly until you swore your back could take it.Â
âOh, god, you feel so fuckinâ good, fuckkk,â He drawls out, his head falling into the crook of your neck, panting as his hands curled in the sheets, âYouâre gonna be the fuckin death of me sweetheart,â He moaned against you, pressing sloppy kisses wherever he could. He trailed down your collarbone, all the way until he suckled on your breasts, pulling away so that he could give each equal attention. They glimmered with his spit, your areolas swollen from his constant motions.Â
âUmph, âToru, sâtoo much, o-oh!â You cried, the new angle he was at reaching even further and you questioned just how empty it was before him. He dragged through your walls, his thumb down at your clit, rubbing little circles as your eyes shut, too heavy with lust and you couldnât even look down anymore, gripping onto his arms to stay afloat.Â
âJust like that, perfect,â He talked you through it, one hand on your tit, the other busy with your clit, looking down to see his dick disappearing inside of you, going feral when he watched you becoming undone because of him, âFuck, youâre such a good girl for m-me, yâknow that right?â And you dumbly nodded, not able to speak, unintelligible words tumbling out of your mouth instead.
You didnât expect your release to build up so quickly just after you had your last one, but Gojo was too good, an expert in knowing what places would scratch you in just the right way. You felt the coil in your stomach tighten, your legs wrapping around him as you pulled him in even closer, tilting your head up so you could bring him in for another wet kiss.Â
âMâgonna, fuck âToru, mâgonnaâŠâ But you couldnât finish, moaning against his lips as you came on his dick, his thumb not slowing down on your little nub as your legs shake from the feeling, eyes crossing as he smiles at the way you clamp down on him.Â
âThere you go, fuck, youâre so tight, fuck, I donât think Iâm gonna,â He tries to slow down but he can't, âShit, shit, shit,â He stops, shooting his load into the condom as his hips stop, his chest heaving manically as he almost collapses onto your chest, your tits pressing against him as he takes a second to catch his breath.
The two of you canât say anything, your hands wrapped tightly around his neck as you try to loosen up your body, your hair damp, the room stinking of sex and sweat as you try to come back to your senses.Â
It doesnât even feel real, but you watch through hooded eyes as he rises, pulling out of you as his dick hangs limp. He tugs the condom off, hissing at the feeling as he ties it, chucking it at a trash can he found near the desk as he looks back at you, giving you that same debonair smile that still managed to make your heart race despite everything.Â
You throw a hand over your face, trying to hide it as he chuckles, giving your hips a firm squeeze as he kisses the side of your ear.
âIâll be back, gonna get you some water ân clothes.â He says, tugging on his pants as he throws on his shirt laying across the floor, not bothering with any boxers as he winks at you, chuckling at the way you groan in embarrassment, tugging the covers over your naked body as if he hadnât just seen you in your birthday suit.Â
âAnd bring me some chocolate!â You call out, peeking your head out as he nods, shutting the door behind him as you look around, still trying to fathom what just happened.Â
He reappears minutes later, one of his tees in hand, and a bottle with a bar in the other. He makes do with cleaning you up with a towel he found, wetting it with some water as he gently rubs it over your sensitive skin, apologizing when you wince, kissing the spots that are still tender.Â
You're almost tapped out, too tired to see the lovesick look in his eyes when he pulls the shirt over your chest, laying you back down on the pillows as he rubs at your forehead, thanking his lucky stars for being able to see you look like this; so carefree and happy.Â
Thereâs a lazy smile on your lips as you tug on his hand, not doing much work as you pull him closer to you. Although the bed wasnât made to accommodate more than one person, heâd be damned if he let this opportunity slip through his fingers.Â
âDid you watch Star Wars?â You ask sleepily, holding his hands as you play with his fingers, hearing him snort at the fact that you were still keeping this up. But you still wanted to make him pay, even if he just gave you two of the most earth-shattering orgasms youâve ever received.Â
âUsed to, why?â He turns you over so you could face him, bringing up one of his fingers so that he could carefully trace out your features.Â
ââCause Yoda only one fâme.â You barely get out, giving a little giggle as he pretends to hate it, still kissing your cheek as you slink against his chest, the rhythmic beat of his heart lulling you to sleep.Â
He follows you shortly after, his soft snores filling the room as you two sleep soundly. But in the dark, before he lets the sleep take a hold of him, he promises himself that heâd never let you go. Heâd take you to Takayama, or wherever the fuck was necessary to keep you safe. He wouldnât let you cry again, wouldnât want to see the tears that stained your cheeks because he swore heâd never been in such pain seeing you like that. You were his other half, and no amount of cheesy puns, terrible jokes, or loving questions was going to change that fact. Because he knew that once he held the world in his arms he wouldnât trade any fucking thing to let it go.Â
#gojo x reader#gojo x reader smut#gojo satoru x reader#gojo satoru x reader smut#gojo satoru imagine#gojo x reader angst#gojo x you#gojo x you smut#gojo x you angst#gojo fic#jjk x reader#jjk x reader angst#jjk x reader smut#jjk x you#jjk x you smut#jjk smut#gojo satoru smut#apocalypse au#gojo saturo#gojo smut#gojo x reader fluff#gojo satoru angst#satoru x reader#satoru x reader smut#gojo satoru x reader fluff
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What about the moment Vox realizes he's head over heels in love with the reader? What made him fall for them, too? I'm such a sucker for moments like that. đ«
Short little drabble from bed! This is pre-hotel! (God, we need more visuals of him. I crave more gif options)
Unread Notification [Vox x Reader]
It snuck up on him.
