#in my heart i was 9 years old and the show took place in the present for me the first time i watched it even though i know this is not true

[roykiller07]

im like if dirk gently was a weirder gayer canadian teenager but with less murder and scifi business around me

[h-ngm-nssluttt]

Deployment Birth

Jake Seresin One Shot

Pov: jake misses the birth of your baby while on deployment but the Dagger Squad makes sure they help you along the way.

The old saying goes ‘When you know you know’ and that was the truth for Jake Seresin. The moment he met Hazel it’s like the stars in his universe aligned as sappy as that sounds, but there was just something about her that made him simply… know.

When Hazel moved to North Island the last thing on her mind was finding someone to be in a relationship with but the universe on that one fateful night at the hard deck when she met up with her childhood friend Natasha Trace had other plans. Hazel wasn’t sure if it was the Southern drawl or the million dollar smile or maybe even the captivatingly gorgeous green eyes that stared deeply into hers like she was the only one in the room even though they were surrounded by the many patrons of the Hard Deck on a Saturday night, but Jake Seresin stole her heart that night whether she realized it right away or not.

The usual cocky, egotistical, womanizer Aviator everyone was used to had changed faster than they could blink. Cocky attitude was replaced with sweet nothings and compliments. Flowers on a random Tuesday just because and coffee runs on his lunch just so he could see you for 10 minutes. Jake Seresin was in love and he was in it deep.

They moved in together after dating for 9 months. She brought warmth and life to Jake's boring beige apartment which he loved. He loved the throw pillows that now adorned his couch, the scented candles that seemed to be in each room. The pictures that now hung on the walls, he loved it all. The engagement followed suit after a year and a half of dating and the wedding wasn’t too far behind. It felt like a whirlwind romance to everyone around them but they just simply knew. They were each other’s person, made for each other by the gods above so why waste anytime when you just simply know.

Hazel was not used to having a partner that actually put in effort. When they say “if he wanted to he would” Jake always wanted to. The smallest of things like doing the dishes, getting her shower ready to just the right temperature that he knew she liked. Having a glass of wine and her book ready for her on the coffee table after a long day of work so she could relax while he sat on the couch with her watching a muted tv with sports recaps on it just to spend time with her. He wanted it all. At first it scared her, but once she realized that Jake wasn’t like her past relationships she was in deep too.

2.5 years in a new journey was about to begin.

She stood in the bathroom staring at the test on the counter. 2 dark pink lines staring right back at her. She wasn’t convinced at first but the 5 tests she took told her otherwise, all showing the same result. She was pregnant. They were going to have a baby. She was growing something half Jake and Half her. She honestly couldn’t believe it. They weren’t actively trying but they decided that if it happened then so be it, and honestly, she couldn’t believe it happened.

The next week was spent going to the doctor’s office just to confirm that she was 100% pregnant (which she was). 5 weeks to be exact. Once she realized it was without a doubt positive she began trying to come up with a creative way to tell Jake.

She stood over the box on the kitchen island making sure it was perfect one more time before gently closing the lid just as she heard the door of Jake's truck close from outside their apartment. Hazel acted like she was busy tidying up the kitchen counter when she heard his boots thud across the hardwood floor as a hand wrapped around her waist from behind and a gentle kiss was placed to the top of her head.

“Hey sweetheart. How was your day?” I smiled as I turned around and faced Jake as I gently wrapped my arms around his neck

“It was good. Busy. How about you?” Jakes smile widened as he looked down at me

“Long and tiring. Was flying from the moment I got on base till it was time to leave”

“Sounds like it’s going to be relaxing on the couch and takeout kind of night?” He smiles as he leans down and places a soft kiss to my lips

“its like you read my mind sweetheart”

I smile as he removes his arm from around my waist and walks across the kitchen. I admire how good he looks in his khaki uniform. He always looks so good. It almost has to be a sin for someone to look that good. He stops at the sight of the box on the kitchen island

“What's this?”

“Just a little something for you” I smile as he looks at me almost confused as he looks back down at the box

“I’m not forgetting something am i?”

“no..go ahead and open it up”

I smile as I watch him look between the box and myself a few more times before slowly grabbing the lid and opening the box as I lean against the kitchen island, my eyes never leaving his face as he looks at the contents of the box. His hands grip the sides of the box as he intently stares at the small pair of aviator sunglasses and a small onesie that says “daddy’s wingman” with a jet underneath it. He quickly looks up at me and back down at the contents of the box multiple times before looking at me.

“are… are you. you’re”

I smile widely as I look at him nodding my head yes as he tries to form a complete sentence. Before I could even get a word out he closes the distance between us as he rounds the corner of the island and cradles my face in his hands as he stares into my eyes and quietly whispers

“we’re having a baby?”

“were having a baby” He leans down and places a soft but passionate kiss to my lips, resting his forehead against mine as he looks into my eyes

“I can’t believe this…. Were… were going to have a baby…”

I smile as I gently place my hands on his shoulders as he moves his hands to my waist as we stand there in the kitchen together. The smile never leaves his face as he slowly kneels down in front of me and rests his forehead against my stomach as he quietly whispers something I can’t fully make out to my stomach. Excitement settling between the two of us as the realization that our greatest adventure together was about to begin in a short 9 months.

They say pregnancy is supposed to be a happy time in a couple’s life… and I suppose that’s true if your husband is not in the military. Nothing can ruin the happiness of a pregnancy like the word ‘deployment’… a 6-month deployment at that. 6 months which happens to be the amount of time that I have left in my pregnancy. 6 months that will be cutting it close to the due date of our baby, if the baby comes on time that is. 6 months of experiencing everything alone. 6 months of sending updates and pictures through letters as often as we can send them. 6 months and the chance that Jake will miss the birth of our baby…

Jake, Payback and Fanboy got the orders a week ago and they leave in 2 days. Those two days were spent barely leaving our bed. Jake's hand never leaves my stomach, caressing the very small baby bump that has formed. Two days of him talking to our baby telling them that they had to wait for him to come home before coming into the world.

“Everyone says that the first baby comes late as long as everything goes well”

I lay there running my fingers through jakes hair as he rests his forehead against my bare stomach running his thumb against the small bump

“I really hope they are right… I can’t miss this.. I just..” he sighs as he places a kiss to my stomach

“I just really need you to wait for daddy to get home… just hang on tight in there for me please”

“We will do our best honey”

The send off was a crying fest. Natasha had to drive me home and ended up spending the night to make sure I was okay. The Dagger squad tried to make this deployment as easy as possible on me as they could. Every Monday Bob came over for dinner. On Tuesdays Bradley and I went grocery shopping together to ensure I didn’t have to lift anything on my own. Wednesdays Natasha and I went to a yoga class. Thursdays Javi came over and mowed the lawn and helped with anything I needed done, and on Friday’s we all went out for dinner and ended the night at the Hard Deck together where I would sit and sip on water while we all went on with our lives. Well they went on with their lives like normal. I felt like I was on autopilot going through the motions each day.

Penny went with me to all of my dr. appointments and has been giving me some parenting advice here and there from when she had Amelia. Everyone made sure I wasn’t alone even though I felt like I was a majority of the time. I made sure to take video’s of our appointments so he can see them when he returns home. The sound of the baby’s heartbeat, the black and white screen showing our little baby moving around.

Every Monday I wrote Jake a new letter with a picture to show how much my belly was growing. With each letter I felt like my heart broke more and more. Each letter included something new about my pregnancy, like how I went to the appointment to find out the gender but refused to know what the baby was until Jake was home. Another one was about how I felt that baby kick for the first time. Another was how hard it was starting to get comfortable because my stomach was so big I could only fit in Jake's shirts anymore and waddle around like a penguin.

Another letter was simply just a list of names for either gender that we liked, eventually deciding on a name for either or that we felt would fit perfectly for our baby.

Each letter was met with a response about how he wishes he was there to experience everything with me. How guilty he feels that he is missing everything and the dreaded line of ‘I still don’t have an exact date as to when I will be home’ that one gets me every time and usually brings me to tears as it feels like the closer and closer I get to our due date that the reality of me having to do this alone is become more and more real as each day passes. And being 4 weeks away from our due date really made that fear a reality.

Each day this week I texted everyone the same excuse ‘you won’t need to come over today. I’m not feeling well. Super tired’. In reality I laid in our bed snuggled into one of jakes sweatshirts clutching onto his pillow as I laid their and slept and cried all week long. Friday night rolled around and I was laying in bed watching some crappy reality show when I heard footsteps and saw Bob, Natasha, Bradley and Javi standing in my hallway. Natasha walked into the room and knelt down by the side of my bed as I looked at her with my tired and red rimmed eyes

“We pieced it all together when we got to dinner tonight. You aren’t sick”

“I mean I am sick.. I’m sick of this deployment…” and that’s all it took before the tears started flowing again as Natasha tried to console me.

“I’m so scared… Each day passes and it becomes more and more real that…. That he’s not going to be here… I’m going to be doing this alone… I can’t do this alone.. I .. he … I can’t”

After crying for a solid hour, I fell asleep as Natasha sat on the bed with me trying to calm me down. Bob, Bradly and Javi cleaned up the apartment and went to the store to ensure I had enough food in the apartment for next 2 weeks and picked up dinner from my favorite Chinese place to try and cheer me up.

We spent the rest of Friday night all crowded in Jake and I’s bedroom. Natasha and Bradley crammed onto the bed with me while Javi and Bob settled onto the floor by the bed. If it wasn’t for this group of friends right here I honestly don’t think I would have made it through this.

The week of the baby’s due date approached fast and Natasha refused to let me be alone. She took up residency on the couch in case I needed anything or god forbid the baby decided to come. This week felt agonizingly slow. Like my body knew it needed to hold on but unfortunately it had other plans. 3 days before our due date I was standing in the kitchen making myself breakfast when I felt it… my water broke. I stood there with wide eyes and I stared at Natasha who was sitting at the kitchen island. It didn’t take long for the tears to cascade down my cheeks as I realized this was it… I silently cursed my body for not holding on longer to even give the slightest chance that Jake could have made it home in time.

72 hours of intense labor later and the Dagger squad crammed into a tiny hospital room, Sonny Amelia Seresin made her appearance and my god did she look just like her daddy, green eyes and all. After a brief hospital stay we made it home and two weeks later we got the call that Jake would be coming home.

The Dagger squad and I made our way to the dock to welcome Jake, Reuben and Jay home. Sonny was curled up against my chest as I stood there frantically searching through the sea of people just trying to catch a glimpse of that familiar head of sandy blonde hair and green eyes. Natasha placed her hand on my shoulder and pointed and as soon as I followed the direction her finger was pointing I saw him. The instant our eyes met it felt like the first night we met all over again. It was like we were the only two there even though there were hundreds of people there. His eyes drifted to the tiny bundle curled up against my chest and I could see the tears from here. It’s like the world was moving in slow motion as he made his way to us. The second he made it to us one hand was placed on my waist the other on my cheek as he leaned down and placed a kiss on my lips as his tears fell on to my cheeks. I love you whispered between the two of us before he pulled back and gently removed his hand from my cheek and gently ran a finger over his daughters’ tiny cheek and ran his hand gently over her tiny tuft of sandy blonde hair on her head. The second she was in his arms he placed a small kiss to her forehead as she snuggled into his chest and greeted his daughter for the first time with tears in his eyes.

“Hi my Sonny girl… Daddy loves you so so much”

Those words were the beginning of our new adventure together. A deployment may have gotten in the way but everything fell right back into place the second our eyes met when he got off that carrier. The stars in our universe aligned again and you could tell Jake Seresin was in love and he was in it deep with the way he looked down at his baby girl.

[heavyhitterheaux]

Ghost Part 1

AN: everyone ignore the fact that it took me almost a year to finish this lol

Synopsis: You're an OnlyFans model that gets pregnant by none other than Jack Harlow, who runs at the first sign of taking responsibility for his actions. But soon enough, his responsibilities get to be too much for him to ignore

Pairing: Jack Harlow x Reader

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

'I'm a good girl'

At least that’s what you told yourself 

But good girls didn't go to school by day and were a cam girl at night.

However, you were 

It was only for a little while

Just until you finished school

You needed a way to pay for it somehow

Besides the money was good and it kept a roof over your head

You admit that this wasn't your first choice in a career path obviously, but you had to do what you had to do in order to survive.

You had been in foster care since you were 9 because your parents and brother passed away in a car accident while you were the lone survivor

Your grandparents were older and they couldn't take care of you so that's when you went into the system 

Your aunt which was your mother's sister and your mother didn't get along and she said that there was no way in hell that she would take you and that you were someone else’s problem

I mean she did have five kids of her own to take care of, but to be that cold hearted to a nine year old?

You admit that you had survivor's guilt and would do anything to have all three of them here with you. But you knew that they would have wanted for you to have the best life that you could possibly have and that you were going to make sure of it. 

But if they were here, then maybe just maybe, your current life would be different.

You had dreams of becoming a preschool teacher since you were diagnosed at 15 with PCOS and you were told that your chances of getting pregnant were slim to none. It definitely hurt because since you didn’t have any immediate family left, that you wanted to have as many as you could. 

But you figured if you couldn’t have any of your own that you would teach them instead. If you could plant little seeds into their minds that will be able to set them up for greatness then you were all for it. 

You put on your newest lingerie set that was gifted to you by one if not your favorite supporter you would say who went by the name Mr.Missionary and was setting up your camera in order to get the perfect view.

One thing about you is that you never showed your face

Only thing they could see was from the neck down

You did that on purpose because the last thing you wanted was for someone to know what you looked like.

It wasn't the fact that you were embarrassed of what you did, but you wanted to remain as anonymous as possible so for the future, your career wouldn't be impacted. You could only imagine what would happen if someone found out what you had done in college when you were teaching their small children. It probably wouldn’t be good and the next thing that would probably happen is you being out of a job. 

You saw time and time again that happening to different people and that's one thing you did not want to deal with.

But, back to Mr. Missionary

He was a sweet talker and knew exactly what to say.

It all started with a message from him asking you if you were comfortable showing your face to him.

Since he had been supportive of you since day one, you figured why not. But also told him not to share any of the photos that you sent him to anyone else. 

So your jaw definitely dropped when you answered the incoming facetime call and was staring back at no one other than Jack Harlow.

The two of you would talk every week and you mentioned one time how you had never been off the east coast before and would love to go. Only Fans did pay well now that you had a lot of subscribers, but it hadn’t always been that way. However, you really only used the money for school and to make sure that you had a place to live. 

The semester had just ended and you weren't taking any classes during the summer so Jack offered to fly you out to L.A. to spend a week with him while he was recording new songs and you quickly said yes. 

This would happen periodically, him flying you out to different cities to meet him all summer long and soon you found yourself getting ready for the new semester to start.

You had about another year to go at Howard University in D.C. until you graduated with your degree in early childhood education while your friend Nadia was majoring in business administration.

The two of you met your freshman year and had been close ever since when you had to take a few prerequisite classes together.

She was from Louisville and was a big fan of Jack, but you didn't bother telling her what had happened between the two of you.

You signed an NDA anyway.

And since she had gone home for the summer, she had no reason for the thought to even cross her mind. 

But when you just so happened to go to your OB/GYN appointment you had gotten a huge surprise.

You were pregnant and apparently had been for three months.

Your period was irregular and you would often go for months without getting one so you thought nothing of it.

The first thing you did when you got back to your apartment was call Nadia and couldn’t help but to blurt it out.

"I'M PREGNANT!"

"Well first of all hello to you too and WHAT?!”

"I can't get pregnant! At least that's what I was told. They told me that when I was fifteen!"

"Well apparently you can. How far along are you?"

"Three months apparently and I had absolutely no idea. I wasn’t craving anything, no morning sickness, no nothing. None of the usual symptoms."

"Oh so when the semester ended, those legs were open for business, huh?"

"NADIA! BE SERIOUS PLEASE." You said while pacing around your bedroom. 

"Well, who's the father? Did you tell him?"

"Sooo, this is probably going to sound really bad." You muttered while pouring yourself something to drink.

You couldn’t see Nadia’s face, but you could just imagine how it looked. 

"I mean, how bad? You're an adult who can do what you want."

"Ummm…. He’s one of my supporters for my cam show."

"Y/N!!!! IS THAT WHY YOU WERE FLYING EVERYWHERE THIS SUMMER!? YOU WENT TO SEE HIM DIDN’T YOU? DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN?"

"Um, maybe and well, I didn’t die."

"What do you mean maybe?! It's either yes or no! And you didn’t die, but now you came back pregnant!”

"Uh, then yes."

"You need to tell him NOW. It’s his responsibility as much as it is yours."

"I will and then I'll call you back." You said while sighing. 

You didn't have enough courage to call him, but you needed to. It was better to get it over with sooner rather than later. 

You knew he was busy and decided to text him first.

You- Hey, call me when you get a chance 

Jack- I will right before I go to sleep tonight. Hopefully I can get another private show 😉

You didn't even bother responding and just waited for your phone to ring while working on assignments you had to do for class instead. 

Another thing you had to worry about now was graduating on time since you were now pregnant and would be due at the start of the last semester before you graduated. 

It was around 11:52 pm when your phone finally rang indicating an incoming facetime call from Jack.

"Hey pretty girl. I'm sorry it took me so long to call you.”

"Hey. It's okay, I was just studying while I waited.”  You quietly said and Jack was immediately eyeing you knowing that something was wrong.

"You okay?" Jack curiously asked while looking at your solemn expression.

"No, not exactly." You quietly responded while starting to fidget as you closed your textbook that was in front of you.

It was now or never.

"What's going on?"

You took a deep sigh before the words left your mouth. Might as well get it over with.

"I'm pregnant." 

Jack immediately went quiet and pinched the bridge of his nose before he said anything.

"I thought you said that you couldn't get pregnant and I always wore protection every time just in case."

"I thought so too and obviously you didn't."

"How do you know it's mine?" You immediately rolled your eyes.

"Didn't I spend basically the entire summer with you?"

"Some of it, not all of it. I don't know what you were doing when you weren't with me." Your jaw had hit the floor. He had some nerve.

"Don't do that. Why would I lie?"

"I'm being honest. Don't get mad at me for telling the truth. And why would you lie? Because I’m a millionaire the last time I checked, that’s why. Sounds like you tried to trap me." 

"Look, I just want them taken care of. AND EXCUSE ME? TRAP YOU? ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?"

"I still don't see what that has to do with me and yes trap me, you heard me the first time."

"Seriously? How could you even say that? I have given you no reason to think that about me."

“Well people can surprise you, everyday. Until I get a paternity test, I'm not believing anything."

That was about three years ago and nothing has changed since then.

You were basically a single mother and Jack popped in occasionally when he wanted to. 

Which wasn't often. 

You were struggling living on your own with no support system in D.C. and Nadia had convinced you to move to Kentucky to be near her so she could help out as much as she could. Her business was finally taking off and she told you that you could find a teaching job at one of the elementary schools since they were hiring for preschool teachers.

When Jack found out that you had moved to Louisville he was not only convinced that you trapped him, but now you were stalking him too.

He had no idea that you were in this by yourself, literally. No help from family or anything.

You could count on one hand how many times Jack had seen Ace since birth and you came to the conclusion that you were probably going to be a single mother and stopped asking him for anything. The last time that he had talked to you was almost two months ago. During that three minute conversation he didn’t even ask how his son was and he only lived less than fifteen minutes away from you.

After the paternity test was done and Jack was proven to be the father, he had accidentally left the paper out on the table and no one other than his younger brother Clay found it. He had questioned Jack about it and because Clay was holding the obvious proof in his hands there was no possible way for him to back out of it. Clay then took it upon himself to reach out to you because he wanted to meet Ace. He met him when he was a month old and at that time Jack had only been to see him once. Because of how he acted, you knew early on not to put his last name on Ace’s birth certificate.  

After moving to Louisville, you met two of Nadia’s close friends, Blaire and Liv. Blaire was a baker who had her own bakery and would have breakfast waiting for you every day for you and Ace before you dropped him off at daycare and went to the school to teach while Liv taught kindergarten at the same school where you were. All four of you had become extremely close, but none of them knew who Ace’s father was. 

Because you signed an NDA, all you ever told them was that he really wasn’t a part of his life and that you were doing this all on your own and they accepted that as an explanation, but it was only a matter of time before they found out the truth. You knew that they would all look at him differently because they were such big fans of him. Plenty of times they had asked you to go to his concerts with him, but you steadily declined, but they never questioned why. 

All Jack did was send money to help with daycare and that’s when he actually remembered to do it. You got a discount since it was actually in the same school as where you taught, but it was still expensive. Especially on the salary that you got.

It was currently almost four in the afternoon and Jack was supposed to pick Ace up to spend time with him and you were hoping that they would be able to spend more time together. You knew that his career was demanding and he was at the height of it, but you just wanted Ace to have a relationship with him. He told you that he would be coming around 2 and that he would take Ace to the Louisville basketball game later with the rest of PG and spend the weekend with him. 

From what you knew, Urban was the only one who knew about Ace and was guessing that this would be his opportunity to tell them. You sighed as you looked at your baby waiting at the door with his little backpack on wanting to see the moment his dad was going to come through the door. 

After a while, he just sat down and sighed which made your heart break.

“Mommy, daddy not coming is he?” He quietly asked you and all you did was sigh.

“We just have to wait and see, bub. Maybe daddy got busy and got caught up with doing something.” One thing that you were tired of doing was making excuses for Jack.

“Does daddy love me?” He looked up at you with tears in his eyes and you quickly sat down next to him and slid him into your lap.

It took everything in you not to cry right then and there, but immediately pulled out your phone to call him.

“Of course he does. Here, baby. Let’s call him to see where he is.”

You didn’t know if you were trying to convince Ace or convince yourself.

You put the phone to Ace’s ear and Jack actually picked up on the third ring which you were surprised by.

“Hello?”

“DADDY! Where you at? Still coming to get me?”

“Oh, hey little man. Um, something came up, but I promise to get you another day.”

“But you promised you were coming today. You said that last time.”

“I know, bubs but I’ve just been so busy.”

Not wanting for the conversation to go on any further, Ace handed the phone to you with tears in his eyes, threw off his backpack and ran down the hallway into his room.

“Ace!” You called after him, but he continued down the hallway. 

“Are you…..? Are you serious right now?! You made him cry because all you do is fucking lie to him and to me!” You took a deep breath before letting him have it. 

“Y/N, please don’t fucking start.” You heard him say before sighing and you could hear cheering going on in the background indicating that he was already at the game.

“Oh, I’m going to fucking start because he has been excited for this all week! Why would you bail on your son like that? You did the same shit last time. You begged me to come and see him and when I told you what time would work best, what did you do? Not even bother to show up. Either you want to be in his life or you don’t and you need to make a decision. Tired of my child constantly being disappointed in his father.”

“Look, I’ll talk to you later.” Jack said and then hung up without another word leaving you fuming from your conversation. 

You simply got up while grabbing Ace’s backpack and made your way to his room. Once you opened the door, you found him laying down with his head resting on his hands just staring off into space.

“Ace….”

“Mommy, can we just go to the park?” He asked not even mentioning what Jack had done.

“Sure, baby. Whatever you want. I also think that it’s a perfect day for ice cream. What do you say?”

