#it's just the finding yourself side of things am i right!!!!! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

lamentationsofalonelypotato · 3 days ago

Text

@zepskies

And just like that... my obsession with Karl Urban was rekindled. 🤣

Girl, you're killing it with the LOTR fanfiction. It's so good and this one for Eomer is no exception. First of all I really like the premise of this fic, an arranged marriage that grows into love 💕 And I love that you said it started out as an OFC and you turned it into a reader insert- I know we've both talked about that before and you know how I've done the same thing for some of my fics 🥰

Flashes of memory from the night before conjured in your mind; of the surprising carefulness in his calloused hands, of hot, sweat-slick skin against yours, and the rasp of his beard as his lips and deft fingers taught you more of pleasure.

“I’ve drawn a bath for you, unless you prefer to rest longer,” he said. You blinked. “Really?” That was a kindness you did not expect. Éomer’s lips tugged upwards. He offered you his hand. Though you hesitated, you slipped your free hand into his. Instinctively you took the furs with you to cover yourself, your face warming down to your neck under the weight of his amused stare.

Oh my word, he drew her a bath- what a MAN. Also I love the added detail that she still wrapped herself in the blanket when she walked even though it's after the two of them have slept together. I think it is perfect for the arranged marriage side of the story, that she's still not quite comfortable showing all of herself yet and it was a great little detail you added.

Was that a note of disappointment in your tone, in the downturn of your face? Éomer paused, but he did as he set out to do, leaving you to your bath in peace. He went over to his side of the bed to continue dressing himself, slipping a long shirt over his head that he tucked into his breeches. Though he tried not to let them, his thoughts of you remained.

Oh my sweet goodness, the little look into his head of him thinking about his wife. For me it's giving a little bit of "he falls first" and I'm melting!

By the Valar, was there no end to how you blushed around this man? You only couldn’t tell if being kept by you was a duty he relished in.

Honey I'm going to stop you right there... YES, yes it is a duty he relishes in!

Éomer blinked in surprise. On his face it was still muted, but it was there. Your words touched him. He cleared his throat, for some reason finding his face a bit warm. In his eyes, you continued to be a wonder. He too hadn’t known what to expect from a woman of Gondor. He knew what many in your country thought of the people of Rohan—simple folk at best, and horse-wild barbarians at worst. With you, he’d mostly expected a haughty, spoiled brat. He’d never been more willing to be proven wrong. In fact, the more he learned about you, the more beautiful you became.

For the love of sweet baby corn, she's making the dangerous horse-riding sexy man who could and snap me in half (and I'd say thank you) blush! 😂

“Regardless of how we were entered into this arrangement, I stand by my vows,” he said. “I will honor and protect you, and do my utmost to make you comfortable here in my home.” You smiled. Your hand turned under his to curl your fingers around his palm. “I will also honor and protect you in whatever way I am able. And I will do my utmost for your house, for it is now mine as well,” you replied.

Soon, it wasn’t enough. He slid his arms around your waist and under your knees before he stood with you in his arms. He smiled at your squeal of surprise. It was the first real smile you’d ever seen upon his face. It delighted you to be the one who put it there.

And she made him smile 😭

Oh my word this is so good! I need 50 million more! I would love to read more of this reader and Eomer falling in love, but if not that’s also okay- because this was incredible just the way it was my wonderful friend 💚💚💚!

AS TRADITION DICTATES

Pairing: Éomer x Reader

Summary: Your marriage to the Third Marshal of the Mark has been arranged in the hopes of renewing political ties between Rohan and Gondor. The morning after the ceremony, your new husband continues to defy your expectations.

AN: I’ve been wanting to write something for Éomer for a while now, so here we go! Confession: this one-shot actually comes from an Éomer x OFC story I have fully outlined, called The Appeasement Bride. I adapted this snippet into a reader insert story.

Word Count: 1.7K

Originally posted on Patreon: 1/21/2025

Tags/Warnings: 18+ only. Spiciness, fluff, newlyweds trying to suss each other out lol.

You woke just after the dawn, the sun peeking over the horizon and filtering through the open window. Its light began to wash over your face and stir you from a deep, well-earned sleep.

Your hand slipped out from under your head and drifted over…and you frowned. Opening your eyes, you realized that your husband’s side of the bed was empty and cold. Already, it seemed, he didn’t care to be with you when you woke. Had you done something wrong?

A shiver ran down your spine, blooming some warmth between your legs. Surely, if you had displeased him, he would’ve told you so. Or maybe he was polite enough to withhold that from you, along with most of his other thoughts. Éomer was often so stoic, it was difficult for you to learn your husband, even before the wedding ceremony yesterday.

You had come to Rohan over a month ago, and in that time, you had been able to glean precious little about him other than the ones he seemed to value most: his sister, his cousin, his uncle, Théoden King, his country, and his horse.

Not that he told you any of these things in words. You saw it in his actions—by the way he carried himself, and the way he spoke to you and others with fairness and courtesy, not arrogance. You’d heard gossip of his infamous temper, but so far, you had not seen it.

Nor did you see him now.

Perhaps he had more pressing work to do. In these past few weeks, you saw a bit of how demanding his station could be, and you understood his duty to patrol the Riddermark as Third Marshal of these lands. However, if he could’ve just been courteous enough to wake you before he left—

The heavy door of the bed chamber opened to Éomer himself. He wore only breeches and boots, his wheat-blonde hair loose and unadorned down his back. You swallowed a surprised gasp and watched him from the bed, unconsciously bringing the fur blanket up to your shoulders.

He met you with a polite, “Good morning,” before he continued inside to stoke the fire. He held more kindling wood in his arms, and he laid it on the platform before the fireplace.

“Good morning,” you nodded, though your cheeks warmed in a blush at the sight of his bare chest (you remembered that slightly wooly patch well). The defined muscles of his shoulders and arms shifted with his movements.

You were also a little embarrassed for overthinking.

“You rose early,” you added belatedly, for lack of something better to say.

“I am accustomed to it,” he said.

He finished with the fire and stood. You couldn’t help the way he captured your gaze, his measured steps bringing him closer to the bed. You sat up to meet him, the furs draping from your body, covering only where you held the soft fabric over your breasts. His eyes were an interesting shade of green as they roamed over you.

“How did you sleep?” he asked.

Somehow it was not what you were expecting, though it was perfectly agreeable. Your blush deepened.

“Very well, thank you.”

He nodded. Then, something almost hesitant passed through his gaze.

“I’ve drawn a bath for you, unless you prefer to rest longer,” he said.

You blinked. “Really?” That was a kindness you did not expect.

Éomer’s lips tugged upwards. He offered you his hand. Though you hesitated, you slipped your free hand into his. Instinctively you took the furs with you to cover yourself, your face warming down to your neck under the weight of his amused stare.

Your hair was a tangled mess along with the sheets remaining tousled on the bed, and you realized that your body was sore in places you had never felt so. He led you around a simple wooden partition to a wide bath that was built into the ground. Your eyes widened at the luxury of it.

You had noticed that Rohan largely valued comfort and efficiency over ornateness in their architecture, but it seemed they lavished some things with greater detail.

Éomer helped you step into the bath. He took the furs from you, still with that amused glint, but he couldn’t stop himself from taking note of your bare, supple form, what glimpse he was able to get before you lowered yourself into the steaming water. He had explored each and every lovely curve the night before, but you were lovelier to behold in the morning, he thought.

You looked up at him with some hesitance, but there was a question there that he thought he would like to answer.

“Have you already bathed?” you asked.

“Yes,” he nodded, “I will leave you to your leisure. Breakfast will be brought up in a little while.”

“Oh. Yes, thank you,” you said.

Was that a note of disappointment in your tone, in the downturn of your face?

Éomer paused, but he did as he set out to do, leaving you to your bath in peace. He went over to his side of the bed to continue dressing himself, slipping a long shirt over his head that he tucked into his breeches. Though he tried not to let them, his thoughts of you remained.

Meanwhile, you relished in the hot water relieving your sore muscles (and other places). You washed and hummed a little tune to yourself, forgetting that you weren’t entirely alone, despite the partition.

By the time you left the bath, dried off and dressed in a heavy robe over a thin dressing gown, your new husband was already munching on bread and fruit and other good things that were brought up from the kitchens. He welcomed you to sit with him by the fire, where two wide chairs were draped with furs to make them comfortable. You joined him, and the tray of goods rested in between your seats.

“Do you have much to do?” you asked, while buttering a slice of bread. The crust was hard and somewhat sour, but the inside was soft and delicious.

“The only business I must attend to today is to remain kept with my wife,” Éomer said. He glanced up at you, once again capturing your gaze. “As tradition dictates.”

By the Valar, was there no end to how you blushed around this man? You only couldn’t tell if being kept by you was a duty he relished in.

You almost didn’t hear him when he added, “Tomorrow we will see your family off. They ride back to Gondor.”

Belatedly, you nodded. Éomer saw the note of melancholy cross your face.

“I am sure it is…a sooner parting than you would like,” he said.

You offered him a rueful smile. “Yes, but…not as difficult a goodbye as I thought it would be.”

One of his brows rose. “Why is that?”

Drawing in a deep breath, you mustered a little courage to answer him honestly.

“I did not know what to expect when I arrived in Rohan, but its lands have beauty of its own. Its people have integrity and courage, and its noble house is noble indeed,” you said. A small, true smile brightened you when you looked at him. “It is honorable, and kind.”

He’d never been more willing to be proven wrong. In fact, the more he learned about you, the more beautiful you became.

He reached over, almost hesitant to cover your hand with his larger one. He was suddenly very conscious of his rougher palm in contrast with your soft skin.

“Regardless of how we were entered into this arrangement, I stand by my vows,” he said. “I will honor and protect you, and do my utmost to make you comfortable here in my home.”

You smiled. Your hand turned under his to curl your fingers around his palm.

“I will also honor and protect you in whatever way I am able. And I will do my utmost for your house, for it is now mine as well,” you replied.

Éomer brushed his thumb over the back of your hand. He rose out of his seat enough to lean over, and he kissed you. It was sincere, but all too brief. You leaned towards him after he broke away, left wanting more as your eyes slid open.

Recognizing that look of desire stirred his own, deep in the pit of his stomach. He tugged on your hand meaningfully and guided you out of your chair, over to him. You tentatively sat across his lap, uttering a laugh when you slid backwards and landed against his chest. Your hand flew there to steady yourself. Éomer clasped it against his heart and claimed you in a deeper, rougher kiss, one fueled by a craving he couldn’t name.

You held his bearded face and hummed sweetly into his mouth. You matched his fervor, your fingers slipping into his hair and instinctively tightening a stronghold. He groaned in response. His hands, large and strong, moved over your side and down your back, while the other squeezed the supple flesh of your hip through your thin gown.

He carried you to back his bed. Our bed.

But still, it was only a matter of lust, if twined with mutual respect and…curiosity.

You did not love him. (Yet.)

AN: Love me some blonde, medieval cowboy Karl Urban. 😘💜

Join My Patreon 🌟 Get early access to new stories, bonus content, and first looks at upcoming stories, send me requests, and more!

LOTR/The Hobbit Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Eomer Tag List:

@kmc1989 @eddie-munson-stories @thebiggerbear @lamaudite

#karl urban #eomer #eomer of rohan #eomer x reader #eomer imagine #eomer fanfic #lord of the rings #lord of the rings fanfiction #lotr x reader #lotr fic #lotr fanfiction #lotr fanfic #lotr #riders of rohan #Guys I Read Something! 😱#Hello My Friend!

123 notes · View notes

ofstarsandvibranium · 2 days ago

Text

To Have and To Hold: Part 13

Fandom: Marvel - Moon Knight (Mafia AU)

Pairing: Marc Spector x F!Reader, Steven Grant x F!Reader, Jake Lockley x F!Reader

Summary: To ensure you’re always safe even after his passing, your father, a mob boss, makes you marry his right hand, Marc Spector. You don’t necessarily hate Marc, but you don’t get along either. Therefore, this marriage of convenience may be a bit difficult for you.

Series Masterlist

When Marc wakes up, your side of the bed is empty. He hears the shower on in the en suite bathroom, so he knows you're in there.

He stares up the ceiling and lets out a pained, deep breath. He really can't catch a break. Everything with you has been fucked from the start. He never wanted things to go this way. He knew it was going to be difficult, but he didn't think it'd be this difficult.

He thought he'd have more time. More time to get to know you more, more time to process everything. Just...more.

But Marc's life has never been an easy one. He's never gotten anything easy, never gotten any peace. So he just has to roll with the punches.

But fuck, is he tired of getting beat down.

You step into the bedroom, towel wrapped around your body, "Oh, morning," you say with a hint of surprise, but cover it with a nonchalant.

Marc sits up with a grunt, "Guess we should talk."

You nod, "Yup. Let me change first," you walk into the closet, closing the doors behind you. Marc takes the few minutes to gather his thoughts.

He needs to apologize. He might even beg on his knees for you to believe him. From now on, he has to be completely honest with you from now on.

You exit the closet wearing leggings and a loose fitted t-shirt. You stand there, hip jutted out, and arms crossed over your chest. You're guarding yourself. Marc understands, but hates it nonetheless.

"So?" you ask with a raise of your brow.

He clears his throat, "So, yes, I intentionally didn't tell you certain things. Not because I didn't want to tell you at all, but because I didn't want to worry you. You've already been under a lot of stress and I was just thinking about you." You open your mouth to retort, but he cuts you off with a raise of his hands, "I know. I know. I still should have told you about it all: the arrangement, your dad, my now ex-wife. I fucked up.

"I truly am sorry though. I never want to hurt you, Y/N. I care about you."

You had a feeling the conversation was going to go this way. You thought about various scenarios of it while you took your shower. Despite you wanting to paint Marc to be a villain, you know he truly isn't. Despite his rough exterior and "tough shit" you know he has a soft heart. You've seen it first hand the days following your arranged engagement.

You let your arms, and your internal walls, slowly fall.

"I get it...still fucking hurts that you kept all of it from me. And-And I don't know how I'm supposed to trust you-"

"I won't keep anything from you anymore. I promise. Anything that could put either of us or this arrangement at risk, I'll tell you."

"I'll do the same," you say in agreement.

He slowly nods, "Do you...have questions?"

"Who was she?" you ask as you sit at the corner of the bed.

"Layla El-Fouly. I met her back when I was a mercenary...I was ordered to kill her father. I was supposed to get close to her, kill her too but-"

"But you fell in love."

"Yeah. Then she found out that I was the one who killed her father and she left. Didn't see or hear from her in years."

"Did you try looking for her?"

He shrugs, "Not really. I understand why she left. I lied to her," he lowly chuckles to himself, "Guess I really don't have a good track record when it comes to marriages. Both of mine rooting from deceit." He looks down at his lap in shame.

"But you finally found her."

"When your father came to me about the arrangement, he already knew of my marriage to Layla. He gave me contacts to help me find her so I can serve her the papers. She finally reached out a few days ago. She wanted to talk before signing the papers."

You think about when you saw them at the cafe, how he was holding Layla's hand, looking at her. You felt that twinge of jealousy and insecurity crawling into your heart.

"Do you still love her?"

Marc gives a sigh, "I think a part of me will always have some care for her, but I don't love her. Not anymore."

You feel a weight lifting off your shoulders after that. Because, dammit, you know you've fallen for Marc. Despite everything, you really care for him and you know he'd treat you well in this marriage.

It was your turn to release a deep sigh, "Okay."

"Anymore questions?"

"I should have asked about this earlier on, but how long did you know about the arranged marriage before my dad told me."

"Two weeks."

"Did you help create my dad's plan to take Harrow out?"

He shook his head, "I didn't know a thing. I asked him to let me in, so I can help but he told me my strict orders were to get you out of there. All I knew was that he had a plan and it was probably going to end in his death."

"How has Steven and.."

"Jake."

"How has Steven and Jake taken to this life?"

He snorts, "Steven hates it. He's a pacifist, so he's not around often when I'm out and about. Jake...he's a rare sighting. But he's the kind of guy that doesn't care about what measures you take, all that matters is the outcome."

"Aren't you the same way?" you ask him with a challenging tone.

"I do what has to be done, but I do also try to keep in mind the consequences and who I might be hurting. Jake doesn't care so much for that."

"He sounds dangerous."

Marc snorts, "You have no idea, sunshine." He looks at you with soft eyes, "Are we going to be okay?"

You reach out, placing your hand on top of his, "I think so. Just, no more secrets. Got it?"

He makes an 'X' over his heart, "Cross my heart and hope to die."

"No dying anytime soon, please," you murmur and crawl over, pecking his lips, "I'm gonna finalize wedding stuff."

"Let me know if you need any help!" he hollers as you exit the bedroom.

"Will do!" you respond, your voice echoing through the halls.

"That went a lot better than expected," Steven says in relief.

"You're telling me, buddy," Marc murmurs back with a scoff.

"So it'll be happily ever after for you after all?"

"We can only hope, Steven," Marc replies back as he stands from the bed, and heads to the bathroom to shower.

#marc spector x reader #steven grant x reader #jake lockley x reader #moon knight #moon knight x reader #moon knight imagine #mob au #marvel au

44 notes · View notes

onebadassunicorn · 4 hours ago

Text

Coffee and Cream

pairing: Azriel x Reader

content warnings: longing, regret, jealousy, some fluff

word count: 1.4K

Permanent Taglist: @motheroffae @tele86

********

The heavy oak doors of Rita’s creaked open, and the familiar pulse of music and laughter spilled out into the night. Azriel stepped inside, Cassian at his side, both of them still carrying the sharp edge of exhaustion from a week of relentless training. The bustling crowd seemed a world away from the battlefield, a refuge where stress melted into liquor and the sway of bodies under the low golden lights.

Cassian clapped Azriel on the shoulder, already scanning the room for trouble or, more likely, a pretty face.

"Come on, Shadowsinger. Let’s find you a drink before you brood yourself into the shadows."

Azriel managed a small, wry smile, though his eyes were already sweeping the room out of habit—taking in exits, gauging threats, noting the layout.

But then his gaze froze, and the air seemed to thin around him.

There you were.

It had been years since he’d seen you, though he had tried not to think of you in all that time.

And yet here you were, standing at the edge of the dance floor, laughing as another male twirled you beneath the soft glow of the lanterns. Your long black hair cascaded down your back in soft waves, shimmering like midnight silk under the golden lights. Your dark green eyes sparkled with mirth, framed by lashes that seemed to dance with every blink.

And your figure—curves in all the right places—moved effortlessly with the music, drawing every gaze in the room.

Including his.

And that dress—cobalt blue, one of his favorites on you—clung to your form in a way that made his chest tighten.

He remembered that dress, remembered how it looked when he had danced with you beneath the stars, and how it had pooled on the floor when he’d carefully undone the ties.

Azriel’s heart clenched painfully.

His shadows, ever his loyal companions, coiled tighter around him, as if sensing the storm building within.

He should look away, should turn his attention elsewhere, but he couldn’t.

He watched as the male’s hands settled lightly on your waist, guiding you closer. You laughed again, the sound cutting through the haze of music and chatter, and something sharp twisted in Azriel’s chest.

The faintest trace of your perfume reached him—soft, floral, and uniquely you.

It was the scent he’d memorized long ago, the one that haunted his dreams.

And now it was driving him mad.

All these memories of you together came rushing back.

Having dinner together, the way you’d always reached for his hand across the table without thinking.

Dancing on the balcony at 2 AM when neither of you could sleep, the city lights casting a silver glow over your faces.

Chasing each other in the rain, laughing so hard you could barely breathe.

And then, the most intimate memories—the way you had come undone beneath him, whispering his name like it was the only thing that mattered in the world.

"Az?" Cassian’s voice snapped him out of it, and Azriel turned his head sharply. Cassian followed his line of sight, his brow furrowing as he spotted you.

Recognition flickered in his eyes, followed by something wary as he glanced back at Azriel.

"You all right?" Cassian asked quietly, his usual teasing tone replaced with concern.

Azriel forced himself to nod, though his jaw was clenched tight enough to ache. "Fine."

Cassian didn’t buy it. "Fine? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost."

Azriel’s throat tightened, and he looked away, willing himself to breathe evenly. Cassian studied him for a moment longer, looked at you on the dance floor, then asked, "Why… why did you let her go?"

The question hit like a blow to the chest. Azriel’s shadows writhed around him, and for a moment, he couldn’t answer. Finally, he muttered, "I thought it was the right thing to do."

Cassian’s brows lifted. "The right thing?"

Azriel’s voice was low, almost too soft to hear over the music. "She deserved better."

Cassian snorted, though there was no humor in it. "Better? Az, you’re one of the best males I know. If you think anyone’s better than you for her, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought."

Azriel didn’t respond.

What could he say?

He’d believed it then, and part of him still did.

He’d thought he was sparing you a life overshadowed by his darkness, his scars.

But now, watching you with someone else, the bitterness of regret coated his tongue.

What if he’d been wrong?

What if he’d let go of the best thing he’d ever had, all because he hadn’t believed himself worthy of it?

Cassian gave him a nudge. "Go talk to her."

Azriel’s jaw tightened. "No."

"Why not?"

Because she looks happy, he thought.

Happier than she ever did with me.

He couldn’t bring himself to say it aloud. Instead, he shook his head. "It’s been years, Cass. She’s moved on. I’m not going to ruin that."

Cassian’s expression softened, but he didn’t push further. "Suit yourself. But don’t stand here and torture yourself all night. Either have a drink or… I don’t know, go brood in a corner like you usually do."

Azriel huffed a quiet laugh, though it lacked any real humor.

His eyes drifted back to you, just as you turned your head, your laughter faltering as your gaze swept the room.

Then, as if sensing something, your eyes locked on his.

For a moment, the world seemed to stop.

Your smile faded, your dark green eyes widening slightly as recognition flickered across your face. The male beside you noticed, leaning in to murmur something that made you laugh nervously, your attention shifting back to him.

But Azriel had seen the look in your eyes—that brief flicker of something unspoken, something unresolved.

It wasn’t much. But it was enough to make him wonder if maybe—just maybe—he hadn’t been the only one who’d never quite let go.

As you excused yourself from the male you were dancing with to head to the ladies' room, Azriel found himself moving towards you without conscious thought.

He didn't know what he was doing, only that he couldn't let you disappear from his sight again.

As you emerged from the ladies' room, you were surprised to see him waiting. Your brows lifted slightly as your lips parted.

"Azriel?" you asked, your voice softer than you intended. "What are you doing here?"

For a moment, he simply looked at you, the words caught in his throat. His shadows curled lazily at his back, restless, uncertain. Finally, he swallowed and spoke, his voice low and rough. "I— I just… I wanted to see how you were doing."

You studied him carefully, your expression unreadable. "I’m… I’m good. And you? How have you been?"

Azriel hesitated, his throat tightening.

The truth was, he hadn’t been the same since he let you go.