Vox liked to think he was a self-aware guy. He knew his temper was easily triggered, and he spent years crafting charisma and charm to compensate. He knew he overworked, and though he'd never admit it out loud, he knew his weaknesses. So there was no reason his feelings for you should have caught him off guard.
Vox had a type. Or at least, he thought he did. He was attracted to power. To cutting edge personalities full of ambition. He thought he loved the rush of excitement that came with the more cutthroat personalities, even though more often than not, the repercussions of playing with fire was getting burned.
It was after getting burned once again by the careless hands of Valentino that Vox met you. The two of you crossed paths at a club where Valentino had dragged Vox in the name of blowing off some steam. Vox didn't feel up to the loud and busy scene, but he'd been desperate for Valentino's affection and was hoping his needs would finally be satiated. He should have known better. Because of fucking course Angel Dust had to be there.
It would matter if Vox just cut his losses and went home to angrily jerk off, but it didn't matter if he stayed. He'd never hear the end of it from Valentino if he left. The moth would just complain about Vox being needy. It had happened before.
So Vox was stuck sitting at a bar in a club that he didn't even want to be at in the first place while Valentino doted on his favorite collared pet. When Vox noticed you sitting beside him at the bar, watching Valentino and Angel Dust with similar disdain to his own.
At first, he thought you were just some random fangirl, but he quickly learned you had actually shown up because Angel had asked for a night on the town to recover from a porn shoot. You clearly weren't a fan of how things had developed, but the memory of how poorly things went the last time you tried to intervine in his addiction to Valentino's poison was fresh in your mind.
So despite how badly you wanted to leave the crowded place and just go home, you stayed. Just in case. You couldn't abandon him even if it was clear he was too far gone from Valentino's aphrodisiacs to be aware of your presence any longer.
At first, you were hesitant to voice your own frustrations about the reoccurring patterns to Vox. He was the overlord in a fucked up situationship with Valentino, after all. However, after a couple of drinks, Vox had gone off on several of his own rants and by the end of the night you had both let out all of your frustrations in a tipsy moment of relief. And no, not in the way you're thinking.
Eventually, the two of you left the club. It was late, and to both of your disdain, you'd lost track of the company you'd arrived with. It didn't seem to matter to the warm hell night, as you found an empty park bench to sit at and started shooting the shit. It was the start of an unexpected friendship that somehow grew into more without Vox realizing.
He'd come to look forward to the stupid memes you'd text him while he was at work. He liked coming over to your shitty apartment and despite how much he bitched about getting fur on his suits, Vox had passed out on the couch with you and your hellcat several times during movie nights. Unlike with the Vees, if you came to him to vent about your day, he genuinely listened. He wanted to provide the relief you gave him when he'd vent to you.
The realization of his feelings hit him like a freight train. As blaringly obvious the loud horns and bright lights may have been to any outside observer, Vox had blindly tied himself to the track without even knowing where he found the rope.
You had fallen asleep on his shoulder after the two of you spent the night marathoning some old, poorly written romcom series. There was popcorn on the floor from where you had thrown the pieces at the horribly stupid couple on the screen while Vox yelled at them for their emotional constipation. Your hair was messily framing your face as the tiniest little snores escape you on occasion. There was a small train of drool running down your chin, and Vox couldn't help but chuckle at how gracelessly you slept.
Without thinking, he tossed a blanket over you and leaned back, so he held you against him where he now lay on the couch. His arms draped over your back, and he smiled softly as your cat noticed the new position and hopped up to lay between your legs. Vox closed his eyes, content as he slowly rubbed your back and let himself relax.
He loved the smell of your shampoo. He loved how he had to use lint rollers after cuddling with you, as stupid and annoying as it could be to keep up the habit. It was worth it, just to remember your smile when he'd find a strand of fur he missed. He loved your stupid sense of humor, and he loved how at peace he felt when he was with you.
For as much as he loved his power and business, he loved getting to let his walls down with you more. He loved getting to just be the dorky guy with a bow tie and vest you poked fun at. He loved the time you tried to make him wear one of your hoodies, only for his head to get stuck. He loved you.
Vox's eyes snapped open as the peaceful sleep he'd almost slipped into was snatched away by the reality of his feelings. His heart was beating so loud, he was surprised you didn't wake up. If anything, you just wrapped your arms around him and buried your face against his chest and it took everything in Vox not to explode there and then.
For the entire night, Vox screamed internally as his body shook, and he repressed the shocks and jolts that threatened to spark and wake you from your peaceful slumber. The overlord looked like exhausted shit by the time you rose with the sun, but he couldn't be damned to care. Not when you sleepily rubbed your eyes and laughed like that. Not when your hair was sticking to your face and you said good morning to him like you were meant to start the mornings in his arms just as naturally as you would breathe.
No. Vox couldn't care less about how worn out he was from the realization if he tried. Just like always, the second he saw your smile, everything else just washed away into background static. He cupped your face and said some sort of sassy quip about your bed head, to which you immediately started freaking out over.
He watched as you started to pat your hair down frantically and smiled softly. Oh yeah, he was fucking whipped.