At the mention of ice cream, Ace immediately perked up and eagerly nodded his head.

“Can I get chocolate chip cookie dough?”

“Whatever my Ace wants, he gets.”

Upon hearing this, he immediately smiled and you were happy that you could take his mind off of what his father had promised him, at least for a little while. 

Two weeks had passed and you were rushing to get both of you out of the door and to Blaire’s bakery for breakfast so that the two of you would at least have something on your stomach for the busy day ahead.

You had sent a text last night to Jack asking him to send you money for daycare for the month of October, but he never responded leaving you frustrated because you literally now only had 24 hours to come up with the money otherwise you weren’t quite sure what you were going to do.

Your Only Fans was still active, but that was a last resort.

While driving to the bakery, Ace fell asleep in the backseat when you decided to call him.

“Yes, Y/N? What now? I’m busy.”

“Good morning to you too. Did you get my text last night?” You asked after rolling your eyes at how he greeted you.

“Didn’t I just give you money for daycare? Why do you need more already?”

“You see, Jackman….”

“Don’t call me that.”

“That’s your name isn’t it? Given to you by your parents?”

“Look, what do you want? I’m in the studio.”

“No need to be rude. I need more money for daycare. I have to pay it every month.”

“Why the fuck is it so expensive? Got damn a round trip to L.A. is cheaper.”

“I don’t know, but I already get a discount and I have to pay it by tomorrow so can you just send it to me?”

“1600 dollars?!? That’s the discounted price? You have got to be fucking kidding me. They act like you have six fucking kids. He’s one person.”

“Just… can you do it or not? I wouldn't ask you unless I absolutely had to.” You asked, hating that you even had to do so.

“Yeah, I’ll send it and you better be using it for daycare and not something else. Because if I find out you did, you better not ask me for it again. Anything else you want to bother me about?”

“Ace is in the car. Do you want to say good morning to him?”

“Not really. I’ll call him later. Bye.”

“I-....”

Jack hung up without another word and all you did was shake your head at him and how your three year old is more well mannered than he is.

Once you pulled up to the bakery, Blaire met you outside on the curb and immediately ran to your window with a bag of food as well as two drinks. A hot chocolate for Ace and her specially made coffee for you. You swore that she put jet fuel in it and as many times as you asked her for the recipe, she never told you. 

It literally allowed for you to stay energized throughout the day and didn't even want to know how much caffeine was in it.

She handed you yours, while she opened Ace’s door and handed him his.

“Thank you, Auntie Blaire.” He quietly said before taking it and you looked back at him to see that he was pouting and Blaire immediately asked him what was wrong before you could.

“Daddy didn’t say good morning to me when he talked to mommy.”

Oh.

So he was awake.

“I’m just sure he was really busy. You can try calling him later once you get home, yeah?” She said to try and get a smile at him, but all he did was nod his head.

So much for getting a good start to the day.

Ace had been upset the entire time he was in daycare even when you went to go and check on him and brought a cookie as a peace offering which he wasn't excited by and thought that making his latest favorite dinner might take his mind off of it. 

You never in a million years thought that Ace would love to help you cook, but here you were. He told you that he wanted to be a chef when he grew up, so you obviously set him up with everything that he might need.

He told you on the way home that he wanted to make chicken parm with noodles so you stopped by the store to grab the ingredients.

Ace was wearing his apron that you had gotten him as a gift for his birthday which said Chef Ace on it and standing on his step stool to add salt to the boiling water for the noodles while you were finishing cutting up the chicken and about to start making the breading for it.

He didn't bring up for the rest of the day what had happened with Jack earlier, but you had a feeling that it was coming and more than likely it would be around bedtime. But for now, you were simply going to focus on spending time with your little one.

“Ace, do you want to grab the Italian seasoning for mommy to use?”

“Yes!”

He promptly moved his step stool to be in front of the spice cabinet and climbed up when there was a knock on the door.

Ace had handed it to you and stepped down before going to get a sip of juice out of his sippy cup.

“Be right back, bubs. Remember don't touch anything without mommy being in here with you. We don't need you getting hurt.”

“Okay, promise.” He quickly answered before taking another swig of his juice as you went to answer the door to come face to face with Nadia,  Blaire, and Liv.

“Heyyy. Blaire told us baby daddy troubles this morning sooooo…. We brought wine and lemon cake that Blaire made for Ace.” Nadia said as she held up the wine and Liv held up the cake and all three of them were smiling back at you.

“You guys didn't….”

“Shut up and let us in. Yes we did and what is our little chef making tonight?” Liv asked as you moved to the side and let them in while closing the door behind you.

“Chicken parm and salad and Blaire’s cake can be added to that now.”

“HI AUNTIES!” You heard Ace as he ran full speed towards the four of you.

“Auntie’s baby!” Nadia exclaimed as she opened her arms to engulf him into a hug.

“Food should be about done in another thirty minutes.”

“Well until then, we have the wine to keep us occupied.”

After gushing over how good the meal was along with Blaire’s lemon cake, Nadia pulled out her phone and shoved it towards you.

“What am I looking at?” You asked her as Ace had climbed into your lap.

“Jack Harlow and his No Place Like Home concert. I thought I would get tickets for all of us to go.”

Ace then peered at her phone and got a confused look on his face.

“Oh, that's daddy!”

Silence.

Looks of shock.

Looks of disbelief.

Nadia, Liv, and Blaire knew how intelligent Ace was so they didn't think that this would be something that he would lie about all while trying to wrap their heads around it.

When no one said anything, Ace turned to look at you.

“Are we going to call him before I go to sleep?”

“Um, sure bubs. We’ll call him. Do you want to go and pick out a book for us to read tonight before we do?”

He eagerly nodded before hopping down off your lap and heading to his bookshelf in his bedroom.

All you did was sigh and wait for the interrogation to begin.

Nadia was first.

“Y/N!!!!! I…. WHAT!?”

“Do not say anything because the last thing I need is him finding out that other people know.”

“He is a literal ASSHOLE to you and Ace. The mother of his son and his actual son. All the shit that you’ve told us he’s done!?! Or hasn't done for that matter.” Liv exclaimed as she poured herself another glass of wine.

“So that's who was flying you out that summer?”

You simply nodded.

“Y/N…..”

“Look, I don't need the looks of pity. I’m fine, my son is fine and that's all that matters. We’re going to be okay with or without him.”

Blaire who had been quiet the entire time simply shook her head.

“I can always call my brothers to jump him.”

“NO, BLAIRE!”

“The offer still stands. Just say the word.” She replied while shrugging.

“I know how you three love his music so get the tickets and have fun. Me and Ace will be okay.”

“No. One band, one sound bitch. If you have beef with Jack Harlow, so do we.” Nadia said while crossing her arms. 

“Come to think of it… Ace does look an awful lot like him.”

“All I can do every day when we go out is pray that no one notices. I have to protect him and it’s sad that I actually have to do it from his father.”

It was around 7 PM when you had finished giving Ace a bath and had finished reading the book that he picked out earlier to him when he asked to call Jack.

“Can we call daddy now?” He asked looking up at you hopeful and all you did was give him a small smile.

“Of course we can.”

You grabbed your phone and attempted to call Jack on facetime while handing it to Ace.

All it did was continuously ring and you saw the pout on Ace’s face become more pronounced.

“Maybe, he’s just busy, bubs.” You quietly said before you took your phone back and the look of disappointment across his face broke your heart.

“He’s always busy, mommy.”

“But, at least you get to spend the day with him tomorrow! That’s something to be excited about. Do you have any idea about what you want to do?”

Jack had begged you to come and get him tomorrow to make up for not taking him to the basketball game with him and as much as you felt that he was going to go back on his word, but you were willing to give him another chance. But the chances were slowly running out.

“No, I’m just sleepy.”

“Okay, let’s get tucked in so we can sleep.”

Once you had gotten Ace settled, you went into your room and logged onto your banking app to see that Jack in fact did send you the money to pay for daycare and you let out a sigh of relief that you didn’t realize that you had been holding. 

Ten minutes later, you got a text from him.

Jack- I’ll come and get him tomorrow. Be there around nine. 

Hopefully this was a way for him to redeem himself for not showing up the other day and prayed that he would follow through. 

You were tired of seeing your child disappointed. 

The next morning after getting Ace ready, Clay came to get him and you would say that you were surprised that it wasn’t Jack, but that would be a lie. Ace was still excited to see Clay, so the last thing you wanted to do was upset him. You got to have a full day to yourself which you hadn’t had in a while.

Your time was spent going to the mall, seeing a movie, and even going to your favorite restaurant by yourself.

You made sure to soak this all in because you didn’t know the next time that you would be able to get another opportunity to do this and spend your time and money on yourself.

It was around 5 PM when Clay dropped off Ace who you could tell was still on a sugar high since he was running around the apartment and not able to keep still for three minutes when you got on the topic of Clay’s brother since you knew that it was inevitable. 

"Clay, I have given him chance after chance to do right by him and he literally disappoints me and him every time." 

"I know and I'm…."

"No. Do not apologize for him. If he could have just seen his face when he promised to come and get him to go to the game with all of you and to have a cooking date and he didn't show. Like my baby was bawling with tears running down his face and asked me does daddy even love me? Clay my heart can't take too much more of this. This has been going on for way longer than it should have. My son is my entire world and he deserves a father in his life that wants to be consistent and be there for him. I don't think Jack will ever get there." 

"So I guess I shouldn't tell you that he still hasn't told our parents about you or Ace?" Clay asked while scratching the back of his neck.

You then looked at Clay in disbelief as Ace came up on your left side and lifted his hands up to indicate he wanted to be picked up by you or his uncle and Clay quickly did. 

"Your brother is just full of surprises isn't he? You're more of a father to him than he is."

"Reality hasn't hit him yet."

"It doesn't take three years. It's just crazy how you were the only one who welcomed him with open arms, but then again you had already saw the DNA results so you had no choice but to believe me. I guess Jack never thought in his wildest dreams he would sleep with a cam girl and end up with a kid."

Just then your phone went off indicating a text from the man of the hour.

Jack- Y/N, I know you're mad at me but I promise to get him next time.

You- Don't even worry about it. Once again your little brother is stepping up and doing what you should have done. So much that he actually called him dad the other day. Think about that.

You saw Jack would start texting and then stop indicating that he didn't have a good comeback for that one.

How could he?

It had been a quick slip up a few weeks ago by Ace, but Clay simply brushed it off and thought nothing of it. You remembered him saying to Ace, ‘Well we do look alike, don’t we?’ And he quickly agreed.

And just then your phone went off indicating Jack was calling you.

"What?" You asked as you rolled your eyes.

"I'll be outside in 20 minutes and I want to see my son."

Once you hung up, Clay turned to you and asked you what he said.

“He said that he wants to see him, but my thing is that if you really did want to see him then you would have gotten him earlier. The last thing he better do when he comes in here is make a scene.”

Twenty minutes didn’t even pass before you heard knocking on the front door and you immediately rolled your eyes before getting up to answer it.

Once you did, Jack was clearly annoyed and was looking right past you to see where Ace was.

“Where’s my son?”

“Oh, so now he’s your son? Are there certain days of the week that you claim him or?”

“Y/N, I’m not doing this with you right now, where is Ace?”

“He’s with your brother in the kitchen if you must know and you better not go in there and make him upset.”

“Now, why would I make him upset?”

“I don’t know, you tell me. Since all he knows you’re good for is disappointing him.”

Jack didn’t even bother to respond as he walked past you to come face to face with Clay playing with Ace.

Once Ace saw him, he quickly ran to hide behind Clay.

“Bubs, it’s me, daddy. No reason to be scared.”

All Ace did was peek out behind Clay’s leg who was trying to also tell him that it was okay.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t come and get you today, but I promise that I will next time.”

This led to Ace shaking his head no and holding onto Clay’s leg tighter.

“Ace, what’s the matter?” Jack asked seeing as Ace had never acted this way towards him before.

“Daddy, you forgot about me….. Again.”

“I… I didn’t forget. Daddy’s just been really busy, but I’m here now.”

“Maybe if you actually showed up when you were supposed to this wouldn’t be happening.” Clay snapped at Jack as Ace quickly ran to you and you picked him up as he hid in the crook of your neck.

“Clay, I already get it enough from Y/N, I don’t need to hear it from you too.”

“Well obviously you do, because hearing it from one person obviously isn’t enough! Now, why is your kid calling me daddy? Oh, right. Because his real dad actually ignores him.” Clay said while raising his voice at his older brother.

“I DON’T IGNORE MY SON!”

“WHEN IS THE LAST TIME YOU ACTUALLY SPENT TIME WITH HIM? I’VE SEEN HIM MORE TIMES SINCE HE’S BEEN ALIVE THAN YOU HAVE!”

At their heated exchange, Ace began to cry and you knew that you needed to put a stop to this immediately.

“Okay, you two, we’re done. Jack, get out.”

“If I leave, I’m taking Ace with me.”

“You are not taking MY son anywhere. Can’t you see how upset you made him? And I told you once you step foot in here not to upset him and you did the exact opposite. Just leave. You've done enough.”

Jack had let out a frustrated sigh as he was contemplating his next move. He stepped towards you, but was immediately blocked by Clay stepping in front of you.

“Just do what she asked you to do and leave.”

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[ashonheavenscloud]

five more minutes || h. jisung

⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆ contents: han jisung x reader, college au, established relationship, fluff, slightly suggestive, intense make out sesh, disgusting amounts of mutual simping

⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆ word count: 1.8K

⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆ warnings: tinyyy bit suggestive (this whole fic is just one really long kiss scene LMAO), one (1) hickey is given to reader

⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆ a/n: repost from my old instagram under starryy.chan. this is like 2 and a half years old so i’m not sure how great the writing still is but i hope you enjoy regardless! comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated <3

now playing : whisper - park jiwoo

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

If a more perfect end of your day existed, you didn’t think you wanted it.

It had been meeting under that giant oak tree on campus, just to sneak a few kisses after your last classes of the day ended. Then Jisung had dragged you to a nearly secret bakery, hidden along the outskirts of the university campus, where the store owner had offered you a small box of macarons with the chocolate cheesecake you’d shared. You’d taken them snugly in their container back to Jisung’s apartment, where the treats had been devoured over a heated and exhilarating few rounds of uno. 

You’d decided on a simple dinner: a pizza (or maybe it was two) to share over loud discussion and banter, where he relentlessly teased you and you argued playfully back. With him, the rhythm of conversation flowed effortlessly- and over every possible topic you could explore. Because it was just that easy with him, just that natural. 

And Jisung had the unique ability to make you laugh with hardly any effort. What was even better was how much you knew he attempted to bring out your smile and loud giggles simply because he loved them. He never failed to tell you that, and it always left you a flustered mess. Which, of course, he also adored.

And after way too much teasing and silly banter and lame puns just to crack a smile, Jisung pulled you onto his lap. He hugged you close, sighing in content when you let your head fall onto his chest. His heartbeat in your ear, paired with the sound of his breathing, was so calming as you binged several episodes of a favourite show. Occasionally, the boy pressed a kiss to your forehead or around the crown of your head. You, in turn, laced your fingers through his and played with his various silver rings and admired the black polish on his nails.

Yes. Yes, you barely paid any attention to the TV. And could you be blamed, when every time you peeked at Jisung, you could see the pure love shining from his eyes as he looked back at you with that beautiful smile of his?

And after what had been nearly six hours together, it became apparent that the day would have to end at some point. You had early classes, and Jisung worked at 9 am, which meant the two of you needed to momentarily part ways. Jisung drove the short fifteen minutes to your place, before pausing in front of the building. Looking out the car window into the night, you felt a sad little pang to your heart.

“You have everything?” Jisung inquired, offering you your bag. You took the thin straps in one hand, nodding slowly before looking up at him.

Describing what Jisung meant to you was always hard. You knew you loved him, but it was more than that. You felt safe with him, and when you were around him all your worries seemed to melt away. Especially late at night, you hated to leave.

“I don’t want to say goodbye.” You confessed, feeling a little silly. It wasn’t like you weren’t going to see him soon. After all, you went to the same university together and texted pretty much constantly. But for some reason, tonight it was even harder to step out of the car.

Jisung must have noticed, because he gently pulled the backpack from your grasp and replaced it with his hand. He slid his fingers to fit between yours, making your heart do all sorts of acrobatics in your chest. He slowly smiled at you, allowing his other hand to rest lightly on your thigh as he leaned closer to murmur,

“Let’s make it a long one then.”

He moved in to press his lips to yours, softly taking your lips in his. You responded instantly, inhaling as you moved your mouth to the rhythm Jisung set- a leisurely pace that sent your mind spiraling at his touch. His free hand found a stray piece of your hair to tuck behind your ear as he kissed the corner of your lips, then your cheek and jawline with several more slow pecks. You sighed in absolute content, eyes closing to focus on what you were feeling- the tickle of his breath on your skin before each press of his warm lips, the occasional touch of his tongue that made you shiver, the brush of his fingers as they wound around your neck to tangle into your hair.

Here you could sense the embers sparking to life in your veins as you pulled him in for another kiss. This one was firmer, more needy than before; you sucked on his bottom lip, hearing a low hum from his throat as he tugged lightly at your hair, bringing your face as close as possible to him. “I love you,” he whispered, and then again and again with every added press. Butterflies flew up your throat; his air was your only air- and the only air you felt you’d ever need or want again. 

Kissing Jisung was exhilarating. Like a drop on a rollercoaster played over and over; a stutter of your heart felt in the best kind of way.

Your fingertips landed lightly on his shoulder, before slowly bunching the fabric of his blue sweater. His kisses remained heated but came along slower; they savoured yours, each methodical roll of his tongue purposeful. He knew the best ways to rile you up- and luckily you knew his weaknesses, too. You allowed your hand to drop and brush along his forearm, dragging your fingers up his arm and around his neck. You felt him shiver at the same time you did, as his hand released yours to grasp your waist. In one swift motion Jisung pulled you over the seat to tumble onto his lap as his lips continued their abuse on your own. You responded with equal enthusiasm as you found a tight grasp on his dark locks and pulled harshly. He grunted and urged you closer, kissing you ravenously- you heard him pant out, “Y/n-”

You became acutely aware of the warmth of his thighs underneath you, the firm muscles of his chest pressed to yours, and every touch of his skin on yours. His teeth nibbling your bottom lip was more than enough to drive you near insanity, and his firm grip sliding over your hips did nothing to help that. You wanted absolutely no space between the two of you, nothing but him and you stuck together like glue. And it seemed Jisung had the same idea, as he wriggled his arms out of the sleeves of his sweater, the sleeveless white tee underneath already precarious over his shoulders. Your fingertips traced over his arms again- this time, you could feel the burning heat of his skin, the flexing of his biceps as his hold on your waist tightened, his breathing coming out unsteady. 

Through the fuzziness of your mind, you felt words you didn’t mean come from your parted lips. “Shouldn’t- shouldn’t we go?”

“No-” Jisung managed, kissing you like he might never have the chance again. His kisses trailed south, making you gasp as he found your throat and quickened his pace over your skin. And between each peck: “Five- more- minutes.”

As if you hadn’t been hoping he’d say that.

And any last whisper of a thought to go was buried once his lips found its place right under the curve of your jawline, a sensitive spot only Jisung knew about. You gasped as his teeth nipped at your skin, shooting fire through your veins as it left a mark. His hands gently rocked your hips over his, and you stuttered out a whine. Jisung’s murmurs- words completely  lost in your hazy state- were breathy and low, making you shiver as the warmth of his breath tickled your skin before his lips made contact along your neck again. Feather kisses fluttered across your collarbone, accompanied by his hands winding around your neck, thumb absentmindedly brushing your jawline. 

His words were whispered louder this time, and you finally heard them clearly. “ Let’s lose time, Princess.” He breathed as his lips touched your ear, and goosebumps erupted over your skin. They trailed along your jaw, before your mouths were locked again, and his words disappeared in favour of sloppy kisses.

Your mouth was captive to his, and content to remain so. His hands ran up and down your sides, fingers teasing the hem of your hoodie to skim his fingertips over your burning skin. It sent shivers across your body, and a soft breathy whine left your lips as your fingers found purchase in his locks again. Your brain was a jumbled mess, just every cell of your existence intent on Jisung, whose mouth worked wonders as he slid his tongue along your bottom lip, before diving in again.

You swore you could have spent hours just kissing him, bodies pressed together, air a distant and seemingly inessential thing at the moment. His hands teased you under your sweatshirt, while his lips continued their breathtaking work with yours. You felt on fire, heat simmering over every inch of your skin and burning where his lips touched you. At last, some sense seemed to come back to the both of you, and Jisung’s kisses slowed to softer, slower movements.

“Princess?” He murmured against your lips at last, and you knew that it really was time for the two of you to go.

You pulled away, breathing heavily as your eyes refocused onto Jisung in front of you. He was also panting, eyes looking back at you. For a minute you were both still; then Jisung’s hands dropped to find yours, fingers tangling between your own.

“Did you know I love you?” He whispered- like it was a promise, a secret  just for the two of you. And it only mattered that you knew it.

You ducked your head to plant a soft kiss to his swollen lips, feeling him grin into the kiss when you did. You lingered close when you leaned back, noses nearly touching, his breath tickling your face. “I think you’ve told me.”

His eyes flickered to yours, and the adoration in them made your breath catch. 

“I love you, Ji.” You whispered, brushing his bangs away from his eyes. You watched him slowly smile- the kind of smile that had you feeling something far beyond happy- before resting your head on his shoulder.

His arms wound around your waist, fingertips gently drawing circles over your back. It was silent and peaceful for a moment before Jisung spoke again.

“We really should go-”

You shushed him with a quick kiss before collapsing against his chest again. “Five more minutes.”

Jisung laughed softly, and when his grip on you tightened and his head fell against yours, you knew you’d won him over.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

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[elsa-fogen]

At first i was going to reblog this from @justashadowlooker

but then it got too long and off-topic, i started retelling and quoting my own 10 years old fanfic, so i'm making it it's own post jjdsfjkdfgh

Too long don't read, was a Bloom fan, killed her hundreds of times, than became Icy fan, killed her few times as well, still a huge fan, wanna revive some of my old ideas

When i had just started watching winx, Bloom was my fav AAHAHHAH (it was 2008-2009 year i think). Buuut... being my fav means that you gonna SUFFER. It was always the case, even when i was little. But young me didn't know better than to just kill of a character. And Bloom died SO many times in my early fanfics and arts. I still remember one fic, it was also the first ever fic i posted on the internet, and it was horrible. I typed really slow at that time and i was looking at like 10 A4 pages of handwritten fanfic and was like... weeeell i don't need this part with description of the boat... i don't need this part about wind flowing in her hair or smth... i don't need spaces after dots and commas either. These were real thoughts of 9 year old me lmao.

the fic was about Bloom and Sky going for a boat trip date, but there was also some bitch that fell for Sky and her best decision was to throw Bloom away from the boat. As a result she was sucked into the screw of the motor or whatever this thing called. Sky dived after her and brought her back on the boat, but she died due to the blood loss.