He had buried himself in duty, in training, in endless nights of exhaustion just to stop thinking about you.

And yet, here you were, standing before him, looking like every dream and every regret he had ever known.

"I’ve been… managing," he finally admitted, his gaze flickering over your face, searching for something he wasn’t sure he had the right to seek. "But seeing you again… it’s—different."

Your lips curved into a small, hesitant smile, something wistful lingering in your expression. "Yeah. It is."

He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Would you like to grab coffee tomorrow morning?"

You blinked, surprised, then a soft smile spread across your lips. "Sure. You know which cafe to find me."

Azriel's lips twitched into something softer, something almost hopeful. "If I get there first, I’ll grab us a table. And I’ll order your coffee for you."

You raised a brow, amused. "Oh? You remember how I take my coffee?"

His gaze darkened slightly, the intensity behind it nearly stealing your breath. "I’ve never forgotten. Black, with a little bit of cream. I remember everything about you."

Your breath caught for just a moment before you laughed, shaking your head. "I can’t believe we’re doing this. Why are we doing this?"

Azriel laughed, a genuine, hearty laugh and grinned, shadows curling lazily around his shoulders as he watched you. "I don’t know."

You shook your head again, still smiling as you moved to walk past him. You turned and glanced back.

"See you tomorrow morning, Shadowsinger." You murmured, disappearing back into the throng of people on the dance floor, leaving Azriel standing in the hallway, his heart lighter than it had felt in years.

#acotar #acotar fanfiction #azriel acotar #azriel shadowsinger #azriel spymaster #azriel x reader #azriel fanfic #azriel fanfiction #azriel #azriel x you #azriel x female!reader #azriel fic #azriel fluff

32 notes · View notes

starlitplayground · 2 days ago

Text

18+, MDNI

Crossed Wires and Corroded Steel (Sun/Moon x Reader) - Part One; 'First Impressions'.

(afab, gender neutral pronouns)

warnings/content; nothing quite yet, but eventual gore, suggestive/potentially NSFW, major character death. i'll keep this properly updated as needed.

word count; 12,570

full chapter below as well!

⋆⁺₊⋆ 𖤓☽ ⋆⁺₊⋆

You didn't really think you'd ever be in the position that you were in.

Hundreds of miles away from home, in an empty parking lot, staring up at the large building containing your future. Uncertainty tries to course through you, but you shake it away. You need this, you told yourself- but that didn't make your reality any sweeter; you stood in front of the newest Fazbear Entertainment location, Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex. It was no secret that the CEO of the company was potentially sketchy as all hell, but it was hard to ignore the 'Advanced Robotics Technician' job opening you found online.

Not many places needed a technician as skilled as you, but that didn't mean you were necessarily short on job opportunities. Were they worth it? No, not really. You made an alright amount of money, but you were downright miserable. You lacked mental stimulation- fixing WIFI routers and cell phones was not cutting it. Maybe moving half-way across the country was a bit of an impulsive thing to do, but you desperately wanted to do something new and exciting. You were most definitely excited- but you were quite nervous, too.

The comfortable night air silently whispered around you as you inhaled and exhaled deeply, rubbing your palms together as you approached the automatic glass doors. They slid open and you walked through, raising your eyebrows as you looked around at the bright, retro 80's themed interior of the building. Sure, you'd done a bit of research on the place- but, it was just that. A bit.

You knew about the Glamrocks and their popularity, but you couldn't find much of anything regarding the animatronics' mechanical structure, so you didn't find a need to do anymore digging. You didn't get a master's degree in Advanced Robotics Engineering for nothing, so you decided to take it as some what of a challenge.

You didn't make it further than four feet into the building when a blur of white came flying at you from the side, and you jumped back with a startled yelp.

"Welcome to Freddy Faz-Faz-Fazbear's Meg-eg-ega Piz-izaple-e-ex, home of the Gla-am-am-rocks! Please-ease-ease head to-o the service-ervice desk for-or admission and par-ar-arty passes."

Your eyebrows furrowed at the small white bot invading your personal space, glitching terribly through it's greeting. "Good god- I doubt that's right.." You muttered and trailed off, looking it over. It was a basic design; likely a part of a set based on the number '16' on its chest in small black lettering.

You walked around the bot, looking at it's back panel. It didn't move, and you began reading the small sticker underneath the base of it's neck. You squinted as you read the small words, but your focus was broken by a slight chuckle from behind you. You whipped around, eyes widening.

Somewhat shockingly, it was William Afton himself.

You'd seen him online before; articles of Fazbear Entertainment locations burning down, and a few missing child articles as well. You also saw him featured in a few robotic engineering forums, so it wasn't too terribly far off to say he was almost idolized by techy 'nerds' like you. It was still a shock to see him in the flesh; his deep purple suit was ironed and smooth, and he wore a bright yellow tie with a Freddy enamel pin towards the top. His hand was in his pocket and he had an amused smile on his face, the purple and blue neon lights reflecting softly off of his hair, which was slicked back.

He looked expensive.

You stepped away from the bot, a nervous smile making it's way to your face. "Ah, hi, sorry." You apologized, but he waved you off. "Nonsense; your eagerness shows. I take it you're (y/n)?" He asked, approaching you. You nodded, looking back at the bot. "Yes, sir. I noticed that this lil' guy had an issue, so I figured I'd give it a teensy look." You replied, and the bot looked from Afton to you.

"Oh? I'm not here often; I'm unfortunately quite busy, and so I entrust management to my daughter. I came to personally meet you and guide you through the innerworkings of my animatronics- as mentioned in the email you received, we've been struggling to find someone capable of doing such intricate work." He said, tilting his head at the small bot. "How long has it been since they've been serviced? The animatronics, I mean." You asked, and he clicked his tongue.

"They have small work done here and there thanks to a program I built to help Vanessa- my daughter- keep things running until we found someone to handle the bigger issues. I've had to drop everything and come fix some more extreme situations a few times now, so your presence is definitely appreciated. Assuming, that is, that you're able to fully understand said intricacies of my work." He added, and you resisted snorting at the comment.

You weren't one to boast, but you definitely weren't one to discredit yourself either.

"I make no promises, but I can assure you that I wouldn't be here if I wasn't confident in myself and my abilities." You said, respectfully, and he gave you a challenging smile. "Well, let's get to it then." He replied, pulling his hand from his pocket, a yellow, bear shaped smart watch in his hand. He gave it to you, and you put it on as he began walking. "That watch is very important; it might as well be your employee ID itself. You'll need it for a lot of things, so make sure you keep track of it. You only get one replacement before termination, for the company's protection." He said, you following him closely.

The two of you approached a door and he gestured to it, dipping his head slightly. You reached out, the sight of the yellow watch around your wrist unfamiliar as you grabbed the handle. There was a small, audible click as your hand made contact and you turned the handle, pulling the door open. "Ah, keycard watch." You said, and Afton nodded as he walked through the threshold. "Basically."

"Well, I can understand the severity of losing them now." You replied, tilting your head expressively.

You followed him into a messy, unfinished hallway with a janitorial cart and a few stacks of boxes strewn about. "This needs to be cleaned by one of the S.T.A.F.F. bots, but this hall is probably going to be one of your most used paths. It's the fastest way to Parts and Services from the building's entrance, and that's where you'll be quite often- though I'm sure there will be other things to work on, such as broken attractions, malfunctioning arcade machines, etcetera." He explained as the two of you walked ahead.

He stopped at an elevator and pressed the call button. The door shuddered open and he walked in, followed by you. He pointed at the button on the bottom of the directional console, which had a small wrench and gear icon on it. You pressed it and the doors shuddered harder as they closed, grinding against their track.

"Tch." Afton clicked in disapproval at the door as the elevator began it's thankfully smooth descent. "I'd like you to do basic maintenance on each of the Glamrocks, the Daycare Attendant, the DJ, and at least one S.T.A.F.F bot- preferably the unfortunate one you've already met- before you're let loose to explore. We like to let new employees familiarize themselves with this understandably overwhelming workplace before expecting them to perform their work well. Although, your position is a bit more sophisticated." He explained and finished with an uplifted tone, but you puffed your cheeks out. That's a bit more work than you were expecting to do on your first night, though it made sense. Best to see how they all work before you're thrown into this job without much help.

It didn't really sound like Vanessa was the most capable.

Afton must've seen the hesitation on your face and gave a small chuckle. "Nothing to worry about- it sounds intimidating, but basic maintenance is quite easy, and fairly quick. The DJ and Daycare Attendant are quite a bit more advanced, but we'll get to that later. We should be done with that all of them by around three." He said, and you glanced down at the watch on your wrist.

11:14pm.

You were pulled out of your thoughts by the elevator gently jutting to a stop, the doors shuddering open once more. You followed Afton out of the elevator and down the hall to the left, continuing down the hall for a moment before stopping in front of a large door. The same wrench and gear icon from the elevator button was above an unexpectedly large, metal door with adequately sized windows. "This is Parts and Services. This door is off limits to everyone except you, the animatronics, and Vanessa. The animatronics are only to be down here when requested." He explained, and you nodded.

You reached out and opened the door, raising your eyebrows as you scanned the room. There was a large, metal and glass cylinder in the middle of the room, an inhumanly large chair inside. Behind the cylinder on a raised walkway were four doors, each representing a Glamrock. On the left side of the Glamrocks' doors, there was a human-sized door with a music note icon on it, and on the far right of the doors was another door, the same size as the Glamrocks', with celestial icons representing the sun and the moon on it.

Must be for the Daycare Attendant.

You walked further into the room, looking to your left. There was a wall of multiple tools, toolboxes stacked beneath it, and a large workbench. On the wall to the right of you, there was a door labeled 'Replacement Parts', and you wondered how big it was inside.

You looked back just as Afton pressed something on the face of his watch, then lowered his hand. "We'll do this one-by-one, Freddy will be here shortly. In the meantime; this is the repair chamber, although it's where all animatronics- save for DJ Music Man- are to be serviced. Except in severe circumstances, you are not to service them anywhere else- for the safety of you and others." He explained as he approached the cylinder.

"Noted, will do- although, if one were to become unresponsive or immobile, how would I get them down here?" You asked, and he gave a small nod. "That would be considered severe, as their systems can overload quickly when in distress." You nodded as he looked down to the computer in front of the chamber. "That's the Quick-Repair and Coding console, but I highly doubt you'll be using it for much. You'll be notified through your FazWatch when any upgrades or repairs need completed and you'll notice that instructions for the procedure via the QRC, but feel free to handle any issues hands-on if you'd prefer." He finished as heavy, metal thumps came into earshot. You bent your neck around the chamber, looking up at the doors as the footsteps got louder.

Suddenly, Freddy's door lifted and the large, golden bear walked through. Your breath caught in your throat, and you suddenly felt incredibly small, and incredibly out of your element. Bright blue eyes landed on Afton, and then you. He smiled, warm and inviting as he walked down the ramp. "Freddy, right on time." Afton said, grinning at the large bear. "It is so good to see you, Mr. Afton. How have you been?" Freddy asked, and your jaw went slack.

Did he just autonomously respond?

"I've been quite well, thank you for asking. This is (y/n), the new technician. They're going to do some basic maintenance on you and the rest of the animatronics. I'm just walking them through a few things." Afton said, glancing over to you once before returning his attention to Freddy.

"Ah, no problem at all." Freddy replied, flashing you a smile. You gave him an awed smile in return, watching as Afton walked over to the cylinder. He pressed a large button and there was a subtle hiss, the heavy cylinder door dragging up slowly. Freddy walked ahead, entering the cylinder and sitting down in the chair. Afton gestured to the chamber and you sucked in a short breath, walking under the door. Your footsteps echoed off of the glass, followed by Afton's as he followed you into the cylinder.

There was another soft hiss of air and the door slowly shut, closing the three of you inside. As the door shut, there were four heavy clinks of metal. You furrowed your brows and looked down to find metal cuffs wrapped around Freddy's wrists and ankles. They restricted their limbs, but their hands were still moveable.

"Don't worry, Superstar; it's to keep you safe!" Freddy assured, his voice uplifted.

You nodded and Afton shifted behind you. He got close to Freddy, who towered over the grown man even in his relaxed position. "There's a small button that opens the chest cavity underneath his bowtie." He stood with his hands resting behind his back and you nodded. You removed Freddy's bowtie, which appeared to be attached by a strong magnet. "You'll need a screwdriver to reach the button." Afton explained, pointing to a small tray sitting next to the chair. You reached over and grabbed the thinnest Philips head screwdriver on the tray, then walked up to Freddy. It felt a bit odd; he was watching you, which was unnerving to say the least, but there was a softness in his gaze that put you at ease a bit.

It kind of felt like you were about to perform a surgery on an awake patient. You might as well have been.

You looked at the small hole just under Freddy's neck, then got up on your tip-toes and leaned over, lifting the screwdriver. Your eyes flicked to Freddy, who gave a friendly wink. You bit the inside of your lip as you pressed the screwdriver into the hole, then you let out a small yelp as his chest plate popped open, exposing his wires and endoskeleton.

"Good. Now I want you to take a moment and observe the wires; familiarize yourself with them. All of the Glamrocks have practically the same wiring." Afton said, stepping back. You did as you were told, but not just because you were instructed to.

The wires were set meticulously, and there were so many. They twisted around each other in a fluid, intricate mess of organized chaos, though it was quite easy to tell which ones were the most important. Most of them connected to a box about the size of your hand, which had its own wires stretching up and into Freddy's neck. You'd seen plenty of those; they condensed large amounts of wires and connected them to the motherboard without overloading it.

There was one cable, however, deep inside of Freddy's chest that was practically hidden by the collection of wires and cables above it. Unfortunately, everything was coated in a thin layer of dust.

"This is.." You let out a disbelieving chuckle. This was going to be fun.

Afton gave a quiet laugh, then stepped close to you. "Tell me what you see, and point out any issues you may find." He said, looking at you. Your brows furrowed as you began thoroughly examining the wires and cables within Freddy's chest cavity. You reached your small hands into the chassis, carefully pointing at a small cluster of wires that were tied into a neat bundle.

"Well, this is the central system." You said, pointing to the box in Freddy's chest. "If I had to guess, I'd say that this is audio processing and most likely attached to his voice box as well." You said, following the wires further up into the animatronic's chassis. A few of the wires from the group split off and twisted underneath a larger bundle of wires closer to Freddy's throat, and you very gently moved them a touch to the left. You nodded to yourself as the few wires you were tracking were fed into a small, black box with a speaker on the surface.

Freddy's voice was very strong for how unexpectedly small his voice box was. The efficiency was unbelievable.

"Hm. Please continue." He said, watching your hands. You pointed at another bundle of wires, furrowing your brows deeper in focus. "I recognize those ones; those are for optics and video processing." You said, a bit quieter now as you focused on task in front of you. Afton didn't respond that time, but you knew to continue.

"These are for motor function, and these little ones are for more precise movements on smaller parts, such as fingers or eyelids.." You said, trailing off as you continued your examination. "This is the most impressive, advanced piece of technology I've ever seen." You mumbled, and Afton chuckled as he stepped closer. "These are the harder ones to access," He gently moved a few handfuls of wires to the side, exposing more thinner ones deeper in the chassis.

He took a few moments to explain their function to you, pointing as he talked and you intently listened. Finally, the thickest wire deep within the chassis was visible. "This is the powerline, connected to the motherboards- which is located in their heads. Damage to these cords is-" He let out a scoff, though there was no malice. "they're the hardest pieces of these machines to repair, closely seconded by the motherboards. Unexpected power loss can result in a corrupted motherboard, which risks entire memory loss." Your eyebrows raised and you pressed your lips into a thin line. Definitely take care of those, then.

Once he was done, he walked over to the cart. "Here, take this and carefully get rid of the dust." He said, handing you a small hose. He pressed a small button on the cart holding the tool tray, and a soft rush of air began blowing out of the hose.

You carefully fanned it back and forth over Freddy's wiring, blowing the dust off of his cables and out of his chest cavity. He let out a small, deep laugh and you glanced up at him. He gave a sheepish smile and you apologized with your expression, returning focus to your work.

It must've tickled, you thought.

Once you got the dust dealt with, you removed your hands from his chest to lay the hose on the cart. "Close the chassis, just gently push it." Afton instructed and you did as told, placing your palm on the front of Freddy's open chest. There was a bit of resistance, but after a second it gave a small jerk, and began to close. You furrowed your eyebrows again. "Should I do something about that? WD-40, maybe?" You asked, and Afton's hand appeared next to you- already holding a can of multi-purpose lubricant. It was off-brand, but it worked just the same.

"Thank ya, thank ya." You said, leaning over to aim the can at the slightly rusted hinge on the side of Freddy's chest plate. After applying a decent coating of the lubricant, you placed the can on the tray and grabbed the chest plate, gently moving it back and forth to work it in. It became increasingly easier to open and close, so you slowly pressed it down, giving it a gently, firm press until you heard a heavy click.

"This is the last thing; just a little cleaning." Afton said, handing you a folded rag and a bottle of cleaning solution. You nodded and looked Freddy over, spraying and wiping away any smudges and small, greasy handprints. You also took care to get any residual lubricant from around the near-invisible line where his chest plate opened.

Once you were done, Afton nodded. "Good job; you did rather well." Afton said, pressing a green button on the underside of the chair. The cuffs around Freddy's wrists and ankles popped open and the animatronic sat up, giving you a gentle pat on the head. "Welcome to the team, Superstar. You're gonna do great, I can just tell." Freddy complimented, and you gave him a smile.

"Thanks. Freddy. I look forward to working with you." You said, and he reached out a large, yellow paw. You reached your hand out, and his nearly engulfed yours.

He was exiting the cylinder when another door opened with a quiet metallic screech and the three of you looked over, Roxy walking through the door. You blinked a few times, the wolf animatronic squinting at you as she walked down the ramp with a hand on her hip. "Ah, Roxanne. Thank you for coming, I know you're not particularly fond of maintenance." Afton greeted as the animatronic approached. Freddy waved as he walked back to his designated door and walked through, letting it shut behind him.

"Eh. Not my favorite, but I've been itching for some decent work. Been long enough." She said, a small growl in her voice. "Who are you?" She asked, looking down at you. Afton didn't answer, looking at you expectantly. There was a small pause between the three of you, and Roxy raised an eyebrow.

You realized a tad late that Afton wanted you to introduce yourself this time, which should've been obvious since she asked you directly.

"Oh, uh- my name is (y/n), I'm the new technician." You said, breaking the short silence. Roxanne nodded, tilting her head back a bit as you attempted to read her. The AI's heightened awareness in both her and Freddy was intriguing at best, and unnerving at worst. Her eyes flicked over your small form before she returned eye contact and snickered. "Alright, pipsqueak. Let's do it then." She said, taking her pawed hand off of her hip as she walked into the chamber and sat where Freddy previously did. You followed, and Afton closed the chamber door behind the three of you.

The cuffs shut around Roxy's wrists and ankles, and her ears flicked in annoyance.

Roxy's wiring was similar, although the wires were closer together due to the smaller size of her chassis and there were a few extra wires for her tail mobility that Freddy didn't have. You assumed Monty would be the same, but you quickly refocused as you gave her a good look over, a thorough dusting, and a good wipe-down. It was, as Afton said it would be, much quicker than you thought it'd be.

You also didn't think you'd be able to understand Afton's wiring method as well as you did. It wasn't like anything you'd seen before, but despite the unfamiliarity, it practically came to you naturally.

When you finished with Roxy, she rubbed her wrists as she got out of the chair. "Not half bad, kid." She said, giving Afton a small nod as she walked back to her designated door.

Monty was late by nearly ten minutes, and Afton was not pleased. You subconsciously gulped as the nearly eleven foot animatronic approached the two of you. "My bad, I just got caught up in somethin'." Monty apologized, and Afton hummed flatly. "This is (y/n), they'll be doing basic maintenance on you." He said, giving a sharp nod towards the cylinder. Monty nodded, walking under the door with a small huff.

His wiring was nearly identical to Freddy's, save for the ones attached to his tail- as you'd expected. Despite his initially alarming appearance, he was actually quite relaxed and unphased as you dusted his chassis, his eyes trained on you through his purple, star shaped sunglasses. When you were done, Monty gave you an unexpected head pat. "Thanks, runt." He said, flashing you a sharp grin. You nodded, rubbing the back of your neck as he walked away.

Chica's door opened, and she walked in with an ever-so-slightly noticeable limp. "Hiya, chickpeas!" She exclaimed in a cheerfully lifted voice, though there was a nervousness mixed in somewhere. "Everything alright, Chica?" Afton asked, walking over to her as she made it down the ramp. "Ah, not really? I've had this issue for a few weeks where my foot locks up randomly, and I've almost fallen a few times. It's pretty bad today, let me see if I can show ya!" She explained, the cheeriness coating her probably uncharacteristic nervousness as she began walking in a line.

You and Afton watched her, eyes on her feet as she walked. After about fifteen steps, her foot locked up and she jolted forward from the sudden stop. There was a sharp crack and she went down further as the metal on the back of her right leg casing, near her ankle, cracked and split. She let out a pained cry as her knee made hard contact with the cement floor, the vibration from her weight travelling through the floor and up your calf.

"Woah- are you okay??" You blurted, rushing towards her without much thought. Afton was next to you only a second later. The crack travelled a quarter way up the back of her calf, a thick wire pinched between the gap near the ankle. "That hurt- really back, actually!" She said, though it almost sounded like she spoke through clenched teeth.

"Help me stand her up." Afton instructed, and you walked around her. You placed your arm under her forearm and the other around her midsection, which wasn't too terribly difficult. She was definitely the smallest Glamrock- although she did still tower above you by at least three feet.

Afton was on the other side of her doing the same, and she used the two of you as leverage to stand back up on one leg. Her weight pushed you down a bit, but you focused on keeping your frame sturdy as she straightened herself out. She hobbled and slightly hopped towards the cylinder, Afton and yourself steadying her as she moved. When the three of you made it, she turned her body on one leg and landed heavily in the chair. Despite the crack being on the back of her leg, it was easily accessible from your height as you leaned down and gently pushed the cloth leg warmer out of the way, assessing at the damage.

"There's a wire pinched in this crack, and it's shredded to Hell and back. I'm surprised she's been able to walk this long- you said it's been locking up for weeks?" You asked, initially speaking to Afton. "Yeah, it started after a really fast-paced fitness warm-up, I wanna say it was about three weeks ago." She answered, and you hummed. "There's a good chance that this wire's been the issue the whole time then- especially with how chewed up it is." You replied.

Afton's brow furrowed. "Did Vanessa not try to repair it?" He asked Chica, and she shrugged. "She said the console didn't have a procedure that would fix it and that I'd have to wait until she found a real technician." She explained, and Afton let out a heavy exhale.