#hazbin hotel#vox x reader#hazbin hotel x reader#SORRY IF ITS MESSY#IM IN BED AND V TIRED#BUT SOMEONE WAS IN NEED OF FLUFF AND I AM PROVIDER IN THIS HOUSEHOLD
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I read the request where the reader is Sebastian spouse hear me out though what if the reader said oh you sound like my husband but they don't recognize him since he's a fish and they show off the ring hear me out
Oh god, this was requested almost two weeks ago⊠Iâm SO SORRY for the wait dear anom!
I gotta say, I wrote this and Iâm not thrilled with the final result,sorry if it sucks..
Warnings/Notes: small angst, mentions of hallucinations but nothing real, signs of a growing anxiety attack, anxiety overwhelming the poor reader
Original request
"The nameâs Sebastian, remember?" it reminded you of its name, sensing a hidden plea in its tone.
"⊠Yes, Sebastian." You repeated its name, finding it strange to utter the name of your deceased husband. It had been a long time since you said his name, and it felt good to say it; it brought you a kind of comfort for a few seconds.
You rubbed the back of your neck for a moment, pressing your lips into a thin line as the growing anxiety and discomfort began to take hold.
You felt the bluish gaze of the "creature" (you hated calling it that, but you didnât know exactly how to categorize it) piercing into your soul, as if it were searching for something, analyzing every piece to ensure not a single detail was missed. It was strange, both having it in front of you and being alone together.
When had your companions left? You didnât know, and it probably wasnât worth knowing; they had likely abandoned you since you were holding them back and had been a burden to them.
Those thoughts pulled you away from reality, making you completely forget Sebastian's presence and how intimidating he was with his great height.
He could tell that you were no longer grounded, having always known the times when your thoughts swallowed you alive due to your anxiety and the âwhat-ifs.â It was one of the first things he learned about you as he got to know you.
Both of you had questions about each other. Especially him, who knew it was you despite how disheveled and tired you looked, but in your case, you still didnât know that the person in front of you was the same one youâd considered dead for the past 12 years.
How had you ended up here? Had you been blamed for a crime that wasnât yours? Just as they had likely done to him?
Those thoughts made Sebastianâs blood boil. He felt so powerless for not having been able to do anything to prevent you from coming to a place like this, for having to suffer the consequences of someone else. So many things he regretted, even though only a few minutes had passed since your presence appeared before him like an angel.
There were so many things yet so little he could do.
His goal now would be to try to make you realize that it was him and not just a simple coincidence in appearance and voice.
He would make you realize and know that it was him; Sebastian Solace, your husband.
He clicked his tongue loudly to catch your attention (which he succeeded in doing with the sudden noise) and thus fulfill the objective he had in mind.
"Want to take a look? Got some things you might find useful on your endeavor." He asked you with a tone that would be too unusual for any expendable that had passed through his shop. That sarcastic, humorous, and hateful tone was always present in him, but with you, there was a hint of sweetness.
"Eh.. Sure." You responded, somewhat bewildered. Your feet carried you automatically to his tail once more, looking among the few items left on the straps he had tied along his tail.
You felt his gaze on you once again; this time, you didnât try to find a reason or what he was trying to see or accomplish by looking at you. The sensation was uncomfortable yet comforting. Strange.
"Anything that catches your eye?" he asked you again, offering a smile filled with sharp teeth like those of a shark. A chill ran down your body from head to toe, as the more you looked, the sharper they seemed.
"You sound like my husband." You said abruptly, without having processed the words that had already slipped past your tongue.
You realized what you had said just before a wave of shame and melancholy completely invaded your body. You hadnât wanted to say that, much less mention the fact that you had referred to your deceased husband. DEAD.
How was it possible that you saw your husband reflected in that person (fish)? It was utterly embarrassing, surely, for having made a comparison with someone he didnât even know, he would bring you to a certain death or something even worse-
"What a coincidence, babe." He interrupted your line of thought, pulling your attention back to him.
Sebastian only called you that way when he was joking with you.
Your eyes moved to the ring that seemed to shine faintly in the soft light filling the room, noticing it had vague lines and curves that seemed to form something. It was eerily similar to your ringâthe same one you had placed on Sebastian's finger, and he had placed on yours on your wedding day.
Why did the universe want to torture you like this?
He was dead; you had to accept it. He wasnât in that same room with you, and much less alive. He wasnâtâ
"What was your name again?" Your mouth betrayed you once more, speaking words that hadnât even been approved by your mind. All of this was wrong, very wrong.
"Sebastian," he said, revealing more of the ring that had caught your attention. "Sebastian Solace."
After those words, the world seemed to stop for a few moments. The only sound you could hear was your own breathing, which was growing increasingly erratic. Denying to yourself that this all had to be a mere coincidence, a cruel trick of your mind, the accumulated stress seemed to be taking its toll, or perhaps the many sleepless hours and the insomnia had led to hallucinations.
The strong stench of fish and sea salt invaded your nostrils, forcing you to focus on what was right in front of you.
It was him; he wasnât overstepping or invading your boundaries, always respecting them to have a signal or confirmation that he could proceed.
"You're deadâŠ" you said in a low, broken voice, not noticing when you had started to cry.
"Yeah⊠you could say that, but you revived a part of me when you came here."