In my handwritten version it was really long and tears queezing scene, but i was too lazy to type it all, so it basically was shortened to 1 (one) sentence: Bloom didn't make it to the port.

i also had a picture attached, it was i think a cover of some of the comics where Sky holds Bloom on his arms and they're stepping out of the water, but i photishoped it and added many wounds and BLOOD BLOOD EVERYWHERE!!!

I also remember photoshopping screenshots from the first winx movie, adding bloody wounds on Bloom and tears and trying to make her face sad lol. And also i remember, i didn't have access to the computer all the time in my childhood, and there was a weird time... when i'd got a chance to be on the computer, i would made a specific search in google, to find that one art with Bloom, being fucking stabbed, lying on the ground and crying, and touching the golden heart-shaped locket with the name Sky on it, and you could see that it was Sky's sword that stabbed her, and he was walking away in the distance. I could stare at that art for hours, imagining how it happened. I also remeber how the art suddenly stopped showing up at the search and i had only tiny squeezed jpg version of it, and i thought that google banned this art for being so violent lmao

Btw i found that art, it's by Chibiusa-Moon, here it is, and i remember it diffferently, i thought Bloom had enchantix on her lmao

BUT THEN SOMETHING CHANGED. I DON'T KNOW WHEN. I DON'T KNOW WHY. BUT ICY CAME AND DESTROYED MY LOVE FOR BLOOM, AND TOOK HER PLACE.

I suspect that it happened after i saw ep1 of season 3, because HAVE YOU SEEN THIS WOMAN IN THAT EPISODE?! SHE WAS ✨✨S L A Y I G✨✨ DAMN!!! She freed herself looking fab as fuck (i've only seen her battle uniform at that point, and her casual outfit shocked me, i was like HOLY SHIT?? DIFFERENT COLTHES?) (and it's if you forgen the HOLY SHIT, TRIX IN THE FIRST EPISODE OF THE SEASON?!!!), sayed the edgiest thing in the world, then freed her sisters, skated away from the giant snake ON HER DAMN HEELS AS A QUEEN!!!!! I think this was the moment when i fell for her. Maybe i'm wrong and it happened earlier, but this is all i can remeber.

Well, i also remember when my mom got me my first winx magazine and i was really disappointed that there were no Trix in the comic AHHASJGDAJS it was comic about bloom and diaspro going to the land of the dragons.

And, funny enough, i think i didn't kill Icy in my fics (mostly)

wait fuck. i remembered one (that was actually properly published and finished), let me just refresh my memory real quick- (gonna cringe soo hard ahaha)

oh shit i also remembered some stuff. In my later fanfics i was tending to make Bloom real psychopath, who decided to straight up destroy all the witches and all the dark magic. Hey. Hey. I bet 13 year old me wouldn't mind if i borrowed this idea fom her...

EHM ANYWAY, BACK TO THAT ONE FINISHED FIC!

It's so cringy written, but it's got the spirit HASHDHA. The trix summon some another army of darkness that was created to destroy fairies (hey), but at some point they lose control of it and the army turns against them. They have no ther choice but to seek help from the winx. winx of course don't want to help since their army attacked alfea... but the trix didn't give this order.

by the way tehre's one dialogue that i think is actually good and i think is in character

"But how do we know that it isn't one of your tricks?" - asked Tecna. - "Probability of this equals 85,9%!" Everyone froze. Nobody had this idea before. Then Icy shook her head. "No, it's not." "How do we know?" Stella said suspiciously. "If we wanted to trick you, we'd choose less humiliating way" Icy replied coldly.

in the end witches and fairies teeaming up, and going on an adventure to stop this army with some artifacts. Significant part of the way they had to make on their own without magic, and during that winx and trix are actualy growing to like each other. OH THERES ALSO A FUNNY THING LOL

But as a night roommate she [Icy] turned out to be very restless. She was moving all the time and mumbling something. And then at some point she screamed: "Damn fairies, i wish you all dead!" Bloom jumped on her place and still half sleeping replied: "Shut up, witch, or you're done for!" and fell back asleep. All in all, it was hell of a night.

i still think this is funny af-- damn these dialogues are only getting better. Next day they getting closer to their destination.

Suddenly they heard Stormy's voice: "Wait! there's some sign! Icy, can you read this?" "Why her?" Stella asked offended. "We all here can read!" "Except for you," Darcy noted gloomily and everyone laughed. "Ha, well, if you're so smart, come here and read!" Icy said with the sweetest voice. "And next time we'll ask you." Stella understood that she was cornered. To save the rest of her dignity, she came closer and started staring at the sign. "I-I cant for some reason, this handwriting is awful!" with dispair sloar fairy realised that she doesn't understand these letters. "And this cold is driving me nuts! Give me cup of hot coffee and warm blanket!"

then Icy teaches Bloom how to skate. And then Aisha (Leyla) dies by falling into some bottomless pit- After that they make it to their destination, but the army was waiting for them there

another dialogue

"Let's go!" Icy said decisively. "No, wait! I'll go alone. If they catch me, you all get out of here as fast as you can" [...] "No!" Bloom said. "I'll go with you!" "Fine. But they'll kill you immediately" "And you?" "And I will be tortured" Icy smiled.

I can't with this lol, Icy smiling at the thought of torture as a true psycho she is.

Icy touched the wall, making sure it's quite hard. "Well? What's next?" "You're the brain of the operation, you tell me!" redhead replied, crushing piece of the rock in her hand

i just like this interaction here.

"Winx Believix!" Winx screamed. And Trix didn't scream anything, Icy just snapped her fingers and all three were already in their witch uniforms.

yeah classic.

the fight begins, Icy is trying to understand what to do with the artifacts, Musa dies, then they teleport to some other planet where they can perform the ritual to destroy the whole army at once. They're reading the spell, but something is missing, and the army attacks them here too. This time Bloom is left to figure out what were they missing, and some drops of her blood fell on the artifact and that was the last piece of the spell. The army is destroyed, but Icy was seriously injuried when covering Bloom from attack from behind. Now they're flying back to Magix

FUCK-- guys i'm sorry. More dialogues on the way.

"Why are you here?" she [Icy] asked, opening her eyes. "Doesn't want to miss your death!" Stella screamed, she overheard the talk. "Shut up!" I [Darcy] replied. "Or I'll hit you!" "Oh-oh, I'm so scared!" "Discussed my funeral already?" Icy asked, surprisingly, without sarcasm. "Come on, don't listen to that fairy! She has only fashion and straw in her head." Icy smiled weakly. "Magix!" Bloom screamed looking out the window. Fairies came closer to the glass. "Where?!" Icy got worried. Golden-green disc of the planet surrounded by thick ring of asteroids was hanging in the center of the window. Icy could see it without moving. "And here my dream came true. I got Magix!" she lifted her arm and closed her fingers around the planet. "Didn't think that the view from the space is so beautiful..."

DSHGJADFKAJHSFDJG what have i done. This line about her dream coming true HITS HARD. Fuck, 13 y.o. me knew which buttons she should push.

Icy dies. Darcy and Stormy were forgiven because they helped to stop the army and for Icy's "sacrifice" and everyone very conveniently forget that they started the recent war. The end.

Damn that was a ride.

um, so where were we?... right i was saying that Icy became my new hyperfixation instead of Bloom...

And i had the whole trilogy planned, in the first one she'd escape from some prison and attempt another plan to counquer Magix, but fail, in the next book she'd be KILLED by Bloom but came back to life by making a deal with someafterlife owner (HA) and the last one where she actually succeeds... this one i din't think through at ALL.

I kinda wanna revive that plot fron the second "book" tbh, i still remeber it really well.

In a comic.

(i'd make it a crossover with Hazbin but it won't work unfortunately)

okay i don't know where and how to end this post so i'm ending it here, have a nice day thanks for reading i hope that at least someone made it to the end.

[wonkawinka]

we’ll meet again

“we’ll meet again… don’t know where, don’t know when…”

alastor x angel!daughter!reader

CHAPTER TWO: smile like you mean it!

— — CHAPTER THREE: weak ankles!

warnings/notes: EPISODE 6 SPOILERS! not proof read, no use of y/n, used she/her pronouns, reader is on the fem side, maybe vaggie x reader and maybe emily x reader if you squint but its all platonic

chère- french for dear

remercier dieu- french for thank god

court reporter- someone who transcribes everything said during a court meeting

wc: 2336

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

ROLLER skates. flashy lights. bursting colors. street jazz at every corner. twists and turns.

NEW ORLEANS had it all. all you could need in your heart. soft, live jazz rung through the tiny diner that everyone got their morning coffee from. skating through the diner, you tipped your hat from one couple to another. there was the occasional (and by occasional you mean somewhat often) jerk who flirts with you, a teenager, but you brush it off.

ever since the stock market crash of 1929, people have been living off the hook ‘round these parts. you were lucky enough to snag a job, let alone have a father that's able to put food on the table for you.

the bell of the door rings exactly at 9:01 am, you don’t even need to turn around to check who it is.

“good mornin’ ladies! fine morning today, isn’t it?” alastor’s voice rang through the diner, sound waves bouncing the walls and into your ears. his presence was certainly not something anyone would miss. your coworkers nodded in agreement, saying their tiny welcomes, the occasional giggle for one of them.

pouring out straight black coffee into a medium sized cup, you skated towards the counter and slipped your dad a napkin and his cup.

“mornin’ papa.” you said with a smile, taking his coins and filing it into the register.

“good morning, my dear!” he said with his chipper smile, one that made the men grumble and ladies swoon, but it just made you happy to see your father happy. “day treating you well, i hope.”

he took the coffee and took a sip. a sound of satisfaction left his lips “perfection! you know me so well, chère.”

“pa, you drink the blackest coffee on earth. it’s not hard to mess up, dontcha think?”

“ah, don’t sass me now, little miss. i’ll have you know this is the best coffee i’ve had since yesterday mornin’!”

“i made that coffee yesterday morning.”

“hmmm, did you now? seems i dont remember…” he grinned teasingly, pushing up his glasses in ‘thought’.

“yeah, course ya’ dont, ya old man.” teasing back, slipping him a slice of pie “i know you didnt eat, pops, cant have ya flopping dead during your morning show. who knows, maybe the cannibal will getcha. then i’ll have to take over the show.”

he smirked at her words, ha, if only she knew.

“well, aren’t you the sweetest little thing?” he said, taking the to-go box from her hands.

“well, you raised me, so you tell me.” you smiled brightly

his laughter rang through the diner, and soon yours as their vocals mixed together in a medley of sounds. they nearly mixed together perfectly. nearly.

some people looked at you weirdly, but you both never really minded. everyone in town knew you were his daughter and everyone in town knew he was your father. the talk of the town, especially when people found out your father of all people adopted you all those years ago.

he smiled at you wholeheartedly, something you only get to receive from him. “thats my girl.” his hand cupped your face, thumb brushing against the skin.

you placed your hand on top of his and smiled. “love ya’, pa.”

“love you more, my dear.”

you patted his hand, signing him to let go. “now shoo, before you’re actually late. you got an audience waiting for you all ‘round the area. can’t have them sitting for too long, hm?”

with a tip of his head, he bidded you and the ladies of the diner farewell, grabbing his coffee and pie, slipping out the door.

one of your coworkers called out your name “hunny, you better help a girl out! is your fatha’ up for grabs?” she giggled, winking at you.

“oh hush, lonnie! that's my dad..!”

——————— PRESENT.

“OH, don’t worry, it’s really not that hard! you just flip the book and let them in! see? simple.” st. peter directed you to the golden podium of the pearly white gates.

“are you sure i’m even allowed to do this? look.. i’m happy to help. i just don’t wantcha to get in trouble with the Seraphims.” you floated down onto the podium, scanning the big book of entries.

“it wouldn’t be for long! thank you so much, by the way. you really are heaven’s little helper, huh?” he elbowed you and gave that big smile he had. it was almost blinding. literally.

“haha, yeahhh… if you say so.” you turned and flipped through the pages for what seemed to endlessly go on.

“who names their kid breakfast?”

“now, now, we dont go and judge what those humans name their offspring!” he placed his two hands on your shoulders in reassurance. you cock an eyebrow at his word choice, but next thing you know hes already flying off to do who knows what. ‘saintly duties.’

“huh.” you continued to flip through the pages to examine the very odd name choices, nodding at some and… skipping through others.

minutes, maybe even hours went by until sudden echoes from down the golden pathway filled your ears. they shoot up in reaction to the newfound sound.

“uhhh, heelloooo? helloooo!” the blonde hair girl called out

“hiya!,” you call out , “how may i help ya’? well, getting into heaven i guess, huh?” you laughed at yourself, watching the girl’s nerves calm down a bit. behind her was a recognizable individual. you know, it nearly looked like vagg—

“OH— uh, uh, uh— hello! my name is charlie morningstar. heh.”

“alright, lets see…” you flipped through the alphabetized record only to find every name known to man BUT a charlie morningstar.

panic fills your core when you cant find it, scanning the page over and over and over again to no avail.

“uhhhh, you see, slight problem, hun...” you start, throwing in a name to ease her name. “i, uhm, can’t find your name… but you know! the trek all the way to the uh, other place, is a long way. maybe i can like… sneak ya’ in—”

“OH, no, no, THAT won’t be necessary. uh— see, my dad got me this meeting, so maybe try lucifer… morningstar..”

THAT CERTAINLY RANG A BELL.

“OH, uh.. uhuh.” you nod “i see.” you nod quicker. your eyes darted to the gray haired girl who looked at you with the same tense expression.

“i think there may have been a, um..” you put your hands together “mishap… but i am SURE it is a just BIG misunderstanding, haha!”

a mighty voice called out to you, one that could shake all of heaven’s foundation.

“remercier dieu…” you say, quite literally.

“don’t worry, we can take it from here.” sera’s voice reassured, the normal call smile present on her face. you bowed your head in respect which she kindly returns.

behind her was an excited emily which shot you an ecstatic wave. her smile was about to explode with happiness which only grew more as she approached charlie, the princess of hell.

st. peter pops out of nowhere and of course, starts singing his welcome song.

see, you didnt think it was bad, it was quite good, but hearing it over and over again for the past century really takes a toll on your ears.

after his musical number, em is basically ready to explode into a pile of rainbows and sparkles. “oh, oh! i gotta show you! the zoo, the petting zoo, the aquarium, the- the EVERYTHING!”

her and charlie jump for joy as they start running off.

“oh come on, do we need to ru— yEUP okay.” you’re dragged along the crossfire, em tugging on your wrist.

you catch a glimpse of adam and lute. they did not seem… very ecstatic.

hm.

“em. emily. emmy. e.” you bring her to the stop. her happiness was contagious, a sickness, her happiness basically flooding into your veins.

“i know you’re excited, sugar,” you start, “but maybe, i show them their room first. how's that sound?”

with some reluctance, emily allows you to guide the two girls to their temporary room.

“here, let me get that—” with an easy spell you learned, you pick up their bags weightlessly.

“follow me, i’ll show ya your room.”

— — — — — — — — — — — —

on the way there, you’re bombarded with questions from the princess. not that you were complaining of course, you found it quite endearing.

“wow, your sprinkles have RAINBOWS in them?!”

“yup, those are just rainbow sprinkles,” you chuckle lightly at her innocent excitement, “so.. about this hazbin hotel you were talkin’ about, mrs. morningstar…”

“oh, please, call me charlie!”

“charlie,” you smiled ,”i really do love the idea. quite innovative! you have my support. do you already have people staying?”

“oh, we only have.. two residents. but we do have lovelt staff! we have a maid.. nifty, she’s harmless, most of the time.. and a bar-tender, husker, he’s great, grumpy, but great! vaggie, my lovely girlfriend keeps the hotel safe,” she smiles brightly at her partner, “oh, and our host, alastor! he’s uh.. the radio demon, BUT HE MEANS WELL! i think.”

the name rung in your mind, bouncing off the walls and causing them to shoot jolts through your head. it was like a migraine, but worse. radio demon. it was strikingly familiar resemblance to your father (father?), but who knows! there are probably many alastors that loved radio.

“i see,” you nod, “well i wish you luck on the growth of your hotel.” you opened the entrance of there room and landed their bags perfectly in the corner.

“wow, okay, i LOVE heaven! everythings so clean and nice! AHH, and emilys going to bring me to a zoo where everythings fluffy and soft!” you zone out the rest of their conversation before charlie bids her goodbye.

“safe travels, charlie.” you bow your head in respect, earning a giggle from the princess.

“thank you sososososo much for your help! heh, alright SEE YOU LATER!”

silence filled the room.

“vaggie.” you started, not bothering to around and fully face her. “knew that was you, cant hide from me under all that hair. looks good, though.”

“uhhhhhhhhhhh—” she says your name in a frantic manner, causing you to cock your eyebrow “ah, fuck, i can’t think of an excuse.”

“look, vaggie, i dont know.” you sigh “you disappear for your ‘yearly outing’ to god knows where then you go missing for years, now you come back to be dating lucifer’s daughter.”

“i know, i’m so—“

“no no, don’t apologize. i get it. im happy for ya, vags, but damn, years. i dont know what you do on that one day, but adam and lute didnt seem very happy when they saw ya today.” pinching the bridge of your nose, you turned to her.

“look, adam tried recruiting me to god knows what when you went missing. said i got good aim or something. im just telling ya to be smart. i got no idea what he was trying to do with me, so im telling ya’ to not give in to that prick. i’ll be at todays meeting; i work as the court reporter.”

she pondered your statement for a bit, snapping out of her thoughts once you handed her the room key. you offered her a smile, which she hesitantly returned.

“ah, come on, smile like you mean it! though a smile may not mean everything, you’re never fully dressed without one.” that phrase rang in vaggie’s ears. that was oddly familiar.

a little too familiar.

it was your time to bid farewell, but before you did, she called out to you.

“thank you.”

“ah, don’t mention it. we’re friends, arent we?”

and with that you shut the door.

— — — — — — — — — — —

SCRIBBLING. writing. swirls of ink as you titled the paper in preparation. COURT ISSUE 36789127. it made you think, whos counting all these issues?

“WHAT’S UUUP, BA-BY!” the annoying ring of adam’s voice filled the court room. he was like a toddler, ironic as he is the oldest human soul known to mankind. he was mankind. a sick joke for it too.

every little thing he said you were required to write down, even if it was a dumb, immature response.

“we are gathered here today to determine whether or not a soul in Hell, can be redeemed into heavenly realm by the means of this Hazbin Hotel… Princess Morningstar?”

the blonde takes a stand and clears her throat,

“Webster’s Dictionary defined redemption as—”

you scribbled that down.

“..incredible progress..”

scribble.

“… the porn demon …!”

scribble.

“well, if you know so much, what do you think it takes to get into Heaven?”

that puts a halt in the discussion, causing you to lift your head and wait for an answer. she had a point. how did you get here in the first place?

a copy of adam’s terms were presented to your table: act selfless, don’t steal, stick it to the man.

well damn, if those were the terms, even your father (father?) would be in heaven, right now.

evidence was presented, words have been thrown, objections were made. the endless back and forth of right and wrong being thrown around the courtroom. not even the written word could convey the thick tension lathering the walls of the heavenly court.

all the evidence weights to charlie’s side, and yet, the judges say otherwise.

“wait, none of you know what gets someone into Heaven?”

this sparks a musical entrance from emily which you would say was surprising, but you would be lying to yourself.

good thing i took band and choir you thought. perfect pitch came in handy as you noted every chord and pitch in your work.

at this point, you were ready to combust. it was clear who won but the rulers of heaven seemed adamant to keep it from happening. it was suspicious, ironic even.

“..don’t you care, sera…”

scribble.

“..just because someone was dead..”

scribble.

“he blew the shot like the cocks in his…”

scribble.

“..come down and exterminate you..”

your quill snaps in half as you look up from your paper. extermination.

murder.

genocide.

from heaven itself.

[shaywrites-ifs]

Demo // KOFI // 18+ Interactive Fiction

Last Update: June 9, 2024

You are the second child to Fabian Avis Mavar, the Left Hand to the Emperor. You were raised with privilege, with prestige, and with high expectations placed upon you. At least, that is how it should have been. Instead, you were born Marked- to have stars in your eyes and to be be blessed as a magical prodigy. If only the Mark didn't also leave you in constant frail health, a body that only survived because your father had the means and will to demand it.

For all you were loved- surely you had to be, for father to go to such efforts to save you, yes?- you were the one left out. You had strived to succeed, to stand in your own accomplishments. To play the court games, to claw and take what you deserved no matter how life kept fighting you.

For it did, at every turn.

You lost everything to the traitors, who killed your father, your elder brother, your beloved- they took your title, the crown, the empire. They took what you were.

After a particularly devastating attack, whatever they did, it changed you. And when your body finally healed enough to wake up, finally was good enough to move again- you realized it had been a thousand years. Still, you will survive- especially as you catch wind that you still have a chance at revenge.

High Fantasy Interactive Fiction Novel where you play as (what used to be) an elf with strong magical talents

Customize a semi-set MC, able to pick some personality traits, gender, appearance, and some favorites

Customization also effects MC's fraternal twin brother

Deal with the consequences of all that magical tampering, and maybe becoming a better person, maybe becoming a worse one

Romance some folks, possible additional romance options and polyamory relationships being considered

Maybe help your twin find romance, too

Story will primarily be choice based than stat based, and will be free to play when finished- any early releases or side content would not be

** in getting my shit wrecked and then sorted through 2023, there is a high chance these characters, and the romance options in general, are subject to change as I plan the game**

Camille of Louvel, the Vainglorious she/her, cis, human - she's talented enough of a swordsman to stand against your twin, who had once been considered the best swordsman in the Empire. Confident and professional to the point of being cold-hearted, she wears her armor like second skin. Unfortunately, she finds you more concerning than alluring.

Eiden, The Rejected he/they, trans, elf - devil may care and hedonistic, he is quite detached from the world. Unrushed, unworried, they flit through the world more as an observer than anything else, more dangerous than they seem. He's old, but you bring something new. Something that has him alert, again.

Dalmar Calix Thom Fausteus, The Shattered he/him, cis, human - once an esteemed gentleman, only child to a family of scholars, he grew up with many opportunities. However, his family was used and he himself betrayed by a friend, changed in more than one way. He's a focused individual, with workaholic tendencies and withdrawn. He's not looking for a friend, but a means to an end.

Vasil, The Forgotten they/them/it, entity- you know them. You knew them, at least. Not in any deep way. Not in any way that means anything. Except, you made a deal. And now, there are consequences.

Previous ROs, tentatively being cut

Leja Ushe, The Moonglade she/her, cis, elotian - unlike many of her kind, she has stayed to help. Attuned to the nature around her, and able to commune with the Spirits, she has more knowledge and answers than most could dream of. Charming, even a bit playful, she keeps her cards close to her chest, but has never let that stop her from showing kindness. She has become a safehaven for many, and perhaps, can be more for you.

Reimer 'Rei' Ara, The Steadfast he/him, cis, elotian - larger than life, considered sunshine in physical form, he meanders through the forests as a helpful, genial caretaker. A man of actions, he hides his worries behind smiles and continues to do what he can to support the forest and Leja. He is very excited to meet you, if not at least marginally confused over your problems, and eager to ease your burdens.

Vasil, The Forgotten they/them, entity- you know them. You knew them, at least. Not in any deep way. Not in any way that means anything. Except, you made a deal. And now, there are consequences.