"Thank you. I'll need to speak with her about that, though I suppose we can.. use this, for lack of a better term." He said, though the irritation in his voice was evident. You sighed at the shredded wire, then stood straight. "Come with me, we need a replacement casing and a new wire." Afton said, walking towards the door with the 'Replacement Parts' sign. You followed as he opened the door, walking in. You walked in after him, looking around in the large room. Large, steel shelves held the impossible weight of multiple animatronic parts. Each shelf system contained parts for one animatronic, though you were focused on the cluster of white, pink, and green on the second shelf to the left.

You walked over, following Afton as he pointed gestured at the shelves. "I was planning on giving you a coordinated tour of this room, but I suppose this will do. These are the replacement and spare parts. You can put in orders from your Fazwatch if you ever run out of something, and it'll arrive next-day." He explained, then pointed at a white leg casing with a green, leopard print leg warmer. You reached out, unsure of yourself as you wrapped your arms around the leg. It was a little over quarter of your entire body, but it wasn't as heavy as you were expecting.

The weight must come from their endoskeleton, then. You tore your attention from your thoughts back to the leg casing as Afton began to walk away.

You grabbed the leg, following Afton to another door within the room. There were walls lined with wires and cables, and a large glass box with a lock on it. Afton pointed at it as he walked past, "Those are the powerlines. You'll need a physical key to get into that, although I keep it in a different location. You should, hopefully, never need to access that box." He said as he walked to a section of wires. Above it were the icons of each Glamrock, and you nodded to yourself.

The organization would make it easy to find what you'd need for future repairs, so that was nice. Without saying anything, Afton picked a wire from the wall and nodded towards the door, gesturing for you to head back to the cylinder. You carried the leg casing out of the rooms, Afton following as he closed the doors behind him.

You carried the leg into the chamber, placing it on a metal counter attached to the wall. "In order to replace the wire, her foot casing must come off, her chest chassis needs to be open and her upper leg casing needs to come off, as well as the damaged lower leg." Afton explained as he closed the cylinder door, and you nodded. He began explaining what to do, pointing at tiny holes on the sides of her ankle and under her heel. "Wait- they stay conscious? Or- well, awake?" You asked, noticing how odd it sounded to refer to animatronics as 'conscious'. Afton nodded, "Yes, unless the procedure is on their coding or motherboard." He handed you a long, incredibly thin tool with a rounded end and you quickly got to work, pressing the tool into the buttons. The webbed foot casing loosened and you lifted it off with ease, placing it on a metal counter behind you.

You moved onto the tiny holes on her lower leg casing, pressing them all with quick precision. There was a click, and you placed the tool down on the tray. You leaned over, then furrowed your brows. "I need to either disconnect this wire or cut it; it's just going to pull whatever else it's wrapped up with." You said, and Afton handed you a pair of wire cutters. "It'll be easier to cut it; we wont be able to see what's happening in her thigh when we pull the wire through if we can't get the casing off." You nodded, thanking him as you took the cutters and gently lifted the crack, going up under the casing to snip the wire just above it.

Chica let out a small, mechanical gasp as the wire was severed, and your face twisted with worry. "I'm sor-" You started, but she cut you off. "No, no- you're fine, this is totally minor compared to some other stuff I've had done. Don't mind me, sweetpea!" She assured, but you were now very aware that they really could feel.

After you returned the wire cutters to the table, you wrapped your arms around the lower casing and gave it a sharp twist to the left. There was another click and the casing slid off, a short, limp wire still wedged in the crack. You placed it behind you on a shelf, turning back as Afton showed you the release buttons for her upper legs.

After a few more buttons, you removed the other casing to expose her thin, dark steel leg frame. You nodded triumphantly, but the limp wire laying against the rest left an odd feeling in your chest, so you moved on to opening her chest chassis. It was easy, but the wires inside were much more compacted and fit tightly together in the circumstantially small cavity. You let out an inaudible exhale and moved to her lower half, grabbing the loose wire. You traced it with your eyes, following it as it weaved through a few different clusters of wires before attaching to her central system.

You gently grasped the wire where it connected, and then gave a small tug. It popped out of the socket easily, and you grabbed the bottom of the wire as you gently pulled it down and out of the organized wires. Chica let out a small giggle, and the tension in your shoulders that you hadn't noticed was there released. Afton wordlessly handed you the new wire, and you attached it to the central system where it belonged. Without further instruction, you began to weave the wire around the others, the same way the other one was. You gently laid it over the others down the length of her leg, and let it rest in place.

This felt right. This felt like you, and what you were supposed to do.

You reached behind you, observing the tools until you found the one you needed. You turned and began working at the wire attached to the center of the joint where her foot connected with her ankle. Once the severed wire was removed, you replaced the tool on the tray and began fixing the wire to the joint, where the other one had been. When it was attached, you looked up at Chica. "Can you move your foot?" You asked, and she looked down at her foot as it twitched to the left, then right, before finally moving in a fluid motion as she rolled it.

"Feels right to me!" She answered, and you nodded with a smile. Walking to the metal counter behind you, you grabbed her upper leg casing and walked back to Chica. You slid it over her foot and up her calf before setting it in place against her hip with a sharp twist to the right. There was a heavy click, and you tested the connection. Nothing moved at all, so you moved onto the replacement leg.

It took you a moment to realize you'd gotten carried away and did everything- hopefully correctly- without instruction. You slowly turned around, finding an amused Afton. "Do you realize that you just replaced that wire quicker than I usually do?" He said, and your jaw fell slack for just a second. "I- wait, really?" You asked, and he nodded. "It took you five minutes- it takes me about ten." He said, and you really couldn't find a hint of dishonesty in his demeanor.

"Now that, is impressive." He added, and you let out a small laugh. "Thank you, Sir."

After the cylinder door was open, Chica gave you a happy, beaked smile. "Thank you, sweetpea! I feel good as new." She thanked you, and you politely waved it off. "Anytime! I'm just glad I was actually able to help; this is a little new for me." You admitted, and Chica giggled. "You seemed right at home fixin' me up, if I do say so myself."

You gave her another smile as she went on her way, and Afton turned towards you. "You're shaping up to be much more experienced than I expected." He said, and you let out a heavy exhale. "Honestly, I didn't expect it to come this easily to me; these are the most complex machines I've ever seen." You admitted, and Afton chuckled. "We'll move on to the DJ next as the Daycare Attendant is busy at the moment. He's bigger than the rest of the animatronics, so we'll have to go to his maintenance room." He explained, and pointed to the wall of tools.

"That tool bag should have everything you need for his maintenance, but it's always a good idea to double check." He said, walking over to a tool bag hanging on the wall. It was striped with bright colors and there was a large, black music note on the side. Next to it, there were three other bags; one with the Glamrock Icon on it, one with the sun and moon icons, and the last one had an icon depicting one of the S.T.A.F.F bots.

You walked up to Afton as he grabbed the bag and placed it on the work bench. "There's a list for each of the bags so you know what needs to be there. Go ahead and check it." He instructed, and you pulled it closer to you as you opened it. You looked up to the laminated piece of paper tacked to the wall, which was directly under the spot for the bag, and mentally listed off the tools as you shifted through the bag.

Your brows furrowed and you dug around in the bag some more, then leaned back, looking at the tool wall. "It's missing wire cutters and needle-nose pliers." You said, looking to Afton. He let out an unsatisfied hum and looked to the tool wall as well. "I'll need to find those; these bags are to always be correctly stocked, and all tools are ALWAYS to come back to this room." He said, frustration in his voice. It wasn't towards you, but it was unnerving regardless.

He reached over and grabbed a pair of pliers and wire cutters, placing them in the bag. He gestured to it, and you picked it up as he began walking to the ramp for the doors. You followed closely as he approached the door with the music note, and it lifted as the two of you walked through.

The two of you approached another elevator, and you wondered if there was one for each of the animatronics. The building was unfathomably large, you began to realize. This elevator was in much better condition, though there were only two buttons. Afton pressed the button with a small wrench over a music note, and the doors slid shut. "I doubt it'll help much, but try not to be too alarmed when you see the DJ. He can be a lot the first time you see him, but he's incredibly friendly and entirely harmless." Afton warned, and your brows furrowed.

How big is this thing?

The ride was short as the doors slid back open, and it felt as if your heart fell to the bottom of your ribcage.

The animatronic was absolutely massive, easily fifty feet tall with six long, thin limbs that stretched from the sides of his white, spider-like abdomen. The first four limbs had gloved hands attached to the ends, and the last two had shoed feet. His face was locked in some sort of grin- although it looked more akin to a cringe, with his large teeth checkered like piano keys. Large green headphones sat atop his head, and his black eyes- easily the size of your head- flicked over to you and Afton.

"I- wh- holy shit." You blabbered, and Afton laughed. You weren't as scared as you thought you would be when the initial shock hit you, and awe quickly washed over you. "Wow, I- he is insanely cool." You muttered, walking out of the elevator before Afton. The room was almost twice the size of Parts and Services, with six huge metal cuffs attached to the ground. The DJ shuffled his feet as her turned to face you better, leaning down to see you better.

"Hello, little one."

His voice caught you off guard; he spoke through broken, short audio clips of different songs. "Woah- hi!" You waved, and Afton walked up next to you. "DJ, this is (y/n). They're the new technician, but we're just going to do some basic maintenance. Nothing too serious, but have you had any specific issues lately?" Afton asked, and DJ let out a mechanical hum. "Yes. Songs freezing and glitching during performances. Couldn't fix it myself." The gigantic animatronic responded, and you pursed your lips. Afton nodded and crossed his arms. "Alright. Let's get that looked at first, go ahead and lock up." He instructed, and the DJ nodded with a slight metallic grind.

Based on that and the rust around his joints, it was blindingly obvious that DJ had be practically neglected. His movements were creaky as he lay flat against the floor, off center. He brought his limbs close to his body like a deceased arachnid, and rolled over onto his back. He landed in the center with a heavy thud, the floor vibrating from the weight. He stretched his limbs out, placing them in the cuffs. Afton walked over to a control panel with a multitude of buttons next to the elevator, then pressed one with a padlock icon. There was a loud, metallic clank as all six cuffs snapped close around DJ's wrists and ankles. He looked a bit comical stretched out the way he was, but the size of his chest hatch filled you with overwhelm.

There's no way in Hell I'm opening that.

"Come here." Afton instructed, you did so. "This controls the wiring system and helps with repairs. It's impossible to carry his replacement parts and open his chassis by one's self." He explained, then pressed a button with a torso icon. There was a heavy, loud grinding overhead as a metal 'hand' reached down, a thin spike extending from the tip as it pressed small buttons around the animatronics torso. There was a heavy pop, and the large chassis flung open. The hand retracted back into the ceiling, then deep into shadows.

"You'll need a ladder for this next part." Afton explained, and pointed to a button with a ladder icon. You pressed it, and more mechanical grinding from above sounded out as a tall, thin ladder descended from the ceiling. The ladder was taller than DJ, clicking into place on the floor next to him. "Good. Now, climb inside of the chassis."

Your mouth fell open, and you quickly snapped it shut. "Inside?" You asked for clarification, and Afton nodded. "You'll understand when you see it." He said, and nodded towards the ladder. You mentally shook away the doubts nipping at your nerves and walked to the ladder, letting the handles of the bag slip down around your wrist as you used both hands to climb. As you got high enough to see the inside of the chassis, you let out an inaudible, 'Ah.'

There was enough space to walk around inside of his chest, a flat platform underneath a built-in ladder to get to the bottom of the chassis. You climbed off of the tall ladder onto the one built into his chassis, the climbed down into the animatronic's body. You shuddered; this felt much more invasive than with the Glamrocks. As you got deeper, your footsteps on the latter echoed off of the metal chassis. Relatively loud, mechanical whirring filled the air around you as you looked around at the animatronics innerworkings. The wires were as thick as your forearm, suspended just below your head level as you stepped off of the ladder- but, his endoskeleton was absolutely massive.

You walked up his chest, towards his voice box. It was much larger than the other ones, but you expected that everything would be. There was a small set of steps screwed into the side of the box and the floor to keep it in place when DJ was upright and moving. You walked around it, ducking underneath thick wires as you checked their connections. You were checking the last one when you felt someone watching you.

You glanced up and behind you, Afton's small form leaning over the side of the chassis observing you. "How's it looking?" He called down, his voice echoing around you. "Good, really. Everything is connected right, nothing is frayed or split. Unless the issue is inside of his voice box." You called back, and you saw him nod before climbing over, using the ladder the descend into the chest cavity.

He walked over to you, his hands in his pockets. "Take the top panel off, a regular screwdriver will do." He instructed, and you got up on your tip toes, leaning over to check the screws. Small 'x's were etched into the heads, and you sat the tool bag down to dig around and grab a Philips-head screwdriver. You climbed up the small staircase, undoing all of the screws and putting them in your pocket. Once the last one was out, the panel lifted slightly and you were able to wrap your hands around the edge of it. You stood on the edge of the box and gave a strong pull upwards on the panel, grunting as it lifted to the side. It's hinges prevented it from falling to the side and off of the box as you shave another heavy shove.

You let out a heavy exhale, and Afton gave a soft clap. "Nicely done- though there is a leverage tool for future reference." He said, and amused looked on his face as he reached out and lifted a metal bar that flattened into a thin edge at the end to wedge under the panel. It was hanging right next to the staircase, and you let out a sheepish laugh. "Noted, my bad." You apologized, and he waved it off. "No worries; just don't want you to throw your back out at your age." He jested, though it was a real possibility.

You turned your attention to his voice box, and cringed. "Christ, it's a mess in here." You said, reaching into the box. You barely saw the bright red caution icon with the words 'high voltage' as your fingers nearly brushed a wire. Without warning, there was a heavy step behind you on the stairs and Afton's hand clamped around your forearm. "Stop! Don't touch anything yet." He said, his voice loud and concerned. Your eyes widened and you yanked your arms out of the box. "What? What is it?" You asked, though it was rather obvious with the 'high voltage' sign.

"This voice box has significantly more power running through them than any of the other animatronics. Honestly, I should've warned you previously; that's my fault. The outer wires, these ones, aren't a threat nearly as severe." He said, gesturing to the thick wires. "I haven't worked on him in quite some time and nearly forgot. I apologize for startling you." He apologized, and you shook your head. "No, no! I greatly appreciate you not letting me fry myself to a crisp." You said, gesturing to the warning sign.

Afton stepped off of the staircase, waving you down from the box. You climbed down the stairs, then saw the smaller box with a dial pad attached to the side. He reached out and entered a code, the front panel of the box popping open. It was similar to a breaker box, but there was only one switch. "There's a main panel next to the chassis ladder, but this one controls the voice box itself." He explained, flicking the switch off. There was a staticky pop from the voice box as it powered down, and you climbed back up onto it.

The wires were all tangled, with a few mangled and shredding. "How does this even happen?" You asked. "The vibration of his voice combined with his sometimes sporadic movements cause them to move around and rub together, which causes degrading over time. It never should've gotten this bad, though. This is going to need an entire rewire." Afton said, examining the damage from the bottom step. You nodded, then stepped down after him.

"The console will do that, but we'll need to power DJ down to do the repair. Any 'rogue' power through the repair machine can overload it, which is not fun to fix." He explained, and you nodded as you followed him to the main power box. He typed in the code, which was different from the voice box code. Once the box was open, there was another single switch on the inside. "We're going to power you down, prepare yourself." Afton called out, and there was a single, heavy thunk against the ground outside of the chassis. Most likely a knuckle in acknowledgement, since his voice box was currently out of commission. Afton waited about three seconds before giving you a nod. You reached out, then flicked the switch to the left. The whirring faded into silence, almost like he fell asleep.

Or died.

Either way, everything was now much more echoey as Afton began to climb back up the ladder. You glanced back to the voice box, mumbling a curse as you quickly half-ran back to it, grabbing the screwdriver you left on the step and shoving it into the tool bag. You picked it up and ran back to the ladder, where Afton was watching you from the top. You gave a jokingly nervous grin as you quickly climbed up it. He was on the ground by the time you made it onto the main ladder, then got down. The two of you walked over to the control panel, and Afton gestured to it. "Press the one with the voice box on it, then the one with wires." You did as told, and a line of wires popped up on a small screen above the buttons with small boxes below each one.

"Go ahead and check all of them, then press the 'Start Procedure' button." He instructed, adn you pressed the boxes on the screen. When you were done, you pressed the start button on the bottom right of the panel. Mechanical whirring started above you, and the two of you turned around to watch. The hand extended down, a few different tools attached to the end. It reached down inside of the chassis and began the procedure. After a moment of subtle movement, it retracted, a bundle of dull, shredded, multicolored wires in the mouth of some pliers. That hand lifted into the ceiling as another reached down, vibrant wires in it's grasp.

It continued, and the entire process was over in less than ten minutes.

At least the actual repairs are still quick.

Once it was done, Afton pointed at the console again. "The repair arms have already closed the voice box, but basic maintenance is still needed." He explained, then pointed at a button with with a wrench over a heart. You pressed the button and a menu popped up on the screen. There were a few options to click. You pressed the three that said, 'Rust Removal - Joints', 'Joint Care', and 'Cosmetic Work-up'. When Afton didn't say anything, you trusted your gut and pressed the start button.

Multiple arms stretched down at once; one held a large hose, another held a rag, and another had a spray nozzle attached to the end. They began working all at once; the hose began to blow out dust from the cavity while another began to wipe down the outside of DJ's casing. There was a heavy click as the cuffs came undone, and the nozzle hand began to spray a solution on all of DJ's joints, coating them in the liquid. More hands stretched down from the ceiling, grabbing DJ's wrists and ankles to bend them back and forth, working the solution in. When the limbs were bending with zero resistance or grinding, the hands lay DJ's limbs back into the cuffs, which closed back around him.

The hand with the rag moved to the joints, wiping the excess fluid from the joints. Another arm stretched down; a soldering iron . The other arms moved out of the way as another smaller one extended from the ceiling, a thin brick of metal in it's grasp. The two worked in sync as they began soldering over the rusted metal, covering it with a silver plating. After it finished, another arm stretched down. It began filing the rough edges of the solder, then all of the arms retracted as one more came down; an airbrush. It sprayed a layer of white paint over the now repaired joints. You could see how fast it dried, and you let out an impressed, 'Huh.' The arm reached over and the airbrush tool slid into the arm, which changed into an actual hand-like shape. It pressed the chassis hatch closed with a few loud clicks.

When all of the arms retracted into the ceiling, Afton nodded. "Don't worry about the voice box panel; they've put new screws in it." You hadn't even thought about the screws in your pocket and you mentally facepalmed, though Afton seemed entirely unbothered. "I can imagine he'll feel much better now, thanks to you. Now, be warned; being powered on has an alarming effect on all of the animatronics, but DJ's is arguably the worst." Afton said, gesturing at a small power button. You cringed a bit at the thought of what that entailed, but you reached over and pressed the button.

There was a click from within DJ's chest and he began whirring back to life- then he started violently fighting against the restraints. He lifted his torso up and slammed it against the ground, then stopped.

The entire room shook, and your legs failed you as you ended up on the ground with a heavy clank, the tool bag hitting the floor. Afton reached out a hand, pulling you up. "Welcome back, DJ. You're all set." Afton said, hitting the button next to the lock command. It was an unlocked padlock. The restraints clicked open, which made you just a tad nervous.

Definitely not harmless.

You didn't feel personally threatened in any way, but you stored it in the back of your mind that he was capable of some serious damage. DJ curled his limbs back in on himself and rolled onto his stomach, extending his arms out as he stood up. "I apologize for the fit- it's out of my control. Thank you for the maintenance, (y/n)." DJ spoke, giving you a friendly nod. You smiled, "No problem, happy to help." You replied. "Head back down to your stage, and let them know if you have any more issues." Afton spoke to DJ, who nodded and reached out to the with one of his hands. He pressed a large green button and the floor around him began to slowly descend. "Ooh, helpful." You thought out loud, and Afton nodded. "Yes, very. Now, onto the Daycare Attendant."

You nodded, confirming that the tool bag was in your hand before following Afton back into the elevator. "You can only get to this room through this elevator or the lift, but you shouldn't need to work on him too often." He explained, pressing the button down to Parts and Services. Once back in Parts and Services, you instinctively brought the bag to the work bench, setting it down and double checking the contents before hanging it back up in its spot.

"Good. Now, the Daycare Attendant is different than anyone you've seen yet. They're special; three animatronics in one." He explained, and your interest was immediately peaked. "Three? How does that work?" You asked curiously. "It's a bit hard to explain entirely, but they switch out with each other based on light level. Sun and Moon are very likely the only two that you'll see, as Eclipse is a safety protocol to keep the children safe in the event of a threat." He explained. "Their structure is different as well; when either of them are in control, their chassis will shift and certain components will only be accessible then; such as Sun's rays or Moon's LEDs."

You nodded as a door shifted open, and you looked over. There was a bright yellow, celestial animatronic with poofy jester pants and ruffles around his ankles, wrist, and collar. Large, bright sun rays protruded from his head, which ticked to the left slowly. He looked a bit nervous, if you were honest. He walked over to Afton, who was near the cylinder, softly jingling bells accompanied by mechanical clicking as he took steps. He didn't seem to notice you.

"Hello, Mr. Afton! I saw that you put in an order for maintenance, is everything okay?" Sun asked, his voice uplifted, but quick and hyper with anxious undertones. "Yes, everything is fine, Sundrop. This is (y/n), they'll just be giving you a bit of a check-up, if you will." Afton explained, gesturing to you over by the work bench. Sun looked over to you, and his rays ticked once to the right before continuing to flick to the left. "Oh- a new friend! Hello, I'm Sun!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms up and out in a theatrical pose. He didn't seem too terribly nervous anymore.

You smiled at him and waved, "Nice to meet you, Sun!" You replied. He gave you an ecstatic wave, the bells around his wrist jingling intensely. You chuckled, then walked over towards them. The animatronic was taller than Freddy, who was the tallest of the Glamrocks. He stood at about seven feet tall, and absolutely towered over you. Afton was around six feet tall, that much you knew, but you barely reached five feet and three inches on a good day. You were practically eye level with Sun's stomach, and you looked up at the animatronic.

"Let's get started." Afton said, gesturing to the cylinder. Sun's nervousness came back and he started twisting his hands together as he turned around and entered the cylinder, hesitantly sitting in the seat. You followed behind him, giving him a reassuring smile.

I wonder why he's so nervous..

The cylinder door closed, and you turned around. Afton was on the outside of the chamber, and gave you a thumbs up. You furrowed your brows; was he testing you to see if you could do it alone?

You shook your head and turned back to Sun, who's bright, white eyes were on you. "Nervous, are you?" You asked softly, and Sun let out a forced, playful laugh. "Terrified, what gave it away?" He asked, and you chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be just fine." You reassured. "Go ahead and put your hands at your sides for me, please." You asked, and Sun did so- albeit with a small tremor in his hands. He places his wrists and ankles inside of the cuffs, and you pressed the button to lock them.