#sebastian solace fanfic#sebastian solace x reader#pressure x reader#sebastian solace x you#sebastian x reader#sebastian solace x yn#sebastian solace#pressure sebastian
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I Don't Want Easy
This is a combination of an idea I had and this request!
Pairing: Tim Bradford x fem!wife!reader
Summary: When Tim leaves in the middle of the night, you don't know what happened. After you find out you're pregnant a few weeks later, you must decide whether you want to wait for the man who abandoned you or move on.
Warnings: angst, pregnancy (r is pregnant), discussions of divorce, brief mention of fainting and hospitals, mention of cheating, there is a fluffy ending with comfort I promise
Word Count: 2.0k+ words
A/N: I feel like this could have been better and longer, so I may continue it later!
Picture from Pinterest
Masterlist Directory | Tim Bradford Masterlist | Request Info/Fandom List
Youâre used to being alone when you wake up. Today, though, feels different. The house is silent and thereâs no sign of Tim.
Four hours before, Tim moved silently through the shadows of your home to gather his things. His Metro captain texted him an urgent SOS, a signal to go undercover. You know that Tim has been undercover before, but the current case requires a certain disconnection. Tim canât tell anyone, not even you, his wife, that he is leaving or where he is going. Uttering a single word would jeopardize numerous lives, and despite Timâs guilt about leaving you, the lingering idea of being the reason for the death of his fellow officers convinces him to stay quiet. Tim kisses your forehead and whispers an apology before he slips out, unsure when, or if, he will see you again.
As you walk through the house later, you notice some of Timâs essential belongings are gone. Thereâs no note, no messages, and you feel a deepening sense of dread. Tim has been stressed lately, and you know that he can struggle to deal with his emotions. When you see that Timâs go bag is gone, you know somehow that Tim is gone, and not just for the day. The sunrise illuminates your home and the absence of your husband⊠perhaps your new normal.
âŻâŻâŻâŻâŻ
Six weeks later, youâre pacing in your kitchen as Angela ends a phone call.
âNothing,â she sighs. âNo one in the division has heard from him since, uh, since he left you,â she tells you.
âIâm scared,â you admit quietly.
âHey, no matter what happens, youâre not alone, okay?â
Angela pulls you close before hugging you. The timer on your phone chimes a moment later, and Angela nods before leading you back to the bathroom. A pregnancy test lies in wait, and you clutch Angelaâs hand in one of yours as you flip it over.
âItâs positive,â you whisper.
âAnd?â Angela asks.
âIâm really happy, I think. But I also donât know what Iâm supposed to do. I canât keep waiting for him, Angela.â âHe may not be gone, not from you,â Angela soothes. âHeâs disappeared suddenly before.â
âFor a day, Angela! Itâs been a month and a half. Tim isnât coming back.â
âThen what do you want to do?â
You chew your bottom lip before asking, âDoes Wesley know any good divorce lawyers?â
âŻâŻâŻâŻâŻ
Within a week, you have the papers to file for divorce on grounds of abandonment. Your lawyer is confident that if Tim canât be found by the LAPD, he wonât contest the divorce. You, however, canât seem to find the courage to sign the papers and return them. After another sleepless night worrying about Tim and what youâll do without him, you call your lawyer and tell her youâve changed your mind.
âKeep the papers, okay?â she says. âAnd if you change your mind and want to file them later, give me a call.â
âŻâŻâŻâŻâŻ
Four months later, your stomach is proudly showing your baby bump. The divorce papers are still sitting on your table, and you look at them every time you walk past them. Rubbing your hand over your growing bump, you wonder what happened to push Tim away so thoroughly and so suddenly. With your due date growing closer and your future on the line, you know that you need to file the papers, but you canât.
Across town, Tim and three other Metro officers stumble into the station. Theyâve been working nonstop, living in violent environments, and moving around so frequently that they often didnât know where they were when they tried to sleep.
âThereâs one more house to purge,â their captain says. âIf we can hit it today, you can all go home and sleep easy.â
Tim sighs before leaving the station yet again. The case is closed by the end of the day, but Tim doesnât know if he should or can go home. Youâve been alone for so long; Tim doesnât even know if you are still his wife.
After checking into a nearby hotel, Tim gets comfortable for the first time in too long, but his thoughts keep drifting to you and the emptiness beside him.
You wake with a start as glass shatters. The sun is rising, and you rush into your closet to call 911. They promise that an officer is nearby and will arrive to help you soon. With your hands clutched protectively over your stomach, you wait for the familiar sound of sirens. Angela will insist that you stay with her until your house is secure once again. Your thoughts are ripped from Angela and her protectiveness as someone walks into your bedroom.
âLAPD!â an officer yells from the front door.
The man in your room rushes back out, and you hear the following commotion as heâs placed under arrest. Standing shakily, you try to calm down before you exit the closet.
âBradford,â an officer says when he sees you.
Tim turns, and his shoulders drop, like heâs never been more relieved. When his eyes drop to your bump, however, the tension returns, and his eyes widen. You watch his fast-changing reaction, and when it meets your fear from the break-in and the stress of being pregnant alone, you feel like you may faint. As you extend an arm toward the wall to steady yourself, one of the other officers moves toward you and yells for the paramedics. When they enter, and push Tim back, he canât look away from you and the small crowd separating him from you. Your hand isnât visible from his position, but he looks down at his wedding ring and wonders if you still have one on, too.
âHow far along are you?â a kind EMT asks.