*All of this is open to adjustment, changes, and fixes as this project is a work in progress

[miseta]

Chapter 9 ➺ A place for words

Starting over In Madrid

Misa Rodriguez x Reader (Nicky/first person)

After moving to Madrid as the new Real Madrid photographer, Nicky's eyes can't look away from the pretty face of Misa Rodriguez. But how is she going to handle her growing desire for the Canarian goalkeeper when her working contract's strictly forbidding her to date players? Chapter 1 ➺ A harder job than I thought Chapter 2 ➺ Clearly on a bad slope Chapter 3 ➺ Calmly panicking Chapter 4 ➺ Hell Clasico Chapter 5 ➺ Valleys and peaks Chapter 6 ➺ Paris est magique! Chapter 7 ➺ In the haze Chapter 8 ➺ Confusion and directions TW: explicit sexual content +18 8,5K words

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧ 

Misa came to the set laughing hard at the girl following her. The high pitched peals of her laugh rang and resonated in the small room, making my insides swarm happily, but was quickly joined by another deeper voice. 

Léa Koffi, thirty years old, was a tall and sturdy girl with voluminous light brown curly hair, big heavy lashed green eyes and plump lips that were now stretch in a rather charming smile. 

The two goalkeepers, dressed up in their Real Madrid kits, set foot on the background, Misa doubled over with laughter, her beautiful features distorted by her uncontrollable giggling. Léa waved comically her gloves in a theatrical gesture causing Misa to cower on herself as a new burst of laughter took her. 

I couldn’t help but broke a smile at their communicative cheerfulness, forgetting my job a moment and peering at them to try to get what was so funny in Léa’s mimics. 

“Salut Nicky! I made a joke Misa has liked very much but I don’t know how to turn her off now.” Léa explained.

“Hey Léa, dunno how to shut her down either, I never have.“ I giggled and the French goalie did another strange gesture with her gloves that multiplied Misa’s chuckles. 

“Sssstoop! …stoop, por favor!” The Spanish goalie stammered between two peals of laughter. I was still smiling when I felt a pang of annoyance pocking at the sight of my girlfriend dying of laughter so much she didn’t acknowledged my presence. 

I patiently waited for Misa to calm down, the goalie still chuckling while looking at Léa with tears of laughter in her eyes, my irritation growing with the more time she spent without having even greeted me. 

At last, Misa went silent, retook her breath and turned toward me. “Perdon, I’m ready!“ she rubbed tears from her eyes and waited for pose instructions. 

I swallowed her lack of politeness in silence, still vaguely amused by their childish entrance and preferring to focus on getting the photoshoot done quickly “Ok Goalies, as you saw, or did not still you were laughing so much, background is just a gradient of blue and gold, so you have to really impersonate the poses. You are goalkeepers, you are strong, you are walls, and you are Madridistas so you do it with class and heart. You face me both, ready to block a ball, gloves nicely outstretched. Feel it, show it, ok?”

The two girls nodded and took place. I corrected a few details to have them posing perfectly identically. The shot was good but the lights wasn’t so, and I took a moment to adjust them. 

“I’m sure you dive like this” I heard Léa say to Misa meanwhile I was orienting the spotlights better. Léa mimicked a very sloppy jump and stupidly shook her gloves. Misa giggled again and replied “I’ll show you the Misa’s style! Wait until we practice!“

“Can’t wait to see a dolphin play football!” Léa spat back and they both burst of laugher. There was something in the situation that was getting me really upset now. 

“Please, let’s focus, we don’t have all day!” I shouted, more roughly than I was intending and the goalies stopped, still wearing their smiles but a bit shamefully. 

They took the next pose, Misa on her knees and Léa bending behind her so I could zoom to have just their heads on top of another. The two goalies were smiling wide, and being, I must admit, a really attractive duo. That thought irritated me more without really knowing why. 

Maybe it was their incessant chatting between the takes, or the way Misa was fighting hard not to laugh at every words of Léa but I was relieved when the French goalkeeper went in the back room to change for her individual portrait. 

Now on our own, I peered at the Spanish brunette remaining in the room, bitting my lips. Angela was staying at my place until the departure of the goalie for her international break, and as happy as I was being with my best friend, I missed time alone with Misa very much. Right now, I was having a hard time to stay physically away from her, longing for the tiniest touch between us.

I needed contact with my girlfriend so badly and I dared to approach her in the short laps of private time, taking her hand and resting my head in the crook of her neck to breath in her smell. Misa tensed but swiftly planted a kiss on my forehead before pulling away. “Footballers are really quick to change“ she whispered as she stepped back, living me frustrated I hadn’t managed to kiss her back.

The back door opened and a really classy Léa entered the studio, wearing an almost back navy blue suit with a pure white shirt, the jacket suit’s collar embroidered with a gold Real Madrid emblem. “Not bad, what do you think?“ she grinned, stunning and obviously aware of it. 

Misa and I both acquiesced when she settled on the stool at the center of the set. 

“We’ll do a few serious official shots and more relaxed ones after Misa’s ok?” I told the French women while catching a glimpse of Misa disappearing in the changing room.

“Ok Nicky!” her green eyes stared at me. “For how long have you been working for the Real ?” 

I took a shot of her profil “It’s been eight months now, time passes so fast…” Three months had flowed since our first night in Paris but I felt Misa and I had considered being really together for only a week, our night at Sofie’s party had somehow sealed our mutual attachment. 

“Cool, your job looks great although not physical enough for me… oh waouuuu!” Léa’s long exclamation announced the return of the Spanish goalie, her brows going up and her mouth freezing in a gag. 

A strangled moan escaped from my throat when I discovered Misa in her Real Madrid suit. She was just sexy as hell, navy blue and bright white both enhancing her complexion, her muscular neck disappearing under the shirt’s unbuttoned collar, showing the letter “M” tattooed at its base. Her thick severe brows and smiling lips made me suddenly dream that her large hands, emerging from the jacket sleeves, would push me against the wall and have their way in my pants. My dirty thoughts accompanied her chic and formal silhouette as she walked to the set and I silently thanked we were not alone or I would never had the strength to stop myself from rushing at her. 

“Err… T…turn to the left, I will start with a... a 3/4 pose.” I was appalled to hear myself stutter, and even more when I felt my cheeks grow hot as an amused expression enlightened Misa’s face. 

“Now, face the camera, look straight at it” 

“I don’t know if I could stand Misa staring at me and looking like that!” The French women dropped. Léa was watching Misa from aside, the girl not even hiding her still opened mouth as she clearly fed on the sight of my girlfriend obediently posing. “You have such a charisma! In French, we would call you “belle gosse”. That means ”pretty child” basically.” Léa said to the Spanish brunette who chuckled with embarrassment. I was surprised at how easily she flirted in front of me, but I bitterly remembered she couldn’t know who I was to Misa. 

Jealousy came back in my life like this, crashing over me during a photoshoot, filling my body with anger and possessiveness in a heartbeat. Léa took back Misa’s place in front of the camera, her pretty smile another provocation, her winking toward Misa a silent insult. My face closed, transforming into a mask as I continued to take pictures, both of them having fun, resuming their chatting between the takes, while I was brooding. 

At the end of the session, my heart had sunk at the bottom of my stomach. It was true I had been annoyed or frustrated with keeping my relationship with Misa secret, but I had never felt angry or mad like I was being now. I was fuming I couldn’t shut Léa’s mouth, reduced to silently watch them getting along and act like the professional photographer that I was. 

Working at the Real, I could only be that, I would never be Misa’s girlfriend. 

Sadness field me up and swallowed me entirely as the two women talked together like I wasn’t there, Léa advising “If you put athletic tape that way it will work better, I’ll show you !“ and Misa shrugging doubtfully “I’m ok with my athletic tape, you know…”

I began to gather the lights and uninstalled the set, arms heavy and movements slow, the Spanish goalkeeper finally braking their conversation to walk toward me. “Need some help?” she asked as a shy smile flickered on her lips. Her cute face and soft look smothered me a little and I wished to buried myself in her arms, forget everything but her. As I couldn’t do that, I nodded moodily and let her fold the tripod. Léa joined us at putting away the materials and the three of us finished tidying everything up in no time. 

“Thanks for your help, we’re done.” I freed them, eager to be out of here as well.

“OK, bye Nicky!" Léa acknowledged. "Come on Misa, let’s change.” 

A new surge of possessiveness fogged my brain as I pictured Léa and Misa undressing together all by themselves in the small changing room behind the back door. I pursed my lips, disgusted by my own imagination, and swallowing the bitter taste of jealousy again. 

“See you, Nicky”, my girlfriend softy said but I couldn’t look at her and pretend to search for something in my camera bag. I heard the door shut and my heart with it. 

Loneliness and fear knotted my guts. I sat on the floor, arms around my knees, in the middle of the photography material bags, and let my face fall onto my arms. 

I couldn’t let our secret relationship last forever. It was already affecting both of us. But I couldn’t quit my job at the Real. I loved it and it was far too soon to tell if it would really work with Misa. I hadn’t the self confidence to convinced myself Misa would stay with me if she found somebody she could be with for real. Somebody like Léa…

My phone vibrated in my pocket, interrupting my dark thoughts, my heart leaping when I read Misa’s text. 

“Hola I want to see you more before international break! Can I come in your office 😌 ? I understand if you think it’s too risky 🫡“

A smile stretched wide on my lips, my dark thoughts put aside by the prospect of being just with her, even if it was only for a moment, my eyes prickling while I wrote back to her and rushed out of the room. 

***

The freshly taken photos of the goalkeepers were quickly displaying on the computer as they uploaded. I was staring vaguely at them, thrilled to see my girlfriend coming, yet a bit mad, when she entered my office still wearing her suit and I couldn’t help but grin interrogatively at her. 

“I didn’t changed since you seemed to like that suit so much” she answered my silent question with her own irresistible mischievous smile. A particularly gorgeous shot of the footballer appeared on the screen, making her point.

I glared at them both, real and digital Misas, and jumped on my feet to reach the door under the curious stare of the goalkeeper. My hand dipped in my pocket to retrieved the office’s keys to turned it inside the keyhole, the light chuckle of the goalie music to my ears when I locked the room from inside.

The few steps separating us closed, I did not wait another second before kissing her, forcing my tongue between her lips and finding my way inside her mouth. Her taste relieved me as she moved her tongue with mine, her arms pulling me close to her at last. Our nose collided as we oriented our faces to kiss better, our making out lasting without really fulfilling my need of her. I pushed more, searching for something else, something that was probably not in her mouth, my longing for her growing with my irritability and I went to bit softy her upper lips. Hearing her sigh aroused me. I moved to her neck, wanting to hear more of it and I nipped her again, feeling my teeth sink in her skin. 

“Ay! Nicky! You’ve planned to eat me for real or what ?” Misa’s hand fell on her neck as she winced. 

I froze in guilt of having hurt her “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to bit you like that! Are you bleeding?” She put her hand away, revealing only a red mark but no wound. “Huf, it’s not! I’m so sorry Misa! I got carried away… I… I guess I was still mad at you for being that hot it messed with Léa’s head earlier.”

Misa stopped massaging her neck, amazed “What? Nicky you’re not jealous of Léa, are you? And you bit me for it?”

The mention of the evidence brought back my anger, mixing with guilt to change in bitterness “Didn’t you see the way she was looking at you?! Or what she dared say!… Arrr…she’s having a crush on you I tell you that! Plus you seemed to find her so damned funny! And I could say nothing…” 

“Nicky!” Misa’s soft laugh fed my wrath, but when she held my hands, boring her brown eyes in mine, I felt it starting to melt away. 

She spoke calmly, “It’s not like that. We, footballers are not modest, we spend far too much time sharing what you would consider intimate moments all together. We’re used to compliment each other on our body, training or behavior, to make fun of each other… Valé, Léa said things but it’s not bound to mean she has a crush on me.”

I pouted in response, unconvinced. The room was quiet with the computer finishing to upload the photos and putting itself on stand by mode. The goalie’s face came so close I could feel her breath. Red spots sprinkled her cheekbones, her lips corners twitching as they murmured “Even if it was the case… it’s you I want.” 

“Oh Misa…” I fell onto her mouth, hugging her like my life was depending on it. “I want you too!” I love you so much, why can’t I just tell you? 

I got lost in our kiss again. Feeling Misa’s lips moving on mine was all that mattered, my heartbeat fastening at the precious thought of her wanting me, needing me. I craved to feel more of her desire right now, her sexy suit boosting my longing for her and my hands slipped under her jacket to free her shoulders. “Nicky! Not now, not here! Are you crazy ?” Misa shot me an alarmed look but finished to take off her jacket and we connected our lips one more time.

“I want you now, please!” I panted between kisses.“Please!”

Misa shuddered at my begging. Her fingers played a moment with the hem of my T-shirt and I stepped back, taking her with me until my back hit the farthest wall of the office. I doubled my efforts “Misa please, just… touch me, tócame! ” my breathing becoming pleading sighs.

The goalkeeper was clearly battling against herself, unable to decided if she should take the risk of us hooking up at our working place. Her furrowed brows and tensed features were turning me on like hell and I worked at unbuttoning her shirt, grinning in victory when I sensed her grasp my top and pull it over my head. 

Her mouth was unable to resist the urge of kissing my exposed breast. “Fuck me, please!” I gloated, keeping my voice low. That seemed to make Misa give away her last reluctance, delicately sucking and nipping the skin there. 

She pulled back, blushing hard. “You want me to fuck you in your own office, Cariño?” she breathed, her timid voice showing she was excited as fuck to overstep the limits and being begged for it.

Misa shyly willing to play our little game set my body on fire, I guided her hand down to my pants and she thrusted it inside over my underwear. 

Her fingers pressed unbearably lightly through the fabric. I whined, bucking to increase the pressure of her touching but the brunette’s hand deliberately stayed out of reach. “Qué passa? Lost your tongue?” She asked before finding my mouth and kissing me like a goddess, my complaints dying on her lips. “No, it’s still there. Say it, is that you really want ?”

I moaned again, surprised to discover Misa really enjoying herself at edging me, thrilled to be excited so much by her ordering me around. 

I yelped, ready to do anything she’d want to feel more of her fingers. 

“Please Misa! Fuck me in my office!” 

Misa’s hand left my jeans only to come back under my panties a second later. Her dominative behavior had me wetting like crazy. I groaned as her fingers spread my intimacy, her other hand found mine and pined it to the wall, her mouth back against my lips to muffled my cries again. 

My eyes shut as her fingertip found my clit and began to flick it slowly. She whined too, pushing me harder against the wall while I was going far away from my office, lost between her tongue in my mouth and her fingers gathering all the pleasure they could from my body. Completely overwhelmed, I barely felt Misa’s hand leaving mine to grasp the nap of my neck as she changed her flickering pace to fast and rough at once. I was so drenched her wobbling against my core made lapping sounds. I let a loud moan erupted against her mouth, shocked as enjoyment took over me so quickly.

My face fell on her shoulder as I came, breathing out my orgasm through her long hair, the delightful feel stretching my lips in awe. “Already? I heard the goalie whisper as soon as it faded. She lift my face as I guilty nodded but I noticed something had shifted inside the goalie, her eyes were hungry like I’d never seen. 

“Oh no no…” she murmured, leaving my pants and grasping my face in her hands, the one slick with my own wetness coated my cheek and spread the smell of sex around us. It was her turn to take my lip between her teeth, pulling softy before letting it go. “After the scene you made, I think I want to fuck you more.” she said, her breathing deep and her eyes hooded. 

The strangled whimper I let out was cut off by her heaving me in her arms, grasping my bottom, and I hold to her broad shoulders as she walked me toward the desk. The brunette pushed away the papers and stuff covering the surface in a swift move and dropped me on it. My legs ensnared her waist, keeping the girl as close as I could as she unzipped my jeans. “Take off your pants, in fact take everything off” she commanded, her Spanish accent heavier with her sighs as she gathered her hair in a bun. 

I obeyed so willingly, undressing completely and sitting back on the cold surface. As I looked up at the gorgeous goalkeeper already bending over me, her completely unbuttoned shirt coming out of her suit pants revealed her bra and shaped abs. My gaze rose back to her face, her feature looked harder with her hair tied up. “You drive me so crazy!” I confessed. Her soft and luscious lips parted to let out jerky breaths, and she was back at touching me in a heartbeat. 

My oversensitive core sent ripples of electricity through by body. I let my hands travel on her shoulders, arching more to deepen the sensations. My palms lost themselves along the contracted muscles of her back as she pushed her way inside. My head fell backward, lost in the wonders of pleasure as I relished on each of her thrusts in me. 

My fingers descended on her waist and slipped under her suit pants. Feeling her bare plump ass under my hands, I realized she was wearing a thong and waste no time before grasping her cheeks, pulling the goalkeeper waist against me and feeling her fingers sinking further. 

“This is so good… you feel so good! I can’t!” I half moaned half whispered and reluctantly left her ass to lie down on the desk as pleasure became too intense for me to stay standing. Droplet of sweat pearled on her temples. Misa was blushing heavily as she watched my naked body spread on the desk, her fingers curling and stroking my walls a moment. I gasped when all I wanted to do was to shout obscenely how good she felt. But then she grabbed my thigh, and started to fuck me for real, faster and deeper. 

Bliss. Everything was quiet around us apart from the muffled sounds of our rasping breaths and the wet noises of her fingers pumping in and out. Misa’s face had that concentrated look again, the one she had on our first night when she had made love to me. I felt going wetter, if that was even possible. Her lips opened again and she closed her eyes while she continued to fuck me at a fast and steady pace. Bliss. Misa! Unbearable bliss. The sight of her beautiful face went blurry as tears of pleasure filled my eyes.

I hold on two or three more seconds, focusing on how fucking good it felt to be fucked by Misa Rodriguez. 

Her name tumbled from my lips several times, coming again much stronger than I expected. I felt the tears escaping the corner of my eyes, my body and mind trying to take in the unbearably good feel. Her fingers left me and her hand dropped my thigh, but I couldn’t move, feeling properly knocked out by one of the greatest orgasm of my life. 

“Nicky, you ok ?” Misa's voice asked. 

“Hell yeah” I managed to say, floating, blissed out. I blinked and more tears ran down my temples. 

Hovering, I rose up slowly to discover the goalie sat in the armchair and cleaning her hand with a tissue, her cheekbones still a bright shade of red. She looked all shy and sexy again like she didn’t dare to fully realize what had just happened here. My juices had dripped abundantly on the desk making the scene worthy of a bad porn movie ending. Standing up, I felt more wetness running down my thighs, I crossed eyes with the goalie who returning my shocked look with an embarrassed grin before handing me a tissue.

I wiped myself, put my cloth back on and went to sit on her lap, nesting my more than satisfied body against her torso. My head fell on her shoulder and Misa slowly stroked my hair as I sensed myself drowsing with the endorphins. 

“You remembered when I didn’t give you the gold medal back in Paris?” I asked, the grinning goalie nodded and I declared “I think you’ve just won it”.

“Por fin!” she smiled shyly “That was something for myself as well, thought I was going to come too…” 

That awoke me at once, my smiling eyes founding hers “You did?”

“It’s not everyday your secrete girlfriend pleads you to fuck her in the middle of her office, which is a few meters from my own working grounds, and even less far from her boss office who could fire her for less than that, all of that making her so wet…” Misa longly exhaled as she finished to speak.

“You saying it like that is a lot, it could make me want to beg again.” I bit my lips, gazing hungrily at hers. “I could beg to kiss you somewhere else right now, would you like that? I suggested, my murmur so low it was barely audible. 

Misa’s blushing reappeared in the instant. “Si, por favor…" she heaved a sigh, a pleading look flickered in her eyes before she closed them quickly, ashamed of being so needy.

Her confession made me kiss her tenderly. “The begging was mine to make, my sweet Misa.” I said fondly, sending her chuckling and turning frankly crimson.

I heaved myself to my feet, leaving my girlfriend’s arms not without harm, but more than ready to go eat her out. I crouched between the brunette’s leg, unbuttoned and unzipped her chic pants, and slowly took it off. The goalkeeper’s smooth stomach rose up and down jerkily as I pulled her drench thong down her legs, gasping and turned on again myself. Misa sunk in the desk chair, her hips sled at its edge, and I put one of her leg above my shoulder as I leaned my face between her tights. I heard the brunette’s rapping sights when my fingers spread her lips. Her hands fell on my hair as I bend over to take a first run. 

The goalkeeper let out soft pleased moans. My tongue circled her clit and her hips wiggled to have me right on spot. “Please” she sighed as I continued to tease her, her pelvis rising again. I took pity on her, my mouth finding and sucking her core and I heard her strangled groans die with the sound of footsteps approaching in the corridor, knocks against the door resounding shortly. 

We froze like statues. My lips and nose were already soaked with her wetness, her fingers still buried in my hair as we exchanged a panicked glance. Not making any noises, we turned our heads to see the doorknob bending down but the locked door remaining shut.

Something clicked in my mind, I rose up, my gaze searching the room in dismay. “Our phones! Where’s my phone?!” I muttered in panic. Misa stood up as lightly as she could, put her underwear and pants back on and began to look for it but it was nowhere to be found! Where was the damned thing ?! I’d lost it in the tumult of our frolics. It could be anywhere, on a stool, a self, or had dropped from the desk… 

That was it. Ana was going to call me, would hear my phone ring in my locked office, as I would not pick up she would call Misa or Léa, hear the goalie's phone in the same locked room, see the lights on from under the door and figure something was going on. She would find it suspicious, use her spare key to enter and understand the evidence at once. 

Misa grabbed my arm, putting my fortunately not so loud vibrating phone in my hand, the screen displaying Ana’s name as I foresaw. I immediately turned it off, told the brunette to do the same and we remained speechless and shaking as we waited a moment for the footstep to die away in the corridor. 

“That was so close!” I panted, heart pounding “I’d completely forgotten I got to see her after the shooting!” 

Misa glanced at the drying obscene stain on my desk, then at my shiny lips, her dimples pocking on her cheeks and about to burst of laughter, “Madre mia, imagine she had entered! I hope you’re going to shower before seeing her…” 

Her words freed her laugh and I joined her, in need to relax after having imagining myself packing this very evening. Ana surely wasn’t pleased by my disappearance. Moreover, I really need to take some time to clean myself. I would have to come up with some good made up excuses for being late and unreachable.

“Misa… I’m so sorry, I really need to go to Ana as soon as possible…” I apologized, serious again. 

She shifted uncomfortably, wincing. “I know.” she exhaled deeply and jumped on place, frustrated as hell. “Two hours of gym session and I’ll should be fine!”

My feet took me to her agitated figure. “I feel really bad living you like this! I was dying to… well nothing.” I stammered as she shot me an accusatory look and shuddered. 

I wrapped my arms around her neck, closing my eyes, a pang of sadness poking at the thought of being away from her for two entire weeks “Have a good time with your teammates at international camp Sweetie, I’m going to miss you.”

“Thanks, I’ll miss you too Cari” Misa’s nose grazed my cheek before we exchanged a last long and tender kiss. 

***

On the evening, I met Angela at a bar terrace, taking a seat with an heavy sight and quickly ordering a drink to the waiter passing by. 