Sun flinched at the noise, and your eyebrows furrowed. This was beginning to look like a trauma response.

"I'm gonna open your chassis now, okay?" You asked. You hoped that talking him through it would help ease his obvious fear. He nodded, and you grabbed a screwdriver from the tool tray on the cart. You used the small stepstool underneath the chair to stand up taller, reaching over to find the buttons. They were a bit harder to find, and you were only able to find one. "I'm so sorry- where's your other button at?" You asked, and he lifted his chin up. "Under the ruffles, Sunshine."

You nearly dropped the screwdriver and blinked rapidly a few times. His voice was nervous and slightly shaky, but the nickname caught you way off-guard and you nodded quickly, reaching up to move his ruffled collar out of the way. You pressed the button with the screwdriver and his chest popped open. It didn't open all of the way, so you used your hands to push it open the rest of the way.

The innerworkings themselves were very similar to the Glamrocks, though there were quite a few different wires that the others didn't have. The set-up was similar, but it was definitely more intricate and most likely delicate as well. It was odd, really, to think that there were more than one animatronic in Sun's body- or, 'their' body, since Sun shared it. "I'm gonna make sure everything is connected right before I start, alright?" You explained, and Sun nodded again. You rolled up your sleeves and reached your hands in, a little nervous without Afton next to you.

You felt around the wires, testing their connection. Everything seemed to be in place good, and you gave him a smile. "All good in there. Just a little dusty, but I'll get that taken care of." You said, and grabbed the air hose. You clicked the button on the cart and the air flow started, blowing right at Sun. "Oh, sorry!" You moved the hose away from his face, and he let out a small laugh. "No worries at all!" He said, and you began to dust inside of his chassis. Once it was cleaned out, you placed a hand on his chest hatch to close it, but there was a knock on the window. You turned to see Afton, who shook his head. You tilted your head, but nodded as you grab the rag and spray bottle. You cleaned Sun's casing, removing small, greasy handprints and crayon markings. When you were done, he broke the silence.

"He's going to bring Moonie out, I think. He likes to let the techs see us change on the inside." He said, though it sounded odd and you both grimaced a bit. "I- probably could've worded that better, but you know what I mean." He said, and you laughed. "I gotcha." Your laugh was cut short by sudden darkness, the only light in the chamber coming from a small beam above the chair, pointed at the open chassis. You quickly turned, watching as the animatronics mechanical innards shifted, rotating around the 'ribcage' until an entirely different chassis was exposed. You looked up at Sun as his rays shrunk into his head and the left side of his face rotated, a darker faceplate taking place. He metal of their arms, impossibly, shifted from yellow to blue. You let out a gasp of disbelief, though you saw the way the casing pieces slipped underneath the others, switching out with each other. It was unbelievable regardless.

You instinctively touched the now blue metal, and a dark chuckle came from above you. You dropped the hose, jumping back a bit. "Shi- hi, sorry!" You stammered, putting your hands behind your back like a child caught getting into something. Moon's eyes were bright red- the LEDs Afton mentioned- and his mouth was curved into a sharp grin. There was a starry nightcap on his head, a bell attached to the end. "No need to apologize." He spoke, his voice deeper and more gravelly than Sun's. You cleared your throat, trying to rid yourself of the embarrassing pink dusting your face. "I'm (y/n), the new technician. Just doing some basic maintenance, if that's okay." You said, and Moon used his hand to gesture to himself.

You internally smacked yourself. So, not only do they share a body, but they're polar opposites.

You grabbed the hose from the cart, feeling down to the end of it. The nozzle had popped off when it hit the floor. You knelt down, feeling around for the nozzle in the dark. After a moment, you let out a frustrated huff. "Next to the cart." Moon said, and you nearly jumped out of your skin. Why? You had no idea. The DJ was easily scarier in the traditional sense, but something about the dark and his cool, calm demeanor was just such a stark contrast to Sun's personality just a moment ago. It was like whiplash.

You hovered your hand over the floor, feeling around the cart. Just as he'd said, the hose nozzle was by the back right wheel. "Thank you." You replied, standing up and reconnecting it before placing the hose back into it's spot. You walked back over to Moon despite your nerves, and you looked into his chassis. It was much dustier than Sun's, but everything looked like it was connected well. "Well, everything looks good- but, when was the last time you were worked on?' You asked, your focus shifting back to your job.

"Mm, about two months." He said, and you looked up at him. "Two months? Wh-" You scoffed. "That's way too long. The dust is starting to compact together." You muttered, grabbing the hose. You shook your head as you began blowing out the dust, which took more effort than you'd had to use yet. You were too caught up in cleaning him up to notice that Moon was staring at you, his eyebrow raised at your sudden attitude.

When you finally got all of the dust off of him, you let out a small cough from the particles in the air. "Alrighty, time to close you up." You said, closing his chassis hatch. You grabbed the rag and cleaning solution from the cart and cleaned his hands and arms, then his chest where there were small, greasy hand prints as well. There were no drawings on him, though it wasn't surprising. You'd come to assume by now that he was the naptime half of the Daycare Attendant.

When you were done, you looked up at him. "Good as new, I think!" You said triumphantly. Moon didn't say anything, but his grin widened and he tilted his head. You went to say something as the lights flicked on, and the switch happened. The nightcap spun and slipped into the crevice between the front and back of his rotating faceplate, where rays popped out. The metal shifted back to yellow and Sun grinned as he took control.

"AAAND I'm back!" He exclaimed and you chuckled, pressing the button to free Sun from the restraints. He sat up with a bounce, leaning forward. "Thank you! We feel much better, and it wasn't bad at all!" He said, and you gave him a warm smile. "I'm glad I could help, really. You did great, too." You said, and his rays ticked once to the right. "Thank you, Sunshine!" He responded, hopping out of the chair. You stumbled back a bit, slightly overwhelmed by his height.

The chamber door opened with a hiss, and Afton stood with a satisfied smile. "You did just as well as I thought you would. Congratulations; you're the most capable technician I've ever met."

Your jaw tried to fall slack, but you kept yourself together as you internalized the compliment. "You have no idea how much that means to me." You said, and let out an exhale. Sun grinned next to you, and clasped his hands together. "Sooo.. am I all good? The Daycare could use a little TLC." He asked, and Afton nodded. "Yes, you're free to go. It was good to see you, Sun." Afton replied, and Sun nodded. "You too!" He said before flashing you another grin and skipping off towards his door.

"Last order of business is the S.T.A.F.F. bot, but I've unfortunately been requested in Minnesota by nine in the morning, so I'm going to have to cut this a bit short. The S.T.A.F.F. bots are the easiest; they're nowhere near as complex as the Glamrocks, and you handled them phenomenally. S.T.A.F.F. spare parts are in the same room as the Glamrocks' and Daycare Attendants'." He explained, patting his pockets down as he went through a mental checklist of things that he came with. As if summoned, the broken S.T.A.F.F. bot entered the room through a small door that you hadn't noticed, next to the DJ's door.

"Oh- okay." You replied, looking around the room again. "I do apologize. Again, you'll be notified of any repairs or upgrades via your FazWatch. You can also message me directly from it, but I cannot guarantee that I'll reply in a timely manner, though I'll do my best." He said, then turned to the tool wall. "I cannot believe I forgot- these are keys to access the lifts. There's one on the main stage and one in DJ's arcade. I trust that you've got everything handled, but you can reach out to Vanessa for any help you may need. She's here, though she'll be busy until about 3am. On that night, I've got a plane to catch. Have a lovely night, (y/n)." He explained, and you nodded. "Okay, thank you for everything, Mr. Afton." You said as he left the room, and you exhaled deeply.

You turned, the STAFF bot now next to you. "Heya, little dude. Let's see what's up with you, huh?" You said, and gestured to the cylinder. The bot got the hint, turning and rolling into the chamber. You walked to the spare parts room, finding the STAFF bot parts. You grabbed a voice box, then exited the room and went to the cylinder. The bot was rather short, a bit shorter than you as it looked up at the chair, then to you, back, and then to you again. "Oh, sorry." You walked over, furrowing your brows. It turned towards you, and slightly lifted it's arms.

You awkwardly leaned down, wrapping your arms around the bot. You lifted with you legs, your eyebrows raising as the bot rather easily lifted off of the ground. You leaned forward, setting the bot on the chair as easily as possible. It rotated itself, lying on its back as it looked up at you. "Let's see what's up with ya." You mumbled, grabbing the screwdriver. You didn't see any buttons, but there were screws in places where you'd think buttons would be, so you removed the screws. When you were done, you placed the screws on the tray and popped the panel off.

It was definitely simple; there were less wires than any of the Glamrocks and everything was color coordinated. It didn't take you long to find it's voice box, which you disconnected entirely. You brought it out of the bot's chest, then used the screwdriver to take it apart on the tray. It was a generic voice box, and you clicked your tongue. Like you'd thought, it needed replacing, but you knew that wouldn't fix the personal space issue it had. You grabbed the replacement voice box and installed it, placing the wires in the order that they were in before.

"Can you say your greeting for me?" You asked, and it stopped moving for a second. "Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex, home of the Glamrocks! Please head to the service desk for admission and party passes." It spoke fluently, but it's body tried to jolt forward. You'd forgotten the restraints, and you quickly shoved the bot back down with a palm to it's chest. "Woah- okay! Something is definitely wrong with you." You said, a bit snappy from adrenaline, and the bot just looked at you.

"Sorry." It said. Your eyes snapped to it's face, and your face softened. "I- no, you're okay. It's not your fault, I just got spooked. It's my fault, really." It's hands had been sitting in the cuffs the entire time, you just forgot to lock them- like an idiot, you berated yourself. Good thing Afton left.

You walked to the button and pushed it, metallic cuffs clicking together. You shook your head and walked back over. "This seems like a behavioral processing issue, if I had to guess." You thought out loud. You opened the airlock door and walked around to the computer, sitting at the desk. "Alright, let's figure this out." You mumbled, waking the computer. There were three options; Repair, Upgrade, and Code. You clicked the 'Code' option, and a 'FazID needed' message popped up.

You furrowed your brows and looked at your FazWatch, then the computer. There was a small, flashing Freddy icon and you touched the face of your watch to it. There was a beep, and the pop-up disappeared. There was another button, with 'Connect to Animatronic' written above it. You glanced over to the STAFF bot, then clicked the button. There was a small metallic arm underneath the chair that shifted to the back of the bot's head, and then attached itself to the base of their neck. Three loading dots appeared, and then gave way to a large thread of code.

name: S.T.A.F.F. [16]

status: [on]

functionality: [83%]-moderate

program: [STAFF HVEMND]>?[FZBRENT]>?[ARLLC]

task: [greet]>location?>[main entrance]>[8a-10p]>performance?>[failure]

system: >/?[classified]<

behavior: [move.forward]>?[error]>[move.left]>?[error]>[move.right]>?[error]>[move.backward]>?[error]>functionality?>[12%]>performance?>[near-failure]

vocal: [greeting]>performance?>[failure]>cause>[corrupt data]>[solution]?>[recode]>[virusblock]

You furrowed your brows and you began rewriting the code. You didn't know what corrupted the data and you couldn't find any traces of a virus, but you installed a blocker after fixing the code. When you finished, you went over it again and made sure there were no mistakes. When you were positive, you pressed the 'Confirm' button, then the one labeled 'Reboot'. The bot powered down, and the mechanical arm moved away from it's neck.

As it rebooted, you reentered the cylinder and closed the door as it powered back on. Once it looked over to you, you nodded. "Welcome back, little dude. Let's hear that greeting."

"Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex, home of the Glamrocks! Please head to the service desk for admission and party passes." It spoke, and it didn't lunge. "Hell yeah. Alright, lets get you closed and cleaned up." You said, and got to work. When you were finished, you unlocked the cuffs and helped the bot onto the floor. It looked up at you, gave a thumbs up, and then said a small, "Thank you." You nodded at it and smiled, "Anytime, just let me know." The bot nodded slowly and you opened the door, letting it out. It left Parts and Services the way it'd entered, and you cleaned up the inside of the cylinder.

Now that everything on Afton's list had been taken care of, you figured it was about time to familiarize yourself with the building. You rubbed your palms together and exhaled, looking over to the tool wall. Your eyes landed on the brown tool bag and you walked over, pulling it down from its hook. You opened it, shifting through it as you went through the checklist attached to the wall.

You let out a frustrated groan; the vice grips and screw box was missing, but you shook the feeling away. You pulled the extra pair off of the wall, stuffing it into your bag before walking to a different part of the table. You looked at a few boxes of screws before finding the right ones and you put them in the bag, the grabbed one of the few cans of joint lubricant and stuck it in the bag as well. You picked the bag up, humming to yourself as you walked through the doors of Parts and Services.

Let's do this.

⋆⁺₊⋆ 𖤓☽ ⋆⁺₊⋆

aaaaa hi!! i hope you guys liked this, please let me know if you did! reblogs are always hella appreciated<3

taglist; @machopeach, @coolerthemanplz, @missdreamyhead

22 notes · View notes

shadowedvales-gone · 5 months ago

Text

there is something so important to me about jane going from the title of "the mage" when she's a child, to becoming more akin to a witch when she's an adult. something about her having that mythical vibe, an air of mystery about her [specifically after closing the gate, and the physical scars it leaves on her neck + hands] and an overall magical presence. her powers and abilities becoming more natural rather than science based after she learns to control them in a way that makes her comfortable, rather than feeling forced. even when she loses them at sixteen, and lives without them for about ten years, she still has that spirit about her. if jane lived long enough, she would absolutely fall under the category of "green/woodland witch" [probably would've moved into a cottage in the woods somewhere fr just for that peace and quiet. because she was never made for the modern world y'know. she gave it her best shot, it was never meant to be!] presenting a hippie / bohemian aesthetic in terms of clothing, furnishings in her home, the way she physically moves and her overall perception of the world. she would get in touch with her spiritual side, practising things like tarot reading, cleansing rituals, and divination. not that she needs to physically have her powers at this point to practise these things and live that sort of life, but it helps her get in touch with her emotions properly, and really gets her down that cathartic path that no amount of therapy or "modern" techniques could truly achieve. she becomes soooo ethereal can u believe it!!

#† ) STUDY [ . . . ] come my darling homeward bound.#it's all about the growth y'know?#jane referring to her powers as 'abilities' when she's a kid.#but calling them 'powers' when she's older.#it's the symbolism!!#“if jane lived long enough” i say sadly. like i'm not the one who killed her off at 24.#i have a secret verse out there where jane lives a long life and becomes a witch in the woods. <3 #uses her powers for minimal things. never has to use them for anything big.#never gets a nosebleed again bc there's no strain or pressure.#it's chill vibes all round.#think misty day from ahs tied in with sukkie from the witches of eastwick.#it's all just a GOOD VIBE.#i've also always compared her a bit to elsa from frozen. specifically with the song “show yourself”.#it's just the finding yourself side of things am i right!!!!!#thinking in this non-death verse.#she works in her shop until shes 28.#then sells up.#and moves out of hawkins FINALLY. get her out of there!!!#and idk where she moves yet. and idc if it's realistic or not.#but she moves into a cottage in the woods (think barbie diamond castle) and spends all day tending to her plants and doing witchy things #and living a quiet happy life. finally healing from everything.

5 notes · View notes

keeps-ache · 21 days ago

Text

i have Thoughts

#just me hi #i'm gonna ramble now check this out Lmaoo:#ofc any major belief built on hating someone sucks. like fundamentally #and mostly the idea is that you would be protecting yourself and the Similar-to-yous (which is U-2.0)#and it's confusing like. what do you get out of this ?#ik there's the satisfaction. the deep feeling of security you get in your stomach believing that you're right and your anger is purifying #that you're somehow anointed for persecution by Words and Actions you see through the other side of a water glass #and i don't know what i'm tryna say. i'm confused hjfshvgh #of course there's fear. there's a lot of fear. but it's very selfish fear. the kind that makes you protect others because they're Just like #you #and i dunno. what's the point ? so you hate somebody. that's cool :)#how can you love people then. do you love people because they are people or because they have faces you wish you had ? or you can see faces #on them that may not be there ? or they say your face can be like theirs if you only try and never stray ? or that you've had this face all #along. why change? you can't change it's wrong #i dunno man. this makes no sense !!#isn't it always scary to hate everything ? i know it is #like yes the world hates everyone anyway but what is special about that ? what makes this fear worth so much more than another person ?#i dunnooooooo ♪#maybe im just naive! but holding onto somethin like that until you find solace in misery is no way to be baby! i'm gonna go eat snow outsid #//anywhoooooooooo i AM drawing. and that IS in fact a lie i've been procrastinating on it for some timeeeeeeeeeee ggoroughhhhhhhhhhhh LMAO #i don't wanna :( but i REALLY wanna you get what i'm sayin hfshjgjfsh #it could be so easy.. life could be a dream life could be a dream... doo doo doo doo ba dee...... ♪#i need to find an animal for this though and i don't wanna 😔 i do hate this part of the process jfhgfjghjsf #don't like.. researching animals..... it's Not fun lol #but i must prevail. because it's inevitable that i do :/ oh wells #so i'm gonna GO and watch my VIDEO and have a SNACK and DRAW :33 because i WANNA. okey doke hjfshgs #TOODLES 💫💥#//edit: also lowkey i feel like hate is too weak word for this kinda thing ykno? like damn what's got the gates of hell open dude chill Lol #okay BYEEE

5 notes · View notes

weezerlvr228 · 5 months ago

Note

It's giving the...main character syndrome. like who tf does she think she is??? Y/N???

NO OH MY GOSH ANON. LET ME TELL YOU. LET ME FRIGGIN TELL YOU.

#okay so i need to give her a name. we will call her yn bc she is just so different and quirky and not like other girls #so i haven't liked yn since freshman year (am a junior) because she seemed incredibly pretentious. she has like awards n stuff for this #asian advocation group and tons of other stuff which is GOOD. but she has a tendency to brag and be very cocky about it.#AND YOU KNOW WHAT. IT WASNT JUST ME. MY FRIEND FROM SEMINAR who we will call Pie for certain reasons (her name rhymes with it) AGREED WITH #ME ABOUT YN BEING COCKY! and Pie and Yn are in the same group since they are both Asian and ppl at my school typically hang out w their rac #is that racist? like there's an asian boys group and asian girls group. but it's only asians and white people; but it's weird since a large #portion of my school is hispanic. i dunno WEIRD SIDE TANGENT BUT BASICALLY THEY ARE IN THE SAME GROUPS; RIGHT? so Pie was agreeing that Yn #can be very pretencious; and I'm then like #oh i don't really like her for the cheating stuff she did with Mac (fake name) and how she got #him to basically cheat on his girlfriend“ and Pie says ”oh well Mac started it; but Yn lead him on for over a month while he had a gf #and they kept this going until Yn decided to break things off; WHICH MEANS MAC'S NOW EX GIRLFRIEND NEVER KNEW ABOUT ANYTHING W MAC N YN!#also allegedly according to my boyfriend; Yn was doing homework as Mac was yk DOING it to Yn and she just like... LET IT HAPPEN WHILE HE HA #A GIRLFRIEND. HELLO? and when Yn ends it; he's like “omg but yn... i love you...” “no. i'll only hurt you; if you're with me it'll only hur #uh okay 25k words slowburn vibes.... ANYWAYS so she takes screenshots and sends them in a SUPER big groupchat with 20+ people (including Pi #and my boyfriend) and Pie (who was childhood friends with Mac) called her out saying how it was also kind of her fault for being with a guy #who was in a relationship; but she got super defensive about it. and this same thing happened AGAIN 2ish months later with a girl Jas and #her boyfriend Ben; where Yn was friends with both but basically was emotionally cheating with Jas; leading them to break up; and then she #GOT WITH JAS. HELLO???? WHAT??? and they r still together. none of them talk to Ben even though Yn said they were 'all cool and friends'#SUREEEE GIRL SURE. KEEP TELLING YOURSELF THAT. and Pie called her out on this AGAIN since Pie is friends with Ben and Jas too but Yn got #defensive AGAIN! BC SHE KNOWS ITS A SHITTY THING TO DO! and Pie doesn't really like her because of it and when Pie told me all of that I wa #in shock. because Yn was trying to play the victim in the situation with Mac when she sent the messages to the gc; and tried to do that AGA #N BUT IN THE SITUATION WITH JAS LIKE NO U ARE JUST A CRAPPY PERSON ! and appearently she is SO toxic she was nearly kicked out from a #leadership role at my school's asian pacific islander club or something! like girl WAKE UP! but that's not all; so i didn't know she was #known for going for people who had partners; yet still didn't like her; and last school year (about 4 months ago) my boyfriend got a 'reall #bad haircut' (i thought it was cute; but everyone made fun of him ) and Yn RAN around our campus trying to find him to make fun of him..#like wtf that's so weird and she will post screenshots of their convos on her story and be like 'omg he's bullying me!' when he's being dry #and did that in the gc (this time; i'm in it!) and i crashed out but my bf was apologizing and saying he told her to not post anything but #she didn't listen or something i guess. and sometimes when they are wearing similar outfits she'll post on her story that they are matching #um girl he has a wife and 12 kids. back the FUCK off. and i told him to distance himself from her or set boundries cuz i don't like that n #it makes me uncomfy; so he did which is good! but i still don't like Yn. she is a major pick-me IMO and very two-faced and covers her

1 note · View note

celiababy · 2 months ago

Text

Ain't Right

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader

Summary: You have a major (borderline obsessive) crush on Joel, and you're on a mission to fuck him.

Warnings: 18+ SMUT MDNI, age gap (56/20), swearing, fingering (fem!receiving), p in v, unprotected sex, size kink, cum eating, name calling, kinda mean Joel, alcohol, vomiting, an extremely brief mention of suicide

Disclaimer: I lowkey don't know the logistics of the show so if some things are wrong please look over it I'm just trying to write smut about Joel Miller godbless.

Ain't Right part 2

Ever since that tortured old man showed up in Jackson, your life hasn't been the same.

Tommy's older brother, and your absolute undoing.

When Joel Miller rode into town, it was like everything suddenly made sense. The skies got clearer, the air smelled better, and the birds even chirped their love songs louder.

Everything about him drew you in; his cold demeanor, stoic face, tired eyes—but gentle around those he cared about, which was only a few select people.

And you certainly were not one of those select people.

Joel didn't know what to think about you.

To him, you were odd. Yes, you were undoubtedly the most beautiful girl in Jackson, but he felt distance between the two of you was essential.

He felt this way because he knew.

Joel wasn't oblivious to your stares; he might've been an old man, but he remembered the laws of attraction fairly well.

He didn't like the thought of you liking him.

You were young, attractive, and had plenty of age-appropriate prospects just begging for your attention. Every boy in Jackson wanted a piece of you—but you only had eyes for Joel.

He was getting old and tired, ain't no reason why you should be so fond over him.