âUh, 17 weeks,â you answer.
Tim calculates quickly and realizes that you got pregnant just before he left. Or after. Because you are safe, though you agree to go to the hospital to get checked out, Tim leaves before you do to return to the station. He wonât admit that your reaction to seeing him again drove him away, not to anyone at the station. Your reaction causes him to think that you donât want him around, and donât need him, so Tim will stay gone.
âTim!â Angela calls when he returns.
âHey, Lopez. I need your help,â he replies.
âI heard the call over the radio. How much do you know?â
âMore than Iâm supposed to, Iâm sure.â
âWhat are you going to do about it?â âMove out. Permanently.â
âWhat? Timothy, are you out of your mind? She needs you! Sheâs been miserable the past four months!â âBecause of me! I made her miserable because I didnât think I had another choice, and I wonât do it again. I have a choice now.â
âTim, you have to go home and talk to her.â
âShe has other people now, Angela.â
Angela stops quickly, and the look in Timâs eyes saddens her.
âYou donât think youâre the father?â
âItâs been a long time since I left,â Tim says softly.
âShe wouldnât cheat on you.â
âI know that. But if she knew that I left her, and left me, tooâŠâ
âGo home and talk to her,â Angela demands. She knows the truth and knows that Tim needs to hear it. âTrust me for once.â
When you get back from the hospital, everything is a blur. Youâre upset because someone broke into your house, emotional because of the pregnancy hormones, and confused about why Tim was here, acting like an ordinary patrol cop after disappearing for months. Everything hurts, inside and out, yet you donât know how to deal with it without Tim.
Someone knocks on the door, and you assume one of your neighbors saw the police car drop you off and wants to check on you. You are incredibly wrong; you realize when you open the door and see Tim. He freezes with his hand poised to knock again.
The sight of you causes Tim to panic. He suddenly canât find the words to say, because none of them seem good enough to explain himself and make you see that he still loves you. His sudden silence reads as disinterest, and his lack of comfort causes your emotional, stressed, confused body to react poorly. Your stomach flips and you leave the door open as you rush inside. Tim watches your face change before you run inside, and he doesnât hesitate to follow after you.
Tim enters the bathroom beside you and gathers your hair in one of his hands as the other presses against your spine.
âItâs okay,â he murmurs. âI got you. Iâm not leaving this time.â
Your breaths grow shallow, and Tim pulls you close until you have both calmed down. Once your breaths begin to match his, Tim moves to see your face, and you ask him to take you to the kitchen for water. He agrees and keeps both hands on you as he helps you stand and leads you through your once-shared house. As you prepare a glass of ice water, Tim notices the papers on your table. He reads the names at the top and hates himself for waiting so long to try to talk to you; he should have come straight home and shown you what you mean to him.
âDo you- do you want me to sign these?â Tim asks as he raises the petition.
When you see him holding divorce papers, and offering to sign them because he thinks that you want him to, tears blur your eyes, and your water falls to the floor. Ice cubes and water spill across the kitchen floor, and you sink to your knees in the puddle to gather the broken pieces. Itâs symbolic, and your tears multiply as you realize that your life is similarly spilled and broken.
âHey, hey, hey,â Tim calls as he enters. âDonât.â
He lowers his hands to help you up, but you donât move. Tim sits in the water beside you and waits for you to come to him. The moment your head hits his chest, your tears slow. Months without Tim didnât change anything, you realize; nothing important, because he can still comfort you with a touch and cares about you and your safety.
âWhat are you doing here?â you ask against his shirt.
Tim sighs before telling you about the case. He doesnât leave anything out, because you deserve the truth, but he doesnât complain when you cling to him during his account of the most dangerous moments. He came home, and thatâs what matters now, but you have something to explain to him, too.
âI didnât sign the papers,â you admit. âCouldnât. When I found out I was pregnant, I didnât want to do it alone, but I couldnât imagine doing it with anyone but you. Tim, you couldâve come home the moment you returned.â
âNo one would have blamed you for leaving. Anticipating it was better than being blindsided by it.â
âSo, what now?â you ask.
Tim kisses your cheek, and you turn to look at him before giving him a proper welcome-home kiss.
âNow,â he says against your lips. He pulls back and continues, âNow, we start where we left off, and I do what I should have done four months ago.â
âWhatâs that?â
âNot leave. You, both of you, are never going to be alone again. I promise.â
You nod and move your hands over his shoulders to pull yourself closer. Your bump gets in the way, and Tim chuckles before murmuring that heâll have to get used to that.
âLetâs go,â Tim says before lifting you from the wet floor. âLopez is probably calling you.â
âTim. This wonât be easy,â you say. âWe both missed a lot.â
âI donât want easy. I want to be married to you and learn to do it all together, no matter how long that takes. Anything you want, itâs done. You want room, say the word.â
âI donât want room now.â
âThen letâs go catch up. Want me to order food?â
âThat or cook in a wet kitchen.â
âWhat do you and the baby here want?â
âDaughter,â you interject. Tim hums in question and you smile before explaining, âWeâre having a girl.â
#hanna writesâŻ#tim bradford x reader#tim bradford x fem!reader#tim bradford x you#tim bradford x y/n#tim bradford fic#tim bradford imagine#tim bradford angst#tim bradford the rookie#tim bradford#the rookie abc#requests#fem!reader
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WINCHESTER'S PICKUP, INJURIES AND CLUMSY KISSES
~1k words
>you get hurt while hunting with your uncle, John Winchester and his son. Dean can't help but help.
pairing:teen! dean winchester x teen! reader
warnings/notes: basically a really tooth rotting fluff, first love and first kiss trope, vague descriptions of reader's past (like death of their family), few but subtle descriptions of injuries, john winchester mentioned (and i mean he's a real trigger so that's important), gn reader, no usage of y/n
REPOSTS WILL BE APPRECIATED
Minnesota. A werewolf hunt. Ordinary case-- boring, in a way. Just had to catch the bastard and shoot it through the heart with silver.