“Hey, what a day!” I said to my friend. 

Angie took a sip of her cocktail with a worried look. “Oh ! what happened? Hope everything is ok?”

“Well, to start, shooting was awful. I think Léa, the second goalkeeper, found Misa well to her taste. Then, Misa joined me in my office, I was a bit mad at her but she said sweet things and……. we ended up hooking up.” I confessed, Angie smiling and winking in return. “But I forgot I had a meeting with my boss at the same time. Girl, she knocked at the door while we... I let you imagine the state we were in! Thanks god I locked the door! Anyway, after that I rushed to her office, put together some random technical issues during the photoshoot for excuse and she bought it.” I shortly paused, amused by my friend’s shocked face “My boss offered me to become photo director !” I dropped, grinning wide. 

“Woaw! Well done Nicky, cheers to that!”

We lifted our glasses. “Yeah this is great ! She said I should start on September. I’ll direct the filming and photo team and work with set designers. She liked my ability to create a global vision of Real Madrid’s visual communication and want me to develop it. Honestly, I’m in heaven even if it means much more work. Pay will be better too!” I said with excitation though I lost my smile quickly and Angela went straight to the point. 

“But you don’t know what to do about Misa…?”

“Yeah…” I sighed “I can’t leave my job. But I don’t want Misa to be unhappy.”

“Do you think she’s feeling that bad?”

“I don’t know. I won’t lie to you, It’s hard for me as well. Everyday, I feel like a child trying not to get caught. I just wish we could hang around like everybody else. We’re not doing anything wrong, this is so unfair! I don’t know what to do Angie…” 

Angela put her hand on my arm from across the table. “You know, that is exactly what I feared when you told me about your feelings. Hooking up is a thing but falling in love with her… I feared it would made you sad not be allowed to be with her, and it’s happening… But Misa seems a patient person and so are you Nicky. Don’t worry, just wait and enjoy your time with her. You’ll see in a few months what to do.” Angela patted me and giggled lightly “You are already all jealous and protective, the girl had you falling deep! What did Misa say about Léa ?” 

“She said it was probably nothing… and that she wanted… me” I melted at the thought. 

“That’s very cute! I think you can relax, Misa’s feeling good with you but I also think you should talk to her openly, be honest about what you want. She did her part by saying that, now it’s up to you. You have more to loose than she does so she probably needs to be reassured you really want to be with her.” 

Why did all my closest friends had to advise me to talk with the goalkeeper? Unsure of myself, I’d always been bad at doing the taking. But my friend had made a point, Misa was in much more uncertainty than I was, her very presence in my life in contradiction with my professional future at the Real. 

My heart tightened at the idea of Misa silently waiting for me to express my feelings in vain, dreading weeks after weeks I would finally chose my job over her… “You’re right Angie. I’ll make it up to her.” 

***

During the next days, Angela went back home and I felt a bit lost at being all alone again. The days seemed so longs without Misa at the ciudad. Being in the Australian national team, Hayley wasn’t there either. Though I was relieved I had less work I quickly became bored without my besties to spend the time so I had the idea to contact Sofie’s friends Carmen and Swen. 

As promised, Swen took us on a tour of the fancy galleries in the center of Madrid and we ended up in one of Carmen’s cutest address: a hidden vegetalized rooftop bar not far from Lavapies. Cocktails were delicious and they even played a few songs I knew Misa liked. I imagined a romantic evening here with the goalie at her return. Close to my home, the bar would be the perfect place to tell her my feelings. My mind raced on its own at planning the day. First, we would meet somewhere in town and I would tell her I was going to take her to a surprise location. Misa would be excited all the way down here, she would fall for the place when she would enter, and I would confess falling in love with her while sharing a Piña Colada or a strawberry Mojito. My insides swarmed at the thought. Once I had checked with Misa she’d be free on her return, I spend the next working day neglecting my work to plan our reunion with care. 

The footballer and I texted every day. During the evenings, we told each other about our respective daily events and often ended by sharing a sweet word or two. We couldn’t call for the goalkeeper was not having her own room and I started acting cheesy, watching for long minutes our selfies together before sleeping. The more time I passed away from her the more I longed to see her and have back our endless chatting stretching in the night as we cuddled.

At least I could see her on TV when I watched the two matches the Seleccion played. Misa was benched as she foresaw but the Spanish team won both games, lifting her spirit. I loved when she told me details from the matches I couldn’t see, or about a really pushing training session she handled well, or when she sent photos of her doing nonsense with her close friends Jenni, Alexia and Laia. Her texts overflowing with passion made me so needy I started to count the days.

***

Two weeks later, it was under a bright and hot sun that I came to wait for the goalie, literally itching to find her again at the Parque del Retiro. July in Madrid was no joke, I was sweating hard in my tank top and short, the strap of my camera digging into my bare shoulder when I walked in the wide alleys, freshening under the shade of the trees. I turned to a smaller shadowy path, stopping to whip the sweat from my forehead and gulp some water before sending to Misa my precise position. 

Standing in my fresher spot, I spent the forward minute peering impatiently at the ends of the alley. My heart was drumming in my chest, the prospect of being reunited with my goalie so close. Tired of us being locked up in our apartments, I had taken the risk to meet outside, in a park, on purpose, a symbol to show Misa that I really wished we could be a regular couple. She had accepted without question, clearly pleased by my initiative to be out our homes together at last.

As soon as it appeared, I recognized the tall and sturdy silhouette from afar, her walk unmistakable. She stepped into a patch of sun, her smile wide as she waved to me and she did a small hop before starting to run toward me. My glance stayed locked on her smiling face coming closer and closer until we flung in each other’s arms. 

Her smell filled my lungs as we hugged tight, the feel of our bodies pressed together the best in the world. Her breathing mixed with the sound of the wind blowing gently in the foliage. When we pulled back, looking into each other’s eyes, we kept smiling fondly, in no need to speak. Misa’s gaze went down to my mouth, hesitant when I wasn’t, unable to resist crashing my lips against the goalkeeper’s. It was the third time I dared to kiss Misa in a public place. My heart danced. My brain slowed down, living the moment with Misa covering my mouth with little kisses like she couldn’t get enough of it. 

The goalie buried her face back in my hair. “You’re smelling like my shampoo” was the first thing she said.

“Buenos dias Maria Isabel” I laughed at her missing to say hi again. 

Misa rolled her eyes and pompously bowed in front of me “Good afternoon Lady Nicky” she said, failing to take a chic English accent, rolling the « r » of afternoon a very Spanish way. However even as a joke, I couldn’t help but feeling satisfied by Misa Rodriguez bowing to me.

“You may rise Gentlewoman!” I responded as she looked up to me playfully. “And I may have bought your shampoo while you were away…” I added, ashamed. 

Misa seemed touched, her mouth did the pout I loved “You missed me so much?”

“Maybe” I reddened, embarrassed to admit being so cheesy. “Come on, we have a photography course waiting!” I said to make diversion and I led my giggling Misa to a more flourishing part of the park. 

I spotted a nice lawn where a few birds were pecking at the remains of a cake. 

“This is perfect. We’ll go quietly to not scare them away.” I took out my camera, and put the leash around the brunette’s head. “I’ve already done the presets, speed is medium because there is plenty of lights, though it’s getting cloudy…” I glanced at the sky, blue barely visible behind the sheer of white clouds. 

“Maybe heat will drop.” Misa said hopefully, frowning as she looked up at the dazzling white sky. Shortly, she glanced back to the camera in my hands. “So, do I need to change the presets?”

“If there is less light, you have to …?” I tested her photography knowledge. 

“Diminish speed, no, increase speed… !” She said glancing at me unsurely. 

Misa was focusing for once, making my heart melt. “Yes, increase speed, because if shutter speed is too slow, your photo is going to be …?

“Blurry?” her brows half frowned half rose as she watched me expectantly to know if she was right. 

“Well done Maria Isabel!” 

“Yes!” Misa jigged proudly. She wanted to kiss me but changed her mind because of people sauntering around. “I’ll try to take a photo of the pigeon there.” she advanced and crouched with caution. I watched her putting the camera in front of her face, concentrating as she turned the lens to zoom in. The pigeon was still searching the grass for a few crumbles when a crow landed smoothly, making the other birds fly away, the sounds of the shutter resonating restlessly. 

Misa came back to me, watching the camera screen eagerly. “Mira Nicky! look!“

I glanced at a nice shot of the flying crow, its wings spread up and its beak opened. She scrolled back, showing me the other photos. 

“Well done Misa, this is good! Exposure is a bit strong, you should diminish diaphragm opening, but good job on the focus, the crow’s sharp!”

“Gracias Nicky!” she smiled wide, gratitude in her eyes mixing with something mischievous. “I’d like more color. Can you correct the presets for me Cari?”

Her ducky demanding expression had me accepting at once and I took back the camera, focusing a moment on the screen to do the changes. “Ok, I think you’ll like it better now…” I went to give the camera back to Misa but the goalkeeper had disappeared. 

“Misa?” I called, glancing all around me to see where she had gotten to. “Misa it’s not funny! Where are you, what’s going on ?” 

I walked to the grass. More people were spending time on the nearby lawns, making it harder to find the missing goalie. I called her again, confused and wondering what other madness had gotten her. 

“¡Bu!” The goalie sprang at me from behind a large tree, making me nearly die of fear and herself of laughter. 

“Fucking shit! Mis!” I shout at her, grasping my camera, the goalie laughing out loud.  

Still chuckling, Misa tried to take me in her arms but I shoved her away, ashamed of having been pranked that easily. The young women attempted one more time and succeeded at ensnaring me with her arms. I struggled to break free, wrestling against her firm grip, trying to make her fall but her strong feet stay firmly on the ground. 

After having fought a moment, I decided she deserved a low blow as well, I put my camera back in its bag “No more photo for you”. Then I started to tickle her along her ribs. I gloated at my girlfriend surprised scream, instantly backing away. I took the opportunity to slam hard into her, the effect of surprise allowing me to unbalanced her and we both landed on the grass, giggling. 

I glanced around me, checking if it was safe for us to be that close, I thought it was okey and pulled Misa toward me. The goalkeeper let me took her in my arms, laying her back against me as my mouth found and peck her cheek. After pulling out her phone, Misa took a selfie of us cuddling, exhaled deeply and closed her eyelids. A strong blow of the wind made her hair dance around her head and I moved the strands of hair from across her face when raindrops began to fall. 

“Oh no! Mierda!” The goalie exclaimed. 

We jumped back to our feet “Fuck! Who know, maybe it’ll stop soon?” 

But more rain began to fall and Misa took my arm. “Come on, I know a place where we can shelter in waiting.“

Drops were pouring hard now, and we ran along with the hurrying people thought the alleys of the park. At a time, Misa led us to a narrow desert path, the dense vegetation there couldn’t shield us from the pounding rain. 

“Esta alli!” she shouted as we reached a crossroad, her hand was still grasping mine firmly, dragging me along with her to a really tiny empty kiosk. We rushed at it, jumping inside the small but protected space at the end of the path. 

We were drenched to the bones, shivering in our short and light cloth in spite of the still relative heat. In the hope of warming me, Misa began to rub my arms but she only spread the water onto my skin and stopped. She turned over to watch the rain fall. 

“Madre mia! We chose the only raining day in Madrid to go to a park!“

“It’s really bad luck!” I responded, feeling a bit down, all my romantic plans reduced to nothing if the rain would not ceased. I watched Misa’s silhouette detaching against the rainy horizon and my mood brightened. Nothing could go wrong as long as I was with her.

Feeling playful again, I slowly approached the brunette from behind, and squeezed her waist with a scream to scare the hell out of her. 

“Ahhh! No Nicky!” Misa fled from my ready to tickle outstretch hands and I pursued her inside the minuscule kiosk, tears of laughter in my eyes at her panicked air. ”Noooo! Déjame!”

“You seem cold! I just want to warm you!” I joked as I ran after her. I didn’t know Misa was so ticklish and it was really fun to finally have a way to be physically threatening to her. 

Eventually, she climbed onto the low wall circling us, arms in front to protect herself from my assaults. “Nicky! Cari! No! Porfi!” she begged, laughing hard. 

“Okey! I think you’re warm enough! I’ll stop.” I laughed. “You can climb down I won’t tickle you”.

Misa looked at me doubtfully, arms still stretched out. 

I laid out my hands to show my good faith and to help her go down “Sweetie, I promise you I won’t”

A new strong blow of the wind swept us, making the goalie shiver and she trusted my offered hands to help her down, yet on her guard when she landed in front of me. 

The rain was still falling hard. With the direction of the wind, it had soaked half the kiosk where we were not. It was a veritable storm now. There was no way we were going to be able to go to the rooftop bar I had in mind, enjoying a cocktail under the setting sun… 

Misa’s hands were still in mine, soft and relaxed now that she’d get I wasn’t going to foul her. My fingers gently brushed hers. My glance came back to her face framed by her long wet and wavy hair, her smirk brightening the moody weather. I took in her soft look, her eyelashes and brows where a few drops had clung, the ones pounding on the roof a noteless smoothing music. I felt aligned with everything right now. 

It wasn’t going to happen as I planned but I didn’t care. A few things had not happened as I planned since I came to Madrid and I wasn’t complaining about them. Therefore, I was contemplating the beautiful person in front of me, the one that unexpectedly came to my life, when my lips parted to speak the words.

“I love you.” 

My heart clang to her brown eyes opening wide, her brows going up with a smile of surprise. 

She shut her eyes and I felt the grip of her hands tighten as she exhaled. The goalie led her face closer and opened her eyes again, the gold ring on her nose glinted as she cocked her head to the side, the corners of her mouth twitching when she said “I love you too”. 

My heart skipped a beat, or two or three, her big dark eyes losing themselves in mine, shiner than usual.

“Te quiero!” She repeated in her own tongue and her hand fell on the nap of my neck, pulling me into the softest kiss we had shared yet. My eyes prickled as I attached myself to her lips, savoring the taste of her mouth, the smell of her breath, of her sweet and floral perfume melting in the musky scent of the rain. The feel of her body striving to hold me closer made me feel so desperately in love with her it took me a moment to realize I was tugging hard at her wet T-shirt like I was afraid Misa and her love for me would vanish if I ever let her go. 

The goalie’s lips left mine to kissed me on the forehead as she hugged me gently. I melted in her cute embraced, overwhelmed. 

“I want to be with you Misa” I said my hands still locked on her back. “For real”.

Our body parted to stare at each other, I felt cold without the warmth of her front pressed against me. The goalie’s grin had reappeared but only to fade away shortly. “Mi tambien Cari, but I don’t want you to quite your job for me. It makes you so happy…”

“I’m happy with you” I replied at once but I was feeling we needed to talk more now were where at it. “Look, I’m not saying I’ll quite the Real tomorrow but I won’t loose you for a stupid working contract.”

Misa’s nose twitched again. “Yeah I know.” Then, she went to sit on the low wall behind her, her head falling down. “Nicky, I need to tell you something… Because of clubs rivalry, I had been kind of forced to hide my previous relationships. And when you arrived at the Ciudad and we started hanging together I thought, Increíble! I may have found somebody I can openly be with! Then, you told me about the close… it was like I was bound to go all over again.” My girlfriend lifted her head, guilt in her eyes. “I’m sorry I’d been weird, it’s just hard for me sometimes.” 

I crouched in front of her to take her in my arms. “Misa, baby, I’m so sorry…” It broke my heart to be the reason of her deception even when I wasn’t responsible. "I can’t quite right now, you have to give me time.” The goalkeeper bit her lips and sighted again, worry flashing on her pretty face.

“I’m not in a rush and I get you.” she answered before rising up to peer at the pouring water. The paths all around us had become muddy. Misa turned back to me, her face sad when she spoke “But what happens next? Do you really know what it takes to be with a professional athlete? If you’re not working for the club, our schedule won’t be aligned anymore. Meaning I will be away almost once a week, all my weekends taken by matches, several weeks out of town for international breaks and competitions, plus the regular working and training obligations you already know…” The young woman took my hands back in hers and asked “Do you think you could be happy in a relationship like that?”

The rain pounding on the roof was easing as Misa’s chest rose up and down, laying the future of our story together in her question. A perplex expression drawn her features as she saw me smiled mildly.

I replied without a doubt “You’re worthing it. I can’t promise you it’s gonna work but I’ll be more than happy to try.”  The goalie smiled back and I placed another kiss on her lips. “Te quiero Misa, nothing will compete against that”.

After hearing my words, Misa went back at hugging me tight. Her breathing fastened and her slightly shaking warm and soft voice announced “Rain or not, I’m dying to go home now…”

Dripping from the roof, the rain was back at its full force and wrapped the kiosk in a veil of water. We glanced at the sunken alleys of the park, shivering again. Hand in hand, we jumped thought the curtains of heavy drops, leaving the shelter where we just laid out our hearts for the first time.

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

[assassinmidnight]

Flufftober day 4(posted on day 9), Market day

Jason/RedHood xAutistic!AFAB!Reader

Not proof read, I have dyslexia and a test in like 8 days and a presentation tomorrow morning(sorry for any mistakes)

Also obviusly not posting in order, only posting the ones I feel turned out well.

Summery: Jason and you enjoy a day at the Gotham Zoo

Jason had been worried when you’d told him that you wanted to go to the autumn market this year, with your autism he was always a bit scared you might have a meltdown. You’d told him that you would be fine, he’d gotten you a set of noise-cancelling headphones that he’d built himself, he’d even put in a com directly to his helmet. So he’d relented, after he made you promise to tell him if anything got too much.

The autumn market at the Gotham zoo was spectacular this year, with roasted almonds, cotton candy, candied apples and much more to eat. A great set of crafters selling handmade jewellery and toys, even some things that looked to be worth a fortune. Jason was currently gripping your hand tight, worried the gloves would cause your grip to slip if he wasn’t, especially with you pulling him every which way. 

“Look! It’s so cute,” Jason looks over to where you’re pointing, it’s a seal that is currently rolling on the water surface. “Cute,” he agrees, turning to you again “Almost as cute as you,” kissing your cold cheek. A blush slowly rises on said cheek, but it's not visible as usual, much to Jason’s dismay. He loved every little thing about you, he truly did, but sometimes he wished your cheeks would give you away. “Pouting like that won’t change the fact that my cheeks don’t turn pink,” you wave your hand in his face before pulling him towards a stall where a small stream of smoke was rising. 

Upon arrival Jason swore he could see your eyes widen. It was an iron smith, working with old-school tools. You were in awe of the old man who was currently bending a rod into a heart shape with two tongs, the iron was still orange when he put it in the fire again to soften it. “Hello,” his voice was cheery despite his age, you couldn’t help but reply in turn. “Hi,” you elbowed Jason and he also grunted out a greeting. The old man looked both of you over before smiling, “I remember when I took my wife to the Market here some fifty years ago, nowhere near as big of course, with Wayne Enterprises donating a hefty sum the last two years and all,” his eyes turned misty, “But it was just as enjoyable.” Jason smiled, “It’s the company more than the place, isn't it?” you felt his gaze on you and looked back at him as the old man laughed heartily. “You are right my boy,” he made a little jump and picked the now orange heart shape out of the coals and started bending the tips ever so slightly, seemingly having forgotten them for the moment. “Made my wife a whole set of jewellery when I proposed, she still wears the bracelet today,” he said, putting the now finished heart in a bucket of water. “Jason made me these headphones, from scratch and everything,” you happily shared, showing the old man the headphones. “Old man, how much for that heart?” Jason asked, receiving a smack in the chest from you for his use of Old man. “It’s quite alright, I’m well aware of my age. This one is 18$, and I’ll be tying a leather thread to it, making it a necklace.” Jason smiled and brought out his credit card, meeting his eyes, you understood that there was no arguing about who was paying. “Thank you,” Jason said as he took the necklace in his hands, “Let me,” he muttered before putting the necklace over your head. “Thank you, Jaybird.” Jason didn’t reply, only pulled you in by the necklace, kissing you deeply. 

That evening as you were standing in front of the mirror, fiddling with the necklace you couldn’t help but think of the old man and wondering if in fifty or so years, Jason and you would be equally as happy.

--

*I DO NOT ALLOW THE PLAGIARISM OF MY WORK, FOR IT TO BE USED IN AI OR FOR IT TO BE REPOSTED ELSEWHERE*

[bella-rose29]

How's your sister?

Nikolai x f!Verkov!reader

Nikolai falls in love with his best friend's sister, much to Dominik's (apparent) annoyance.

I've mixed stuff from the books and from the show which is why they're Verkov's (I don't think Dominik has a last name in the books but someone let me know if he does).

This is also an apology for Golden Boy (please forgive me, part two will be out soon).

Word count: 3k (It wasn't meant to be this long I got carried away oops)

Warnings: mentions of being shot, people getting punched (really only Nikolai, poor guy), swearing, a very fast-moving relationship at the end

Tag list: @bubybubsters, @hauntedenthusiasttragedy, @karensirkobabes, @kentucky-criedfricken, @notoakay, @naushtheaspiringauthor, @el-de-phi, @simbaaas-stuff

Nikolai met his best friend when he was 9 years old.

He didn't know it at the time, but Dominik would be his rock in the tidal wave that was life at court, and the two boys would be inseparable, no matter how far they were from each other.

They were sat in class, Dominik terrified of every movement, jumping and startled at any loud noise or harsh word, and when Nikolai's misbehaviour led to Dominik's pain, the prince knew that he had to change his attitude, the kindness in his heart outweighing his love for pranks. After that day, Nikolai was the perfect student, attentive and listening, although he quickly became friends with Dominik, creating a secret code to talk to each other in lessons, and spending the rest of their time running around in fields with the each other, covering themselves in dirt and grass stains.

When the two boys were 12, Nikolai had his first proper family meal at Dominik's house. He had snuck out in the evening, going unnoticed by everyone, and knocked on their door. Dominik had answered, giddy with joy that his friend had made it, but embarrassed at the state of their farm compared to the luxury that Nikolai was used to. Nikolai didn't mind at all, complimenting every detail and feeling more at home in this run-down house than he ever had in the palace, and Mrs Verkov's cooking was so good he thought he might have died and gone to heaven. He did the washing up, despite the family's protests, then reluctantly let Dominik help with the drying. His older brother was soon to go join the army, as Nikolai found out that night, and Dominik was worried for his safety.

It wasn't until years later that Nikolai would be able to help their family, but for now they were the ones helping him, giving him an escape and a place to just be himself (although Dominik's parents kept calling him 'moi tsarevich', and refused to use any other name).

One summer evening, the boys now 14, Nikolai was having dinner with Dominik's family again, laughing as he set out the cutlery and joking with his friend. A knock sounded on the door, startling the prince and making him drop a fork. Dominik rushed to the door, practically bouncing off of the walls, and as he bent down to retrieve the implement he listened to the sound of excited voices by the door. He had barely finished standing up and brushing the dust off of his knees when Dominik returned, pulling a girl along by her hand and chucking her bag in a corner.

"Dom! Be careful with that, it's got all my stuff in it!" she scolded lightheartedly, and Saints her voice was the most magical thing he had ever heard. She poked his friend in the side, laughing when he recoiled, and Nikolai decided that her laugh was even more magical than her voice.