He also didn't like that you made your attraction so obvious. It made people whisper, and Joel about had enough teasing from Tommy.

"You gonna let that young thing jump your bones or what, Joel?" Is an example of the few things his brother would chirp at him whenever you were around and had eyes on him like he was a target.

So, all things considered, it's no surprise when Joel is reluctant to make a supply run with you.

You had begged Tommy to let you go out and finally start pulling your weight, carefully adding that Joel would be a great teacher for a first timer like yourself.

You stand near the truck, squeezing the straps of your backpack while watching Joel and Tommy whisper to themselves a couple feet away.

"You can't find anyone else?" Joel growls lowly, narrowing his eyes at his insufferable brother who he’d really like to strangle right now.

"Are you seriously scared of a twenty year old girl, Joel?" Tommy asked exasperatedly, throwing his arm out in disbelief. "It'll take two hours tops, what the hell are you so scared of?" Joel is exhaling through his nose, dragging a hand down his jaw in complete disgruntlement.

"You know what the hell I'm scared of Tommy—goddammit," He gets in his brother’s face before realizing you’re still watching them.

He takes a moment to back up and calm down, breathing out through his nose.

"I do not need this town thinkin' I am encouraging this girls...feelin's." He murmurs lowly.

Tommy rolls his eyes before shoving Joel's backpack into his chest.

"Just don't fuck her, Joel. How hard could it be?"

Joel watches as Tommy turns his back and walks away, leaving just you and him.

Joel had spent a lot of time making sure he was never in a situation alone with you—now he was about to be your unsupervised mentor.

He feels a groan try and crawl its way out his throat, but he pushes it down.

He starts walking to the truck, not even looking at you as he passes and yanks the driver side door open with more force than necessary.

"Let's make this quick." He grunts out, climbing inside.

You do the same, only with a little bit more enthusiasm. ***

The trip is a complete bust.

Joel barely paid you any attention, no matter how many flirty gestures you made at him.

You'd say something remotely suggestive and he'd either glare at you, or just flat out ignore you.

But you were relentless. Giving up on him wasn't in the cards for you, no matter how many judgmental looks he casted your way.

You guys had been driving back to town for around five minutes; Joel has kept his eyes firmly on the road in fear of you sparking a conversation with him.

But you do anyways.

You turn your body to face him in the bench seat, your eyes cascading down his breath-taking side profile.

You zoned in on the gray patches of his beard, and how his face had the remnants of a long, unforgiving life weaved into his wrinkles and scars.

You're momentarily rendered speechless by his looks before he side-eyes you.

"What?" He huffs out, not being able to handle your intense stare any longer.

"Why not?"

A beat.

"What?" He asks again, his brows furrowing together, an annoyed and confused expression painting his features.

"Why won't you fuck me?"

Joel physically winces at your language, scoffing in what looks to be disgust as he starts shaking his head.

"We're not starting this." He snaps firmly, a tone in his voice that you haven't heard before.

Completely disregarding his words, you start.

"Is it because I'm not pretty enough?" Joel groans out, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Is it because there's someone else?" He's close to snapping. "Is it because you can't get it up? I heard thats a problem with guys your age-"

Joel slams on the brakes, sending you lurching forward. He shoves the truck into park before turning to face you, a scary look on his face.

"I am not going to fuck you--Christ almighty," Joel raises his voice at you.

You're staring at him, wide eyes and lips parted in surprise. You weren't really expecting this.

"you're bustin' my fuckin' balls, Look kid," He starts up again, this time with a softer tone. "M'about 40 years too old for you-"

You cut him off with a murmur. "36, I did the math."

"Same damn thing," he snaps, shaking his head. "Point is—you don't needa be wastin' your time with me; there are plenty boys your age that will satisfy your...you."

You scoff in his face but try to disguise it by clearing your throat.

"I'm not asking you to marry me, Joel," You start, a sad smile spreading across your lips. "S'just sex." You say with a shrug, blush coating your cheeks because now your mind is imagining sex with him.

He stays silent and looks away from you, closing his eyes like he couldn’t believe this was happening.

That urges you to say more.

"I won't tell anyone," You're practically whispering, looking down at your fidgeting hands in your lap. "I'd let you do anything you wanted to me."

Joel's heart cinches in his chest at your words, mostly because he can tell you're being so genuine.

Why the hell did you like him so much? He just couldn’t understand it.

But he can't entertain this any longer because he knows if he did, he'd give into you.

"I don't wanna hear another goddamn word outta your mouth." Joel says in a strikingly even and calm tone, putting the truck into drive and continuing back.

He's eerily silent, and so is the rest of the trip because you're too dejected to speak.

Eventually, you both arrive home and you're fast to get out of the truck.

You slam the door and keep your head down as you walk away, snow crunching beneath your boots.

Joel takes his time, watching you storm off with tired eyes.

He feels bad for being so rough on you, but he figured it was the only way to get you to stop liking him.

Tommy walks up, a concerned look on his face as he looks back between you and Joel.

"Guessin' you didn't fuck her."

***

Nobody had seen you in days.

The pain of rejection had you in a mental place that you had never experienced before.

No one has ever denied you—ever.

The situation was 100x worse considering you actually liked Joel, and he wasn't just another toy to play with.

Joel figured his life would get easier with you not around, and it kinda did in some aspects.

But he couldn't stop the gnawing feeling of guilt slowly eating at him like a parasite.

He'd been cruel to you in the way he went about things, and he felt bad.

Had he really broken your heart? He didn't know you liked him that much.

He sits in his living room, contemplating how to go about this entirely fucked up situation.

He debates making amends with you, apologizing and rejecting you again but in a gentler way.

He deliberates on his plan of action while nursing a glass of whiskey before he's interrupted by three bangs on his front door, followed by a screeching: "JOEL"

He mutters a 'what the fuck' under his breath, walking to the door and picking his 9mil up on the way.

His eyes widen when he sees you-standing there in all your glory.

It's the middle of winter and snowing like hell, yet you're wearing shorts and a tank top with a beer bottle in your hand.

"Jesus, kid-what the fuck," Joel ushers you inside quickly, taking his big jacket off the coatrack and draping it over you.

He also tosses his gun to the side, obviously you were no threat.

"You tryin' to get frostbit? Christ," he's swearing and muttering profanities as he guides you over to the couch, now basically swaddling you in blankets.

You've never been inside his house before, only ever walked passed it a few times. It smells like him.

You, however, smell like alcohol and bad decisions.

Joel picked up on how drunk you were the minute you stumbled through the door. He takes the bottle from your hand and sets it aside somewhere, glaring at you like how a mad parent would.

"The hell are you doin' out in the snow like that? Fuckin' death wish or somethin'?"

His words are kinda fuzzy in your ears, you're so drunk that you barely even register them.

An unprompted giggle spills from your lips as you shake your head at him.

"It's not snowing silly," You chide, making him out to be an idiot when, in actuality, it's a damn blizzard outside.

He knows from that statement alone that you are way off your rocker tonight.

"How much have ya had to drink, kid?" Joel asks, raking a hand through his graying hair.

"Don't call me kid," You snap, a quick flash of anger in your expression. "M'not a kid."

Joel rolls his eyes so hard that he probably caused a tsunami on the other side of the world.

“Yeah yeah, whatever. What are you doin’ here?” He asks exasperatedly, dragging a hand down his jaw while looking at your trembling figure.

There’s a long pause before you answer. You just got distracted by his big brown eyes.

“Jus’ wanted to say hi.” You murmur, unable to tear your gaze away from his face.

“Say hi?” He reiterates, looking at you like you’ve actually lost your mind.

You probably have.

After a moment, Joel can’t help but chuckle in disbelief, letting his body lean back against the couch.

The absurdity of it all turned humorous to him.

Here you are, sitting in his living room, practically nude with only his coat and blankets protecting your modesty, having just trekked through the snow all for what? To say hey?

You’re still sitting there, motionless and trying to remember how to breathe because his laughing face has your heart lighting off fireworks.

“Fuckin’ hell—hi.” Is all he says, turning his head to the side to look at you as he crosses his arms over his chest.

You smile like a dope at him, so extremely happy to be there in his company.

But the alcohol in your system is fighting you, and you’re finding it hard to keep your eyes open.

“S’it cool if I say the nigh?” You slur, falling vertically on the couch, your head crashing onto Joel’s thigh.

You nuzzle your cheek against the fabric of his jeans and Joel is just about to gently push you off, but he stops himself.

You look so comfortable and so at peace that Joel can’t do anything except stare at you.

Your cheek is slightly smushed, your lips are parted, your eyes are shut and don’t plan on opening—it’s insane to him how at home you looked.

Like you belonged here, head rested on his lap.

Fuck.

He was fucked this time.

He doesn’t move you. Instead, he fixes the blankets on top of you so you’re fully covered, and sits there with you the entire night.

He’s really gone soft.

***

When morning comes, you’re first to wake up, accompanied by a splitting headache.

You don’t even notice how Joel’s hand had fallen onto your waist some time during the night because you’re too busy making a b-line for the bathroom.

You chuck your guts up into the toliet, clutching the porcelain and groaning out in pain.

Joel wakes up to the sound of your hurling, momentarily disoriented before he remembers last nights events.

He’s quick to come to your aid in the bathroom, wasting no time gathering your hair in his fist to get it out of your face.

"S'right, get it all out," He murmurs out encouragingly, seemingly unfazed by the disheveled sight of you.

You’re too sick to be embarrassed, that’ll come later surely.

He sits on the wall of the tub as he continues holding your hair back, yawning every now and then like this was just a regular Tuesday morning.

Eventually, by the mercy of God, you get it all out of your system and slump up against the wall.

“M’sorry,” You immediately apologize, figuring that is the only right move in this situation.

“Don’t be. Been through plenty'a that in my day.”

His words are uncharacteristically reassuring and you find yourself taken back by them.

You soon realize this is probably just the hazy morning Joel, the Joel where he isn't worried about anything except coffee and breakfast—like everything wrong in his life is put on the back burner for this short minute in time.

“I’ll get you some water and Advil, sit tight.” He grunts before standing up on his feet, knees popping as he walks out.

You watch as he leaves, wiping the corners of your mouth with the back of your hand.

Aside from the vomit part, you could get used to this.

You've never seen him so...domestic. His hair was all messy, his voice was raspy, he had that morning haze over his features that you felt so honored to witness.

You suddenly felt compelled to look at your own appearance, hopping to your feet and looking in the dirty mirror.

You resist the urge to audibly gasp at your reflection, opting for a disgusted look instead.

Your hair is a rats nest, your clothes are a mess, and your mascara has rubbed off in black smudge all over the skin around your eyes.

In a desperate attempt to look at least semi-presentable, you wash your face with water and comb through your hair with your fingers.

The idea that Joel had seen you looking like that was making your stomach churn again.

Before you can grovel about it any longer, he rounds the corner with a glass of water and little brown pills in his hand.

“Here,” He says softly, handing you the water and tilting the pills into your open palm. “Take these ‘n drink all that water and ya should get to feelin’ better.”

You do as he says, swallowing the Advil in one go before taking a big sip to wash it down.

His eyes drift down to your shoulder, where your tank top strap has fallen. No doubt from all that vigorous throwing up you were doing moments ago.

Without thinking, his fingers graze your forearm before bringing the strap back up to its correct position, clearing his throat in the process.

A beat of silence falls over the both of you.

You’re gobsmacked by the complete nonchalance of his touch, staring at him with your mouth slightly open in shock.

“What?” He asks defensively, his tone pointed.

You look between him and your shoulder strap, then slowly move to set your water down.

“Are you sure we can’t fuck?”

“Goddammit—” Joels cursing before you can even finish saying the last word in your sentence.

He turns away from you, probably the fastest you’ve seen anyone turn in their life, and walks towards his room with an accelerating pace.

He shakes his head in disbelief all the way down the hall, pivoting on his heel to duck into his bedroom.

You follow him, not really fazed by how he completely refused to answer your question, though you didn’t think he would anyway.

Before you can step foot into the threshold of his room, Joel walks out, causing you to back up.

He shoves a stack of clothes in your direction, looking down at you with a frustrated face. “Put these clothes on and go home.”

You look down, realizing he was letting you borrow a sweater and jeans of his so you didn’t die walking back to your house from the cold.

Your heart warms at this thoughtfulness.

Without wasting any time, you take the clothes from his hands, smiling happily. “Can I keep them?”

“Why the hell would you wanna keep my clothes?” He’s got that confused/angry look on his face as he asks, and you have to suppress a giggle at the sight of it.

You bring the pieces of fabric up to your nose and inhale, humming as you breathe out again. “They smell like you.”

“Christ,” Joel beings his hands up to rub at his eyes. “Fine, do whatever. Just hurry up and change, jesus,"

Ever the tease, you set down his clothes and begin to lift your tank top like you planned to change right in front of him.

Joel's hands shoot out to stop you, a 'don't try me,' look on his face.

"Put them on over your clothes," Joel says sternly, watching the way you sigh because you weren't fast enough in lifting your tank top off.

However, you sieze the opportunity in front of you.

Joel's hands are holding yours down, so you work to intertwine your fingers, invading his space by stepping forward.

"Or, you could take my clothes off," You purr, your chest now flush with his torso.

Joel exhales through his nose, his jaw clenching as he tried deciding how he was going to get out of this situation.

But then he paused.

Looking down at you now, so eager and wide eyed, made him wonder.

If he fucked you, and made you realize it wasn't what you were probably imagining in your head, maybe then you'd finally leave him alone.

He would just...pretend to be awful at sex.

(Even though it had been so long and he wasn't sure if he'd actually need to 'pretend' anymore.)

There's a long silence that drags out between the both of you.

Your stomach is doing flips because it's looking like he's finally going to agree.

His resolve cracks and Joel can't do anything but sigh in defeat.

Slowly, Joel pulls you back into his room, closing the door behind you both.

Time is moving in slow motion.

You can't believe it's finally happening.

He guides you back until the back of your knees hit his bed, prompting you to sit down on it.

"I'm only going to do this once," Joel's voice is uncharacteristically low and calm, and it has your core tightening.

You nod in acknowledgement, waiting to see what he's going to do next.

With care, he pushes your shoulder down so you're laying on your back. "Are you sure you want this?" He asks, brown eyes searching yours.

"Have I not made it obvious?" You quip, a giggle following shortly after.

Joel only shakes his head before his fingers latch around the fabric of your shorts, pulling them down and off your legs.

"S'pose you have." He murmurs, scratching the back of his neck.

You're vibrating with excitement and you repeat what you tried earlier, only this time succeeding with taking your top off.

Of course, you're not wearing a bra.

Joel realizes in that moment that he bit off way more than he could chew.

He hasn't seen breast that weren't on a soggy piece of paper in at least a few years, and yours--well, his cock stood no chance.

You hear him swallow, watching as he can't seem to stop staring at your chest.

Realizing that he might need a little encouragement to start speeding things along, you smile up at him and whisper, "touch me Joel".

Yeah, screw this. His plan of pretending to be bad was now entirely forgotten—he was going to do what he wanted, so help him god.

He huffs out a curse before sliding a hand up your torso, stopping once he's fully cupped one of your breasts in one hand. He kneads it like dough while using his other hand to disappear under your panties.

A choked moan erupts from your lips once you feel his fingers brush along your clit, rubbing around and spreading your slick around all too slowly.

"haven't even done anythin' yet and you're already fuckin' soaked..." He murmurs really to just himself, his eyes casting down to watch as he rips your underwear off impatiently.

"M'always like this whenever you're around," you mewl to spur him on, spreading your legs wider.

"Oh you are, huh?" Joel repeats back, the tiniest bit of cruelty in his tone that makes you shiver.

You nod, bucking your hips into his hand desperately.

"don't get why you like an old man like me, s'gross." His tone is flat but it's clear he's teasing by the way he curls his fingers inside of you. He's not really expecting a response, but you feel compelled.

You lurch forward, gasping at the feeling. "I really like you," You rush out breathlessly. "I'd do anything you wanted me to." You say earnestly as you stare into his eyes, loving what you're seeing.

Joel remembers when you told him that the first time, his heart cinching the same way it did then.

Joel is at war with himself. One side of him is screaming that this whole situation is fucked up and he is better off without you.

Another part of him thinks that this is the most he’s ever felt in a long time. And he doesn't want to lose it.

You can see the gears turning in his head. His fingers have slipped from you and you wince at the loss.

Slowly, you sit up. Your arms wrap around his shoulders, your nipples pressing into his shirt.

He's confused and momentarily panicked when your faces get so close together, his hands seeking purchase on your hips.

In an unexpected move, you rake your hands through the side of his hair, looking lovingly at his face.

"I just wanna be someone for you," You murmur, your face breaking a little as Joel's resolve also cracks. "Doesn't matter what. I'm very versatile." You mumble the last part to try and lighten the mood.

Joel just stares at you—something swimming behind his eyes that you can't quite place.

Eventually, he crashes his forehead against yours, sighing out.

"You're makin' this fuckin' impossible." He rasps before kissing you with a passion you've never felt before.

You feel victorious.

He's finally given in to you.

Eagerly, you kiss back, wrapping your legs around his torso and grinding your bare cunt against the bulge in his jeans.

"Then stop trying so hard to get rid of me," You sigh out, chasing his lips even as you're trying to speak.

He groans and you catch it in your mouth, the pressure on his clothed cock making him dizzy.

“Fuck,” He’s quick to unbuckle his belt, sliding it out of the loops and tossing it somewhere on the floor. “Lay back.” He demands and you immediately follow suit.

He's never been that...assertive with you before. It makes you tingle all over.

He looks starved as he peers down at you, specifically your cunt.

He literally can’t tear his eyes off your sex—he only looks up to your gaze when you let out an impatient whine.

He rips down his pants, letting his cock spring free and slap against his stomach.

Now you can’t tear your eyes away from his sex.

You’ve only dreamt it so many times, but now that it’s finally in front of you—it all just feels surreal.

It’s better than you imagined, perfect.

“I don’t have a—”

You know what he’s about to say so you cut him off immediately. “S’okay, like it raw. Closer to you that way.” You murmur.

Joel looks physically pained that he’s not inside you right now. For some reason, you just know all the right things to say.

“Closer to me?” He huffs out, hooking his arms around your thighs and pulling you down to the edge of the bed where he stood.

Now your cunt is flush with the base of his member and the sensation drives you both insane. “You’re fuckin’ insane.”

Joel rasps, but the way he says it reveals just how far he’s fallen. He knows you’re crazy, and yet here he is, balancing you out.

He glides his member back and forth against your folds, gathering up your wetness with a clenched jaw and furrowed brows.

He looks so concentrated—meanwhile you’re writhing with pleasure and impatience. Your cunt is clenching around nothing, desperate for him.

“So fuckin’ pretty,” he murmurs to himself, eyes tracing all over you.

You freeze.

Joel had complimented you for the first time, and it was genuine.

He notices you stiffen and takes a moment to pause.

Your entire body erupts with goosebumps, your heart beating at exceptionally fast speeds.

He's worried for a second that something is horribly wrong.

“What?” He asks, confused at what’s got you so wound up.

Your face is flushed red as you bashfully giggle. “You called me pretty.”

Ah fuck.

Joel finds you so charming it hurts.

After he remembers how to breathe again, he rolls his eyes and clears his throat.

“I have my cock to your cunt, of course I find you pretty.”

You smile and shrug. “Still. Nice to hear.” You’re all smiles until his tip prods at your entrance, causing a gasp to leave your throat.

He continues to apply pressure with his tip and it’s driving you crazy.

“Fuck Joel—are you trying to kill me?” You whine, hips wiggling to get him in.

He scoffs and shakes his head. “Relax, m’almost there.”

Slowly, he begins pushing his way inside. His mushroom head breaches you entirely and it feels like you can hear the angels singing.

He continues forward, the stretch being mainly around the middle of his thick cock.

But you’re taking it like a champ.

Joel braces himself with hands on both sides of your torso as he bottoms out, a groan crawling its way out of his throat.

The sensation is absolutely delicious.

A little bit of pain from the stretch, but so much pleasure from the fullness.

“Joel, ohmygod you feel so good inside me.” You moan, throwing your head back.

Your hips start moving on their own, but he immediately stops you with two large hands.

“D-Don’t move—fuck.” Joel grumbles out, his face pinched together in what looked like pain.

You’re confused for a moment, thinking maybe that he might just be really into cockwarming.

But then it hits you.

“Were you gonna come?” The tone in your voice makes it seem like you’d be elated if that was the case—like the most flattering thing in the world.

Joel looks pissed that you caught on so quick.

In truth, the moment he put his tip in, he was holding back his orgasm.

Can you blame him? He’s only fucked his hand for the last couple years.

“S’been a while.” Is all he can say, his chest heaving up and down in concentration. You know he’s embarrassed, but you can’t help but smile like a dope at him.

“If you come, please do it inside, please,” you beg, reaching out for his arms that caged you in.

Joel's rational mind feels like it just touched down in looney town after hearing your begging.

He feels crazy because he liked the thought of the idea you proposed. You even see him hesitate. But then he scoffs and shakes his head.

Joel drops down closer to your face, slowly starting to rock his hips into you. "Tryin' to baby trap me, girl?" He grunts in your ear, making you moan out.

Your walls are clenching down on him, and it’s making it that much harder to hold back. “No-no, promise, just wanna be full of you." You manage to blubber out...unconvincingly.

You probably didn't really want a baby with Joel, but your lust-driven brain was working on fumes and you just wanted to do what felt good.

Joel's grunting in your ear was not helping things. His fingers were gripping your hip so hard, you figured it would probably bruise tomorrow

Good. You wanted whatever he would give you.

"Christ--m'not gonna last much longer," Joel groans, picking his head up a little to meet your gaze. He wanted to kick himself for not being able to last, but when he saw your face, all those feelings disappeared.

You looked so--perfect. Soaking up the moment in case it was the last, god you hoped it wasn't the last time. Now that you've finally had a tase of him, you weren't sure you could live without it.

Your legs tighten around his waist, keeping him firmly in your cunt. Joel notices this and also your pleading eyes, a growl leaving his throat.

"Please, please, please, please," you beg, never breaking eye contact with him as his thrusts pick up speed.

He ruins your long string with pleas with a needy kiss, shoving his tongue down your throat like a starving man.

You accept it happily, moaning out into the kiss while Joel manhandles your hips to take his cock.

The feeling is damn near euphoric for both you and him. It gets even better when Joel's hand comes down to rub at your clit again.

Your back arches off the bed as you gasp and moan out, wrapping your arms back around his shoulders. "F-Fuck!" You moan into his ear, probably drooling on his shoulder in the process. "thankyouthankyouthankyou-" you sputter out in choked sobs. He was really good at working on your clit, you couldn't do anything else but thank him for it.

Joel feels a surge of something when he hears you. He's never had a woman thank him in bed before.

It's enough to push him over the edge. And apparently you too.