It seemed normal even to you, even though you weren't even an adult yet. Had to grow up early, huh? God, you hated that phrase. It sounded like you were feeling sorry for yourself. And self-pity is weak, very weak! At least that's what your uncle, the hunter who raised you since your family died in a vampire attack taught you.
And besides, you and your uncle weren't alone on this case, but with "family friends" - the Winchesters. Were they considered family friends if every time John needed help hunting and Dean was busy, your youngest son, Sam, was left at your and your uncle's house? Hell if I know! But at least you got a good memory of that family. And the older son's face, his cocky grin, his brilliant green eyes, his perfect nose and distinct freckles...it was all getting to your throat.
But damn it, it had to be some old, abandoned house. Protruding nails, scattered things, wood that left splinters in fingers - it would be dangerous here, even in daylight, without the risk of having your heart eaten...and when there was that risk, every step was tense.
Especially when the "hunted object" - you tried not to think of them as people, or else it became too hard to hunt - had run right into your path. The rumble of falling things, the pop of missed shots. This werewolf was physically strong and dexterous, so it was hard.
Like when he threw you into the wall and some protruding, crooked, rusty nail pierced your shoulder. It's okay, we've been through worse injuries, you'd think. Until Dean ran up to you, completely ignoring his father's scolding.
"Hey, are you okay? Ooh..." He seemed to swear, but it was quiet, a whisper he didn't want his father to hear. Dean sharply threw your arm, whose shoulder wasn't injured, over his neck and lifted you up, not listening to any of your complaints about not needing help.
"Dad's gonna kill you- sshhiit..." You hissed as he pressed his shirt, previously hanging over his black T-shirt, against your shoulder, treating the wound. The fabric was soaked with whiskey.
Hearing your sounds of pain, Dean lifts his emerald eyes from your wound to your face. His gaze is piteous, concerned, and his thick lashes glisten in the moonlight.
He was too handsome. Objectively, of course.
"Like the first time I'm going to get a punch from him... All right?" He squeezes your healthy shoulder in the palm of his hand, then puts his hand on the collar of your t-shirt, and...stops. "I... Can you slip your arm out of your sleeve?"
All his arrogance evaporated, there wasn't a particle of it in the air. And it was cute.
"You want me to take my clothes off? Pervert," you laugh, but your face immediately frowns as you raise your arm. Dean doesn't waste a second and starts helping you.
And God, the touch of his somehow warm fingers - there was a cool breeze outside, by the way - send shivers down your spine, making you dizzy. But you don't think about it. At least you're trying.
A low whimper escaped your lips as he tightened a piece of cloth, torn from your shirt and soaked in alcohol, on your wound. Maybe it wasn't unusual, but it still hurt.
"You're gonna stay here, you hear me? There's no way in hell you're going to go fight that big guy again right now. I won't let you," Dean said, glancing outside his dad's pickup window. His dad and your uncle were still in the house with a werewolf, apparently. You two could have been alone...for a little while. But of course that didn't excite you at all. You and Dean were just friends, right? Hunting bros. Nothing more.
And the fact that your gaze fell to his lips, then to his cheeks, covered with freckles, sharp cheekbones, ash-black long lashes, brilliant green eyes.... It meant nothing. At all.
"Whatever you say, sir," you quipped, rubbing the wound under the piece of cloth with your hand. Dean just gently pulled your hand away, "Don't make it worse for yourself, buddy." And oh, his tone is so gravelly. You're absolutely done.
But he won't let go of your hand. And you don't want to pull away.
His green eyes came up to your face, and he suddenly just froze, as if he couldn't look away. Dean stared at you as if you were the most brilliant and expensive gem, as if you were a living angel he hadn't believed in for a long time.... Like something unearthly. It would be foolish not to admit that you looked at him the same way.
Dean squeezed your hand lightly, and slowly - yes, very unusual for Dean Winchester to do something slowly - moved closer, but in a friendly way for now. In the same second, however, he remembered who he was, and his hand went up to your neck - still tentatively, of course... "Listen, buddy-..."
"Dean, please..."
And that did it. Dean's one word was enough for him to press his lips lightly against yours. He wasn't pushy, he wasn't rough, he didn't even let himself try to deepen the kiss. His lips only phantomly touched yours, guiding you, somehow even mentoring you, gently (still unusual for Dean Winchester himself!). His lips were matte, a little dry, but damn it, you liked it better than the sweetest meals of your life.
He pulls back, takes a deep breath and leans into you again. You're so cooked.
Dean can't help but marvel at your ineptitude at kissing- God, he could have sworn it made it the best kiss of his life. His lips move hotter, feistier, more needy, but still tentative, dipping down a little to leave a few quick nibbles on your chin and on your jaw--
Until you start hearing John and your uncle's voices outside. Oh, God, not now!