"Oh, this is my friend, Nikolai," Dominik said, gesturing towards the golden haired boy. "Nikolai, this is my sister, Y/n. She just got back from boarding school in the south." Nikolai stared dumbly at her, face going pink. She was beautiful.

"Hi," she said, sticking her hand out. He took it, offering a shaky smile.

"Hi," he replied. "Wait." He furrowed his brow. "Are you sure he's your brother? Because I'm not seeing any resemblance here. I mean, you're gorgeous and he's... Dom." At her laugh, he flushed more deeply, and realised he was still holding her hand. It was warm, and soft, and he never wanted to let go.

She leaned in close, speaking in a loud whisper. "I'm fully convinced we're not actually related and he was swapped with my real brother, because you're totally right, I am stunning."

"You know that I can hear you both, right? I am stood right here. But please, by all means, go ahead." A wicked gleam entered his expression, and he opened his mouth to speak again. "Maybe I should talk about the time that Nikolai-" he was cut off by a hand slapping over his mouth, eyes going wide with silent laughter as he took in Nikolai's panicked expression.

"Please. I'm begging you, no embarrassing stories." Dominik nodded, still holding back his laugh, and Nikolai slowly removed his hand.

"I'll consider it. I'm expecting you to make it up to me at some point, you bastard."

"Language!" his mother shouted from the second room, and all three of them burst into giggles, with Y/n snorting loudly. "Dinner's ready too!" They made their way to the table, Nikolai engineering it so that he was sat next to Y/n after getting another set of cutlery for her. They talked about anything and everything, learning things about each other and pelting mash at Dominik when he commented on how close they already were.

"How come you go to boarding school?" he asked at one point, curiosity getting the better of him.

"My aunt is on the governor's board, but she refuses to send us any money. Luckily for me, she believes that 'all young ladies should have a proper education'," - at her fake posh voice, Nikolai laughed - "so she convinced them to take me in on a scholarship. Don't have to pay for a thing."

When dinner was over, washing up done and goodbyes said, Nikolai didn't want to leave. He'd had fun, more than he had in a while (which had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he had a crush on his best friend's sister), and he knew that tomorrow would be gruelling, filled with meetings and extended time with old ministers. The walk home was cold, the sun having set hours ago and clouds covering the night sky. When he went to bed that night, he couldn't stop thinking about Y/n.

~~~

The next time Nikolai saw Dominik, he immediately asked "How's your sister?" and his friend groaned.

"No, absolutely not. I am not doing this with you," he wagged a finger in Nikolai's direction, walking off in the direction of the lake, the prince jogging to catch up.

"Not doing what? I'm just asking a question," he said.

"You're not though, because I saw you the other night, chatting her up and everything, and as much as I love you, Nik, I also love my sister."

Nikolai spluttered, searching for the right words to convince his friend that his sister was Nikolai's soulmate (maybe a little over the top, but then again Nikolai was always one to have a flair for the dramatic).

"I was not chatting her up! And if I was, I would have done it so well we'd already be married, thank you!"

"You have far too much confidence in your abilities, Nikolai. You were chatting her up, and you were doing it badly." They reached the lake, sitting down on the grassy bank and going silent for a few minutes. Dominik sighed. "She's fine, if you must know. Asked where you were yesterday, since we were having a whole family meal again."

"Really? She asked about me?" He perked up at that, mind already racing with thoughts of her.

"Yes, she did. But not in a 'I want to marry him' way, just in a 'I'm a nice person and I'm curious' way, so don't get your hopes up." Nikolai nodded, smile on his face. He couldn't stop thinking about it all day, or the next, or in fact for the rest of the week, and when he next saw her, he'd planned everything out so meticulously, nothing could go wrong.

~~~

He face-planted in front of her.

He hadn't meant to, obviously, but he'd been distracted at seeing her in the Palace gardens, and had lost his footing, tripping over his own feet. She'd seen him walking and waved, shocking him and making him fall.

Rushing over and very clearly trying not to laugh, she helped him up, asking if he was okay.

"I'm alright, Y/n. Thought I was going to step on... a frog," he winced at his terrible excuse, then at the state of his clothes (state: covered in mud), but she didn't seem to mind. "How come you're here?"

"School trip. Something about how one day we'll all be in court if we're lucky, and marry rich. Personally I think prof just wants to get a good look at all the fancy women, since he's apparently a 'ladies' man'," she jabbed her thumb over her shoulder as she gestured to her teacher and Nikolai laughed. "Are you sure you're okay? Can't have been a soft landing."

"Seriously, I'm fine. I've had worse, like when Dominik shoved me in the river that one time."

"Well, as long as you're alright. Wouldn't want to damage your pretty face now, would we?" she said, then turned and walked off, a skip in her step as she rejoined her friend. He stared at her retreating form, blush creeping up his neck and onto his face as he took in her words.

Did she just...?

How come he was the hopeless one, and she was the one flirting? He chalked it down to the fact he'd fallen over, and wasn't quite himself because of it, then brushed himself off slightly and kept walking.

~~~

When Nikolai was 16, he was obligated to take his year of service in the army, and Dominik went with him. Instead of taking the usual position of power, Nikolai joined the infantry, becoming a normal soldier with the people of his country and building up connections with them.

For the past two years, every time he had seen Dominik (which had lessened the past year after Dominik's family were banned from the Palace) he had always started off with the question "How's your sister?" and although he had said it was just a joke now, Dominik knew his friend better. He always rolled his eyes in response, and eventually smiled about it too, after the night before they left for the army.

Nikolai had come over after the celebration at the Palace, sneaking out in the dark despite having been caught by Vasily the year before, not needing light since he knew the way like the back of his hand. Arriving at the farm, he knocked on the door, catching his breath for a moment.

He promptly lost it, however, when Y/n answered the door, juggling the handle and a towel as she dried her hair. She'd been back at school the past two years, staying there over the summer, so he hadn't seen her, but Saints, had she gotten more beautiful? She'd clearly just washed her hair, robe tied tightly around her and her hair wet and limp around her face, but Nikolai couldn't help but think of her as stunning.

"Are you going to come in, or keep standing there with your mouth open?"

He quickly shut it, then the door behind him, blushing (he seemed to do that a lot around her) at having been caught. He could never tell if she felt the same way or if that was just how she acted, but he hadn't seen her with anyone else to know.

"Aren't we all banned from seeing you, or something?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Everybody's having a party about me being sent off into certain doom, so it was easy to get out. I won't stay long, I just wanted to see your parents before I leave tomorrow."

"Well we're all in here, sorry about this," she gestured to herself. "Just had a bath since I got back from school about an hour ago. Carriage was boiling, I was practically sweating my tits off in there." He malfunctioned slightly as he tried to not think of her in the bath (it didn't work), laughing belatedly at her final comment. She looked at him weirdly, smiling in confusion, then moved into the family room.

"Nik! What are you doing here?!" Dominik jumped up, swiftly embracing his friend in a hug so tight he thought his lungs might burst.

"Couldn't resist. Besides, how's your sister?" the last part was whispered, a smirk on Nikolai's face.

"Why don't you ask her yourself, dumbass, given she is also in the room."

"Ask who what?" Y/n piped up, picking up on the fact the boys were having a conversation.

"Yeah Nik, what did you wanna ask?"

"Oh, just... How are you, Y/n? Haven't seen you in a while, is all. You still look gorgeous, by the way," he finished with a wink, revelling in her faint blush and small laugh.

"Thanks, Nik. I'm alright, school's horrible, though. Not that I'm complaining, mother, I just don't enjoy having to sit with a pole up my back for 10 hours every day." Nikolai and Dominik winced at the idea, and the prince could sympathise. He'd had the same training when he was younger, and eventually it got so bad he sat with such perfect posture the broom was never seen again (and definitely not because he'd burned it).

Dominik's mother stood, wrapping Nikolai in a hug similar to the one he'd received from her son not too long ago, and Nikolai mourned his possibly bruised ribs. His father did the same, slapping both boys on the back and congratulating them, wishing them the best.

Nikolai sat with them for another twenty minutes (at the request of Mrs Verkov, and he couldn't really say no when she presented a cup of tea), then got up to leave, saying his goodbyes to Dominik's family and promising to find his friend tomorrow.

"I'll walk you out," Y/n said, and he followed her out to the front door, waving at her parents and Dominik.

She stood nearby as he shrugged his jacket on, then as he turned to leave, she pulled him into a hug, and he realised she was crying.

"Promise me you'll be careful?" she sniffed, wiping the tears off of her cheeks when she pulled back from his chest. He moved her hand away, brushing his thumb over her face in a softer attempt to remove the tears.

"Promise."

"Okay. You'll... you'll come back to me- to us, right? Alive and in one piece?" His heart leapt at the idea that she wanted him to come back to her, and he nodded, hand still holding her face.

"Alive and in one piece. I'll come back to you, I promise." She nodded, then hesitated for a split second before pushing herself up onto her tiptoes and kissing him on the cheek.

"I'll see you in a year then, Kolya." And she turned and walked back into the other room.

"See you in a year," he muttered, fingers pressing to the space where her lips had been.

~~~

When Nikolai returned from the army, he redoubled his previous efforts to get the court to like him, becoming even more charming and likeable than he had been before. He told himself it was because he was the spare, and therefore needed some way of garnering support within a group of people that were more likely to favour his brother, but really it was because he'd heard that Y/n was getting married.

He hadn't seen her since he'd come back, but when he had met up with Dominik a few days ago, he asked his usual "How's your sister?" expecting the normal rolling of eyes and vague response. Instead, he received a wary look, and the knowledge that she was engaged. Nikolai had gone numb inside, and had thrown himself into becoming the person that court wanted him to be, all the way up until he had gone to University.

Running away and becoming Sturmhond was one of the best decisions he had ever made, but he thought about Y/n every day. Sailing the True Sea had been a dream they'd had together, and now that he was doing it without her, he couldn't help but feel the pang of longing for her company, married or not. He couldn't bring himself to find out anything about her life, not wanting to die of heartbreak when he found out about her incredibly handsome husband, their five children and a dog (maybe a little dramatic, but still).

Then Alina Starkov had turned up, and turned his world upside down.

After spending time with her hunting the Sea Whip, he figured that a back up plan would be needed, and decided that an alliance between the Lantsov throne and the powerful Sun Summoner would be beneficial. She would make an excellent leader, and in time he was sure they could grow to love each other.

Then he'd had to reveal his identity when they crash landed in the Ravkan first army, and she'd punched him in the face.

Dominik came over, laughing at his friend who was now clutching his nose, but bringing him into a tight hug all the same.

"Long time no see, how have you been?" he asked.

"Oh, same old, same old. Sailing around, destroying enemy ships, tracking mythical sea monsters, the usual. How's your sister?"

Dominik rolled his eyes, a smile forming on his face. Nikolai had told him that Y/n had kissed his cheek when they were in the army, gushing about it and how hopeless he was, and Dominik had agreed. It wasn't long after that his friend, albeit reluctantly, decided he wouldn't mind having Nikolai as a brother, and had warmed up to the idea of his best friend and sister being together.

"She's alright. You could always ask her yourself, though." Nikolai frowned, not understanding his meaning.

"Why do you want to know about his sister?" Alina cut in, still mad about the betrayal but curiosity outweighing it.

Dominik laughed. "Because he's hopelessly in love with her. Seriously, I can't get him to shut up about how she's 'the most beautiful girl I've ever seen', or how 'she's the-'" Nikolai shoved him, and Dominik stopped talking to prevent himself from falling over, breaking off into more loud laughter.

"Shut up," he muttered, face going red. Alina was smirking, and had apparently (for now) gotten over her earlier fury. "What did you mean, ask her myself? She's off in some country house with her rich husband, isn't she?"

"Nope. Never actually got married. Not when he found out I didn't like riding a horse sidesaddle."

Nikolai whipped round at the new voice, then stared in shock at the woman in front of him, looking somehow even more beautiful than the day he'd left her.

"Y/n," he said, the word spoken almost like a prayer. "You're... you're here. Wait, why are you here?" She laughed lightly, and Saints he'd missed that sound.

"Joined the army. As a medik, don't worry. I'm not actually on the front lines or anything, I just stay back here, tending to the wounded. Speaking of wounded people, who punched you? Because your nose is bleeding a little bit."

"I did, sorry," Alina spoke up, and Y/n just smiled, shaking her head.

"He probably deserved it, to be honest. I don't know what he did, but I'm sure I would have done the same."

Great, now they were bonding over the desire to punch him in the face. Y/n walked over, using a scrap of cloth to wipe the blood off his face, then throwing her arms around him in a hug.

"I've missed you, Kolya."

"I missed you too."

She pulled back, inspecting his face for a few moments. He was nervous, butterflies fluttering in his stomach as he realised that the last time they'd been this close, she'd kissed him on the cheek. He didn't have to worry about that this time, though, since she pulled even further away, and before he could miss her warmth, she slapped him.

"What was that for?!" He held his face for the second time in the last ten minutes, looking at her incredulously as she stood with her hands on her hips.

Pointing a finger at him, she said "For getting shot, you dipshit! And for leaving without telling me, and for never writing!" Before he could apologise, however, she brought her hands up to his face and kissed him on the lips. He froze, arms hanging in the air awkwardly and eyes open wide, then relaxed, bringing his arms around her waist and closing his eyes as he kissed her back. He was just about to slip his tongue in when a very obvious cough sounded from his left, and he reluctantly pulled away to see Dominik watching with a disgusted look.

"If you're going to suck face, please do it where I can't see you. I do not need to ever see my best friend and my sister making out ever again, thanks." He shuddered, then pretended to gag.

"Okay," Y/n replied, and before Nikolai could do anything, she'd grabbed his arm and was dragging him off to a tent. When they were inside, he realised it was her tent, seeing the little decorations that were so completely her. She stopped abruptly, causing him to crash into her back. "Shit, sorry, I didn't think I was gonna have anyone in here, to be honest, so it's a mess. Let me just-"

"Darling, you know I've seen Dominik's tent, right? This is perfection compared to the mess he creates," Nikolai cut her off, stopping her from tidying the space. "What was the kiss for?"

"You- what?! Saints, Nikolai, I thought you were meant to be smart?" She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Because I love you, idiot. I always have." He gaped at her, before remembering himself and closing his mouth.

"You have?"

"Yeah. Dom was pissed when he found out I liked you, though. Not sure why, given how close you two are. Thought he would have been glad to have you as an official member of the family, as an actual brother. But yes, I have loved you since that night we talked about what we would do if we were free, and you spoke about it as if we were both going. I knew I was a goner then, because of how easily you talked about your future as though I would always be a part of it. So yeah, I love you, Nikolai Lantsov. That's what the kiss was for."

"I love you too. I would have taken you with me, on the True Sea, like we'd planned, but I thought... well I thought you were married, so I didn't ask. Also it wasn't really planned, I just had an opportunity so I took it and-" he was cut off by her mouth on his, and she was smiling into the kiss.

"I get it, Kolya, you don't need to explain, alright? But next time I'm expecting an invite, no excuses."

"Of course. I love you," he said again, smiling broadly. He would quite happily spend the rest of his life telling her those three words over and over again, doing nothing else, and having no regrets. The next two words that came out of his mouth he hadn't planned to say, but they happened anyway.

"Marry me."

She froze in place, and Nikolai worried that he'd gone too far, opening his mouth to take back the words.

"Yes."

Now it was his turn to freeze, seconds later breaking into a grin as he picked her up and spun her around, kissing her when he set her down.

"Wait," she said, brow furrowed, and his heart skipped a beat in fear. "What about the court? They'll never accept me."

"I don't care. I love you, and I'm not wasting another minute of my life being without you. Besides, it'll be good for them. It's not like you're uneducated, you went to a fancy boarding school. And if that's not enough we can come up with some bullshit story about how we're marrying to 'unite the different classes of Ravka' and it'll be beneficial for keeping the 'commoners' on side," he used the same fake posh voice she had all those years ago at the dinner table, and she giggled, nodding as he made his argument. "We'll know that we're marrying for love, and so will the people that most matter, like your family. They're the only opinions I care about, alright?"

"Alright." She was smiling widely, joy written all over her face as she took in his words. Seconds later, fear crossed her features. "Oh fuck."

"What? What is it?" He panicked, thinking she was already having second thoughts.

"Dominik. He's going to freak out when we tell him. Poor boy can only just handle us kissing, what's he going to do when we're married?" Nikolai laughed, loud and booming, hands coming to hold her waist.

"He'll just have to deal with it. He dealt with all the pining for years, I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Pining? You were pining for me? Aw, Kolya, that's adorable!"