"I'm gonna come Joel, please don't stop," There are pools of tears in your eyes that Joel is just now noticing. He's about to reply to you, but he finds himself speechless when he feels your cunt start constricting and fluttering around him like a vice.

"Fuck!" He groans out loudly, his hips starting to falter in their rhythm. But then he picks up speed again, and in no time he's like a madman jackhammering into you.

You're a mess of screams and cries and moans underneath him, happily taking everything he was giving you.

When Joel feels himself about to come, he notices how your legs are still tightly wrapped around him, keeping him inside, and he manages to scoff out.

"Gotta let me go baby," You've never heard that pet name from him before, and it makes you crumble. His hands move to grab at your thighs, kneading the flesh there.

You whine out but reluctantly release the grip your legs had on him. Joel doesn't waste time before hugging both your legs on his chest, keeping them firmly placed while your feet squirmed by his ear.

"Atta girl," he murmurs before picking up speed again, his cock head pressing into your cervix.

It's all too much for you. Joel looks so amazing pounding into you from above, his concentrated face, his sweat, the way his salt and pepper hair is all disheveled, you're losing your mind.

Your core is on fire and you can't stop yourself.

In a staggering turn of events, you come first.

Your walls come down like bricks on his dick, you cry out, throwing your head back in complete bliss and ecstasy.

Seeing and feeling this, Joel is quick to follow in your steps. He rips himself from that warm hole of yours and pumps himself dry onto your stomach.

You watch it all with wide eyes, you wouldn't have missed Joel's orgasm face for the world!

Of course, his eyes were squeezed shut, his mouth was open as he was breathing heavily, and his eyebrows turned down like he was mad.

God he was so beautiful.

His thick ropes of cum shoot all over your stomach and even your breasts as he jerks himself off to completion.

When he finishes, he takes a moment to catch his breath, finally opening his eyes to see you scoop up his cum from your breast with your finger and shove it in your mouth.

Your tongue swirls around his seed and you swallow eagerly, humming out in satisfaction at the taste of him.

Joel's watching in complete fascination, though his expression looks a little angry. When does it not?

"taste so good," you mumble with your finger still in your mouth, looking up at him with your big eyes.

He moves before he can think about it--ripping your hand away from your lips and caging you in a slow but deep kiss.

He soon falls down beside you and soon rolls over onto his back, his chest rising and falling from the excursion.

You curl into his side, watching his side profile so intently. You had just fucked Joel Miller.

And it was everything you had dreamed of. Extreme happiness doesn't even begin to describe your feelings right now.

There's a long stretch of silence that drapes over the both of you. Eventually, Joel breaks it with something extremely off topic.

"Last night...you didn't just come here to say 'hi', did you?"

You're momentarily speechless, not expecting that question from him at all. But you can't stop a giggle from coming through your lips.

"Actually, I came to confront you." Your voice is soft as you begin speaking, thinking back to last night's ordeal.

Joel doesn't expect this answer, his head turns to look at you while you speak. His arm comes down to drape over your shoulder.

"I was really upset cus you rejected me n'all. I just couldn't accept the whole, 'age gap' excuse. I wanted to know if you just really didn't like me or not." You're murmuring, drawing soft lines with your finger on the skin of Joel's chest.

He huffs out a breath at the explanation, shaking his head. "Guess you got your answer, huh." He grumbles out, somewhat ashamed of himself that he couldn't hold back.

You smile and lean up to kiss his cheek. "I did," you chirp happily, admiring his face again. "You know you're gonna have to fuck me, like, everyday now, right?"

You're kidding. But you're also not at all.

Joel scoffs and sits up, moving to pick up both his and your shirts. "Fat chance. Barely had enough stamina for one round." He grunts out, finding the neck hole in your tank top and putting it over your head for you.

You don't bother to pull it down over your breasts so Joel does it for you.

"It's okay, we can build up your tolerance over time." You quip with a teasing smile, loving the way Joel turned to glare a you.

He couldn't believe the youth these days.

#joel miller #joel tlou #joel miller smut #joel miller x reader #the last of us hbo #smut #one shot #drabble #tlou fanfiction

4K notes · View notes

lokissweater · 2 months ago

Text

a million more novembers

{mlb!megumi fushiguro x f!reader}

summary: its you and megumi’s cute little two year anniversary! a car picnic at a stargazing hotspot in the city— snacks, drinks, your loving baseball man, and gifts galore? yes please!

warnings: MDNI. afab!reader, cursing, FLUUUUFFF GALOOREEEE AWWWUUHHH!!, sexual themes, mostly sfw except for like one steamy part ;), boobie sucking, grinding, soft loving megumi OFCCC, sliight angst but really nothing, all characters are aged up, mentions of reader having ‘pink cheeks’ is only to amplify and over-exaggerate feelings of embarrassment, shyness, and everything in between, and not to be taken literally! this is a work of fiction, and you can imagine many things for yourself :)

word count: 8.8k

authors note: ANNIVERSARY SPEECCCIIAAALLL I AM CRRRYYIINNNGGG!!! i hope you guys enjoy this little side fun mini chapter of sir gumi and reader’s anniversary day, and their endeavors with yuji and readers best friend :333 wanted to give you guys an extra mlb!megumi chapter in celebration of their LUUUUVVV !!! MWAAAHHHHH I LOOOVEE YOUUUU !!! TAKE CAAAREEEE !!! <3333333

i highly advise you to read the other parts of this series or else you won’t be able to understand some of the storyline and references :( you can find my mlb!megumi fushiguro masterlist here!

if you could, you’d fake pass out at this very moment so that way you’d be excused by your professor and get the fuck out of your afternoon lecture right this instant.

but you couldn’t, because attendance was mandatory and you’d lose points upon missing out… and you had an exam next week— which is something you normally just grumbled about and dealt with seeing as it was just a part of being in college, except right now? it was criminal to even think about an upcoming exam like this.

because it was you and megumi’s two year anniversary.

and the only thing you wanted to do was be there with him for the entire day… but because of your classes and megumi having abnormal back to back practices again due to the upcoming world series, you both agreed that you’d drive over to the stadium after your afternoon class and leave together for your little date after he was done.

but even though megumi had practice, you wanted to be at the stadium so fucking badly— watching him pitch and swing and just do what he does best one of your absolute favorite hobbies, the way he plays never getting old and actually illegal to even think that something like that could be a possibility.

you shrunk down in your seat, arms crossed as your professor went over topics about something and guidelines about whatever, you usually paying more attention to the material if it was any regular day but wanting to strangle yourself because the education system was preventing you from being with your man.

your phone lit up suddenly with a notification, you smiling softly to yourself upon realizing who it was and sitting up, grabbing your phone to unlock it.

(gumi <3): how’s class baby

you quickly typed back a response.

(you): do you think if i pretend to pass out right now my professor will excuse me and i can just leave

(gumi <3): lol

(gumi <3): you only have thirty minutes left though right?

(you): okay but gumi what does that have to do with me wanting to pretend to pass out so i can go see you faster

(you): and make fan edits of you while i wait

(you): I— I MEAN—

(gumi <3): omg

(gumi <3): you’ve made enough of those

(gumi <3): no more

you quietly scoffed in your seat, thumbs rapidly typing away.

(you): gumi i can’t believe you’re not supportive of my extra curricular activities rn

(you): after EVERYTHING i’ve done for you

(you): after all the times i’ve sucked your dick

(you): and i thought you liked my edits :(

megumi took a minute to respond before your phone buzzed again.

(gumi <3): LOL

(gumi <3): i do baby i’m kidding

(gumi <3): and don’t put that image in my head rn

(you): oh??????

(you): and why not???? ;))

(you): boner alert perhaps??? ;))

(you): maybe today during our cute little date you can take me to pound town in the back seat of your car and make me cum and cry all over your dick gumi!!

you shrunk further down in your seat and snickered quietly, funnily shielding your phone to prevent anyone else seated around you in your lecture from seeing the absurd messages on your phone.

(gumi <3): jesus fucking christ

(gumi <3): why are you doing this

(you): because i loooveee youuuu <33

(you): and i can’t wait to seee youuuu <333

(you): maybe i should go to the bathroom rn and send you a boobie pic :P

(gumi <3): please

(gumi <3): fuck wait my breaks over i have to go

(gumi <3): fuck

you mushed a hand over your mouth to prevent yourself from laughing out loud, typing a response.

(you): BAAAAHAHAHAH

(you): OMG IM SO SORRY GUMI

(you): HAVE A GOOD REST OF YOUR PRACTICE OKAY ILL SEE YOU IN A BIT! <3

(gumi <3): do you think if i pretend to pass out coach will excuse me

(you): NO GUMI

(you): GOOOO

(you): GO PLAY GO PLAY

(gumi <3): god

(gumi <3): fine

(gumi <3): i love you pretty baby i’ll see you

(gumi <3): and pay attention

(you): i love you too gumiiii !!! <333

(you): NO PROMISES BYE !!!

(you): SMOOOCCCHHHH

you breathed out softly through your nose and set your phone back down, one leg crossing over the other as you impatiently waited and practically glared at the powerpoint slides in front of you, your ankle bouncing and mind drifting off again— double checking over the list of things you and megumi needed for your date instead repeatedly in case you forgot something.

since your anniversary couldn’t be an all day thing, the two of you planned a cute little car picnic date at a star gazing hotspot out in the hills of the city, a place megumi had actually been to before in his childhood with gojo and his sister, and one he said he remembered to be nice and quiet with a good view of the stars, similar to how they looked like when you all went on that trip in the mountains a few months ago with his dad, yuji, and your best friend— the fact only making you overly ecstatic, since megumi suggesting something like that without a little gruff and huff was always a special rare sight to see.

and the only things megumi literally allowed you to bring were the fuzzy blankets and pillows and such, him forbidding you from buying absolutely anything else like snacks, drinks, and the food, saying that he had it and it was okay— simply only chuckling and lightly flicking your forehead when you grumbled and fought with him over it in the hopes that he would let you take care of at least half of the things.

he did not.

“alright i think i’ll stop here for today and let you guys go a little earl—”

you shot up from your desk and shoved your books in your bag, not even letting your professor finish before you were already up and speed walking out of the lecture hall and down your building, thanking the gods above for the thousandth time that megumi’s stadium was only a fifteen minute drive from your campus, and therefore made it so much easier for you to drive on over without difficulties and pretty much whenever the fuck wanted… which was all of the time.

just as you plopped in the drivers seat and chucked your bag to the passengers side, an apparent buzzing vibrated through the right back pocket of your skirt as you reached in to pull it out, your best friend’s name flashing at the top.

“hellooo!” you answered, swinging the door shut and turning on the ignition, the heater unit blasting through the vents and warming up the spiking chilly temperature in your car.

“hi babe!” your best friend greeted. “how far away are you?”

“i just got out of class! i should be there in about ten if i go over the speed limiiit.” you grinned, putting your phone on speaker and setting it down on your lap, backing out of your parking space.

“SHE SAID TEN MINUTES GOING OVER THE SPEED LIMIT MEGU— what?! i can’t— i can’t hear you idiot you’re across the fucking field!—”

you laughed loudly as you drove out of your campus parking lot, zooming down the street and going the usual route to his stadium.

“oh my— megumi ordered and yelled at me to call you to see how far you were babe.” she sighed. “when is this man ever gonna treat me fairly this is ridiculous— WHAT?! TELL HER WHAT?!—”

“i’m about eight minutes away now!” you laughed. “tell him that please i’m almost there—”

“WAIT SHE SAID SHE’S EIGHT MINUTES AWA— oh my god okay megumi says not to go over the speed limit and to park next to him in the players parking lot.”

“tell him i said watching him play baseball is more important than the law i don’t give a—”

“SHE SAID WATCHING YOU PLAY BASEBALL IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE LAW— oh he’s coming. save yourself and hang up y/n he’s coming— YUJI GET HIM HE’S GONNA TAKE MY PHONE— ARGH STOP!—”

“—go over the speed limit and see what happens.”

a different deeper voice muttered over the line, partially out of breath and one you instantly recognized to be megumi’s as you giggled.

“gumi the speed limit is a social construct and if i don’t get to watch you play for the last thirty minutes of practice i’m gonna gauge my eyeballs out.”

“baseball’s also a social construct.” he deadpanned. “and you watch me play all of the time baby don’t speed you drive like a fucking street racer sometimes.”

“but isn’t it cool and sexy that i do? eehh?” you quipped in a silly way. “and i don’t care how many times i’ve seen you play gumi… i still need to be admitted into a mental facility each time it’s embarrassing.”

he chuckled softly.

“you almost here?”

“yeah! i’m just pulling into the stadium i’m going over to your structure right now.”

“okay.” he spoke. “park next to me please.”

“—megumi i told her that already—”

“can you not eavesdrop—”

“—if it has to do with y/n fuck no—”

“—okay!” you sputtered while shifting your gear to park and turning off the ignition, cutting their bickering off. “i’m here gumi i’m gonna walk to the stadium now.”

“alright i’ll see you baby.”

“i’ll see you!—”

“your phone time’s revoked asswipe give me my device right now—”

“—can you mind your fucking business for two seconds—”

“NO!—”

you winced and hung up the phone, shaking your head amusedly as you grabbed your keys and stepped out of the car before locking it, walking your way over across the parking structure and to the entrance of the stadium, maneuvering through various hallways and corners like muscle memory and politely saying hello to some of the team’s staff that you recognized as you walked.

you passed through the main hall— megumi’s giant glorious handsome portrait still displayed proudly against the wall amongst his other teammates, prestigious awards and trophies in glass frames and casings littering the room from practically top to bottom as you happily moved through the hall, passing by the same bench that you first unknowingly and officially met megumi in while you were embarrassingly crying your eyes out over him— a treasured memory that you swoon over every now and then at the way he kindly gave you his sunglasses to hide your big fat tears.

you hoped that megumi’s management never replaced that freaking bench, as you wanted to put a plaque on it in commemoration of you and your emo man, knowing that if they ever did you’d be at those stadium doors first thing in the morning to grab and take it home with you to keep.

upon opening the doors to the stadium, you continued on down the steps as you looked on ahead and squinted your eyes, distant hollers and the clanking of bats echoing through the otherwise peaceful atmosphere, several players out on the field practicing and pitching but none being megumi as you reached the bottom and went inside the bullpen, expecting to see your best friend sitting there and possibly still fighting with your boyfriend, but faltering instead.

because megumi was sat there on the bench by himself with his baseball cap on… waiting for you, a bouquet of pretty pink tulips in his arms as he looked straight over the field with an emotionless gaze, his head snapping to you once he heard you coming in and standing up, his face gradually warming.

pink tulips were your favorite.

“gumi…” you spoke softly, astonished and mushy inside as you grabbed the bouquet from him, it neatly tucked in brown paper wrap and pretty pink tule with a little matching bow around the stems to tie it off, the paper crinkling in your arms.

“hi.”

“oh my— these are gorgeous baby thank you!” you gushed, your cheeks hot and you absolutely beaming as you swung your unoccupied arm around his neck and brought him in, pecking his slightly sweaty cheek repeatedly as he huffed out a breathy laugh and pulled you to him.

“you’re welcome.” he murmured, cheek lightly resting against the side of your head as you smiled.

“you really didn’t have to gumi you bought basically everything for today…” you spoke softly, bringing your head back a bit to look at him.

he shrugged.

“so.”

you scoffed. “so? you don’t let me do anything and i feel oppressed.”

he snorted, playfully rolling his eyes and kissing your forehead.

dramatic.

“it’s fine baby.”

“okay but it’s not.” you grumbled lowly, and the corners of his lips quirked up, taking a tiny step back as he released you and lifted a hand, gently pinching your cheek.

“you look really pretty.”

your pout slid into a cheeky smile, a cute blush rising to your cheeks.

“thank you gumi!” you readjusted the bouquet in your arms and shyly looked away, his direct dark blue eyes on you still nerve wracking even after two years.

“h— how come you’re not on the field?”

“oh.” megumi’s gaze shifted to his playing teammates. “i wanted to give you the tulips before going back out.”

your eyes softened, chest clenching as you stood up on your tippy toes and gave him a little kiss.

“you’re so nice…” you murmured.

“i—”

“fushiguro i need you back on the field!”

megumi huffed and rolled his eyes at his coach interrupting his time with you, hands reluctantly dropping from your waist as he took a step back.

“m’sorry baby...” he sighed tiredly, lifting his cap up from his spiky hair and adjusting it back on. “practice is almost over i promise.”

you frantically shook your head. “no gumi it’s okay don’t apologize! go please though i don’t want you to get in trouble.”

he nodded, quickly pecking your cheek before stepping out of the bullpen and back out on the field, turning his body slightly just as he reached the home plate and raising a hand to you as a little goodbye, shifting his attention to his coach and the rest of his teammates once he saw you give him one back.

you walked over to the benches then and sat, your eyes happily watching the mock game unfold as you settled your pretty bouquet carefully over your lap.

“please tell me you guys are done it’s fucking cold up here in the stands—”

your head shot to the side and you instantly smiled, your best friend popping her head in from the bullpen entrance and shivering.

“heyyy! oh my god yes come come—” you scooched over and patted the spot next to you, her trodding over and plopping down.

“let me seeeee!” she squealed and nudged your shoulder with hers, gesturing to your tulips as you lit up and turned the bouquet in her direction, her jaw dropping.

“i hate him but he’s good.” she muttered, shaking her head as you laughed and lightly hit her arm.

megumi ran through a few bases, passing by the bullpen and stopping at a base closest to it with remnants of brown dirt puffing and swirling through the air, him looking over his shoulder at you briefly before turning back to the game.

“he does so much for me that i feel like a big fat loser that does mediocre for him.” you spoke worriedly, and your girl friend looked at you bewilderedly.

“are you kidding? y/n you being with him is enough jesus that man is an ogre—”

you flicked her forehead and she cackled, pushing your hand away.

“i’m sorry! i’m sorry i’m joking… kind of…whatever— babe you literally do so much let him dote on you like this… that man loves you.”

you pursed your lips to suppress a giddy smile.

“plus after the pain and torture we both went through with your high school boyfriend christ—”

“oh my god don’t remind me.” you mumbled, shifting your attention back to the field. “he sucked so bad.”

she laughed. “and it took you forever to realize that he was a loser y/n… you gave him too much and he gave you absolutely nothing.”

you solemnly nodded, the feeling of miserable regret filling your body.

“granted i think megumi’s also a loser.” she continued, and you playfully glared. “but! he’s a different kind of loser. he’s good for you babe… and you’re super good for him.”

you grinned brightly at her, set your bouquet to the side, and threw your arms around her shoulders, bringing her in a tight hug as she laughed loudly and held you back with just as much love.

“have fun on your anniversary date tonight!” your girl friend exclaimed. “you guys are still going to that stargazing spot right?”

“mhm!” you nodded. “we’re going up in his car and setting up the backseat once we get there.”

“are you guys getting freaky too back there?—”

your head snapped ahead to find yuji leaning against the gate of the bullpen on the other side, your eyes wide and mortified as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestingly.

“h—huh?—”

“eehhh?” your best friend matched her boyfriends expression, her eyes twinkling and mischievous. “valid question yu! what are you wearing under your outfit let me see—”

you yelped as your best friend pulled and tugged at the collar of your chunky knitted sweater, basically shoving her head through to see what you had on and you pushing on her shoulders to try and get her away.

“stop you sicko!—”

“y/n why the fuck don’t you have a lingerie set under here—”

“oh my god shut your mouth right now—”

megumi curiously turned his head over to the commotion by the bullpen, jaw dropping and eyes growing big in absolute dumb struck horror as he watched your best friend basically trying to strip your sweater off of you, and yuji just standing there and watching like a fucking pervert—

“itadori!” he barked, and yuji jumped a whopping fifteen feet in the air, swiveling around to face him.

“oh hey man!— WHAT THE FU—”

megumi hurled a literal baseball at him and yuji dove out of the way, the ball hitting against the gate of the bullpen as you and your best friend jumped at the slamming noise.

“the fuck are you guys doing?!” megumi yelled, arms out in emphasis as he quickly strode over with pinched brows.

he looked to you as soon as he properly reached the bullpen, the collar of your sweater stretched out over an exposed shoulder with your black bra literally peeking out, your pretty eyes wide and downright alarmed as your best friend still had an iron tugging grip on your sweater.

megumi’s gaze hardened, switching to your girl friend.

“get off.”

he looked to yuji, his legs wobbling in fear as he used the gaps of the bullpen gate to lift himself up from the dirt.

“close your fucking eyes—”

“yes sir fushiguro sir!—”

“what?!” your best friend exclaimed. “megumi if you guys are gonna fuck in the backseat she needs to be looking scrumptious—”

his face paled and his cheeks turned a vibrant pink simultaneously.

“why are you guys always like this?” he muttered exasperatedly, stepping inside the bullpen now and pushing her off of you, your girl friend scoffing as megumi pulled your collar back over your shoulder and fixed your sweater for you, your lips clamped shut as you tried your best to refrain yourself from laughing.

“oh my bad. thought the perv in you would thank my services—”

“why the hell would i thank you for stripping my girlfriend in front of the entire fucking team—”

“—y/n i literally think i have a lingerie set in my car i’ll give it to you it’s new i just bought it to show yuji—”

you gasped.

“wait really?! what color? i wanted to wear one but i didn’t want to show up to class with it—”

megumi’s eyes bulged and shot to you, mouth opening and closing like an idiot.

“i think it’s red but i’m pretty sure your tits are bigger than mine lemme see—”

your best friend yanked your collar again and you screamed as megumi grabbed you and pulled you up against his chest, shielding you away from your lunatic girl friend as she cackled and pointed at megumi.

“megumi’s getting a boonneeerrrr!—”

his eyes frantically switched between her and yuji— his hands still tightly clasped over his eyes.

“what kind of sick fucks are you both?!”

you giggled uncontrollably over his appalled menacing face, your laughter muffling up against his uniform.

“us?!” your best friend yelled. “don’t get me started on you! i saw that text you sent y/n last week asking to send a video of her fi—”

“oh god babe don’t finish that sentence also can i open my eyes now you guys—”

“itadori! fushiguro! huddle up!”

yuji timidly seperated his fingers and looked at the group, hands dropping and a wide smile spreading once he realized you weren’t half naked anymore.

“off we go fushiguro!” he quipped, turning and the dirt crackling beneath his cleats as he walked. “boss man wants us—”

“i heard him.” megumi grumbled, arms loosening from their hold around you as they slid and fell at his sides, his face just plain out annoyed and over it, and you smiled sweetly at him.

“it’s okay!” you poked his cheek. “i’ll wait for you here while you guys finish up? or do you want me to go inside the locker rooms already?”