"Sorry, baby, sorry-" the nickname slides off his tongue so tenderly, lovingly, as he quickly pulls moves away from you.
Because after today, the chance of Winchester allowing you to see Dean earlier than after few months was close to zero.
a/n: i needed to think about little dean that haven't experienced hell already (on s4 currently yaaay). young jensen on header only because i can't think of teen dean looking as original cast actor for this role. and because i love young jensen. like really much. think im starting to get a lil' bit too much obsessed with dean
#supernatural#spn#supernatural x reader#dean winchester x reader#dean winchester#dean x reader#supernatural fluff#writers on tumblr
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i'm still thinking about the fae zedaph prompt so much that i have. an entire au in my head now. that i am now sharing, in case others are interested.
so the setting of the au is an intentionally kind of anachronistic blend of sci-fi and fantasy, and those things often come into conflict, with a lot of magic interacting badly with technology and technology interacting badly with magic. a vaguely earth-like setting from the near future, where there are robots and space travel and cybernetics, but ALSO a vaguely earth-like setting where there are portals you can slip through that will drop you into the feywild and there are magcial creatures lurking beneath the surface. the idea is like, if an urban fantasy had the 'urban' part set in a sci-fi world.
anyway, so zedaph is an ancient fey creature. a wild fey no longer really associated with either court, but at one point having belonged to the seelie court, zedaph mainly just courts chaos. he's PROBABLY some kind of archfey, but it's worth noting that even other fey aren't fully certain what zedaph is supposed to be at this point. see, in a move that makes almost no sense to a human, zedaph has started to get bored of the games of fair folk. he finds them too... predictable! and sure, to HUMANS the fair folk can seem chaotic and without rules, but to zedaph? he wants something NEW AND EXCITING.
too bad that these days, even if he IS invited into the human realm, it is a bit dangerous to navigate for a fey such as himself. his own deep connection to nature and the natural world makes it so he has some trouble when he's in the tall metal cities of the human realm.
enter: tango.
tango is an android built for... some purpose. he's not really sure what his purpose is, or if he still has one, which is kind of distressing, because his creator either died or abandoned him before tango was turned on. he likes building zany contraptions, sure, but he also sort of wants to search for SOME kind of meaning in his life, since androids aren't really built to be purposeless and that lack of purpose is starting to wear at him. and in another setting, this is a great start to a cyberpunk story about what it means to be human, but in THIS setting, tango accidentally proves he must be developing a soul when he stumbles through a portal to the feywild by accident and fails to find his own way out.
the good news for tango is also the bad news: he's not built for a natural place like the feywild. see, his creator had made him largely out of cold iron, and that, even more than any specific technology, repels fair folk magic. so the good news is that he is largely immune to fey shenanigans! the bad news is that the feywild itself is rejecting him, putting him in immense danger.
enter: zedaph, who is FASCINATED to discover that these days the humans are making machines with souls. zedaph, eager to discover something new, makes a bargain with tango: tango guides him in the human world so zedaph doesn't die of metal poisoning, and in return, zedaph guides tango whenever he stumbles into a dangerous supernatural hotspot. look, zedaph's even making a fair deal and everything, since he can't just like, steal tango's name and force him to, on account of not even tango knowing what his true name would be! the two of them shake on it, and as such, a bargain is struck between both android and archfey.
they both find each other surreal and baffling but are ALSO each other's best friends in an equally baffling and surreal world.
impulse comes into this story later--after whatever the first few adventures tango and zedaph have are, exploring both realms together to try to find something new and exciting for zedaph and something to give tango purpose, the amount of magic tango's being exposed to finally takes its toll, and tango starts to malfunction. zedaph panics as he realizes all at once that he has a friend (thing he didn't know he even could get?) and that friend is in danger. also, uh, more importantly that deal. right. that.
naturally, he then kidnaps the first software engineer he can find. this is a proportionate response, right?
luckily the first software engineer he finds is impulse, and impulse is hardly like, normal, either. like, yes, he's a fully mundane human with only the world's most minor cybernetics, he's normal that way, the way he's not normal is that he gets kidnapped by a terrifying and awesome fey to fix a paradoxical android and goes "this is so cool. hi my name is impulse it's nice to meet you! aw, geez," and acts like everything is normal. neither tango nor zedaph are quite good enough at the idea of 'normal human' to dispute this, and a friendship is then born.
impulse serves as the fixer for a lot of their problems that neither tango nor zedaph are equipped to handle, but he's also like, he'd theoretically be the everyman if he wasn't busy going "every man gets whisked away by the plot of a philosophy major's dream every once and a while right" and going with the flow on things NO SANE PERSON SHOULD GO WITH THE FLOW WITH. he's just chilling in the world's least "just chilling" scenario.
so... there you go there's the ENTIRE TEAM ZIT AU that my brain spawned from the prompt "fey zedaph" i hope you enjoy,
#hermitcraft#zedaph#impulsesv#tangotek#team zit#like i have this whole vision in my head#MAYBE ONE DAY I WRITE MORE OF THIS BUT FOR NOW HERE TAKE THIS VISION#YOU MAY USE IT YOURSELF IF YOU'D LIKE TOO I DON'T MIND.