"Yeah yeah," he grumbled. "Like you weren't also pining for me, darling."

~~~

When they emerged from the tent a while later, holding hands and blushing, speaking to each other in soft whispers, Dominik could only smile affectionately, having overheard the whole conversation.

"Idiots. I've been planning this wedding since they met."

[riotwritesthings]

Who Guards the Bodyguard

T, 3k - No-Powers AU, Humor, bodyguard!Bucky

One college bar, one bodyguard, one sleazeball who can't take no for an answer. Shaken, not stirred.

Hey remember when I took birthday prompts, like… 9 months ago? Good times. Anyways guess what I finally finished.

The prompt was some combination of “You’re my new bodyguard and you’re cute” / “Help me I’m being hit on at a bar please be my fake boyfriend for a second” / “I’m going to save you from the terrible date you’re having” So I really just mashed all of those together and ended up with this lol. I hope you enjoy it @clarajanedesperaux!

~

This job is supposed to be easy.

All Bucky has to do is keep an eye on a billionaire’s spoiled, wild son and make sure the kid doesn’t end up kidnapped or otherwise killed. Easy.

And yet, it has not been easy, most notably because Tony Stark can’t know that Bucky is guarding him. Howard had been very insistent about his son’s ability and determination to ditch his previous bodyguards, and half of the stories were honestly impressive if true. So Bucky has a very strict set of guidelines to follow that most days make him feel more like a stalker than anything else.

He gets a ping whenever Tony leaves the Stark family’s Fifth Avenue mansion, and satellite tracking makes it quick work to follow him anywhere in the city. Bucky’s not exactly sure how Stark has GPS-tagged his son, but he’s not paid to ask questions.

He’s paid to put his experience in black ops and undercover work to good use and not be seen while he’s following a twenty-year-old around the city making sure no one kills the kid.

Totally normal, super easy.

Yeah right, Bucky thinks to himself in bemusement as he watches Tony over the rim of his beer.

This is the third bar the Stark heir has been to tonight, and Bucky really must be getting old because all he wants is to go home.

He’d kind of like to tell Tony to go home too, and not just because it would mean Bucky could go back to his apartment to hang out with his cat. It’s because he knows what Tony is doing, he knows the rotating cast of friends that meet Tony at one bar just to abandon him at another. He knows how damn lonely that is.

He might be watching from a distance, but Bucky is pretty damn good at what he does and he can tell there’s a lot more to Tony than the kid lets on. He’s got a bigger heart than he likes to show and hidden scars, he deserves better than fake friends and a father who won’t even give him a chance.

But that’s none of Bucky’s business.

Two more bars later, Bucky is feeling a lot less generous towards his charge. This place is too damn crowded, and loud, and Bucky has to keep moving around to keep Tony in his sight. And for what, just to watch him half-heartedly flirt with some asshole in a trucker hat, of all things? The kid could at least have the decency to have some taste.

Bucky forces down some more unsavory thoughts about trucker-hat-douche as he slides onto another seat at the bar and waves for a refill on his beer. He pointedly ignores it when the guy on the next stool spins to face him, keeping his gaze fixed firmly on Tony near the pool table across the bar. Even if he wasn’t working right now, he is in no mood and he does his best to convey that with the side of his face.

The asshole doesn’t take the hint though, and Bucky can feel the weight of his sleazy smirk as he asks, “Well hello, you come here often?”

“Nope,” Bucky says shortly, which is conveniently both true, and will hopefully cut off any further conversation.

"That makes sense,” the man says with a nod and a widening smirk, continuing to ignore all of Bucky’s not-so-subtle hints, “I would remember seeing you before.”

He probably thinks it sounds flattering, but he just comes across as gross. Bucky takes his eyes off his charge just long enough to glance over at the man next to him, taking in his flushed, sweaty face. The asshole is definitely drunk, probably completely hammered, and Bucky doesn’t want to deal with this.

He fixes his eyes forward again, hoping the guy will at least take one of his hints if he just keeps throwing them in the asshole’s face.

“C’mon, I’ve seen you moving all around the bar,“ the man says, because of course he can’t just give up. ”It’s obvious you’re looking for something, only to wind up next to me,“ he continues in what he probably thinks is an alluring tone, ”there’s no reason to play hard to get now.”

"‘M not playing anythin’,” Bucky snaps, cutting his gaze to the side just long enough to give the man a sharp glare, "and I’m not interested."

The asshole on the next stool just laughs, and Bucky can smell the vodka on his breath as he leans closer. “Don’t be like that,” he says with another slimey laugh, “you don’t even know me yet, and I’m very interesting.”

Bucky lets himself outright scoff at that, because he very seriously doubts that this bar-regular who can’t take no for an answer has any sort of hobby that Bucky would find interesting. He can see it from the corner of his eye when the asshole scowls, when his fingers curl tighter around his drink, and Bucky sighs internally.

“What, you think you’re too good to even give me the fucking time of day?” The guy demands, abandoning his attempt at a sultry tone in favor of a snarl. It sounds more natural for him, honestly.

There are a lot of ways Bucky could answer that.

He could point out that technically at this point it would be ‘time of night.’ Or he could get brutally honest and say that while he doesn’t usually think very highly of himself at all these days, he does still think he can do better than this random bar asshole. Maybe not a whole lot better, but better.

Instead of saying anything at all though, Bucky reluctantly tears his eyes away from the Stark heir across the small bar. He turns to finally face the man next to him and fixes him with a dry, expectant stare, quirking an eyebrow and letting the man fill in how ‘interesting’ Bucky thinks he is for himself.

The asshole’s face starts to twist with rage, but he smooths it out again with what looks like a fair amount of effort before saying, “Well, how about you let me buy you a drink and give me sixty seconds to change your mind.”

“No,” Bucky says shortly and starts to turn away. But then the man starts to reach for him, like he’s going to grab Bucky’s shoulder to stop him, and Bucky goes tense all over.

Part of him, a big part, wants to break this asshole’s wrist and be done with it, but that would draw way too much attention. He doesn’t trust himself to grab the man’s hand without breaking something, and he can’t even risk punching the jerk when his entire job relies on Tony never noticing him.

So Bucky has to settle for moving out of the asshole’s reach, shifting half off of his stool to accomplish it, and glaring harder as he snaps, "Do not touch me."

If the man was less drunk, and less of a dick, there’s no doubt that Bucky’s best death glare would be enough to chase him off. But he is a drunk asshole, so instead of running he grits his teeth and narrows his eyes.

“Listen, asshole,” the guy starts and Bucky does outright laugh at that, sharp and mocking.

He’s not surprised that the man’s face flushes an angrier shade of red, but Bucky really couldn’t help himself. The asshole continues to sputter for a second before sliding ungracefully off his stool and pulling himself up to his full height, wobbling slightly in the process.

“I don’t appreciate you- fuckin’- talking down to me,” the asshole spits furiously, but Bucky isn’t listening to him anymore.

With a sigh, Bucky slides the rest of the way off of his own stool and he can only hope that Tony is still distracted with the trucker-hat-douche because this is definitely about to become a scene. At least it’s somewhat gratifying to watch the drunk stumble back half a step when Bucky pulls himself up to his full height and squares his shoulders, but it doesn’t look like the man plans on backing down.

“Last chance to walk away,” Bucky warns because he has had it with tonight. At this point he will be perfectly happy to get kicked out of this shitty bar and fuck this job.

The asshole has his mouth open to respond, but then his eyes go wide as Bucky feels someone winding their arms around his and plastering themself tightly to his side. Bucky feels his own face twitch in shock when he jerks his gaze to the side and realizes that it’s Tony clinging to him.

Tony, who Bucky is supposed to be keeping an eye on, and who is not supposed to even be aware of Bucky’s existence. Tony, who is smiling up at him like Bucky isn’t a complete stranger to him, like he knows Bucky.

“There you are, hot stuff,” Tony says, his tone as familiar as his grin, and Bucky has a terrible feeling about the future of his employment. “I was starting to think you were standing me up,” Tony continues, fluttering those long eyelashes up at him.

The eyelashes that Bucky has tried so hard not to notice, but he’s sure as hell noticing them now.

Even caught off guard, and maybe a little distracted, Bucky isn’t a complete moron. He knows what Tony is doing, so he quickly pulls it together and works up a smile of his own.

“Wouldn’t’ve been so hard t’ spot you if you’d picked a less crowded place,” Bucky finds himself saying, because he can’t not complain about this dive bar now that he’s been given the chance.

Tony throws his head back with a laugh, and Bucky does not let himself get caught up in the sound of it. Not even a little.

“I * knew* you would hate it,” Tony says gleefully and the light in his eyes isn’t just teasing, it’s knowing.

Like Tony actually chose this bar just to annoy him, and Bucky is officially in so over his head.

He is also reluctantly charmed, and Bucky can’t fight down a tiny grin of his own even as he shakes his head and says, “You-”

“Hey,” the asshole interrupts, apparently not happy with being completely ignored.

He’s glaring at both of them now, and Bucky automatically shifts so he’s a little more between the drunk and the person he’s supposed to be secretly bodyguarding. He can at least still do half of his job. Tony grins at him like he knows exactly what Bucky is thinking, and hell, he probably does. Just like it’s probably no accident that Tony is wrapped around his good arm, making it much less likely that he’ll throw a punch.

Nothing would really surprise Bucky at this point, Tony is so damn smart and apparently Bucky has been underestimating him, too. And apparently, Tony has been watching him back, and Bucky has no idea what to do with that.

When the asshole makes another impatient sound Tony finally deigns to look over at him, barely tearing his gaze away from Bucky long enough to flit his eyes over the man from head to foot.

“Bye,” Tony says, his tone artfully dismissive, and then goes right back to grinning up at Bucky like the other man doesn’t exist.

To Tony’s credit, his cold, superior tone has the asshole automatically taking a step backward, even as he sputters, "Dude, wh- what the fuck-"

“What part are you not getting?” Tony asks, one sharp eyebrow crawling up his forehead as he slowly turns to face the asshole again, like he’s still unconvinced that the man is worth the effort. ”He was looking for someone, now he’s found me,“ Tony continues as he smoothly fits himself under Bucky’s arm, ”no part of this has anything to do with you, so you can go ahead and leave now."

Bucky can’t quite bite down his laugh when the drunk man sputters dumbly again, and the tiny grin that Tony flashes up at him has Bucky’s heartbeat doing truly concerning things in his chest. But he’s not thinking about that, just like he’s not thinking about the way his arm has automatically fallen around Tony’s shoulders, the way Tony fits perfectly against his side.

“L-Listen here, you little-” the asshole stutters and then trails off, his face going scarlet as he seems to notice all of the people staring at them.

"Little what?" Tony asks coldly, the look on his face just daring the asshole to come up with something that Tony hasn’t been called before. Bucky is equal parts impressed, enraged at his employer all over again, and trying his best not to be completely smitten.

The asshole’s face is nearly purple as his eyes dart from side to side, taking note of the increasing number of people watching them with open interest and amusement.

“Fuck this,” he grumbles and finally starts to back away, deciding to save what little face he has left in front of this crowd of college douchebags. He apparently has to try and get the last word though, because as he turns he shoots Bucky a final glare he loudly mutters “I could do better anyways.”

“Doubt it!” Tony calls after him gleefully, and the on-looking crowd laughs. Then he turns his bright grin up at Bucky, and oh, fuck.

Bucky is so fucking fucked.

“Do you want to get out of here, now?” Tony asks, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“Yes,” Bucky groans instantly and emphatically, all thoughts of his imminent unemployment momentarily forgotten in the force of his relief over getting to leave.

Being caught by Tony is the least of the rules he’s broken, but he can worry about that later, or maybe never. It’s not like anyone needs to know that he’s been slowly but surely failing the first rule of bodyguarding over months of catching glimpses of the real Tony. Except Tony might know, because he’s been watching Bucky back.

And Tony is still grinning smugly as he starts to drag Bucky out of the bar with his arm still looped comfortably around Bucky’s waist, staying plastered to his side. Bucky has no idea if it’s necessary or not, he can’t tear his eyes away from Tony to see if the asshole is still hanging around.

He does spare the most fleeting thought for the trucker hat douche that Tony was flirting with before, but that’s only to think that at least this mess is getting Tony away from that asshole. Tony deserves so much better, of that Bucky is sure, he’s had way too much time to think about it while watching Tony flirt with every type of douchebag.

Once they’re out in the cool night air Bucky drags in his first deep breath in what feels like hours, relishing in the slightly less disgusting smells of the city. At least there’s less old-vomit smell.

When Tony snickers Bucky looks over at him again, honestly not sure what to make of the teasing, knowing smile on Tony’s face.

”So, where to now?“ Tony asks innocently, like he’s not still actively throwing Bucky’s life into chaos.

”Off to look for a new job, probably,“ Bucky grumbles, but he can’t actually force any annoyance into his voice. It’s not like he actually likes this job, after all, but…

He’ll probably never see Tony again, once he’s fired, and that thought sends a sharp pang through his chest that Bucky is trying not to think about too hard. Tony is still staring up at him as they start to aimlessly wander down the sidewalk, apparently trusting Bucky not to run them into any street signs, and Bucky is trying not to think about that either.

”Why?“ Tony asks, sounding genuinely confused, and then he pouts as he adds, ”I can go back to pretending not to notice you, is that more fun? Little weird, big-time stalker vibes, but I can work with that.“

Bucky huffs out a laugh, then raises an eyebrow as he asks, ”“S that what you’re into? That why you haven’ ditched me yet, like all th’ others?”

“Give yourself some credit,” Tony says, patting his side, “I did try at first, but you’re hard to shake. Plus, you’re much cuter than the rest of them were.”

Bucky tears his eyes away from Tony’s teasing, flirty grin, looking back down the dark street and trying to ignore the heat rising in his cheeks. ”Maybe I’m jus’ sick of bein’ dragged to college bars,“ he says after a pause that’s probably tellingly long.

”Okay,“ Tony says agreeably, and when Bucky looks over at him in surprise, he finds Tony grinning up at him with an almost hopeful look in his eyes as he asks, ”How do you feel about burgers?“

Bucky finds himself trailing to a stop, still staring at Tony, who stopped right along with him and is now watching with a nervous little smile, like maybe he thinks the ‘better’ that he deserves is somehow Bucky.

For a second all Bucky can do is stare, his mouth gone completely dry. He has to lick his lips, watching Tony’s clever gaze track the motion, before he can croak out, “Seems like I’m gonna be fired for a different reason.”

Tony laughs, delighted, and starts leading him down the street again as he asks, ”What are you talking about? What better place to guard me from than up close and personal?“

Bucky is pretty sure that the elder Stark would not agree with that statement, but like hell is he going to be the one to point that out. He knows this is probably a terrible idea, and he’s definitely going to get fired for this sooner or later, but with any luck, it won’t be the last time he sees Tony.

”So, burgers?“ Bucky asks as he tightens his arm a little more around Tony’s shoulders, and when Tony smiles wider Bucky finally lets himself acknowledge the way it makes his heart flip over itself in his chest.

[rorywritesjunk]

I can’t tell where the journey will end But I know where to start

Prequel to my Kid Buggy fic, set about 11-ish years before that story.

Buggy meets you by chance when he needs his buttons sewn back onto his jacket. He’s young, up and coming, and he thinks everyone should cower before him wherever he goes, but all you do is smile at him.

Rating: PG-13ish just for some swearing. Warning: Buggy’s in his early 20s. He’s an asshole. He just is because I wanted to write him loud, demanding, everything. Chapter warning has drinking, a drunk and all over the place Buggy, and Sunny just quietly being "what the fuck". Also it's Buggy's birthday. A/N: I have no idea when Buggy became a Captain, so he’s a fresh faced captain in this. No clue how long this fic will be. I actually have started rewriting it after chapter 5 because I realized I wanted to change some things up.

Title comes from “Wake Me Up” by Avicii.

TAGLIST: @lostfirefly @ane5e @kingofthemfingpirates @the-angriest-angel @tiredemomama @valen-yamyam16 @i-reblog-fics-i-like @plethora-of-fickleness @uhnanix

Chapter 1 + Chapter 2 + Chapter 3 + Chapter 4 + Chapter 5 + Chapter 6 + Chapter 7 + Chapter 8 + Chapter 9 + Chapter 10 + Chapter 11 + Chapter 12 + Chapter 13 + Chapter 14 + Chapter 15 + Chapter 16 + Chapter 17 + Chapter 18 + Epilogue

Chapter 6

“I think she’s heartbroken.” Benji said as he and Miss Pins watched you stumble around the shop, looking through stacks of fabric and spools of thread looking for your tailor’s chalk that was tucked up in behind your ear. You had been acting… odd since you told Buggy to leave the shop three weeks ago. You managed to sew a customer’s order to your lap, sewed cuffs inside out on another one, and just now you spent the last hour looking for the blue piece of tailor’s chalk that you tucked behind your ear. 

“Oh?” Miss Pins replied, head resting in her hand as she watched you look through the same stack of fabric again. “You’re a kid, how do you know about heartbreak?”

“I was in love with a girl and she broke my heart.” Benji told her as you finally found the chalk and set it on the table. “We were 12. She told me she wanted someone nicer, which was dumb. I am nice. I just voice my opinions.”

“Well, don’t get hung up on that young romance. Someone else will come around.” The old woman said as you started looking for your scissors next. They were in a cup in front of you along with other tools. “This is really sad. Did she like the idiot that much?”

“I think so.” Benji frowned. “I didn’t like him.”

“Neither did I.” Miss Pins sighed. “So of course Sunny would.”

“Why did she like him?” Benji asked. Miss Pins shrugged.

“She’s always been kind, ever since she showed up here all those years ago.” Your boss replied. “No matter who someone was or how awful they were, she would just be nice to them.”

You finally found the scissors and held them up triumphantly before pausing and staring down at your work. It took you so long to find the tailor’s chalk that you forgot why you needed it and the scissors. You were distracted, half expecting Buggy to come bursting into the shop any moment now with some silly little thing to fix on his jacket, but you were quite firm when you told him to leave that one day, so he must have taken it to heart. You weren’t going to see him again.

Was it fair you got upset because he couldn’t remember your name? But at the same time, the way he reacted was more hurtful. Something stupid like your name. It repeated in your head nonstop and you wished it wouldn’t. He was just so mean about it. Sure, he had been rude and a bit of an ass since you met him, but it was never mean. 

You remembered what you were working on. A customer wanted his jacket to have reinforced stitches in the sleeves but more room in the shoulders to allow him better movement when he used his sword. He had come into the shop and while you even thought he was handsome, you didn’t hide your disappointment that it wasn’t Buggy. Miss Pins gave the job to you and the man paid ahead of time, so you immediately started working. 

Maybe Buggy would show back up.

~

You had been fast asleep until you were woken up by someone yelling outside the shop. You heard your boss shouting from her bedroom window at whoever it was, but you got up to see what was going on. You heard her shout Dammit Buggy! So you headed downstairs to the shop and opened the door. 

Sure enough, Buggy was standing there, glaring upwards at Miss Pins’ window. He swayed where he stood, a bottle clutched in his hand before he raised it up.

“You’re loud too, Miss Pins!” He shot back before shrieking and jumping out of the way. Miss Pins had dumped a cup of water on him. “Hey!”

“Buggy?” You stepped out of the shop and closed the door behind you. His eyes lit up when he saw you and he had a big smile on his face. His face was flushed and he looked so happy to see you.

“Su-Sunny! You’re still here!” He slurred, grinning as he dropped the bottle and threw his arms around you, catching you off guard. “I thought maybe… maybe you left and never wanted to see me again!”

Oh, this was a happy and drunk Buggy. You could smell the alcohol on his breath as well coming off of his clothes. You wondered how much he had already. It was best to send him on his way, to not get involved, but you worried what sort of trouble he would get into if you left him alone, so you called up to your boss’s window that you’d be back later, you wanted to make sure he got back to his ship safely. You picked up the bottle and put your arm around his waist, keeping a firm hold on him to keep him from wandering off.

“‘S my birrrrthday!” He announced as he slung an arm over your shoulder, laughing loudly as you made your way down the road and toward the docks. “I’m… I’m two months… After you. I’m younger.”

“You definitely are.” You mused as you tightened your arm around him. He looked at you with a smirk.

“You’re touching me.” He lifted his arm to have another drink and realized he didn’t have his bottle. “Where-”

“I have it, Buggy.” You told him, holding it up to show him. “No more, okay?”

He looked grumpy until his hand popped off and grabbed it from you, bringing it back to himself. Smirking triumphantly, he raised the bottle to his lips and continued drinking. You weren’t opposed to drinking at all, but you also didn’t want to be around a drunk pirate right now. You wanted to be home and sleeping.

“Which one is your ship?” You asked when you came to the docks. He lowered the bottle and frowned as he looked at them before pointing to one furthest to the right. You hoped he was right as you walked with him to the ship, still keeping a hold on him. Once you dropped him off you’d head back home, but he turned to you with bright and excited eyes.

“Have a drink with me!” He pleaded. “It’s… it’s my birthday.”

“I know it’s your birthday, you told me.” You reminded him. “And I don’t want a drink, Buggy. I need to get home.”

“Please?” He asked as he stopped in his tracks. You kept your arm around him and looked over at him. The happy and bouncy Buggy was gone, replaced with someone different. He looked unsure of himself right then as he asked you, turning his gaze to his feet. You were going to regret this but you sighed and nodded.

“One drink.” You told him, and before you knew it, he was smiling again and taking hold of your hand, leading you up to his ship with his chest puffed out proudly, looking quite happy once more. You followed after him, shaking your head as he led you to what you figured was the captain’s quarters. One drink, that was it, then you’d head home.

He finally finished the bottle and tossed it aside before stumbling over to a cabinet for more. You took a seat on his bed, watching him as he rummaged around before pulling out two glasses and a bottle. He grinned at you, wagging his eyebrows as he brought you a glass and opened the bottle, but you took it from him.

“The birthday boy shouldn’t be pouring his own drink.” You told him as he plopped down beside you. You didn’t trust him to not spill it everywhere so you poured him a glass before your own, setting the bottle out of his immediate reach (which was silly because he could still grab it with his Devil Fruit powers). “Cheers, Buggy.”

He smiled brightly and let his head rest on your shoulder as he gripped his glass tightly. “You’re nice.” 

“I’ve been told that.” You chuckled. “Thanks.” 

“No, no, no, you’re so nice.” He continued gushing. “And… y’know, I’m gonna marry you. You’re so nice, Sunny, and I’m not married, y’know, so we should get married.”

You choked on your drink and set the glass aside, coughing a bit before clearing your throat. Oh, he was so drunk. You reached up to pat his cheek gently. “You’re not going to remember any of this tomorrow, so don’t propose marriage to me yet.”

He tossed his drink back before giving you his glass. You put it beside yours, not wanting to fill it back up. The moment your hand was free he took it in his own, entwining his fingers with yours as he continued his drunken rambles.

“We’ll get married, because you’re so nice to me, and I’ll be so happy.” He continued as he turned to look up at you. “I want to be happy with you, Sunny.”

“Buggy, I want you to be happy too.” You told him. “I don’t know if marrying someone will make you happy, however.”

“Is it because I was an asshole on your birthday? Is… is that why you won’t marry me?” Buggy asked with a frown. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry I was mean. I was an asshole. I like you a lot and got scared ‘cause I couldn’t remember your name, and you have a nice name, and I didn’t get you a present.” He suddenly dropped your hand and stood up, marching back over to his cabinet. “Wait, I wanna sh-show you somethin’!”

Oh, Drunk Buggy was just a bit everywhere. Happy, excited, emotional, and apologetic. It was kind of fun to see in a way. He rummaged through the cabinet before hurrying back over to you, tripping over his own feet before falling onto his bed beside you. He held up something and you took it. They were photographs of two young boys, one with a straw hat and red hair, and the other had to be Buggy going by the bright red nose and scowl. 

“That’s me,” He pointed to himself in the photo. “Wasn’t sure if you knew. And that’s Shanks. We… we were best friends on a ship together and then we weren’t.” He frowned. “Haven’t been for a few years.” He sat up on the bed and leaned into you again. “You’re really nice.”

“Thank you for apologizing for my birthday, Buggy.” You told him as you looked through the photos. There weren't many, and they were old, showing their age in their wrinkles and fading color. Buggy certainly was a cute little kid. “I’m sorry I was rude to you.”

He straightened up and put both of his hands on your cheeks, turning your head so you faced him. He glared at you and you wondered what was about to happen, but his gaze suddenly softened and he looked down at his lap, his hands still on your cheeks. “Don’t you ever apologize because you’re perfect and have done nothing wrong ever.”

You put both of your hands on his and moved them off your face. “Buggy, I think you need to go to bed.”

He turned red suddenly and pulled away from you, looking down at his lap as you got to your feet and removed his hat, setting it down on a nearby trunk. You noticed he went quiet but decided not to say anything as you looked for some kind of sleep clothes for him, or did he just sleep in his everyday clothes? When you looked back over at him he was struggling to remove his shirt. You sighed and went to help him get free of it. When you saw his face again, he looked away once more.

“What’s wrong?” You asked as you knelt in front of him to help take his boots off. You didn’t trust him to do it himself, afraid he’d topple over and hit his head. 

“I never… with… with anyone before.” He mumbled as he gestured between the two of you. For a solid minute you stared at him as you tried to process what he was thinking, and when it hit you, your face burned as you set his boots aside. “So um…”

“Neither have I, Buggy, but that’s not what I said.” You told him firmly. “I told you it’s time for bed. For you, not me. You need to get some sleep.”

“Canyoustaythenight?” He blurted out. “Please? I don’t… want to be alone.”

You stared at him for a moment, trying to wrap your mind around this. You didn’t intend for any of this to happen. You were just going to bring him home before going back to your place to crawl into your bed, but he managed to get you to stay for a drink (that you didn’t finish) and now he wanted you to spend the night. 

He was looking at you like you were the only thing that mattered in his world right then. It was a little hard to say no, but you did want to make sure he would be okay, so you removed your own shoes before putting your hands on your hips. “Where are your pajamas?”

He shrugged as he fell back on his bed, stretching out across it. His entire body separated for a moment before snapping back together and honestly, it was momentarily horrifying to see it all happen at once. You needed him to explain this but not when he was drunk. You sighed and nudged him to get under the blankets, which he did, watching you once more with bright, excited eyes as you got into bed beside him. Almost immediately he wrapped himself around you, resting his head against your chest as he closed his eyes and sighed happily. 

“So nice, so soft, warm.” He mumbled quietly. You took the chance to remove his bandana, pleasantly surprised to see how long his hair was. Why did he keep it all hidden? You ran your fingers through it as he made himself comfortable against you. “I don’t wanna be away from you again, please, ‘msorry.”

“Get some sleep, Buggy.” You told him as you pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “Okay? No more talking.”

“Imma marry you.” He sighed. You rolled your eyes and wondered what you needed to expect the next morning.

[genshin-squabbles-and-wobbles]

The Enraged Inferno || Part 3

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Character: Diluc

Type: Angst, tragedy, Revenge and Reader in her villian era

Tags: Fem!Reader

About being Taglisted in my stories: Here