“go to the locker rooms baby.” he mumbled. “it’s cold.”

you nodded, and he placed a hand on your head with the tiniest smile, heading out of the bullpen after and jogging up to the rest of his teammates for regrouping and final announcements.

your best friend swung a heavy arm around your shoulders and you both made your way to the exit just as you grabbed your bouquet again, walking up the steps of the stands and down a few corridors and pathways until you reached the echoey hallway, the teams locker room coming into view as you pushed the heavy door open and went in.

“do you still want my lingerie set?” your girl friend asked, fixing her hair in front of one of the big mirrors. “we could still try and see if it fits but your boobs are huge compared to mine—”

you laughed and waved her off. “it’s okay babe! thank you though… i don’t think we’re gonna do anything like that out in the open and in the middle of nowhere…”

she shrugged, sending you a little smirk through the mirror. “megumi’s a weirdo. so i think you in fact will.”

you shot her a funny glare and walked to your boyfriends locker while placing your pretty bouquet down on the bench— turning the little knob around and hitting the numbers that made up his locker combination, the metal clinking open and you opening it to organize his clothes and equipment like you usually did.

you dragged his heavy duffel bag out and unzipped it, rummaging around a little to find the clothes that he had packed for your date today— spotting his thick black crewneck and gray cargo pants as you took them out and folded them neatly on the bench in front of you, setting the rest of the things he needed to the side and perking up once you heard distant chattering and banter, several players starting to pile in as you shot a few polite smiles, stepping over the bench and plopping down to wait for megumi.

“i said no.”

“pleeeaaasee!” yuji begged, the two of them emerging from the entryway as you lit up at the sight of your grumpy man, his agitated eyes to the floor as he trudged over. “i thought we were best friends fushiguro. brothers if you will—”

“no.”

“pleaaaseee!—”

“what does he want?” you laughed softly, megumi’s eyes coming up and moving to his tidily folded clothes that you had set for him on the bench, his gaze softening.

“nothing bab—”

“wrestle!” yuji wailed, dramatically leaning his entire weight on your best friend in a hug as she dumbfoundedly reciprocated, patting his back. “i wanted to see who’s strongest…”

“babe go change you’re sweaty—”

“not until fushiguro wrestles with me—”

“no.”

“whyyy?!”

you giggled loudly, hand over your mouth as megumi sent you a small close lipped smile and stepped over the bench to his locker, taking off his baseball cap and hanging it inside.

“because it’s stupid.” he mumbled, and yuji scoffed.

“wrestling is the ultimate sport for strategy, discipline and character how could any of that be stupid—”

“yu change i wanna go homeee!” your best friend whined, trying to pry him off of her. “i’ll wrestle with you.”

yuji sprung up and grinned. “will you actually?! i won’t go easy babe i can’t play favorites—”

“yes now move—”

“if i win can you suck my di—”

megumi flung his deodorant at yuji’s head and rolled his eyes as he cried out and pouted, the little container clattering against the ground.

“gumi!” you gasped. “be nice please.”

he sighed softly through his nose, unbuttoning his jersey as he begrudgingly and briefly looked over his shoulder.

“sorry.”

“oh wait what was that?” you girl friend spoke up. “i think you need to speak up a little megumi! can’t hear you.”

“i said sorry.” he spat, and she smiled, satisfied.

“you’re forgiven! thanks!”

megumi grumbled as he shook his jersey off and long sleeve underneath with it, his little chain with his promise ring dangling out around his collar, and you shamelessly and obviously drooling over his bare toned frame then as he sorted through his clothes and got his things ready for the shower— the locker room emptying out now and only one or two players remaining besides the lot of you.

you extended a hand out, wanting megumi to give you his jersey and long sleeve as he shifted his attention to you.

“what baby.”

“i’ll put it in the laundry bin for you!” you spoke sweetly. “so you can go shower.”

his heart squeezed as he shook his head. “s’okay. just wait for me.”

“gumi the laundry room’s just down the hall.” you laughed, taking his uniform from him. “i’ll be quick.”

he pursed his lips, feeling like you’ve already done more than enough for him and him just dicking around and playing ball for hours this entire time, wanting to get your date started so he could spend time with you and give you the things he wanted to give you, and not be around idiot insane people anymore (yuji and your best friend).

“sit down please.” he mumbled.

your jaw dropped.

“i’m being oppressed again—”

“we’ll see you guys tomorrow!” your girl friend smiled, coming over and giving you a hug as yuji went to put a hand on megumi’s shoulder. “have fun on your date! and happy anniversaryyy!”

“thank youuuu!” you responded kindly, hugging her back and swaying funnily, letting her go after and looking to her boyfriend. “drive safe yuji okay?”

“will do!” he smiled brightly, wrapping a friendly arm around your shoulders and pulling you in. “have fun you guys. and don’t get mauled by bears.”

you snorted, the both of you pulling back and waving at each other with final goodbyes before they turned and began walking to the exit, now the only ones left in the locker rooms being you and megumi.

“text me if you have sex in the back y/n!”

“oh my god!—” you miserably dropped your head in your hands as your girl friends vulgar sentence literally echoed throughout the hallway outside, anyone within a one inch radius able to hear it as megumi laughed quietly, the doors to the locker room officially closing.

“your best friend is clinically insane.”

you giggled, nudging him away playfully and him catching your wrist just as you did so, tugging you in and wrapping his arms around your shoulders.

“no she’s not.” you smiled cutely, your little cheek pressed up against the warm skin of his chest as he looked at you. “she’s honest. and lovely.”

“and deluded.”

“gumi!”

“sorry.”

he craned his neck down and kissed you, every tense muscle in his body giving away and slowly oozing into a state of peace as your soft lips moved with his, megumi finally having you to himself for the night so he could properly get your anniversary going.

he pulled away and patted your head.

“m’gonna shower really quick baby.”

“okay!” you smiled. “can i sit by the shower with you? heh.”

he chuckled and nodded, interlocking his fingers with yours and pulling you towards the shower room— a spacious and modern area with individual stalls and little plushy sofas across from them, megumi leading you to one as you sat down and took his fresh pair of clothes from him to set on your lap.

“remember when i fucked you in here.”

“gumi!” you gasped as your face grew red. “okay but which time because my favorite time was two weeks ago when you bent me over th—”

he laughed, the boyish sound bouncing off the tile walls as he shook his head with a little faint blush to his cheeks, fingers coming down to unbutton his pants and your hands flying to cover over your eyes, him pausing and looking at you quizzically.

“what.”

“i’m giving you privacy gumi. something you wouldn’t know about in regards to me.”

he scoffed.

“kay fine. i’ll stop asking—”

“no!” you yelled, hands clasping together like a prayer. “don’t finish that sentence i don’t wanna know i don’t need to know whatever it is continue doing it—”

megumi rolled his eyes with a smile, taking off the rest of his clothes and you squeaking as you covered your line of sight again, the sound of the shower running with the door closing an indicator to you that the coast was clear for you to look, hands coming down as they settled over megumi’s clean clothes.

and he literally took less than five minutes to shower… or maybe it was because your little endless chattering made the time go by faster or the fact that you always took close to an hour, but he was out of there with a towel around his delicious waist before you could even realize and on the way out to change into his outfit.

megumi straight from the shower was always an interesting sight to see, for the usual spikes in his jet black hair were nonexistent for the time being as his hair just laid flat, and he almost looked like an entirely different man as you stood on the other side of the bench behind him while he sat tying his shoe laces, you drying his hair with a small white hand towel.

“i’m really excited for tonight gumi!” you cheesed. “oh! and i brought my laptop too incase you wanted to watch a movieeee.”

he straightened up from his hunched over position and stood, turning around to kiss your head in gratitude before taking the towel from you and drying off the last bit of his hair.

“sounds good baby.” he grabbed his duffel bag and swung it over his shoulder, keys hooked from one of his belt loops on his pants as he offered his hand out to you on the way out of the locker room, you happily taking it and interlacing your fingers in the hallway, the both of you walking on to leave the stadium with your bouquet in your arm, making a quick pit stop at the laundry room first to toss his uniform and towels in one of the various hampers, leaving and going through the main hall hand in hand after with the building basically vacant now— not a single player, staff, or management member around as you moved your way down corridors to the exit, entering the parking garage.

megumi grabbed his keys and clicked a button upon reaching the players parking lot area, his shiny black car beeping and flickering its lights and him opening the door to the backseat to throw his stuff in, you catching a glimpse of the piles of grocery bags filled with chips, snacks, pastries and such as you smiled, unlocking your own vehicle and opening your trunk as megumi did his.

he swiftly stepped in and grabbed your blankets and a few pillows, transferring them over to his car and you setting your bouquet down in the back, throwing in a few other things.

“oh gumi!”

“hm?”

you opened your drivers side door and reached in, megumi peering around from his open trunk to look at you.

“i got us a little lunchbox cake!” you pulled out a small white cake carrier and showed him. “and a number two candle too so we can light it!”

“oh nice baby.” he calmly smiled, reaching into the pocket of his cargo pants and pulling out his wallet.

you blinked.

“what are you doing?”

he gave you a confused look, opening the folds and taking out a few twenty dollar bills.

“for the cake.”

“what?!” you frantically shook your head. “no i got this for us—”

he scoffed, extending his arm out to you regardless with a pile of bills in hand that was way over the initial cost of the little cake, your jaw running slack.

“oh absolutely not sir i’m not taking that—”

“take it.”

“nope!”

“y/n.”

“nuh uh.”

megumi sighed and retracted his hand. “i’m putting it in your purse—”

“if you put it in my purse i swear to god i’m never letting you see me naked ever again—”

he froze and narrowed his eyes at you, you standing there with a shit eating grin as you tilted your head.

“just get in the car.” he grumbled, slamming his trunk shut and doing the same with yours, you cheering in your head and lighting up over your win as you opened his passenger side door and got in, completely unaware of megumi choosing to take his chances and shove the bills in your purse anyways.

the car ride there was a whopping one hour, seeing as the stargazing hotspot was in the middle of the bustling city where megumi’s apartment was around, your boyfriend making frequent stops at various food places to pick up the food he had ordered for the picnic, and you still fighting with him over the fact that he should let you pay at least half, him just laughing at your huffs and puffs until he simmered you down to a mere grumble with a kiss to your cheek.

“i don’t care how many times i’ve done it there isn’t a limit.”

megumi backed in reverse once he found a good spot for you both on the hill, looking behind through his rear view window with a hand on the back of your headrest.

“but you have to let me pay sometimes gumi.” you sighed softly. “i feel like im freeloading off of your millions and doing fucking nothing.”

he gave you a bewildered look.

“first of all.” he shifted his gear into park. “you do everything so don’t give me that. second of all—”

he unlocked the car and you both got out, the trunk latching open on its own as you walked over.

“you’re not supposed to pay baby.” he stared at you sincerely, a little crease in between his brows. “ever. i don’t care.”

he unhooked the backseats and pushed them down, the trunk now extending even wider and leaving plenty of space for the two of you to set up your picnic, your shoes off and down below next to the car.

“i just—” you struggled, shaking out the blankets and splaying them out. “i worry that it’ll bother you eventually…”

“it won’t.” he responded firmly, yet still gentle. “did your ex-boyfriend make you feel bad about it? is that why?”

you froze.

“no…”

he looked over his shoulder just as he set a pillow down, dark blue eyes staring you down.

“wow i’m so hungry right now gumi are you—”

“i heard what your best friend said during practice about him.” he set a few more pillows down. “she talks like a linebacker.”

you laughed, grabbing the box of fairy lights you had brought and pulling them out, untangling them by sections.

megumi never really asked too in detail about your ex, just because he knew he’d get bitter and bothered by the thought of it, and the only things he really knew was that he was a moron who said you were a blabbermouth and didn’t treat you right at all, your three and a half year relationship with him in high school one megumi wished he could erase entirely.

but now with the way you squirmed and stared off into space in avoidance over this particular topic… he was curious.

just how bad was he?

“did he pay for your dates or did you.”

you fiddled with a little fairy light bulb.

“well— he did… but then we started splitting it… and then i started paying…”

megumi shook his head, reaching for the grocery bags and taking out the snacks he’d bought.

“why.”

you finished untangling the cord and reached up, looping the lights around through the grab handles of the car.

“i don’t really know…” you mumbled. “but i felt bad because he always did initially pay… so i was just giving back. but then—”

you looped it through the last handle and grabbed the battery box.

“i remember one time he asked me if we could split the bill on our anniversary dinner.”

megumi stopped.

“and then every time he did pay for me he would say side joking comments like— ‘are you gonna pay this time? are you gonna take care of the bill? since i bought you dinner are you gonna buy me this?’ blah blah—”

megumi was looking directly at you at this point, eyebrows furrowed and with slightly parted lips as he slowly set up the food and listened.

“and i don’t mess around when it comes to things like money.” you finished off screwing the battery box after putting a fresh pair in, switching the small lever and the fairly lights twinkling to life. “i appreciated so much every time he did pay so i just felt like i was— i don’t know i just felt guilty. his side comments made me feel a little awkward…”

you scooched over and sat back on your ankles next to megumi, helping him with the groceries.

“i remember one time too for valentine’s day, we had gone out to eat dinner and he paid with his usual side comment… but when we got back to his place i had given him his gift and he hadn’t gotten anything for me at all.”

“huh?” he spoke up. “did he give you flowers at least?”

you shook your head, a little sad look on your face.

“he told me my gift was dinner… which again i did really appreciate that he paid. and he never really got me flowers either unless it was for special occasions like anniversaries… so once a year?”

megumi was in complete and utter disbelief.

how in the ever living fuck were you ever with a guy like that for so long? a girl like you whom he literally worshipped the shit out of the ground you walked on, the thought of you being so incredibly sweet and doting and selfless for some dumb fuck who just took advantage of your kindness again aggravating megumi, him chucking the pastries he bought out of the bags one by one bitterly and you blinking at him.

“what a fucking idiot.”

you giggled, nodding in agreement as you both finished setting up, you crawling and sitting down by the mountain of fluffy pillows as you extended an arm out for him.

“that’s why i just get nervous gumi…” you spoke softly, pulling him to lay down next to you as you looked at the beading stars through his open sun roof, the view and landscape of the sparkling city below insane as megumi slid an am around your shoulders, nudging you to lay on his chest. “i don’t wanna end up bothering you or upsetting you about it and repeating the cycle so—”

“oh god baby no…” he looked at you, squeezing your shoulder. “you realize all of that was because he’s a loser right.”

“yeah to an extent—”

“no not to an extent.” megumi cut you off. “i know for a fact he never did anything for you… and for him to do shit like that on top of it is crazy.”

you slid a slow arm across his torso and held him tighter.

“i do what i do because i love you… and because you deserve it. and because i’m supposed to.”

you smiled big, your heart hammering in your chest as you slung your leg across his lap and straddled him then, megumi’s hands instantly coming to settle on your waist as you gave him a cute wicked look.

“i’m tired of talking about him, but you know what else you’re supposed to do?”

the side of his lip curled.

“what pretty baby.”

“make out with me.”

he laughed, a shiny smile on his face as he reached a hand up and brushed your hair over your shoulder, cupping your face after and bringing you down to his level.

“if you tell me you love me.”

you giggled.

“i love you gumi.”

megumi brought you in then and kissed you, light little smacks and wet lips parting and moving as your noses brushed against each other’s delicately, his thumb running gently over your cheek as you readjusted and leaned in, deepening the kiss and megumi parting his lips wider as a result to drink more of you down.

your hips subconsciously rutted downward, him taking a sharp breath in through his nose as he responded and lifted his crotch up, meeting with yours and grinding sensually with every steamy exchange of your soft plush lips on his, both of his hands quickly going down to grab your smooth thighs and knead them.

megumi suddenly slid a fast hand up your chunky sweater to cup your tit, you squeaking and trying to pull your lips off of his so you could speak, but him only chasing after your mouth and trapping you in.

“wait what if— mmph!—”

“hm?”

he forced your hips down again and you both moaned at the stimulation.

“what if someone walks by there’s a— fuck— there’s a few cars not too far—”

“don’t care.”

“gumi!—”

he yanked your bra cup down and your tit spilled out, his head diving in under your sweater and popping your nipple in his mouth, both of your hips still grinding and rocking against each others as you dazedly tried to look around for any passing people.

you tried to pull off and megumi yanked your other bra cup down, jerking you roughly to him as your weight gave out underneath you and you basically fell on him, his face fully submerged and stuffed in your puffy tits that he nearly lost it and came in his pants.

lewd slobbering sounds filled the car as he sucked and laid his tongue flat all over your boobs, your shuttering gasps and whines making his dick rock fucking solid in his pants as he continued to make out with your chest, relishing in the feeling of your panties running up and down his crotch and your pretty little skirt exposing your ass.

“baby i’m flashing the city please—”

“m’gonna stick my dick in.”

“no!” you whined, your clit pulsing with every rut from his hips. “when we get home when we get home please it’ll be so obvious we’re having sex if we do—”

he bit the fat of your tit and you yelped.

“it’s our anniversary.”

“i— i know gumi but there’s people!—”

he groaned and let your tits go with a pop, head falling back on the pillows as he looked at you with a dead look— knowing you were completely and absolutely right but refusing to believe it because he was fucking horny, the only conscious brain cell that he had left telling him to just wait and that he’d actually cum in his pants if he kept going.

a tiny smirk spread across his face.

“thought you texted me that i could take you to pound town in the backseat of my car.”

you blushed, totally forgetting you did that.

“y—yes but—”

“and that you were gonna send me a picture of your tits.”

“i—”

“you lying to me baby?”

“no!” you sputtered. “no gumi we’re still gonna have sex just not here!”

he laughed loudly and nodded, pinching your cheek as he fixed your bra and pulled your sweater down, sitting up a bit.

“i’m kidding s’okay.” he pressed a soft kiss to your forehead. “m’taking pictures of you when we get to my apartment though.”

“huh?!” you exclaimed, your face buzzing with embarrassment but need at the same time. “what— what kind—”

he poked your side.

“naked.”

your jaw dropped.

“legs spread with—”

“okay i get it i get it!—”

you slapped your hands over his mouth and muffled the rest of his sentence, desperate to get him to stop.

“i have your gift i have your gift open your gift!—”

megumi rolled his eyes and licked his slimy tongue on your palms, you snatching your hands away and giggling as you wiped them on his sweater.

“i told you not to get me anything.”

“too bad!” you grinned, pecking his cheek before swinging yourself off of his lap and reaching into the passengers seat. “close your eyes!”

he sighed softly, a small smile on his face as he complied, hearing slight tissue paper rustlings and things moving before he felt you next to him again.

“okay open!”

his long lashes lifted, eyes growing soft at the ginormous basket you made him— his favorite candies and chips neatly propped up inside with a little baseball teddy bear that had ‘cool baseball man’ embroidered across its jersey, a framed silly picture of the two of you from one of the nights you slept over at his place, various volumes of his current favorite manga wrapped in black tissue paper along with a lego race car set, and a separate shoe box next to the basket— a brand new pair of baseball cleats that he had been specifically eyeing and needing to buy, and knowing that it was ridiculously expensive too as his bulging eyes shot up to your giddy ones.

“baby—” his words got caught in his throat, shaking his head. “baby thank you but you didn’t have to get anything seriously—”

“the fuck.” you snorted. “yes i did! do you likeeee?”

you pushed the shoe box towards him.

“did i get the right ones? these are the cleats you’ve been wanting right?”

he nodded dumbly. “y—yeah but they’re expensive i don’t want you spending this much.”

“gumi money is a social construct.” you smiled. “but my love for you isn’t… it’s bible! happy anniversary!”

megumi looked down and slowly took the little grizzly bear out of the basket, everything you gave him absolutely perfect and filled with the things he loved, but the custom bear with the nickname you always called him— the same one he adored ever since you first said it, somehow pulling at his heart strings more than anything else.

“i love you.” he mumbled. “thank you.”

you beamed, leaning over and pecking his lips.

“because you do everything for me gumi.” you spoke. “i can’t thank you enough for the things you do for me… and i love you.”

a cute pink blush rose to his cheeks as his gaze stayed locked on the bear, feeling his throat closing up from how much you were affecting him at the moment.

he sent you a smile.

“can i give you mine?”

you stopped.

“what? i thought the pretty tulips were my gift?”

he snorted, giving you a look.

“no you dummy.”

he reached under one of the seats, pulling gift bag after gift bag after gift bag from somewhere as he placed them all in a line in front of you, a shocked look on your face as you looked at the amount of tissue paper and packaging that was in your line of sight.

“holy shit.” you flashed him a growing dazzling smile. “are you— for me? actually?”

he nodded.

“guummiii!!” you flung your arms around his neck and pulled him in a tight hug, rubbing your cheek on his head side to side in a silly way before you let go and sat back on your ankles again, him chuckling at your excitement.

“i don’t even—” your eyes darted around. “i don’t even know which one—”

one by one you unraveled each wrapping and tore open each bag, your lap filling up with things that you fucking loved as you tried not to cry between opening each gift— pretty intricate coquette bottled perfumes that you liked to collect everywhere as you knew they were also a pretty penny (so him complaining about his cleats was dumb), cute mary jane pumps and makeup you needed as well as new that you’d been wanting, silver and gold sparkling jewelry that resided in small boxes and wrapped in pretty pink bows, sweaters and cute tops and just fucking everything as you ended up a crying snotting mess at the end of it anyways, him laughing at you.

because each item were things that you needed, things that you knew he couldn’t have possibly known unless he was truly paying attention to the things you were saying and the things you were looking at… this moment proving that he most definitely was.

and a crazy wicked amount too— because some of the items in front of you were even things you had merely mentioned once and done with, accompanied by others that you babbled on about whenever you could.

“gumi we can have sex right now let’s have sex i don’t care—”

he laughed for the millionth time and shot his hands out, literally trying to pull you off of him as you lunged and leaned your entire weight on him, practically fighting him by the end of it as you giggled and tried to get in his pants.

“you’re harassing me.” he mumbled, and you scoffed.