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i don't know if i've mentioned this idea before, but i'm popping into slick sunday thinking about single parent omega steve and alpha eddie.
steve, who is a little wary about dating after his "fling" abandoned him when he found out he was pregnant. it's been four to five years on his own, raising his daughter the best he can. he still has robin (thank god; he doesn't know what he would do without her) but he's hesitant to bring anyone new into the fold. romantically, at least. they do just fine on their own. his biggest fear is his little girl getting attached to someone who won't stay.
enter eddie, who first sees steve from afar and is instantly enamored. he needs to talk to him, learn more about this beautiful omega who, he assumes, is another volunteer at the event they're both at. he realizes that isn't the case a few moments later when steve's daughter runs into his arms. in eddie's mind, pretty omega + young pup = someone already claimed. he's not close enough to look for a ring, or necklace, or bond bite, but he assumes. his first mistake.
after that first encounter, eddie sees steve around a lot, actually. almost always at some children's event or another, eddie always a volunteer and steve always with his daughter. sometimes there's a woman with them, a pretty alpha that never strays far from steve and carries that pup around like she's hers. eddie thinks he kind of sees the resemblance. another assumption enters his brain. his second mistake.
things change, though, one day at the library. eddie is hosting a d&d event for some local teenagers. geeky geniuses that truly give eddie a run for his money. they're taking a brief break from their campaign when steve comes in with his daughter, alone. the pup lights up at the sight of the teens, waving and bouncing excitedly. steve smiles and starts chatting with one of the boys, another picking up the pup and spinning her around. the interaction is brief before eddie watches steve wave to the others and direct his pup to the children's section of the library. eddie catches a glimpse of the two pulling a couple picture books off the shelves before he's calling the party back into play.
post-campaign, and a little while after steve and his pup have left with a new book, eddie has to ask. he didn't know the teens he hosted d&d for at the library knew the omega he's seen around lately. he's informed that they've all known steve for years. he used to drive them around a lot and looked out for them when they were younger. he'd always been there when they needed anything. eddie had wanted to ask about the pup's other parent, maybe the alpha he saw him with, find out if steve was with anyone, but he ultimately decided it wasn't an appropriate question to ask the teens. it was a little invasive, and as his uncle wayne would probably put it, absolutely none of his damn business. though he would very much like it to be his business.
from there, eddie uses this is an in. he gets up the courage to finally approach steve and talk to him, mentioning the teens and d&d and how eddie had been volunteering at a lot of the events steve took his daughter to. he didn't mention the alpha woman from before, or the pup's parent. he stayed away from any relationship questions at all, using every ounce of self control in his body. he had resolved to be friends with steve, that's it. he didn't want to press.
it doesn't take too long, though, for eddie to finally discover the truth. the alpha from before was steve's best friend, robin. his pup's other parent wasn't in the picture. he hasn't dated anyone since before his daughter was born. eddie wants steve so bad, but after hearing what happened with the pup's father, and how steve has since practically sworn off dating, he respects that decision. he keeps himself at an arm's length. he and steve are friends, and nothing more. he doesn't push that boundary, no matter how much he may want to.
anyway, blah blah blah, steve eventually realizes he's allowed to have things for himself blah blah blah he and eddie get together whatever.
skip to a couple months into their relationship. they've not officially been together long. they don't even live together. steve wanted to take things slow and eddie was more than happy to oblige. steve's daughter knows eddie well by now (again, steve and eddie were friends. eddie's hung out with them many times) and eddie had recently been reintroduced to her as steve's boyfriend. the pup was, obviously, ecstatic about this. she loves eddie. eddie's fun. and he always makes their little family so happy.
so anyway, they're all sitting in steve's living room. there's a cartoon on the small tv, and steve's pup is drawing at the coffee table. she's armed with a thick stack of pretty construction paper (provided by eddie), crayons, markers, and glitter glue. steve and eddie are on the couch, cuddled together and talking. eddie occasionally looks over to watch as the pup draws, in love with the determined scrunch on her face that reminds him so much of steve. after a while, he finally asks what she's working so hard on.
she looks up with a smile, holding up a piece of paper with three stick figures and mounds of glitter glue. "it's our family," she says simply, beginning to point at the figures. "that's me, that's daddy, and that's you."
eddie can already feel the tears bubbling up as he asks, "i'm in your family portrait?"
"obviously," she replies with a dramatic sigh and roll of her eyes. "why wouldn't you be? you're, like, my dad, right? you're gonna marry daddy, and that makes you my dad too. we're a family."
and there it is. eddie's crying, nodding quickly. "oh yeah, absolutely."
steve and eddie had never even discussed marriage before then, but that night, eddie knew he would marry steve in a heartbeat if he let him. and that was also the night that steve realized he had nothing to worry about. his daughter loved eddie, and eddie wasn't going anywhere. he was in it for the long haul, and had already proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he loved steve's pup as if she were his own. maybe everything would work out for him after all.
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this got WAY longer than i anticipated but that seems to be a common theme for me đ« anyway, happy slick sunday, friend! i hope you enjoyed my little ramble about this story that is very near and dear to my heart :))
I LOVEđ„șđ single parent fics will always tie my heartstrings into knots and make me want to cry. theyâre just so beautifulđđđ
#slick sunday#steddie#steddie omegaverse#omega steve harrington#alpha eddie munson#steve x eddie#a/b/o#omegaverse#my asks#mpreg#cw mpreg#tw mpreg
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