Requester: @sailorstar9

Content: You traveled to Mondstadt to deliver a medicine order for Baizhu. You decided to stay in Mondstadt and expand his buisness there. You just met with Jean and treated her like the way she treated you but worse, but then...you met Diluc, he was all over the place, as his facade fell apart immediately once he saw you. It was like the light of his life was brighten again, only that...you were...different.

Trigger Warning: I might be a little violent in this story to stress the Villain Era the reader is in, and also, dealing with trauma so please proceed with caution. I might add cursing a bit, please let me know if you can feel the idea of the reader without the cursing. I might've also like included something about the idea of lobotomy in there so please, be careful.

Part 1: Here Part 2: Here

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[ 9 Years ago, 12 year old ]

"Aha Luc! Look! Look! I found wild grapes!" You smiled as you showed him healthy fully grown grapes.

Diluc smiled and blushed at you. "Those look pretty...would you want to maybe...grow a large grape farm together...?"

You widen your eyes and jumped happily. "Yes! That is sooo cool! Imagine all the grape juice we can give to everyone!?" You hugged Diluc. "You keep being so smart, Luc!"

Diluc smiled and blushed more. He hugged you back, as he imagined a future where you and him would grow grapes together, and sunbathed under the sun together. Then drink grape juice, laying in the grass under the moon.

Kaeya then joined in on the hug. "Hey guys, why not do wine? Dad says it cost money and we can have a lot fo money!"

You looked at him. "Oh wow. That is so true!"

You three laughed together, in ignorant bliss.

[ 5 Years ago, 17 year old ]

"Hey Luc." You slumped down next to him and handed him a grape juice box. You poked a hole in yours and took a sip.

Diluc looked at you. "Something wrong?" He did the same, as he took a bigger sip.

"Nah, I am okay." You smiled at him, kindly.

"I know you better then that, don’t lie to me now." Diluc leaned back and stared straight. He didn’t need to try and guess your emotions. You became second hand nature for him to read.

You chuckled. "What gave it away?"

He shrugged. "I just know...what's wrong..?"

You smiled and sighed. "I..."

Diluc interrupted. "You saw adventures and the monsters fought brutally and you feel troubled. You want everyone to get along and live in peace?"

You looked at him shocked. "H-How did you...!!"

Diluc laughed. "Haha you are too cute, of course I'll know. You are such a gentle soul, with a kind heart. I could never get over that. I can indulge you in that forever." He smiled at you.

You blushed and looked away.

[ Current ]

Diluc was looking down at you, at your dead face. You pushed his away from your chin, and sighed. "Diluc, please sign the receipt so I can leave, I have things to do." You spoke coldy to him.

He looked at you, dumbstrucked once more. "Diluc...? You won't call me Luc anymore??". However, as a defense mechanism of his he will pretend this didn’t bother him, despite the mess he was right now. He sighed and nodded slowly and turned, pulled a pen from his desk and sighed the receipt. He then turned to you, and handed you the receipt.

You then turned and walked away, no goodbye, no nothing. Diluc tried to watch you walk away, however this was too much for him, he immediately put his head in his hand, desperate once more. He immediately ran ahead of you and came in front of you, preventing you from leaving his office.

"I-I love you!" Diluc said desperately. "I have always loved you! I left that stupid arrange marriage for you, I left Jean for you, I love you! Please just listen to me! I've always loved you, since we were young! Your smile, your playful natu-"

"Diluc move." You spoke sternly with a red glint in your eyes. You pushed him aside, and opened the door, left. You had no time for some dumb romantic shit. You had no space in your heart for it, anyways. But at the moment, you didn’t care.

Diluc obediently let you pushed him aside and he stood, watching you leave his vicinity. He slowly clenched his fist, with trembling jaw. Small tears streaming down his face. Perhaps...it was still the same tragedies in his life, nothing changed.

You walked out, and sighed. You had one goal in mind, revenge. You walked back to your new home in Mondstadt, and mailed the letter to Baizhu. You began cleaning up your new home, and throwing things away. Keeping somethings. You began turning the living room into a pharmacy with shelves and turning some rooms into patient rooms. After all, you were a dendro healer like your uncle. Just, without that cursed snake.

You were success, you made the place look homey and decent. You made one room your office, and kept the upstairs part as your home. A kitchen, a bedroom, and a smaller living room. You didn’t need much. You didn’t have much anyways. Not anymore. That version of you was lost long ago.

Next week, you stocked shelves and made proper arrangement for patient rooms, with tools and necessary items, thanks to Baizhu. He approved, and everything was shipped. You now deal with orders coming from Mondstatd, and anyone who needs assistance. You created a partnership with the church, specifically Barbara, who was happy to be in a partnership with you.

As she can bring her patience over, or be the doctor in charge if she liked, while you handle pharmaceutical things. You can send your customers to her, if you notice something serious within their health. This was perfect, as now that you had two sponsors, that were certified healers and doctors, you felt confident enough to open.

You were about to start a new life, on your own. This was a first step towards healing, as you never knew it at first. That was until you saw that face. The one you wanted to strangle. Immediately, you had eyes on her. This was the first servant, the phase one servant you called it, that one that lured you. She lured you to the area of the supposed accident. You lifted your sleeve up looking at the scars and back at her through the window.

Your face darken immediately, you walked to the window, and used your nails to scratch at the window.

The noise caught the servant's attention and turns towards you, as her blood ran cold. All she saw was your darken angry face, with scratch marks at the window. At first, she assumed she was being haunted, but once she realize you were real...you were alive...immediately, she turned and walked away. Running away.

Immediately you followed after her, you had a dog collar, a syringe and other medicinals on you. Pondering what to do to this little shit stain here. Strangle her? Comatose her? Keep her as a pet in the basement? Naked or rotten clothed? Poison? You wanted to give this women hell like no other, worse than death even. Maybe you can lobotomize her, make her bedridden, see how she likes it if her family relied on your pharmacy to get medicine for her.

All of a sudden you bumped into someone.

"My My...it has been a while, and it looks like you are on your way to d some..."business"..."

You looked up and widen your eyes. "Kaeya.." You muttered and slowly backed away.

"It has been quite a while...I knew you weren’t dead but I am actually glad to see you in the flesh again, old friend." Kaeya had a teasing smile, but you know it was genuine. He placed his hand on your back.

"I don’t know what is going on in that head of yours...but everyone has been telling me how scary you have become...what happened to you?"

"What happened to you? And your eye?" You made a rebuttal, as you remember Kaeya as a shy cry baby, who would always ask you or Diluc for help. But this man is entirely independent and ferocious. Manipulative and sly. He smelled like he drinks alcohol on a daily basis and...he was a knight.

Kaeya chuckled. "I guess we both have some explaining to do...let's have a drink. On me. We can do it at your place, since you have it empty right now." You looked at him and sighed. For some reason, Kaeya brings out a different side of you, a more vulnerable side, as if, he see right through you. He wasn’t like this before, however, it seems he can tell, or you are just showing your emotions too much and he can read them like a book.

As you Kaeya walked in your new home, and pharmacy, Diluc watched you both from a distance, as he was in the middle of entering Angel Share for his Shift. He tightened his grip on the door knob, as he was jealous. Why did he get such a cold treatment but you welcomed Kaeya with open arms...has he brainwashed you? He had an angry glare as he watched the door shut with the two of you in there, alone.

One thing for sure, you two were getting closer while he was in the sidelines watching.

[ashyjingles]

Who is the raeken

THEO RAEKEN FROM TEEN WOLF AKA ONE OF THE SADDEST BITCHES IVE EVER SEEEEEN

(tbh with the way u like jason grave i have a feeling u might like theo too actually)

okay so massive spoiler warning if you ever do plan on watching teen wolf everything is under the cut just in case

OKAY SO (i could be so wrong about some of this stuff btw i haven't actually finished the show)

theo raeken had some sort of heart condition as a kid so when he was 8 or 9 these evil scientists showed up in his dreams/house and told him he could live a normal healthy life because his sister (who was about a year older than him) actually wanted to give him her heart!! all he had to do was bring her to a bridge over a very cold river/creek/stream in the middle of winter and watch as she froze to death in it. (i'm unsure if it was him or the evil doctors that pushed her in there, but he did watch her die and did nothing to save her) (he later defended his actions by saying he still believed santa at the time and didn't know she would actually die from it but he's a known manipulative little shit) and then he basically got a heart transplant after that

anyways the evil scientist doctors (called the dread doctors) then used science to turn him into an off brand werewolf through many very questionable processes that probably didn't include anesthetic. vivisection! woo!

anyways he grew up with them in the sewers for nearly a decade while the doctors experimented on other science-natural teenagers but none of them actually lived and were labeled "failures" but somehow theo? the first experiment? was successful all those years. so. anyways that happened until they decided to start their big massive project that would basically make theo useless

so naturally theo took on his own big project that involved taking down the main protagonist of the series through lots of manipulation and seeming like a helpful good mostly normal 17/18 year old boy just to turn around and kill one of them (who was resurrected like 5 minutes later so it doesn't count) and lots more betraying and leaving for dead involving other people. honestly it's a miracle there was so little death surrounding him in this era

anyways when that didn't work he resurrected some of the failures and basically went along the lines of "i saved you so i own you now" and then killed some of them for real. and then the main protagonists needed a way to stop him so they sent him to what was basicallyyyy hell (i think before this he helped killing the doctors?? i'm not sure i haven't actually watched that bit. the doctors are dead at this point in time tho)

anyways in hell his sister routinely chased him through a hospital and ripped his heart out in this fucked up time loop. imagine sisyphus but worse. fields of punishment type deal. (very popular quote where he tells her "you don't have to stop" while he's like fucking coughing up blood or something)

anyways because of another big bad the protagonists were facing one of them decided to pull him out of hell (his name is liam and they are very commonly shipped together. there are some rumors they were meant to be canon in the show but weren't) and basically decided to label theo as his responsibility but their relationship was very punchy for a long while

anyways theo goes through a lot of shit and despite previously very clearly only caring for himself he lowkey contradicts everything he says ("im not dying for you!"-theo "im not dying for you either! but i will... fight with you"-liam (and then theo proceeds to throw himself directly into the line of fire to save liam the lying liar)) (would also like to note the place they are at for this era is the hospital and theo very clearly is Not Okay with the reminders of his time in hell. traumatized bitch. i love him my little murderous meow meow.)

anyways they leave on not quite good terms but no longer murderous terms and theo lives in his truck for a while because the doctors are dead and he can't go back to sewers so he's effectively homeless.

anyways the guy he Kind Of Killed But Not Really then calls and says hey!! liam (the person who sort of tolerates him in exchange for help) needs help!! can you help him!!! and for whatever reason despite several months between the last big bad and this big bad theo still hasn't skipped town so he does in fact go help liam. and lots of scenes that set him on the path to a redemption arc (plus a better relationship with liam)

and then. that's the end of the show. i will now attach sad and bleeding pictures of my murderous little meow meow to sway you toward feeling affection for him

and then the smug/evil look because he's not very vocal about being sad okay he's actually an intolerable little shit most of the time and that's why i love him

pinterest give me better photos of him damnit half of these are ass

we call his short hair his hedgehog hair and it's a very large indicator that he's evil thank you

can you see why i like him please tell me you see why i like him

pspsps i can give a much better and more detailed (and sadder) description if u want but i feel like this covers the basics

[aralezinspace]

Spoon Theory

Requested by anonymous: reader unexpectedly says they want to marry morpheus when they're together in the dreaming, and the statement takes him off guard? reader panics when he takes too long to respond and they jolt themself back to the waking world in embarrassment while morpheus metaphorically kicks himself in the shins for not saying yes when he shouldve. eventually they talk things out after reader finally returns to the dreaming

A/N: I tweaked it a liiiiiiittle bit, hope that's okay! Y'all do you have any idea how hard it was to find an ancient marriage/proposal/love declaration that could be turned into an accidental proposal ?? like I studied history in college and had to use all my rusty research skills xD Hope you enjoy it!

~~Requests for Morpheus and the Doctor (9-13) are open!~~

It came to you one rainy Saturday afternoon that you had decided to spend at the local antique shop. About half of the items on the shelves were junk, but they had meant something to someone at some point. Fingertips brushed gently over figurines and buttons, jewelry and old postcards. But then, something caught your eye, hidden behind some silverware and a small porcelain horse.

It was a carved wooden spoon, lovingly crafted over fifty years ago. The little attached tag said it was an old Welsh tradition, to carve a wooden spoon for the one you loved. The carvings all had different meanings as well. You took a photo of the tag for future reference- being rather crafty and good with your hands, you had wanted to make a gift for Morpheus, but had no idea what.

Until now.

~~

That night, while you dreamed, you made your way to Merv’s workshop to ask for the tools and materials to make your gift. It took you a while to find the place; you had only been seeing Morpheus for about a year, and the castle layout tended to change with the wind. Merv was more than happy to help, even giving you a wide pumpkin grin when you told him your plan. The two of you worked in a companionable silence on your respective projects: Merv worked on a new door for Abel’s house (Goldie had accidentally torn the old one off its hinges) and you carved away at your spoon.

A sketch of your design was pinned to the wall above the table where you worked, along with a page of notes on what each symbol meant. You worked with single-minded focus, tongue between your teeth as you carefully whittled away at the block of wood.

A twisted stem to show your intertwined lives. Three chain links for loyalty. A key for safety. And a heart for love.

A few nights later, you were rubbing the final coat of polish into the grain of the spoon. Merv whistled his appreciation as you threw the polish-soaked rag onto the work bench. “Looks real good kid, you should be proud.”

“You think he’ll like it?”

“Oh, definitely. He loves everything you do. And something you made with your own hands? He’s gonna go crazy.”

~~

The next night, you raced to your rooms the second you appeared in the Dreaming, knowing you didn’t have much time before Dream sought you out. There was no way he hadn’t noticed your arrival in his realm. The spoon was already wrapped in a silver box, hidden in the back corner of your wardrobe. Your heart pounded in your chest, pumping your nerves through your entire body. You hoped and prayed he’d like it.

Box held in trembling and slightly sweaty hands, you walked through the halls to the gardens. It was one of your favorite spots. Morpheus would be there before long. You sat on a stone bench, forcing yourself to breathe and stay calm.

You felt Dream’s power slide over your skin a few minutes later. You jumped to your feet and hid the box behind your back. “Hi Dream,” you chirped, smiling somewhat nervously. Of course he noticed, you were an open book to him.

“Something wrong, my love? You seem nervous.”

Slowly, you withdrew the box and mumbled, “I, umm… this is for you.” Whatever Dream was expecting, this wasn’t it; he thought something was wrong. He carefully took the box in long, pale fingers.

“For me?” You nodded. “Yea, I just wanted to make you something.” His gaze lowered to the box as he removed the lid, revealing the spoon.

The whole Dreaming seemed to stand still. Morpheus was fixated on the spoon, glacial eyes frantically darting over all the symbols carved into the wood. The silence was spine-chilling, unnerving. “D-do you like it? I made it myself.”

He looked back at you so fast you almost got whiplash. Before you could say anything else, he raised a hand, and with a gust of sand, you found yourself awake in your bed.

~~

Morpheus stood in the same spot, a slight imprint in the grass the only indication you had been there. The box holding the spoon you made was still tightly clenched in his hand. He could not deny that it was beautiful; he could see the love and care you had poured into every minute spent carving it. But then, surely you knew just what such a gift entailed?

He did not dare get his hopes up. You had not been courting for very long, and surely you would consider this a huge step in your relationship. Yet his thoughts ran away from him: he could not help the rose colored fantasies that skipped across his mind of the two of you, living together in bliss.

You had offered him everything he could have ever wanted with you in a silver box, and he had panicked, sent you away. That brought a whole new wave of worries: would you resent him? Would you even speak to him again? Were you hurt, crying?

Not to mention, Death would never let him live it down.

~~

The next night, when you found yourself in the Dreaming, it was outside the palace. Your stomach writhed and churned with nerves, the empty spaces filled with dread. How could you possibly face Morpheus after yesterday? Clearly he had interpreted your gift in a way you did not intend, and you two needed to talk, but it was sure to be awkward and uncomfortable, maybe even painful.

With a heavy sigh, you started walking towards the palace, but it felt more like walking to your execution. You couldn’t seek him out, not yet. Not when you didn’t understand a single thing about his reaction.

Your footsteps carried you to the library, where Lucienne was working diligently as usual, writing in a large ledger with a sleek black pen. She looked up when she heard your footsteps, the smile when she saw you immediately falling from her face when she saw the state you were in.

“Oh goodness, what happened?” she put her pen down and pulled a chair next to her, giving the seat a pat in invitation. You slumped into the chair and hid your face in your hands as you told her the story of the previous night. When you were done spilling your worries, you peeked through your fingers, watching as she took off her glasses and cleaned them with a handkerchief before replacing them on her face.

“Y/N, my dear, I’m guessing Lord Morpheus did not explain himself, which is why you have come to me.” You nodded. Lucienne sighed again. “One moment.” She left the table and headed into the maze of shelves. When she returned a few anxious moments later, she was holding a small green book, turning the pages as she walked. By the time she reached the desk, she had found the spot she wanted.

Without a word, she handed you the open book and nodded for you to read the page. Your eyes darted over the text once, twice, three times, widening as you absorbed the words.

“MARRIAGE?!” you yelled, earning a glare from Lucienne as your voice echoed off the walls and ceiling. “Marriage?” you repeated in a mortified whisper, looking at the page again just to make sure you had read the words correctly. “But- it was just a spoon! D’you think- you think that’s how he took it?”

“I have no doubt in my mind. Perhaps he could have handled himself better, but I am sure that is how it was interpreted.” You groaned and let your head thump against the desk.

“Ugh, how am I supposed to talk to him about this?”

“Talk to me about what?” Morpheus’ gentle baritone came from over your shoulder. You were so absorbed in your thoughts you hadn’t even noticed him approach. Your face turned tomato red as you looked up, refusing to meet his eyes. Lucienne quickly murmured an excuse and took her leave. The tense, thick silence stretched between you for what seemed an eternity.

“So…” you began softly, apprehensive. “How’s your day going?”

“Well.” His response was an equally uncertain murmur. Silence again. Before you could break it with another awkward question, Morpheus cleared his throat.

“Y/N, I wanted to apologize for my poor reaction yesterday. It was ungracious of me.” His hands were jammed into his pockets, you could see his fingers clenching and releasing behind the soft black fabric. “Please do not think I am rejecting your gift, I was taken quite by surprise.”

“It’s okay,” you sputtered quickly. “I didn’t know that's what it meant, that I-“ you let out a short, barking laugh at how absurd it all sounded. “That I basically proposed to you.” A sigh. “I just saw a spoon like that one in an antique store, and the tag said they were made as gifts for the one you loved, and I thought it would be nice to give you something I made, like you’ve done for me.” The tomato red in your cheeks had faded to a bashful pink blush. “It’s okay, I would have been surprised too.”

The barest hint of a smile touched the Dream Lord’s face, his relief palpable in the air. Maybe it was his age showing, maybe he was old fashioned, but your understanding and forgiveness of his slight was more generous than he thought he deserved. “It is beautiful,” he assured you, his eyes dropping to the spoon. “And your desire to gift me the labor of your own hands is… touching, in a way I have not experienced for some time.”

He placed the box on Lucienne’s desk and took your hands in his. “And while I desire nothing more than to spend eternity with you as my partner, I am prepared to wait as long as you need to feel confident in that decision.” You sighed again and shifted your hands to press a loving kiss to his knuckles. The breath caught in his throat, little tingles spreading through his form from the spot where your lips met his skin. It was such an electrifying sensation, to be the one receiving a gesture he so often gave.

“Thank you,” you murmured against his skin, peering up at him through your lashes with a smile. “Trust me, when I propose for real, it’ll be a much bigger thing.” Morpheus chuckled, already pondering what schemes you’d come up with for that moment, whenever it came.

"Of that, I have no doubt.”

[sparkbugs]

Thinking bout Chip Jrwi

This has spiraled from ramblings to character analysis to whatever it has turned into. I rewatched episodes too JUST to make sure I had the right information and plot points in mind cause I want to make sure I’m not making a fool of myself in front of all of Jrwiblr.. ANYWAYS! This is a lengthy read. Total words being 1318 under the cut. Yeah, I’d say the hyperfixation is hyperfixating for sure. Chip Jrwi you are my blorbo atm and you mean everything to me <3

Do you guys think that before they went to the Black Sea, before they left Canella, before they left the town of Zero that Chip looked at his crew, his friends, and his family and wondered if he should stop? Yeah, he lost his old family years ago, and he wanted to do everything in his power to bring them back, to do something about it that his 9-year-old self couldn’t. But do you ever stop and think that maybe he’s realized that he has a family now, a new one and that he’s afraid to lose it to the Black Sea as well? But they’ve come so far now, they found Drey and Finn, hell Finn had been with them the entire time!! They’ve come so far now, and they’re expecting him to want to keep going, to find Arlin, and maybe even some of the other crew they lost as well. I think about it a lot, maybe too much at this point.

Back in the Feywild when Chip could’ve reached out to anyone, he could’ve talked with Arlin again, but he didn’t. He didn’t because he saw something in his nightmares in Liquidis while being cured of his curse. He saw Arlin, covered and surrounded by this black ichor, and he talked to him again. He saw Arlin, the man who took him in when he had nowhere to go, and he had looked at him with so much rage and hatred.. and he had attacked Chip. This would honestly terrify me if I were in Chip’s place. The person who showed me all the care in the world suddenly turned and attacked me? And saying that this has happened before? In a nightmare situation that felt so real, Chip knew it was real… I’d be terrified to find him if he thinks I’m gonna kill him, he’d be fighting for his life too, I’m sure. The Black Sea has affected Arlin too, I don’t think they’ll be able to convince him that they aren’t going to kill him unless somehow Drey and Finn can get through to him, but it seems highly unlikely. 

I think if Chip feels this way at all, maybe not like all I’ve written exactly, I think he feels immensely guilty. He doesn’t want Arlin to be trapped in the hole in the sea, but he’s also immensely terrified as to what he’s going to find once he gets to him. He doesn’t want the person he’s looked up to for so long, the person he’s risked his and his friends' lives for, to hate him. But I also feel that somewhere in his heart (or lack of one), Chip doesn’t blame Arlin for hating him, cause he’s starting to hate himself for getting his new family dragged down into this hole in the sea as well.

Yes, they all chose to come with him to the Black Sea, but if anything happens to them, Chip will forever blame himself for it. Hell, he lost his heart and he has no one other than himself to blame. Jay almost lost her leg (did she? They haven’t made it clear if she did) and I feel that Chip blames himself for that too. Yes, they helped save everyone on the island, but Gods is Chip scared he’s going to lose his family again. Being on this ocean reminds him of when he was just a scared little kid, but now he can do something about it. He’s trying but he’s still so fucking scared. 

Speaking of his heart- he’s trying to hold onto himself. He’s an undead now, and by meta the mechanics of it are roughhhhh. I rambled a bit on another post about one of my characters named Amani, an opal Tiefling whom Chip is starting to remind me of- not exactly but they both have had their hearts taken!! Doing the checks to see if he loses a part of himself terrifies me each and every time and I know there’s going to be more, we can only hope the dice are in Bizly’s favor as we do not know when Chip will be able to get his heart back. It could be months from now, years maybe. I dread the session they head back to Zero and Chip is still undead. I dread Chip reuniting with Ollie. I don’t think Chip wants Ollie to see him that way, he can hide it with the bandana as much as he wants, but the stench of rotten flesh will give it away. Ollie told him to come back alive! Chip wasn’t able to keep that promise. It kills me to think that Chip dies at 19. Yeah he wasn’t a kid, but he was still so young- yeah he might come back once getting his heart but how much of his humanity will he have lost? How much life experience would he have gained in this undead state? He hasn’t even had the time to grieve the loss of himself with everything that's been going on, and I am really hoping with the next episode of Riptide we get to see some of his thoughts on being undead. Yes, he’s made jokes about it! But I feel he still hasn’t fully processed it all and once he finally does it's going to be PAINFUL. 

He’s grown so much from this journey with Jay and Gillion, he was using them at the start, to get back his family. I mean I could be wrong here, but it certainly feels like it at the start of everything anyway. Along the way though, he started opening up a bit and he realized that while sailing and learning about the whereabouts of his family he’s lost, he’s made a new family. And it’s become precious to him. It shows how he has grown during the fights he had with Gillion, the first fight they had dealing with Chip lying and pranking him, wounding Gill’s pride. They resolved it after communicating and getting to know each other better. The second fight was initiated by Chip himself because he knew he was in the wrong and that he had hurt his friend by keeping the fact that Edyn was working with the Navy a secret. He remembered how much lying had hurt Gill, and as much as he didn’t want to tell him at the time, he wanted to protect Gillion from the truth of his sister potentially doing something dangerous behind his and his friends' backs. There hadn’t been much time in between Gillion escaping the pearl and the time that he found out about Edyn, and Chip had tried not to think about it but those damned bracelets (WHICH I WISH THEY WOULD USE MORE?? WHERE DID THEY GO-) outed him on those thoughts. He stayed up ALL NIGHT just to build the arena, just to show Gillion he was sorry and that he needed to fix it, he wanted to fix things between them both. He goes on and on about how Gillion’s actions helped him change for the better, about how he cares about him, and that he never meant to hurt him. Of course, this ends in them battling again, them starting the fight and Jay ending it like the girlboss she is, but this battle was never out of malice or anger, it is light-hearted and fun, and it shows that they’ve all grown stronger together. 

I love Chip Jrwi, I am so happy that he got a second third chance at a family- He deserves it and the world. I totally will be coming back to this at some point but this is all I have to say for now! Feel free to reply/reblog to this with ur thoughts, or even send me an ask bout it cause I would love to continue talking about this boy!