“like you don’t do this to me everyday of my living life— eek!”

megumi bit your cheek and you pushed on his chest to get him away, him not budging as his nibbling travelled down to your neck as you gasped for air laughing at how much that was tickling you, and him knowing that was what usually set you off into a giggle fit, your stomach aching and him dodging your hits and swings, but both of your hearts full from a days worth of complete and utter unconditional love.

and neither of you would have it any other way as you shared the food and pastries you bought, stuffing your faces full of chocolates and mochi specifically as you both had insane sweet tooth’s and weren’t ashamed of it, chatted on about future plans and your excitement for megumi and the upcoming world series, and you elated for the holiday season too that was fast approaching, your little mind already thinking of gifts and plans and decisions because your boyfriend’s birthday was coming up as well.

and you wanted to do everything you possibly could to make it special.

for he made you feel that everyday.

especially now in this moment, the little heart shaped lunchbox cake you bought with ‘happy 2nd anniversary’ in cursive still looking fucking delicious even after you and megumi had just downed an entire pack of brownies, megumi lightning up the number two candle as you pushed it in the cake, and the both of you sweetly pecking lips as you held up the cake in between the two of you and him snapping a picture with his phone— candid and lovely and everything you’d both ever wanted in your lives rightfully yours right then and there.

happiness. love.

and your hearts were swelling with everything you had built for the past two years, and swelling in anticipation for the hopes and curiosity of what else the two of you would continue to build… something you only hoped would last forever and ever and that you got to count and spend even more anniversaries with megumi from this point forward.

with nothing less, nothing extra, and just like this.

for a million more november’s to come.

taglist!! <33 (THANK YOU THANK YOU!):

@cupcaketeddybehr @soobiary @roachfun @waterfal-ling @saebaey @reneinii @luvvmae @cake-with-the-cream @pixie-dix @2ukika @cramelmacchiao @hy3phiren @fushigurioo @wil10wthetree @jameinfrau @pancakeszs @drftnzume @k0z3me @saelov3 @dindjarins1ut @starrnai @stilettoheelz @tinyray-lovesfood @iloveoldermenn @dazqa @applepi25 @aria-chikage @rose-tinted-kalopsia @runfrme @unofficialsapphire @dee-writes-anime @megumisluciouslashes @peachyaeger @yourstru1y4ever @yoonights @skendos @babylambdietcoke @yunstarz @dinomdubs @kalulakunundrum @s777athv @sugoroo @wastednightsonyou @miri222 @jayawaya @dazailover4ever @courtneedsleep @kcch-ns @halovianembrace @tsukuhoe @kayamor @lupicalbestwolf @therealkurapikakurta @amarahi123 @poisonharlivy @a-sorrowful-tune @amarraaxd @cheeseburgerr69 @sleepiibunniiii

4K notes · View notes

twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat · 4 months ago

Text

FIREFLIES NEVER CAME ; SATORU GOJO

synopsis; your seat is close to the heater. that’s the only reason gojo comes there to warm up.

word count; 4.2k

contents; satoru gojo/reader, gn!reader, teen!satoru, set in a canon au, mutual pining, fluff, a little bittersweet (melancholic winter vibes <3), introvert/extrovert, reader is antisocial and dense as a brick (black cat vibes :3), also kind of self-deprecating, satoru is very shoujo manga coded, just lots of puppy love!! feat. wingman!suguru <3

a/n; this wasn’t meant to be a fic …… it was gonna be really short and sweet ……… (T_T) anyway i am very fond of this reader/character dynamic so i hope you enjoy reading abt my emotionally stunted kids 🫶 biggest mwah in the world dedicated to professor logan (@staryukis) for teaching me about physics so i could find a loophole in satoru’s infinity :3c all for the sake of lore-accurate (kinda) fluff <3

”what are you listening to?”

your seat is close to the heater.

it was nothing but a lucky draw, really. yaga-sensei was organizing the desks when you transferred, and so he gave you the first choice; one you had no trouble making, latching on to the chair in the very back, right by the window, right by the sole heater of the room. vital for surviving your chilly winter classes.

so there you sit. a warmth sneaks through your fuzzy socks, tends to your restless legs. your feet tap and tap, on the cold floorboards, in rhythm with your never-ending thoughts, spinning like a planet in orbit.

through the fogged-up, frosted glass of the window to your left, you observe the world. headphones covering your ears, safe and snug, muffling all noise. you watch as snow falls, wholly entranced, eyes stuck on the icy snowflakes descending from the wool-gray sky — blanketing the frostbitten landscape of the courtyard. it’s pretty, all those skeletal trees, glittering and gleaming like they have something to say. sometimes they look like stars.

”… hey. did you hear me?”

gojo is being particularly chatty, today.

out of the corner of your eye, you see him wave his hand right in front of your face. you’re almost certain he doesn’t realize that it’s rude; he must be used to all eyes being on him, from the moment he speaks.

with a flutter of your lashes, you lift your weary head. meeting his gaze, the blurry shine of your own visage, reflected in his circle-frame glasses. a soft tilt of his head, and then his lips are twitching upwards, just barely, snowy strands gliding across his forehead and falling over his face. like an excited puppy.

”what are you listening to?”

you read the words off his lips, all sound muffled by your headphones. quick to lift one of your hands, pulling one of the heavy ear cushions away — letting all white noise in the room flood your senses. the snarls of the wind outside, ieiri’s laughter, the scribbling of geto’s pen against paper.

it’s overwhelming, but a small price to pay. his voice is softer than usual, during moments like these; there’s a pleasant lull to it.

gojo tips his head to the right, still awaiting your response. all you can do is stare, watching your own reflection, fingers gripping onto the edge of your desk. as if seeking to ground yourself.

with a spoonful of hesitance, you part your lips.

”… do you like music?”

the words seep out into the air, a softly exhaled breath. gojo watches you, silently, for just a moment.

then he gives you a shrug.

”i guess?” he hums, shifting his weight from one foot to another — hand slipping into the pocket of his uniform. ”that’s more suguru’s thing.”

ah.

your mouth forms around the syllable, as if responding, but not making any sound. gaze fleeing from his glasses, crumbling under their weight, straying towards the frosted window to your left. safe, familiar, rotting trees and twitching branches. snow just as pure as the boy in front of you.

silence overtakes you both, once more.

”... not gonna answer?” he asks, with another tilt of his head, absently rocking side to side as he lets out an exhale. ”is it a secret, or something?”

(it is, you think. but you can’t say it out loud.)

before you can part your lips again, the classroom door slides open — and you know it’s yaga-sensei just by the way his feet hit the floorboards, the decisive weight behind every step. you know even before he’s telling you to get back to your seats.

on cue, gojo stands up straighter, shooting you another glance. bright-eyed, easy-going, every star in the sky leaping out from the glimpse you get of his eyes when he angles his body. two blue pools, flecked with white, like frozen puddles in the street.

and then he’s strolling away.

gojo leaves, and you take off your headphones; stretching your legs underneath the desk. reaching for your ballpoint pencil, flipping open your textbook, and indulging in sleepy blinks, as yaga begins to drone on and on. you stifle a yawn with the sleeve of your blazer, resting your jaw on the heel of your palm. eyes inevitably straying towards a head of white hair.

but your name is called before you can get lost in your daydreams.

”page 27, from the top.”

your chair scrapes against the floorboards, as you sluggishly stand up. holding onto your textbook, flipping the pages until you land on the correct passage. with shaky hands, not enough to notice, you read out loud; voice controlled, almost monotone. all you can think is that you feel his frost-clad eyes on you, from the row straight ahead.

but you continue to speak. you speak until you reach the end of the page, until you’re allowed to take your seat again, happy to feel the warmth of the heater radiate against your legs. it’s this warmth that’s important, the most important thing of all.

without it, gojo wouldn’t bother to stop by your desk.

nearly every recess, as soon as yaga leaves the classroom, he’s waltzing over — leaning against the wall, stretching his arms out, purring contentedly as heat spreads throughout his body. you think he must run cold. chatting with you, just to pass the time, just until your teacher comes back. just to warm up.

then he’s leaving, again.

that’s all it is. a cold boy, and a heater by your desk — a conversation that otherwise wouldn’t have occured. even the strongest is vulnerable to changes in temperature, you suppose.

though if warmth is all that binds him to you, it’s bound to dwindle away.

(you’re sure he’ll stop as soon as spring comes.)

the next day, gojo is nowhere to be seen. you saw yaga-sensei drag him out of the classroom this morning; something about a clan meeting, something you weren’t paying attention to.

but now you wish you had.

(it’s quiet, without him around. eerily so.)

with nothing to lose, and nothing else to do — you push your chair away from your desk, and walk up to your classmate, a question on your mind.

”… music? are you looking for recommendations?”

you nod.

geto blinks. caught off guard, you’re sure, surprised that you’d approach him without any prior coaxing. he’s usually the one striking up a conversation with you, like a responsible class president, making sure the weird kid doesn’t feel left out. you’re almost certain he doesn’t realize that it’s patronizing.

”hmm... well, that depends.” he gives you a smile, soft around the edges. it never feels as genuine as gojo’s, but it’s calming. ”what kind of music do you usually listen to?”

…

you glance down at the floor. bundling up the cuffs of your uniform, fingers clawing softly at the fabric, bottom lip trapped between two sets of teeth.

”… what kind of music does gojo like?”

silence. your words are barely spoken, just above a whisper, just like always, but geto picks up on them anyway. you can tell he does, can feel the weight of his keen eyes on your face. analytical.

then he parts his lips.

”… ohhh.” a low hum, ripe with meaning, buzzing at the bottom of his throat. the corners of his lips quirk up into a knowing smile. ”i see.”

heat rushes to your cheeks, blossoms under your skin. if he notices, he’s even more composed than you thought he was, because he doesn’t mention it. only continues to speak, in that soothing voice, crossing his arms in silent thought.

”hmm…” you follow his gaze, out towards the window, the same webs of frost as always. it’s not snowing, but you still can’t see the blue of the sky. ”i’ve never seen him listen to music before, so i wouldn’t know.”

you can’t help but deflate, at that.

geto only smiles. exhaling, through his nose, mildly humoured — though he’s good at hiding his amusement. ”… what do you think that means?”

a blink. your lashes flutter, as you gaze up at him.

”… huh?”

”satoru doesn’t listen to music, but he wants to know what you’re listening to.” he says the words almost coachingly, like he’s listing off a string of numbers. you realize he must have been listening in on your conversation, but it doesn’t bother you nearly as much as his tone. ”what do you think that means?”

…

(you haven’t got a clue.)

geto lets out a chuckle, laced with mirth, no longer trying to hide it. paired with a soft shake of his head, a crinkle to the corners of his eyes. ”why do you want to know about his taste in music, then?”

(… that’s a good question.)

he seems to notice your hesitance, your apprehension, the way your teeth seek to trap your bottom lip; always the victim of your muddled mind. you know the answer, of course you do — but it isn’t something you want others knowing.

thankfully, geto breaks the silence for you.

”i don’t think you need to try so hard, when it comes to him.” his voice is soft, almost sincere, something warmer than usual. glancing away when you meet his eyes. ”… he isn’t worth the effort, anyway.”

but that’s where he’s wrong.

satoru gojo is a special case. a special person. in the orbit of your life, there’s no star you’d rather keep — no one quite as ripe with colour.

geto couldn’t possibly understand, because gojo is always with him — always orbiting around him. he always will, until you graduate, probably even beyond that. geto has him. they’re the strongest, a pair, always matching their steps to one another. but you only have these quiet days, these chilly classes in between never-ending missions — and that’s all.

when the frost outside the window thaws, gojo will surely stop visiting your desk. your lonely little world.

that’s exactly why — you need to find a song. if you just teach him about something wonderful enough, if you can give him something other than warmth…

(… maybe he’ll stay with you even after spring comes.)

”next time, why don’t you say what’s on your mind?”

geto’s suggestion breaks you out of your thoughts. when you raise your head, to meet the warm pools of amber in his eyes, he gives you a smile. there’s nothing patronizing about the way he’s looking at you now — if anything, you think it may even be slightly fond, but you can never tell what he’s actually feeling. he’s frightening, like that, always a mirror to his circumstances. a chameleon, tilting his head at you.

… though you can’t help but fall victim to the kindness in his eyes. the velveteen purr of his voice.

”i’m sure he’ll appreciate that.”

a nervous pit opens up in your chest, an empty space that gnaws incessantly at your heart. will he?, you want to ask, but it feels like the words are made out of lead. you can’t get them out of your throat.

”… okay,” is all you end up whispering, a soft lull of your tongue. ”i’ll try… thank you.”

geto rewards you with a full smile.

”don’t mention it.”

spring is closer than you thought.

it’s all you can think, when you step onto the pavement, when you feel the morning air gnaw at your frostbitten cheeks. it’s freezing, it’s winter, but the signs of changing seasons are still there — a lonesome snowdrop, the crackle of an icy puddle beneath your feet. the frost is beginning to thaw.

in a month or so, spring will be here — there’s no stopping it.

”did you bring your card?”

your headphones rest around your neck, allowing you to listen in on your classmates' conversation. all four of you are together, for once, all first-years, walking towards the nearest konbini — at gojo’s insistence.

it’s been a week since you had that talk with geto, but you still haven’t made any progress with him.

”huh? was i supposed to?”

”… are you kidding me?”

you glance up at the pair. always walking just a little bit ahead, their tall statures obscuring the view in front of you; shoko lags behind, with lazy steps, a trail of tobacco drifting out into the crispy air. all while snowflakes fall from the sky, gently, landing in your hair, on your shoulders, melting on the inside of your palm when you hold it out to catch them. watching as they turn into droplets of water, slip through the gaps between your fingers.

someone taps your shoulder.

geto has snowflakes stuck in his hair. they’re melting, in the strands of ink-black framing his face, matching the colour of the thick polo jacket he’s wearing. a bright red scarf is tied around his throat, and there’s a weighty look in his eyes — something telling.

a silent cue.

he falls back, slowly but surely, into ieiri’s lazy pace. not before murmuring something unintelligible to gojo, and shooting you a wink — one that makes you frown, confused, a low heat blooming at the base of your spine and crawling up your neck.

and then you realize what he’s done.

gojo is looking right at you, through the black glass of his specs. only wearing a baseball jacket, no gloves or scarves to keep him warm, despite the harsh bite of the open air. for a guy who runs cold, he must not put much thought into his clothing.

more importantly…

it’s just the two of you, now.

you blink at him, silent as a mouse. it only takes a moment for him to start moving, for you to follow, taking your place beside him while staring right ahead. if he’s bothered by geto slinking away, he doesn’t show it — only continues to walk.

”… that’s so unfair.”

gojo’s voice breaks the silence. you turn your head to gaze at him, the way his lips wrap around the vowels, haphazardly hanging onto every word he speaks.

”just ’cause i have clan money,” he kicks at a pebble on the side of the road, wisps of white hair swaying with a shake of his head, ”suguru thinks i should pay for our snacks. isn’t that unfair?”

you hesitate. then you nod along, absently.

he seems to take that as a yes, because it makes him brighten — as if gleaming with your approval, standing a little straighter, puffing out his chest with an exhale that turns into white smoke.

”right? they only give it to me because they want me to come back to kyoto, anyway…” he trails off, holding the tip of his tongue between his lips. ”… not that it matters. anyway, i just think he’s oppressive.”

”… mm.”

from this angle, you can see a sliver of his eyes. can see the way he steals a glance at you, without even turning his head — hands slipping into his pockets. there’s a moment of silence, until he’s parting his lips again.

”… i can buy some for you, though.”

(you barely pick up on the words, spoken almost in a whisper — as if an afterthought.)

he clears his throat.

”… if you don’t have the money, i mean.”

you can’t help but blink, at that — lashes fluttering in rapid succession, wondering if you heard him correctly. he doesn’t seem keen on elaborating, though. walking on, ignoring all snowflakes descending from the sky, eager to nuzzle in between his locks. his infinity keeps them out.

”… why?”

it’s all you can say. all you can verbalize.

(in a story like this, why would the brightest star of all orbit around someone like you?)

gojo gives you another glance. his iris cuts into your skin, observes you on what you’re sure must be a molecular level. he lets silence linger, for a moment, tipping his head back to look up at the sky.

gray, and more gray. flecks of white. you’d see the same thing he does.

”hmm…” he lets out a breath, head falling forward again, snowy strands ghosting against the skin of his forehead. ”let’s call it a trade.”

another series of blinks.

gojo turns towards you, then — a fresh grin blooming on his lips. white teeth, pink gums. it makes him look boyish, innocent, just another city boy with too much time on his hands.

”i buy you snacks — and you tell me what music you’re always listening to.” he bends his body forward, tilts his head at the same time, all lanky and charming, like a big cat. ”deal?”

you stay silent.

he’s looking at your headphones, still left neglected around your neck. your gaze falls down to the icy concrete, the thin layer of frost, waiting to be melted by the first sunrays of spring. whenever that will be.

geto and shoko are still behind you — you can hear their low, muffled chatter, smell the remnants of tobacco in the air. and you swear you can practically hear geto’s words, echoing through your head.

(why do you think that is?)

gojo is still looking at you. expectantly, lips curled up into a lazy smile. he’s waiting, you know he is, and you also know he isn’t very good at that. you know a lot of things — what you don’t know is what to say. you don’t know if you can believe in whatever geto was insinuating, don’t know if you can grapple with your own longing to do so.

(next time, why don’t you say what’s on your mind?)

geto doesn’t get it. he doesn’t know what your feelings towards gojo truly look like. doesn’t know that what’s on your mind when he’s around is always something horrifically embarrassing. something like, i want to know more about you, or maybe i wish i could tell you more about me. something awfully cheesy, like — i’m jealous of how bright you shine, but i can’t help but like you anyway.

if i become your friend, would it be okay to say i understand your loneliness? that i notice it, even just by a fraction?

would that be okay with you?

(words that should be left unspoken.)

”… well, it’s not like you have to.” gojo exhales, again, the words a heavy weight seeping past his throat. his shoulders slump, as he turns forward, fingers trailing up to scratch at the back of his neck.

all you can think is that he’s getting ready to leave. that nothing will change, at this rate, that spring will wash winter away. that geto should be more direct with his advice, and that if it’s not the music itself that gojo is interested in knowing more about, then surely —

” — i don’t listen to anything.”

gojo stills. the words have flown past your lips before you can reach out and grasp them, slicing through the open air.

he spins around, glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose at the sudden motion, exposing his widened eyes. those white lashes, fluttering softly, like a pair of doves eager to get above ground. you grip onto the insides of your pockets, warm and cozy against your freezing hands — it grounds you, keeps you tethered down to earth, down to him.

”music,” you continue, sputtering slightly, as if your lungs don’t quite know how to work under pressure. winter air seeps into your windpipe, cuts the skin there. ”i don’t listen to music.”

you lift your hands, fingers curling around the soft earmuffs wrapped around your neck, hesitantly meeting gojo’s gaze — an overlapping sequence, blanketing his view. then you’re gazing down.

”it’s just… comforting,” you try to explain, speaking softly. ”to wear them. white noise.. tires me out, so…”

the sentence trails off, unfinished. you feel silly. silly for saying anything at all, for building it up so much. silly for being the way that you are.

but when you look up at gojo, he’s brightened like a star.

white teeth, pink gums, that breathtakingly boyish grin. his blue eyes gleam with colour, almost spilling over the corners, like watercolour paint on a too-small canvas. he tilts his head, looking at you carefully, as if truly seeing you for the first time; absently swaying side to side.

if he had a tail, you’re sure it’d be wagging.

”i see!”

a silent breath spills into the air. your lips part, but no sound comes out, only vapour; heart pumping blood through your writhing veins, warming you up from the inside, a co-conspirator to the heat blooming in your cheeks. gojo continues to speak.

”i guess that counts,” he nods, crossing his arms with a satisfied hum. ”alright. i’ll get you any snacks you want! you can be greedy, it’s okay.”

a murmur of thanks escapes you, although you’d like to tell him there’s no need. something tells you denying him this would be like taking another step backwards, in this budding connection between you.

(… if you can even call it that.)

geto and ieiri catch up to your unmoving figures, finally, and only then does gojo spin on his heel and pick up his previous pace. calling back to you over his shoulder, a smile you can’t see but still hear.

”just don’t give any of it to those two, yeah?”

”cheapskate,” ieiri calls back, lone cigarette hanging between her lips. geto lets out something like a chuckle, his shoulder brushing up against yours.

you watch gojo’s back as he moves forward. unbothered, untethered. you think of him a snowflake in the breeze.

spring is almost here, now. it’s a bittersweet feeling, to know your conversations during recess will surely dwindle out — but at least you’ll have had this. one normal conversation, the knowledge that he was curious about you, even if you may just be the classmate by the heater in his eyes.

you’re too cold to keep him warm all on your own, so there’s no helping it. you’re willing to accept that some stars only show from the surface during winter.

you’re willing to accept this. it aches, a little, but you’ll be okay.

”i’ll take it things went well, then?”

geto is wearing his signature smile, when you look up at him. an expression of carefully concealed composure, lips curled up, but a knowing look in his eyes — something that borders on teasing.

you give him a nod, a bow of your head, to silently convey your appreciation. chameleon or not, you don’t really mind his ways. it’s hard to fake the warmth in his voice, when he speaks.

”i’m glad.”

the two of you watch gojo’s back, like birds gazing out at a body of water. silence lingers.

”won’t that moron get cold?”

ieiri’s voice cuts through the mold of your mind, low and gravelly, right beside you. she’s pointing towards gojo — the flimsy jacket he’s wearing.

you’re wondering the same thing.

geto casts her a glance over your head, before gazing down at you, seemingly noticing your curiosity. he lets out a low hum; reaching a hand out to brush away the snowflakes on his shoulders.

”temperature,” he begins, slipping his hands into his pockets; that familiar coaching tone to his voice, purposefully slow. ”is just a measure of atoms in rapid motion.”

you tilt your head, in tandem with ieiri — looking to your classmate for further elaboration. he seems to enjoy your confusion, lips curling up just a bit. gojo calls out to you, in the distance, waving both his hands, and geto returns it with a wave of his own.

an amber eye flicks towards you, an explanation on his tongue. ”his infinity can regulate that motion.”

… another tilt of your head.

geto lets out an amused breath. it scatters out into the air, a cloud of smoke, almost a chuckle.

”basically…” he sighs. ”he does just fine, in the cold. don’t worry about it. he’ll keep himself warm.”

ieiri mutters something, beneath her breath, something like you could have just said no, but you don’t really hear it. you think your heart must have climbed up, somehow; got caught in your windpipe.

ah.

gojo can keep himself warm.

the thought spins inside your mind, over and over, a realization that makes your inner palms feel clammy. stupid, silly, this pitter-patter of your heartbeat. but what else could it mean? if the cold doesn’t bother him, if he doesn’t run cold, then…

(he wouldn’t need it. he wouldn’t need it here, wouldn’t need it during recess, within the chilly walls of your classroom. he wouldn’t need it to stay warm.

gojo isn’t after your heater. if that’s true, then…)

…

you bury your nose in the soft wool of your scarf. breathing in the fading scent, vanilla and cinnamon, grounding you to earth, lingering in your nostrils. distracting you from the rush of warmth, that blooms in the frostbitten apples of your cheeks.

as if sensing your thoughts, or maybe just noticing your embarrassed expression, geto laughs — soft and breathy, shoulders shaking to your left. you hear it, only nuzzling deeper into the comfort of your scarf. feeling your heartbeat spin out of orbit.

in the distance, gojo continues to wave, yelling out something unintelligible. you could mistake him for a star.

spring is almost here, now. in just a month or so, it’ll be at your doorstep — waltzing right in.

(but you aren’t worried.)

#gojo x reader #gojo x you #gojo x y/n #gojo satoru x reader #jjk x reader #jjk x you #gojo fluff #jjk fluff

4K notes · View notes